New Eclectica Alison Bomber Stamps and Stencils at PaperArtsy

I'm thrilled to be sharing three brand new stamp sets and three new stencil designs over on the PaperArtsy blog today.  And you can also watch the Live Launch in the PaperArtsy People FB Group, where I'll be talking about some of the inspiration behind these new designs, as well as showing lots of lovely samples I've been creating.

I hope you'll enjoy the floral botanicals and vintage advertising - I've been having a great time playing with these stamps and stencils, and I know there's so much more still to explore.  I can't wait to see what all of you will get up to with them!

Do hop over to the PaperArtsy blog to check out these new summertime releases and/or join me in the PaperArtsy People FB Group on catch-up.  I'll update the link to go direct to the launch video once it's available for catch-up viewing.

Thanks so much, as always, for your company on this creative journey, and happy crafting, all!

Here's flowers for you;

Hot lavender, mints, savoury, marjoram;

The marigold, that goes to bed wi' the sun

And with him rises weeping: these are flowers

Of middle summer...
From The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

In summer, the song sings itself.

William Carlos Williams

Storytelling in Pictures and Words over at PaperArtsy

Hello all, long time no blogpost - apologies!  But I'm back with a splash today... I'm delighted to be over at the PaperArtsy blog with a hand-stitched book full of storytelling using words and pictures, with a joyful spring colour palette.  And you can also turn the pages and listen to the stories embedded in them over on YouTube. 

The current theme on the blog is mixing and matching two different PaperArtsy stamp designers.  My project uses my own designs combined with some of France Papillon's eclectic range of stamp sets, and the whole thing is inspired by vintage book pages and illustrations.

I hope you'll hop over to PaperArtsy to find out how I brought together lots of different elements by using recurring colours and motifs.

And there's also a flip-through on my YouTube channel where you can hear me telling all the stories which emerged from the pages as I was creating them.  So catch the "how-to" over at PaperArtsy and the "listen-to" over on YouTube... I hope you'll enjoy all of it!

Happy springtime to you!

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.
Oscar Wilde

Books are the mirrors of the soul.
From The Waves by Virginia Woolf

Brand New Stamps at PaperArtsy - and Stencils too!!

Hello all - I'm delighted to be sharing three brand new PaperArtsy stamp sets with you... and not only that, for the first time I have stencil designs to share too!

Join me for the launch video in the PaperArtsy People FB Group to hear about the springtime inspiration behind these new sets, as well as to see what I've been creating with them so far.

And of course you can take your time exploring the new designs as well as the samples over on the PaperArtsy blog - with lots of close-ups and angles full of creative inspiration for your springtime art and craft making.

I hope you'll love these new stamps and stencils as much as I do.  I can't wait to hear what you think of them, and I'm even more excited to see what you will be inspired to create with them.  Happy Springtime, all!

A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period...
Emily Dickinson

There is no time like Spring,
When life's alive in everything...
Christina Rossetti

It's all about Nature (and my stamps!) over at PaperArtsy...

Hello all!  The theme over at PaperArtsy this month is Nature, with a focus on my very own Eclectica Alison Bomber stamp designs.  There have been some truly beautiful contributions from the PaperArtsy bloggers, and now I'm there myself with a super-speedy make celebrating the turning of the seasons.

Head over to the PaperArtsy blog to see how easily these textural collages came together, and while you're there, do take a look at the other projects from this month's Nature theme, all using my stamps too.

And I do hope you caught the Q&A with me which started off this month's Designer Focus over on the PaperArtsy blog... it's quite the in-depth interview!!  Thanks so much for stopping by and for hopping onwards, and happy crafting, all.

Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.
John Ruskin

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Lao Tzu

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.
John Burroughs

(All these nature quotes, and more, are available on my PaperArtsy stamp set EAB21 Nature Edition.)

New Stamps at PaperArtsy - Winter Botanical Textures

Hello all!  I'm absolutely thrilled to be able to introduce you to three new stamp sets I have designed for PaperArtsy.  Meet the Winter Botanical Textures, launched today.  

Do hop over to the PaperArtsy blog to discover a bit more about the inspiration behind these new designs, as well as to see some of these samples in more detail.  (They will also be appearing on Instagram and here on the blog over the next days and weeks, so keep an eye out.) 

