New PaperArtsy Release: Hot Picks {March 2025}

Red Rubber Stamps (A5 set)

Price: RRP €23.00 +VAT    

Size:5" x 6" (13 x16.5cm)

All stamps are individually trimmed onto cling foam, with a laminated storage/index sheet.

These 3 new Hot Picks mark the beginning of our 15th year designing this series of stamps. They were created first in 2010 to be 'timeless' and not too 'girlie'. That was the brief! Mark and I tend to create these together, so they often will have a masculine edge to them with the frequent use of old found ephemera and images of a bygone era.

We have always been conscious that craft products are generally geared towards pretty, frilly, feminine style (or colours), and that is just not us.

Within each stamp set, we try to offer a mix of elements that offer versatility across a range of creative styles, so you will usually find on most Hot Picks plates, a mix of background designs, focal images, and perhaps little 'tidbits' that fill gaps, or new ways to add more interest for your creative layering and composition.

Hot Pick 2501 by PaperArtsy (HP2501)

This stamp set is oozing a Victorian vibe, a bold, determined 'woman of substance' is the focal image. I wonder, what is she thinking, what was her life like? Maybe she was fighting for the right to vote, maybe she was trying to have a wider purpose than was permitted for woman of her era, maybe she wants to challenge opinion and the norms of her world. Whatever it was, she now seems to have an inner determination about her that I can relate to! The lock and key suggests that she has an inner softness too. Perhaps there is a supportive, open minded partner or friend who she is able to be her true self around?

MY HEART

This could be a journal spread, but it was created on a piece of A4 card. It is nice to build up the layers of paint, softer at the edges, darker in the centre. A mix of brayering and using a rough scruffy brush to massage the tiniest bit of paint into the card seems to gradually soften the colour intensity. 

Stencilled texture was added with grunge paste, and then that too was coloured to distress it more with yellows, a nice contrast with purple. You may be able to see the vintage keys stamped in blue softly in the background.

 

 

The focal (in pink) is a nice highlight, and the scroll stamp became a nod to wings. I love adding torn vintage papers and lace along the bottom of a piece to 'ground a collage'.

 

 

WELL INTENTIONED

A card with plenty of layers of grungy paint. Loving the mix of old and new graphic elements for this stamp set. Tinted grunge paste was placed through the delicate stencil, and the left over drying painty-lumpy bits were scraped along the card edges with a palette knife, colour and texture in one!

The image is coloured with watery paint, to create a watercolour old faded impression. The stencilled texture lays behind the 'photo' with metallic accents. 

Lace is wrapped around the card, and here you can see the layers of paint scrapings, and how the colour deepens at the edges.

Hot Pick 2502 by PaperArtsy (HP2502)

I adore a 'collage style stamp'. They are just fun, create a background with paints or inks, over stamp and boom, instant art. The focal image of this set obviously can be used as a 'whole', but check out some of those 'parts'. Arrows, tickets, film strip ...you can stamp and cut them apart for embellishments, or have you noticed how easy it is to remove ink from a stamp when it is Versafine Clair ink? This set is a nod to the era of black and white movies, but look again, and words, elements can certainly be used for other purposes with ease too. 

SILENT MOVIE

Silent movies might have been an era of black and white on our screen, so of course I went in the opposite direction away from sepia and towards colour! Just because you are using vintage imagery doesn't mean you have to conform to using browns! The rebel in me has always loved the juxtaposition of bold and bright colours with vintage imagery - why not!? Do the unexpected colour combinations and you might find a new colourway to adore!

 

 
My go to paints were Toffee Apple, Rusty, Kiwi Gold, Turquoise, Green Patina (all Seth Apter colours - who'd have thought his sludgy palette could become so vibrant?!) with Haystack and a pinch of Cloud 9 and the obligatory white paint pen.

 

 

Archival Ink Pads (from Ranger Industries) are the ideal inks for background elements, I used a few colours like Sepia, Plum and Potting Soil. But I love for a juicy black, Versafine Clair for my focal images.

 

Hot Pick 2503 by PaperArtsy (HP2503)

Initially we were looking for a nice size swatch for stamping that was a bit grungy. Tick .... but, as often happens, other avenues come to light once you start exploring. The idea with the shapes at the top was you could perhaps also stamp the same ink. colour over the swatch for a different depth, but we knew those elements would be useful in their own right for backgrounds and much more!

SWATCHED

The Mattints are used to both colour the square, then colour a small piece of printed tissue which is then glued over, showing how wonderfully Mattints deepen in colour when the soak into tissue paper. So yes, the large stamp is a great swatching tool! be in inks, watercolours, pencils or markers, the squares are a nice size to get blends or washes dark to light.

HAT MAN

My colour palette continued, and stars used as accents. All the details are from the PaperArtsy 'backgrounds' Printed Tissue paper including the Mr PaperArtsy avatar himself .

 

 Nr 732815

 

In this sample I stuck with the blues and Rusty-yellows of the aforementioned colourway, and only inked some of the big square stamp, applying it bottom left and top right of the page, with the border falling off the page. I LOVE it! And I also love how stamping the diagonal in different directions in some of the square was super-fun too!!

