My Mojo Monthly June - Man Up!

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Hello once again and welcome to June's My Mojo Monthly! Over here, a month of good old British patriotic celebrations, Father's Day and the faint perfume of summer... Whatever your crafty passion or mood, My Mojo Monthly is all about inspiration and exploring your own creative path. This month it's time to "Man Up!" with stuff for the gents! Firstly, let's talk to My Featured Artist, the wonderful Jean Hardy of Crafty Individuals fame. Yes, the hands behind all those gorgeous stamps, but moreover an artist in her own right.

FIVE QUESTIONS TO MY FEATURED ARTIST... I have admired Jeans creativity for a long time now...Wonderful colours, intricate detail, feminine touches and layers of loveliness! Be prepared for inspiration galore...
Who is Jean Hardy in five words? Lover of all things arty!
Where are you right now as an artist? In the past I have had a go at most art and craft pursuits from tiny miniature paintings, to huge abstract paintings, from sewing and knitting, to pottery and card making, and making stuff has always been a part of my life.

Right now I am playing with lovely fabrics again and trying to get my head around incorporating fabrics, stitch, stamping and paper in the same pieces of work, with some image transfer thrown in.  

I haven’t painted pictures as such for a few years now but I would also like to get back into creating paintings...

but with collage elements, stamped and/or transferred images (CI ones of course). Maybe adding wax, textiles and stitch and anything else that seems relevant at the time. However again it is a bit of a challenge for me to allow myself to totally mix up the different disciplines (after years of being taught that this is taboo), rather than see them as totally separate pathways as I have in the past.
 
I also spend a great deal of my creative time thinking up ideas for new CI stamps, papers and other products on an ongoing basis. The process never stops!
Which of your creations is closest to your heart? I guess that is a pretty easy one to answer. Whichever project I am working on or thinking about at the time!

Currently I am big into making small pretty stuff with fabrics, lace and Tap transfer paper, and I do so love collecting vintage lace, pretty buttons and fabrics to use in my crafting whenever the opportunity arises.
Where do you find inspiration when feeling Mojoless? I have an enormous collection of art and craft books and magazines...

which I find will help start off a train of thought for me if I am stuck. I'm also a keen blog hopper, and love to check out art and craft sites. Mostly in the wee small hours of the morning. This can also spark ideas, however usually taking me in a totally different direction to that which first inspired me. I tend to let my projects tell me where to take them next, rather than having a definite idea to start with.
You are going back-packing in the Himalayas for a year and may only take 3 crafting items. Which and why? Malcolm (my best friend and business partner) commented on this interview! "Love the last question, it's so you!" 
I’m afraid to say you would never in a million years find me back-packing in the Himalayas. Physically challenging pursuits are so not me! However if pushed I guess my most precious crafting tools would be firstly my favourite brand of craft knife (Olfa, or more recently Xcut), Then my trusty can of 3M Craft Mount, and finally a tube of Bostik. However I’m not at all sure how I would endeavour to use these three items on their own, without the addition of the rest of the huge mountain of necessary crafting must-have items I have in my stash!!
See Jean on the cover of June's Craft Stamper, visit her wonderful blog here and see the wide range of fabulous Crafty Individuals stamps and products here!

Back at HQ...Thanks so very much for taking the time to talk to us Jean. Wonderful thoughts and creations! So this month I'm saying "Man Up!" We were all rather  flowery last month so I thought it was time to give the old chaps a look in. I personally love making "blokey stuff" but I know that some crafters can struggle with the elusive male theme. So here's a few ideas...

As a huge Wendy Vecchi fan I'm never short of quirky male stamps but I'd like to show you how just can take just two stamps and turn them into a fun card. I'm drawing on my choreography background and using the "Variation on a theme" idea.

Basically I have four repetitions of the same idea but with simple changes. Direction (square background of numbers), placement (flower), words (typed labels) and tone (varied shades of brown ink). A bit like four flavours of cupcakes - the same, but different! If you know what I mean.
Next... Just can't resist a bit of metal and Steampunk! Once again wonderful Wendy Vecchi stamps, with a splash of Mr. Tim stuff and my own findings.

I altered two sardine tins to create a hinged double home for my fella. A word of advice - scrub, scrub, scrub those tins like crazy!!!! Sardines are rather  pongy fish indeed...

I painted the outside of the tins with three layers of gesso, added lots of Walnut Stain Distress Ink and wrapped the tin sides with a long strip of embossed metal tape.

Just a roll of aluminium tape from the hardware store which I stuck to card for strength and then coloured with brown shades of Alcohol ink. The insides were silver so no gesso -  I just brushed them with more Alcohol inks.

The insides are adorned with stamped images, my own metal findings and Idea-ology. I wanted to be able to set the pieces at different depths, so I added a few thick wire lengths which I cut to length and wedged into the tin at right angles.

 I used lots more Alcohol ink and also Distress embossing powder to add age and colour. The base is just two washers and a metal corner piece... There's so many goodies to be found in the corner of hardware store! You could turn in all the other way and make a mini treasure chest. Can't wait to make another one so my hubby will have to eat sardines all week now...

Lastly, just a quick idea for a keyring using embossed Grunge-paper and Grungeboard. The top layer is Grunge-paper as it's the easiest to emboss. I then applied Walnut Stain Distress with a blending tool, followed by a swipe of the ink pad over the top to darken and highlight the texture.

I gave it a coat of matt medium to seal in the ink, attached the Tim Word Band with brads and then sewed it to a strip of stamped Grunge-board for strength. I looped it through a book ring and set eyelets just at the ends, therefore creating the possibility to wear it on a belt of just hold in the hand.

Challenge, Nice Stuff and Info...
So that was my bit of manning up! My Mojo Monthly is all about the why, the what and your creative adventures in crafting! So please feel free to join in and share your artful take and thoughts on creations for the Gents!! Whatever your style... This month's giveaway is this truly inspirational book from Kelly Rae Roberts.  
Thank you so very much to everyone for playing along last month. So many wonderful floral beauties. Congratulations to our May winner Heidi with her very creative hanging. Well done! In July My Mojo Monthly will be little bit different. Firstly, I'm going to be a first time mum (any day now...oh my!) Secondly it's a whole year since MMM started. Wow!  I have an idea brewing, but I'll keep it under wraps for now and I will also just have to see how Mother Nature likes to times things! Watch this space...

My Mojo Monthly welcomes all hand-made crafters and artists. A few guidelines on submitting your work:
- In the spirit of MMM please write a few lines in your post about your creativity and why you want to share your work.
- You are very welcome to share challenge pieces, just tell me a bit about your inspiration.
- Please link directly to your post and not your blog so I can find you.
- Please add a link in your post to My Mojo Monthly, thanks!
- You may enter more than once, but multiple challenge photos without description will be removed.
- Feel free to take the MMM button for your blog - please do!

Thank you to each and every one of you for all your creativity, loyal blog visits and encouragement!  It's good to share our art, thoughts and lives!
Stay inspired...
Sarah.