And of course, I would love you to hear all about the stamps from me personally, by watching the launch video in the PaperArtsy People Group over on Facebook.  Just click the link to watch the launch video on catch-up.

I hope you will love them as much as I do...

There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons...
... When it comes, the Landscape listens –
Shadows – hold their breath –
Emily Dickinson

Pressed Botanicals - brand new Eclectica Alison Bomber stamps at PaperArtsy

Hello all!  I'm thrilled to be introducing three brand new stamp sets over on the PaperArtsy blog this evening as well as in the PaperArtsy People FB Group.  These are a continuation and also a development of the botanical textures released in February...  I hope you're going to love the Pressed Botanical Textures!!

I've been having a glorious time playing with the new stamps.  I've tried to make sure they work for all kinds of styles - I've been working with clean and simple stamping as well as exploring some really exciting mixed media effects and techniques.

There are lots of samples to enjoy over at PaperArtsy, and also lots of insight into the thinking behind these new designs.  And of course I'll be talking about all that in the Live launch video too, as well as showing the samples.

Hop over to PaperArtsy now to see the blogpost, and join me in the PaperArtsy People Group on Facebook to hear all about it in person, and see the samples shimmering in the lights!

I hope you'll love these stamps as much as I do... I can't wait to see what you'll create with them.

Those who have never been moved to rapture by the tender curve of a blade of grass, the wonderful sternness of the thistle, the rough youth of sprouting leaf-buds; and those who have never been touched to the depths of their soul by the massive appearance of a tree root, the imperturbable strength of riven bark, the slender pliancy of the birch, the enormous tranquility of a canopy leaves - know nothing of the beauty of form.

August Endell, 1909

Textures Tag Book at PaperArtsy

Hello all!  I'm delighted to be over at PaperArtsy today with a textural tag book that makes me so happy... 

We're exploring the fabulous Mattints for this month's theme on the PaperArtsy blog, and I've been experimenting with creating background textures in various ways.  Given my new stamp sets are based around botanical textures, it seemed like a perfect mix and match situation.

I hope you'll have time to hop over and take a look at how my Textures Tag Book all came together - there are plenty of process photos and oodles of eye-candy shots of the finished book.

Happy crafting, all!

If a texture looks inviting, we take this as a "haptic invitation" (an appeal to our sense of touch to have a positive tactile experience).
From Design a Healthy Home by Oliver Heath

I regard texture similar to the function of taste buds in our mouths. But in a visual form. Texture does create a specific flavour which affects our senses.
Adamo Macri

Brand New Stamps at PaperArtsy - with a whole new look!

Hello all!  I'm thrilled to be revealing my brand new stamp sets with PaperArtsy, as well as some Designer Tissue Paper of my very own.  It's so exciting!  The new stamps are heading in a new direction - they are Botanical Textures, with a sketchier style and a focus on texture, which work both for clean and simple style stamping and also in a more mixed media style.  

You can see the sets in full, and the tissue paper too, as well as lots of samples over at the PaperArtsy blog.  And of course you can also watch the Live Launch on catch up here.

I do hope you'll enjoy all the many possibilities with these new stamp designs, and that you'll have as much fun with them and the tissue paper as I've been having.  As always, do let me know if you are creating anything with my designs - I love seeing what people get up to with them.  Happy crafting, all!

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.
Helen Keller

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust

Brand New - my first ever PaperArtsy Minis collection

I'm thrilled to be sharing my latest stamps designed for PaperArtsy... and they're Minis!  I've created a collection of festive words and pictures, with botanical sketches, ephemera backgrounds and carol lyrics.

They're perfect for as card toppers or focal points, for zhuzhing up your gift-wrapping, adding tags, and even for creating beautiful presents and gift sets.  But they'll also work through the year to celebrate nature, music, theatre, books, and good food and drink!

I hope you'll hop over to PaperArtsy to see the new stamps and some of the things I've been creating with them - there's a lot of inspiration there for the festive season.   And I've also been playing with some other new PaperArtsy products, so you'll get a sneak peek at those in action too.

And you can join me in the PaperArtsy People Facebook Group to hear more about the inspiration behind the designs, which is now available any time on catch-up.  

I can't wait to see what you think of them.  Happy crafting, all!