 

Now on a roll with 'partially stamping an image, I realised there was a space left for the woman's face and torso (HP2501), and then the word stamp and little number line just fell into place organically. I took some time to lighten off her face so she popped off the background more readily, watery 'Butter' followed by Nutty and The Pink Mattints to breathe colour into her jaundiced appearance.

 

PaperArtsy Stencils {Regular}

Price: RRP €5.64 + VAT

Regular Size: 6.5" x 7" (16 x 18cm) 

Robust 250 micron mylar designed to offer longevity, deep texture and easy clean up

PaperArtsy Stencil 456 (PS456)

LIKE DIAMONDS IN THE SKY

The background always is created first for me, and so this was a mix of paint, turned into an ombre with shades of paints, blends of paints and also using stamps to bridge the gaps, like the repeat-stamped words. 

Once happy with the background layers, Grunge Paste was tinted a little to be less white, and roughly scraped through the stencil for some organic texture. I knew I would have fun adding more paints over the top of the Grunge Paste so the impact was more distressed and worn.

PaperArtsy Stencil 457 (PS457)

FANGIRL

I have always loved Raquel's (Scrapcosy) bumped Grunge Paste technique. She puts a dark colour of paint through the stencil, then 'bumps' the stencil a little, say down and to the right, then applies Grunge Paste through the stencil. I gives a great 'shadow' effect and soft outline. (you may need to practise to realise the bump does not need to be very big)

 

As I was on a do-everything-partially kick, I also did not fully cover the design with Grunge Paste. And this created more interest in how the paste fades in and out. It automatically aged the style of the background to be less pristine and perfect. You can see Printed Tissue is underneath, so I used paints carefully on top so as not to eliminate the Printed Tissue background. Again, I LOVE it!!

 

 VINTAGE WALLPAPER

Well and truly walking down distressed alley by now, I decide to explore the 'distressed' effects you can get with paint. French Roast Fresco Chalk Paint was added to the blues and Rusty paints, plus Haystack, my indispensable most favourite yellow (because it is opaque, and muted), but the trick here was to sand back the stencilled image after applying it to the background. Taadaa, instant aged wallpaper effect.

Actually, you might notice some of the paper lifted .... that was a happy accident. My painted background was still damp when I put the stencil down, and I think my stencil was also damp, because I had washed it properly after doing the Grunge Paste sample above, so with the wet stencil sucking onto the damp paint, and the pressure of me tapping and smooching my paint through the fan design, I had an 'uh-oh' moment when I tried to pull the 2 apart. Rolling with it, the white card was too bright - Glow Mattint to the rescue, and now it really looked like worn wallpaper! MAGIC! .... but also a reminder that what on earth was I thinking cleaning a stencil so thoroughly!! Sheesh!

PaperArtsy Stencil 458 (PS458)

MORE WALLPAPER

I wasn't deliberately using these new products 'in order' but one thing led to another, and these next 2 samples were variations of what happened above.

More wallpaper, this time stencil bumping was with our metallic Gold paint over the French Roast, again trying to not be perfect. This stencil is delicate in that the gaps offer fine detail, but our mylar is very robust, so you won't bend or break apart a PaperArtsy Stencil! 

You can see the bump impact here, and the deliberately imperfect approach - the trick is to not have a lot of paint on your sponge. Heavy Cream paint was dry brushed over the sample and Olive got an outing for this one too!

 

A BIT BLINGY STENCILLING

 

 

I decided to tackle this one upside down ... in that I stencilled with Grunge Paste first onto Heavy Smooth Card. After the design was properly dry (you can use a heat tool with GP, it will not be an issue) I started with paints, dark first and applying patches of colour to different areas. then blending lightly and I kept building the layers with contrasting colours. 

 

Towards the end I added more gold onto the texture and it looked magical. I am not sure what I will do with this next, but it has a very opulent feel to it. To make the metallic pop nicely and add a bit of distressed ageing, I added some watery French Roast paint to the texture, and with some additional spritzing, it fell into the dips, and then dried nicely.

There you have it, the first Hot Picks release of 2025. I'm so happy to share these designs with you, and wish you many hours of creative enjoyment with them

We have Jo Firth-young here tomorrow, and Tracy Scott on Wednesday.

All 3 of us will be going live at 20:30 Paris time over in our facebook community PaperArtsy People. 

Remember, to buy these stamps now, you will need to find them from a stockist, ideally one in your part of the world, there is an updated list below, but do check the shopping links that retailers will share during my live.

Thanks for joining me today

Leandra

 PaperArtsy Stockist List

Our stockists are your go-to  source for all PaperArtsy products, and we suggest that you also use the PaperArtsy People Facebook group to source a retailer in your country. Many are members of our FB group and will happily share links to their online stores.

