Stamps Ahead

I recently completed the April 20 Day challenge over at Junk Journal Ideas and Inspiration (JJII) on Facebook.  Challenge 12 was "It takes two to tango". In my case black gesso and texture paste are doing the Tango on tea bags. Here is what I created. Left is a greeting card (or page for my junk journal) and right is a small pocket and tag for my junk journal. I loved the idea of the pocket so went ahead and created 8 more as a table gift for a table I was hosting at a local fund-raising Afternoon High Tea.  I filled them with a tea bag (I found some that had a black top) and a roll of Mentos as a sweet treat. A small flower die cut (shortened to fit size of pocket) and a small adhesive word complete the pocket. Here is the process I followed.   I opened up used tea bags that I had dried and removed the tea leaves. Tea residue I put in the compost. Using a paint brush I coloured the tea bag with black gesso and allowed to dry, of course, I was impatient and got out m...

Here is a layout I have completed for an October challenge at Paper Issues (Friends and Fans ) facebook page.  The challenge is all about the colour black. Stick with an all black palette while minimizing other colours. Black is associated with power, fear, mystery, strength, authority, elegance, death, aggression, rebellion and sophistication.   I took this photo of a leaf with raindrops several weeks ago as I walked to my car.   Take time to enjoy the small moments - that inspire or take your breath away. Onto my black textured cardstock I used Heavy Black Gesso through a stencil and roughed it up with my palette knive to give it more texture.   I finished the layout with a chipboard 'moments" that I coloured with black ink and then applied Glossy Accents over it.  The added addition of some black rhinestones provided the sparkle I was looking for. I have kept the layout simple as the photograph to me is the 'star'. Now, what did I learn about ...