Oh, and while I'm here...  I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has left comments here recently... I've only just found them (I forgot I had to put comment moderation on because of a lot of spam), and have had a lovely time reading them - and they've all now been moderated, accepted, and published.  I also found over 100 comments dating back right to the start of the blog that had been marked as spam by Blogger for some bizarre reason - so my apologies if you've ever felt that I've ignored a comment of yours... sadly, I just didn't know it was there!  Again, all published now...

"He compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, and stirred it round and round and put it on the hob to simmer."

From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Coptic Fodder!

Hello all!  Today's the day... Fodder School 3 started today!  Yes, the first lesson has "dropped", and we're on the way with this year-long mixed media adventure.  I've just completed my first project, and I'm completely thrilled with the results... not only with the handmade book I've created, but also that I'm already using and exploring products in my stash in new ways.

I've been meaning to try Coptic binding for (literally) years, so I was delighted to follow Di Venter's brilliantly detailed instruction video.  And I was really inspired by the fabric painted covers too... but of course I went my own way design-wise!

I'm sure you won't be surprised to see my PaperArtsy botanicals in action here, but that wasn't my original plan.  I had wanted to do some freehand sketches to paint, but none of the pens I tested wanted to play nicely on the old sheet I was repurposing for my book covers.  I didn't want to risk unexpected ink bleeds, so in the end I decided to stamp with Archival ink instead.

The acorns are old favourites here from EAB25 Acorn Edition, one of the first botanical sets, and the hawthorn berries are from one of the newest - my special Fodder Berry Edition.  

All the colours of PaperArtsy Fresco paint that I've used here come from my specially curated sets Botanical Basics, Berrylicious Brights, and Background Blues.  (You can read more about the special PaperArtsy/Fodder School collaboration products here if you've missed all that.)

Obviously, I can't reveal a lot about how I made this - that would be giving too much away - but I was really happy to find a way to get the Fresco paints to work beautifully on the fabric without buying expensive fabric medium.  (Just google search for alternatives - that's what I did!)

And I'm so happy to have a beautiful home for some long-hoarded sheets of Khadi paper... they give the signatures inside a wonderful texture. 

All in all, I couldn't be happier with my first piece of Fodder-making... I'm looking forward to the mid-month class where Di shares how she "uses" this Fodder. I already pretty much know what I want to do with it!

I hope you all have a brilliant October.  The trees are just starting to turn here, so those autumn colours are definitely creeping in to my artwork now.  Expect to see more...  Happy crafting all!

You can of course still sign up at any time for Fodder School 3... all the details and registration are here.

Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup.

Wendell Berry (he even has the right name!)

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Brand new Summer Botanical stamps at PaperArtsy

Hello all!  I'm so thrilled to be sharing my newest stamp sets by PaperArtsy over on their blog this evening, and also live with you on Facebook in the PaperArtsy People Group at 8.30pm Europe, 7.30pm UK, 2.30pm Eastern, 11.30am Pacific - but you can always catch up later too!  I couldn't be happier to introduce the three new sets: EAB33 Strawberry Edition, EAB34 Cornflower Edition and EAB35 Currants Edition.

The three new sets of Botanicals are full of summer's beauty and bounty, just as the fruit starts to ripen - maybe even starting to look towards autumn.  They complete the seasonal year of these herbal, theatrical, historical, botanical collections, and I couldn't be more proud of all of them.  

I'm so grateful to everyone at PaperArtsy for their hard work and their support... it really is a joyful collaboration.

I hope you'll hop over to the PaperArtsy blog to enjoy the (many) pictures of the (many) samples I've been creating!  And I hope that some of you will be able to join me for the Live Launch, or at least catch up with it later - and apologies for the squished formatting.  It was perfect for the first couple of seconds and then Facebook wrecked it.  (I'll share the link here afterwards, as always).

And I hope you didn't miss yesterday's blogpost about the amazing BONUS stamp set and curated paint collections I've created as part of a wonderful PaperArtsy/Fodder School collaboration... It's been all go around here lately, hasn't it?  I'm now looking forward to a slightly quieter August!

Have a wonderful week, everybody, and happy Summer!

I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer – its dust and lowering skies.
Toni Morrison

If it could only be like this always—always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe.
Evelyn Waugh

Give me books, fruit, French wine and fine weather and a little music out of doors, played by someone I do not know. I admire lolling on a lawn by a water-lilied pond to eat white currants and see goldfish: and go to the fair in the evening if I'm good.
John Keats