Australia

Bev's Cross Crafts, Spreyton, Tasmania bevscrosscrafts

Crafters Cupboard, Berwick, Victoria crafters cupboard

Hillbilly Scrappin, Nikenbah, QLD hillbilly scrapping

Memories on the Murray, Murray Bridge, SA  memories on the murray

Natalie May Scrapbooking, Dover Gardens, SA natalie may

Scrapbook Superstore & More, South Penrith, NSW scrapbook superstore

Austria

Stempel Wunderwelt, Wilhering, stempel wunderwelt

Belgium

Cart N Scrap Art, Antwerp, cart n scrap art

Créatelier Caracolle, Liège, createlier caracolle

Canada

Boutique Scrapbook Tendance Inc, Quebec, Qc, scrapbook tendance

Clipper Street Scrapbook Company, Langley BC, Clipper Street Scrapbook Co

Glitter & Ink, Belleville ON Glitter & Ink

Paper Art Creations Inc, Leduc, Alberta, paper art creations

Re.defined, Kentville, NS, redefinedforyou
Scrapbook Centrale, Dollard Des Ormeaux, Quebec scrapbook centrale

Scrap Addicts, Edmonton, Alberta scrap addicts

Scrap and Bean, Edmonton, Alberta scrap and bean 

Scrapbooking Fairies, Drayton Valley, Alberta scrapbooking fairies

The Paper & ink Boutique, Calgary, Alberta paper and ink boutique

Denmark

Hobbyboden Scrapworld, Samso hobbyboden

Finland

Korttipaja, Istunmaki Heidin Korttipaja 

Klemmarikellari, Turku Klemmarikellari

Piia Paper, Kittilä, Piia Paper

France

Emispheres Eurl Ruy Montceau,38300   

Fée Du Scrap, Saint Sébastien-Sur-Loire, fee du scrap

Horizon Créatif, Ste Jalle horizon creatif

Katzelkraft, Ingwiller katzelkraft

Kerudoc Creation, St Yvi kerudoc creation

Le Grenier des filles, Pierre Benite

Page de scrap, Saint Pavace, page de scrap

Passion Scrap, Vieux-Conde, Passion Scrap

Scrap by Jo, Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, 31650 Scrap by Jo

Toutencolle, Dun sur Auron toutencolle

Germany 

Papier & Feder, Owschlag, papier & feder

Stempeloase Munich, Munich stempeloase

Stempelfee Shop, Hilden stempelfee shop

Stempellaedle, Stuttgart, stempellaedle

Tue Was Di Liebst, Bayern, Tue Was du Liebst

Greece

Decoupage, Vergina

Italy

Pezze E Colori, Lissone, pezze e colori 
Piccole Passioni, Siena, piccole passioni

Japan

La Wadao, Odawara, Kanagawa, la wadao

Tiny Dots, Funabashi-shi, Chiba tiny dots

Netherlands

De Hobbystudio, Genemuiden, de hobby studio

Doe@ding,Spijkenisse doe @ ding

Hobbycompleet de Duif, Leeuwarden hobby compleet

IK Journal, Boxtel, ik journal

Stamptable, Roosendaal, Stamptable

Norway

Hobbykunst, Oslo, hobbykunst

Puerto Rico

Paper Boutique, Fajardi Paper Boutique

South Africa

Kcraft imports Ltd, Centurion 0014  kcraft

Spain

Cien por Cien Manualidades, Barcelona,  100 x 100 manualidades

Ideas 10 Manualidades Y Scrapbook, Bilbao ideas 10 manualidades/

La Sonrisa Creativa, Valencia, la sonrisa creativa

Les Coses de Raquel, Barcelona

Scrap & Papers Experiences, Barcelona, scrap papers experiences

United Kingdom

Art from the Heart, Harrogate, Yorkshire art from the heart

Crafts at The Malthouse, Herstmonceux,  East Sussex, crafts at the malthouse

Countryview Crafts, Potton, Bedfordshire countryview crafts

Loobi Crafts, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, loobi crafts

Procraftynation Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk Procraftynation

Sir Stampalot, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire sir stampalot

Stampers Grove, Springbank, Lilliesleaf, Melrose,Scotland stampers grove

The Artistic Stamper Craft Store, Faversham, Kent the artistic stamper

The Forget me not Kraft Kabin, Rochford, Essex, The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin

USA

Artistic Artifacts, Alexandria, VA artistic artifacts

Artistic Studio Creations, Fayetteville, Georgia Artistic Studio Creations

Craftiness, Chatsworth, CA, craftiness

Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, Lake Worth, Florida Everything Scrapbook & Stamps

Frantic Stamper, Oregon frantic stamper

Free Heart LLC, Denver, Colarado, free heart llc

Joggles, Coventry, Rhode Island, joggles

Messy Papercrafts, Temecula CA Messy Papercrafts

PaperCraft Clubhouse, Westbrook, Connecticut, papercraft clubhouse

Roadtique Boutique, Hilton NY 

Runaway, Art & Craft Studio, NE Salem, Oregon runaway

Scrap-A-Latte, West Babylon NY scrap a latte

Scrapbook-N-Memories, Harrisonville, Missouri Scrapbook N Memories

Simon Says Stamp, Columbus, Ohio simon says stamp

Topflight Stamps, Irmo, South Carolina topflight stamps

If you are interested in becoming a PaperArtsy stockist contact Dounia@paperartsy.com for more information

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