Sunday 29 June 2014

A Birthday Book!

Welcome to Magpieheaven where I've been very busy crafting a special birthday card for my mum. It's not so much a birthday card - more a birthday book, so apologies for another photo-full post! Over at 'A Vintage Journey' the challenge this fortnight is to 'Use Every Stamp in the Set'. For this little 'book' I used all the stamps on PaperArtsy's LPC 027 plus stamps from other sets too, so I should like to enter this for Challenge! Can you spot the image from LPC027 peeping around the corner of the front cover?
Apart from admiring Tim Holtz's Vintage style, I think that his crafting techniques and Lynne Perrella's stamp creations are a great combination. Inspired by Liesbeth Fidder when she was a GD at PaperArtsy a while back, I rediscovered those Tim techniques that had so bowled me over when I started crafting a couple of years ago. I love the effects that can be achieved using Tim Holtz's Distress Inks and his spritzing and misting techniques along with ordinary, thin household bleach - Liesbeth's suggestion. I always wonder about the history of these mysterious and characterful Lynne Perrella ladies and whether Lynne weaves stories around them as I do! This lady from LP027 looks like she might have quite a formidable wit to me: she certainly makes a strong focal image!  Another image from LP027 makes an appearance too: the boot filled with pens.
After folding a piece of A4 card into three equal sections in a concertina shape, I made my panels to go inside, using Distress Inks (Evergreen Bough, Broken China, Peacock Feathers and Bundled Sage)  swiped across my craft mat, spritzed and dried with a heat tool. I really love to look closely at the marbled effects that simply swiping card across misted Distress Inks achieves!Tim Holtz - you're a Genius! I stamped over them in Jet black Stazon before 'painting' highlights in Bleach.
I used the Flourish stencil from Prima with Wendy Vecchi Cobalt Archival for a subtle background touch.
I really enjoyed using the bleach on this one! To me it seemed to create the impression of eery moonlight! This figure always makes me think of one of Shakespeare's feisty heroines who dresses in boy's clothes like Rosalind or Viola.
In the background of this one, I used the bleach to create the impression of clouds billowing up behind the Kremlin! I edged my panels with some Frantage too - Shabby Blue and Aged Aqua. The lady peeping out below the focal image is from LP027 too so now I've used the whole set.
The next step was to fix my panels and add some embellishment. Inspired by Patty Sczymkowicz, I did some vegetable dyeing of lace, using Red Cabbage and Red Onions and added this to enhance the Vintage look.
Red Onions give a lovely warm reddish brown to lace and fabrics and the cabbage can create anything from palest lavender to deep purple.
Now for the cover! I decided this time to make a book-like cover. I used some die-cut card, painted with Tango and Yellow Submarine PaperArtsy Frescos and some circles made by dipping a lid into pools of Fresco paint. These little tiles cut from a Tim Holtz Trellis die were inspired by Lin Brown's technique, which she taught a few weeks ago in a Craft Barn class, the sentiment is from a PaperArtsy Hot Pick.
 There was one last embellishment to add now that the book was painted in shades of blue using Frescos in Antarctic, Beach Hut, Mermaid and Inky Pool...
folded and tied with seam binding; had a little Shrink Plastic heart with wings; some butterflies!
and Tando Creative chipboard pieces, painted, crackled and stamped...
I made two Shrink Plastic versions of this image, cutting carefully around the edge before heating with the heat tool. It's stamped in Versafine Onyx Black onto Mermaid Fresco, so that if the 'charm' flips, the reverse side will be exactly the same. I edged it with Sapphire Treasure Gold.
It's fixed under a tiny leaf inside the first page .
 I  will eventually write a birthday message on one of these patterned pages.
These lovely distressed papers from The House of Zandra go on the reverse side of the images and I used Tim's edging tool to distress the sides with Peacock Feathers and Walnut Stain.
The sentiment is from Lin Brown's Eclectica flower sentiments...
stamped onto stacked paper and card.
'We do not remember days, we remember moments'. I wonder what moments these ladies are reflecting on in their colourful lives so different from our own? Thank you so much if you've stayed the course for all these pictures! May your week be full of happy moments, and I hope that my Mum's 85th birthday on the 3rd July will be one for her to remember happily too!

21 comments:

  1. it looks beautiful, and I know your Mum will love it... There has been so much work gone into this and it is stunning.

