Tuesday 25 November 2014

Gift inspired by Lucy at PaperArtsy

Welcome to Magpieheaven, where I'm trying to be well-organized for Christmas this year! I want to make some of my Christmas presents, so when I saw the highly experimental Lucy's idea for marbling with PaperArtsy Frescos and Shaving Foam here, I was so inspired, I decided to adapt it to a gift I had in mind!
 A while back I re-cycled an Amazon folder, giving it a new life as gift-packaging for a book. This time I wanted to use Lucy's technique along with Lynne Perrella stamps to create a stationery wallet. I began by painting my folder with Gesso.
I then wanted to try a little experiment of my own! How would Lucy's marbling work over Grunge Paste?
I used a harlequin stencil and a Prima stencil. I coloured the Grunge Paste so that it would show through the marbling and create a  more colourful effect. I've also added a coat of PaperArtsy Fresco in Irish Cream.
 I used drops of Plum, Autumn Fire, Yellow Submarine, Inky Pool, a blob of Pearl Glaze and Hey Pesto. Sara Nauman text in Snowflake; a decorative corner and a blend of Treasure Gold in White Fire, Green Amber and Aquamarine all contribute.
 You can see the different ways Lucy used to apply the Frescos and Shaving foam here. I used the cling-film and the brayer on my folder and on a piece of Smoothy card.
I haven't used Pearl Glaze very much in the past, but I was very pleased with the effect. After die-cutting this oval, I edged it with gold flakes of Frantage.
Here is the back of my folder. For the front, I used a square of Stampbord and trimmed the edges with die-cut Chatsworth paper. A wooden Prima word completes the cover.
I wonder what the lady on the front of my folder writes and what kind of mail she receives? Does she engage in witty discourse with companions; is she a writer of passionate love letters, or do her epistles give a vivid glimpse of her daily life? I sometimes think that it's sad that the art of letter writing has such a small place in our modern world of texts, emails, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
When we open the folder, it's lined with Chatsworth papers, which I painted with a wash of Inky Pool. I've used the motif of pens on the folder, which kept reminding me of the phrase 'The pen is mightier than the sword'. If you look this phrase up you'll find that it can possibly be traced right back to 1621 and Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy' in which he says '..it is clear how much more cruel the pen can be than the sword.' Well, let's hope this lady has sent out no cruel missives! As you can see I edged the Stampbord with a touch of White Fire Treasure Gold.
I will be putting a writing-pad on the right hand side, I have slipped some cream envelopes under the flaps.
I stamped the Lynne Perrella pen onto a slip of Chatsworth, adding some faux stitching in white pen. The great thing about this technique is that a large surface like this can be covered with relatively small quantities of paint and glaze.
Thank you so much for stopping by Magpieheaven today. I do hope your Christmas preparations are going well. I am linking up this project to PaperArtsy here  before the month of November ends! Have a great day, wherever you are.

17 comments:

  1. Love this! such great colour combo. Xxx

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  2. Fabtastic Julie Ann!!! Great mix of colours and Treasure Gold with some great bits added to the middle of the folder. I think she writes for Tatler and recounts her heady days of horse riding and hunt balls to share with the masses:-) xxx

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  3. This is fabulous, julie Ann! It is so different to the first Amazon folder you did, much softer but so lovely. Was it quicker? Thank you so much for giving the technique a go,

    Lucy x

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  4. I love this, Julie Ann! You always come up with some great versions of the designers projects, or of your own. This will make a beautiful gift for someone. Not much prep going on here, to answer your first question!!

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  5. Julie Ann, this is genius! I love the way that you lined it with Chatsworth papers. Lucy must be thrilled with your adaptation. Your quotes and snippets of history are great additions. Another fabulous piece of art and fabulous post! Xx

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  6. Oh this is great the folder Julie Ann, beautiful colours combo and techniques (I can imagine how it beautiful is.) Fab inside idea and your wonderful quotes. I love it xxx

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  7. Wow! Such gorgeous colors and textures!!! Love those papers Julie Ann!! Your pieces always flow so beautifully! xoxo

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  8. This is fantastic, brilliant use of something that usually ends up in the recycling bag. The colours are yummy together.x

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  9. What an amazing gift! The lucky person who receives this beautiful folder will be absolutely thrilled.
    Alison xxx

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  10. there's a lucky person out there - this is such a grest way of using the packaging xx

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  11. This is amazing wonderful & I want to make at least 2 or 3 - trying to figure out a way to turn into a journal as they come in various sizes - could be loose pages - thinking out loud - thank you so much Julie

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  12. Wonderful project, love all these colours and textures, the use of the Chatsworth papers too.

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  13. Wow, it's marvellous, inside and outside! I can imagine all the shimmering and pearl effect.

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  14. This is fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great idea to try it over grunge paste and it worked so well!!!! Really beautiful!!!!

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  15. Nothing beats a creative mind and the talent to go with it! This is going to make some lucky lady a fabulous gift. Bravo kid!!
    Sandy xx

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  16. Completely gorgeous, Julie Ann - so many layered colours, and yet so delicate overall. And the effect over the grunge paste is stunning! A really gorgeous wallet - perfect to hold all the letters, of whatever content (but I'm hoping for at least a few passionate love letters amongst them), of the beautiful LP woman. I've always been glad that at least some of my affaires d'amour pre-dated emails and texts - I have a collection of letters, though not stored in anything quite this beautiful!!
    Alison xx

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  17. WOW WOW WOW an another truly awesome creation, I so love the layering and the texture is amazing. I so love how you have used this technique on a large area, it really does make it so unusual and the overall wallet looks brilliant. Kezzy :-) xxx

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