Say Hello to Georgie!!

Hi everyone,

Today I am VERY excited because at last I can share with you a project I've been working on for quite a while - in fact, I'm SO excited that I want to run about squealing like a piglet wooHOO wooHOO!!!

So, without further ado, please allow me to introduce "Georgie" - my brand new stamp set ...

Georgie is the first in a series of Arty Farty Annie "Mix It Up" stamp sets - so called because in each set, the central character is made up of separate components, which are designed to be put together to create different poses and gestures. They can also be combined with components from other sets in the series to give endless creative possibilities.

As well as the whimsical character which is the main focus of the stamp set, I've squeezed lots of fun images into every spare inch of space! I wanted to make these stamps as useful and versatile as possible, so I've included design elements and motifs which will lend themselves to all kinds of projects such as art journalling, scrapping, cardmaking and other papercrafts.

The inspiration for this first stamp set was my lovely niece - the pretty girl, butterflies, hearts, happy daisy, musical notes and the glasses are all things which remind me of the real-life Georgie - then I threw in the photo corners and the faux stitching just because they are things I will use a lot myself :o)

As you can see, I've had so much fun with my Georgie stamp set already. One of my favourite things is to stamp a simple whimsical scene and then enjoy a bit of colouring in. The samples I've included here all started as a simple scene stamped in black archival ink onto white card, then coloured with various media such as Distress Inks, felt pens, coloured pencils, acrylic paints and Gelatos to create very different results.

In the one below I've added a bit of decoupage to add depth to the hair and I've heat embossed the glasses to make them shiny ...

I wonder if you can guess which one of these looks the most like the real Georgie?! :o)

If you would like to see how easy it is to create one of these whimsical scenes, check out the You Tube videos below. Here's Part One which shows how to assemble the figure ...

... and here's Part Two, where I'm adding the background details ...

Apart from a bit of colouring in therapy as in the examples above, there are so many ways to use this stamp set - for art journals, mixed media canvases, scrapbook pages, art dolls, cards, tags, pocket pages and all kinds of papercraft projects. I'm so excited about the idea of other people experimenting with these stamps and can't wait to see what they come up with.

If you would like a "Georgie" Mix It Up stamp set, please pop into the Arty Farty Annie Etsy Shop.

New ideas for using the stamps will be posted here and on the ArtyFartyAnnie FaceBook page every week. Please subscribe/follow to make sure you don't miss anything.

The next two stamp sets in the series are already in the pipeline. They will be called "Bex" and "Alice" (two more nieces) and should be ready to go not too long after Christmas.

This is a completely new venture for me and I would love to know what you think - please leave a comment below (with any advice/suggestion/question/request/constructive criticism) before the end of November to be in with a chance of winning a "Georgie" Mix It Up stamp set - including free postage to anywhere in the world.

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon :o)

Annie xxx