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  2. Wow,blown away by this Julie Ann,so much beautiful work on this. I am sure your mum will absolutely adore this,it's a work of art. I think this very well may be a winner :)
    Hugs
    Donna x

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  3. When I visit your beautiful Blog, it is as though time stops as I become immersed in the creativity before my eyes. I am as compelled to read the text as I am in studying your art because I want to read what inspired you or your thought process as you create.
    To see so many of the Lynne Perrella stamps used on one project would surely touch Lynne Perrella's heart.
    If this were in my hands, I would know for sure that it would be a book I would read time and time again.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  4. I wish to sit with you one day and watch and listen as you create Julie Ann! This is absolutely brilliant and I love everything about this card! Best wishes to your Mum on such a great occasion! To be 85! I"ll bet your Mum adores this card as we, your fans do! big hugsxo

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  5. It's a work of art Julie Ann & a very beautiful one.

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  6. This is a absolutely beautiful Julie Ann! Every pages are fabulous configuration of the LP images and the complex background. These pages made ​​me very enjoyed me and I have seen over and over. Your mom will be deeply moved more then me!! xx

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  7. BRAVO, BRAVO, what a MASTERPIECE and a brilliant production, I always was an inky bird, but Tim;s inks create such fantastic visions, I totally agree, they are magical, your backgrounds I could look at forever, they way you used those beautiful stamps creating a wonderful story with them is AMAZING, I love the colors you used, using those gorgeous dyed laces giving it the perfect touch, your signature pieces are SUPERB, I adore the ink well and feather, I LOVE visiting your nest it beings me such delights, amazing visions as well as your weaving beautiful stories, I have to go to water fit, but I'll be back to see it again and again, your Mom is gpong to adore this.
    Thanks sweet Cuz, you always ROCK MY WORLD, hope you have a wonderful day, ((( BIG HUGS )))..

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  8. Firstly Happy Birthday to your mum! Julie Ann this is wonderful; so much detail, so much technique and all done so well. Thank you so much for sharing with us at A Vintage Journey this time - I agree the stamp set and Tim's style work well together. Nikki xx

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  9. Beautiful birthday book, Julie Ann--wonderful details and vintage touches!

    :)

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  10. Such a beautiful project that you must be so excited to give your mum on her special birthday. Hope she has a wonderful day.
    Julie x

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  11. What a lot of time and love you have put into this beautiful creation Julie Ann! It's another of your pieces that I would love to see irl to be able to appreciate properly all the layers and texture. Love the shades you achieved with your 'natural' dyes!

    Hope your Mum really enjoyed her birthday.

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

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  12. Such a breathtaking book,so many details and so much to see. I'm sure your mum will love it.

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  13. What a glorious birthday book/card (must be a word for that!)... absolutely gorgeous use of the stamps and such a lovely earthy natural colour palette. I'm sure your mother absolutely loves it - belated birthday greetings to her! Thanks so much for joining us on A Vintage Journey.
    Alison xx

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  14. What a fabulous idea and I love your choice of stamp plate!!

    Sam xxx

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  15. I love to see a thousand pictures of an artbook like this, because it deserves to to be well documented! Love those stamps and how you used them, especially the little shrink plastic details!

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  16. This is so beautiful, your Mum will love it and it will be so tactile for her, the way it unfolds. I particularly love the shrink plastic pieces and the dyed pieces. I love the onion skin and red cabbage lace you gave me; it came out so beautifully and gives it a lovely history,

    Lucy x

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  17. An awesome Birthday Book for your Mum, made from your heart with such love.

    An amazing keepsake, i am sure your Mum will adore it as much as we do:-) xxx

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  18. A wonderful treat for the eyes...this is stunning Julie Ann! xxx

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  19. This is fabulous Julie Ann, I love little books and this is the most perfect way to use all the stamps in a set. Thanks for sharing this with us at A Vintage Journey. xx

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  20. Wow wow wow absolutely gorgeous stunning fabulous book, truly amazing. I love each page, so different but goes together as if they meant to be. Red onions, cabbage, bleach wowser lots of awesome techniques, I have never tried anything like that before. I have my tickets for Ally Pally on the Saturday. Hope your mum had a lovely day on her birthday. ☺ Kezzy xxxxx

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