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That's the theme over on the Craft Barn Blog this week. We've all decorated a trio of papier mache bird boxes.
Here's mine:

 These bird boxes come in a set of three, so mine ended up as a stack, like this:

or this:

Hop on over to the blog to see how I made them.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

A little bit of treasure....

I completely forgot I was posting on the PaperArtsy blog tonight (put it down to end of term-itis!).
This was a fun project to make - a little treasure chest:

Hop on over to see how I made it!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Creative Blog Hop!

Hello!
Last week, I was tagged by the wonderful Katy in a Creative Blog Hop!

The idea of the blog hop is to share a little of our creative process with you all, and then tag others that inspire!
So without further ado, I'll get on and answer the questions....

1) What am I working on?

At the moment I'm working on a Masterclass for Craft Stamper and a class for the Craft Barn. Here's a pic of my art room - take a deep breath....

Here's a close up of one of the bisque tiles using PaperArtsy flowers::

Love stamping and colouring bisque - if you've never tried it, you should come along at the end of August.

Can't show you the Masterclass stuff - you'll have to read the November issue!

PS The ivy in the picture isn't in a pot - it's actually growing through from the outside! I usually pull it out but it always grows back.

Also been having a play with bleach and masking tape - very easy but effective. Love this building stamp from Indigo Blu:

                                                                     

2) How does my work differ from others in my genre?

I don't quite know what genre I fit - I love trying out anything that's inky, painty, messy and colourful. I've long since learned that much as I love other people's work/style, I'm often just no good at it. However hard I try to be elegant, clean and sophisticated, as far as I'm concerned, less is never more! Give me colour and lots of it!

3) Why do I create/write what I do?

Because I love creating and experimenting - it's totally absorbing and far far better than housework!

4) How does your writing/creative process work?

Once I've decided on product and stamps, I have to get the colours sorted - I'm not happy until I know my colour palette.

I am tagging Gio in Italy today, please hop on over and visit her blog to see all the fabulousness on offer! 

She makes some fantastic stuff, always a little bit different and out of the box. Love it!

Next week, she will be answering the questions and tagging more people, so bookmark her and pop back!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Just had to post a pic of the birds everyone made at the Craft Barn class yesterday:

Everyone did something different, tried out different colours, different paints etc. You can see they make a very striking flock of zany birds! Thanks everyone for a fun day!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Zany Bird Class

You know when you make something and it just turns out to be really enjoyable? Well, this project was just like that. From not knowing where to start, I then found it hard to stop!
Meet Zany Bird:

He's originally a plain brown papier mache bird, but with a bit of paint, stamping and extra twiddly bits, he's turned into this:

If you fancy coming along on Sunday 6 July and having a go at making one, then come along to The Craft Barn and join in the fun.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

More Gelatos....

I had such a great time demoing these at the Craft Barn Extravaganza, I thought I'd show you a couple more of pieces I made. This was my Lynne Perrella day and they worked really well.
This one uses paint behind the acetate:

but you don't have to - you can just stamp on the acetate and place it straight onto the background and let that shine through:

In all of these I've added in stencilling and then stamped with the grey Gelato that's in the 50's Diner kit.

Everybody was having a go with the Gelato sticks to see what they felt like, as they're quite difficult to describe. After a lot of discussion, I decided to try fixing them with cheap hairspray (a bit like fixing pastels) and, guess what, it works! So thank you to the lady who suggested that one.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

A couple more....

tags that is, for the Crafty Individuals Challenge this month.
This one's stamped on some of the Crafty Individuals card, with a bit of stencilling in the background, using CI-405:

And this one, which I've saved 'til last, uses that gorgeous Alice Palace turtle, one of the latest releases:

Meanwhile, I'd just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who came along to the Craft Barn this weekend for the Extravaganza and made it such a fantastic occasion. I really enjoyed myself - it was lovely to meet lots of you and have a natter. 

And also many thanks to all those at the Craft Barn busy beavering away behind the scenes to make it all run so smoothly.

Thanks for looking!

Helen