Basement Studio – Page 21 – WHERE MAGIC HAPPENS

Spring Inspiration!

Happy Friday and hello spring? The end of February was glorious where we are, warm, sunny and dry. I think we got a little carried away with ourselves and started to imagine outdoor activities and ice-cream! I know, I’m guilty of pushing the woolly pullies to the back of the wardrobe.

However, March came in and whoops!! Stormy, wet and cold weather was back. My wardrobe is a mess, as the woollies have been dragged over the spring garments and scarves pulled out from under thin tops. Ah well, it was a bit bonkers to be honest not to mention worrying.

My morning walks with Cooper are a good opportunity to watch the season change however and gather some inspiration along the way. The pine branch above will find its way into my sketch book and may even be used next Christmas. The fern will be used in a print I think and already I’ve added a small piece in my Simple Stories planner layout. I touched it with a brayer and a little white ink to tone it down and help it blend into the page better.

It fitted perfectly with my spring like theme for March and the Simple Stories Spring Farmhouse collection ephemera from Paper Pen and Plan.

I also used a little on my WOW! Embossing Powder Facebook challenge piece. This month the challenge is all about foils and I was desparate to use mine in an abstract way. I love abstract backgrounds and using them this way over a smooshed ink layer was so much fun.

I’m declaring March Nature Inspiration month just because I can! Why not try including a little nature in your work?

Have a good weekend

Jaine x

WOW! Embossing Powder and Trinity Blog Hop

Welcome to the WOW! Embossing Powder and Trinity blog hop.We’ve a super talented line up of designers for you to follow along with, all sharing some fabulous inspiration as well as the opportunity to win some amazing prizes! The hop will last until the 3rd March so you’ll have plenty of time to have a look around. Don’t forget to leave a comment on all of the blogs if you want the opportunity to win the prizes, which are listed below.

The Blog Hop prize announcement will be made on Wednesday, 6th March 2019, and winners will be announced on both Trinity Stamps & WOW! Embossing blog. The prizes include: 6 x powders (of the winners choosing) + a carry case from WOW! Embossing Powder, and Trinity Stamps have an amazing pack of goodies with Stamps, Die and Embellishments.

So what did I make…?

I was lucky enough to be sent this super cute stamp set called Bouquet Of Hope which is so full of detail and great for some colouring. I combined it with the new Embossing ink refill tool and Taffeta Pink Embossing powder.

While the stamp was on the block, I inked up the bottom half with a VersaFine ink then spot inked using the new Inking tool, the flowers at the top, and stamped my image onto watercolour paper. I could then emboss the top part of the image with the Taffeta powder and used my favourite watercolours to add a wash of colour, keeping it loose and fresh.

I’m loving this tool and I can see it’s going to totally change the way I ink and stamp in the future. You will be able to get your hands on it from March onwards.

The blog line up is as follows…

Jaine – YOU ARE HERE!

WOW! Embossing Powder

Thank you for stopping by, your next stop is Verity.

#wowembossingpowder #trinitystamps #wowembossing #heatembossing

Happy Hopping!

Jaine xx

Studio Sunday, Black Hearted!

IT’s a stormy Sunday here in Luxembourg with the wind and rain lashing outside, but inside it’s cozy and warm and I don’t feel bad about spending it in the basement studio cutting and sticking and doing what ever comes naturally!

Collage on Prima Mixed Media insert page

It started with a simple clearing out of my bits and pieces cupboard and ended up with a collage page made using tea dyed paper, tea bags and a leaf collected on a forest walk. I love a bit of collage and picking up this leaf one day last week, I knew what I would do with it. I adore the black pages in this mixed media journal from Prima and I’m considering painting all of the other pages black too. However that would mean I’d not be challenged by the other pages in the journal which are vellum and Kraft as well as white.

This week I posted on the WOW! Embossing web site with a few hearts made using one of the new TRIOS collections. Read the full blog post here.

It’s not that I’ve a black heart inside but I love a bit of drama and cutting these hearts and mounting them on black created just the right sort of drama I was looking for. The particular set I used is called Confetti and consists of these three fabulous colours which contain flecks of silver powder. The effect is stunning.

I did make a card with a more conventional coloured background but I’ve plans for these black hearts so watch out! The new Trios will be in the shops from March and the other collections are just as amazing.

On a different note, another heart from last week is this one for the new February Facebook challenge which is hearts, pink, red and anything else in between. You can discover the other amazing projects here on Facebook.

I love a bit of black for creating drama and showing things off so amazingly. I hope you do too?

Happy Sunday everyone

Jaine x

Happy 2019

Or…thoughts for the new year.

Don’t you just love the new year, all shiny and clean? What ever happened in 2018 can jolly well stay there along with the remains of the turkey and crispy pine needles!

There’s something about the freshness and promise of January 1st that gets me so excited. I’ll be starting a new planner and a new planner style along with a new sketch book as I’ve actually filled up my old one at last.

Going into 2019 I look forward to lots more exciting things to come with Craft Stamper magazine and getting to know alot more of how things work behind the scenes. I’ll be continuing to work with WOW! Embossing Powders and some exciting new products they have coming up, taking a bit of a step back with Canvas Corp Brands by joining their Alumni program and carrying on my work with Paper Pen and Plan as a Creative team member.

I have some big craft market plans too as this was something I really enjoyed in 2018 and one or two new ideas for the Basement Studio shop too.

So, I’d better stop talking and start doing before the novelty of fresh starts and all things new wears off!

A very happy new year to everyone and may 2019 turn out to be the best yet.

Jaine xxxx