We are kicking off a look back at 2025 on the PaperArtsy Blog, and we are doing it a bit differently to previous years. Rather than by topic or quarter, we are looking at each designers releases over the entire year, so you are in for some long posts depending on how many releases the designer had in 2025.
We'll start things off with the in-house PaperArtsy Products, the new Eclectica³ Series, plus Hot Picks, Mattints and Printed Tissues. So grab a cuppa and chill out for 5 minutes as we take a look back at some project highlights from this year's PaperArtsy releases, and a bit of a look back at some Hot Picks history from 2010.
Our in house style is generally a dominant vintage vibe, but with the addition of bright colours, these designs can take on a very different feel.
Eclectica³ PaperArtsy Collection: EPA01, EPA02 & EPA03
Stencils: PS447, PS448 & PS449 (Regular)
Mattints: Mojito, Acid & High Viz
Eclectica³ PaperArtsy designs heralded in a new, more modern style of stamps from PaperArtsy, we wanted to have fresh and crisp designs that would be particularly useful for backgrounds to create layers across all collections without deterring from the focal. As ever flexibility is the goal! Stamps that would work as underlayers in partnership with other stamp collections was part of the concept.
These 3 new Mattints were our fluro release adding some vibrance to the existing colours and making them ideal for layering over or mixing into pre-existing colours for a bit of oomph.
A retro rainbow but also lines for journaling on depending on how you orient this pattern.
Using the arrows and spots from EPA03 plus some of the geometrics in the background provides a nice backdrop for this Kate Crane Mini.
How is this for a simple background? Understated but useful for layering or torn collage layers
Or use those designs to go bold in black, in this Tracy Scott inspired style and colour-way
You can see more samples from the January release here on the PaperArtsy Blog.
The addition of 3 new Mattints early in the year took the colour offering a bit wider to 15 shades, and you will see the swatch stamp links to the Hot Picks release below. We loved the idea of swatching Printed Tissue and Colour in the same hit!
Our bloggers got busy with these new designs and Mattints too.
MiMii made a giant tag with the Mattints layered multiple times to build up colour, see all the details on the blog here.
Autumn had some fun creative time as she shares here with these new designs and some striking colours. A uniball white pen highlights the chevrons and words perfectly.
HOT PICKS
A PaperArtsy in house stamp Collection
Let's just divert for a minute to take a wander down memory lane.
'Hot Picks' came into existence back in 2010 when we decided to move into a larger stamp size format to suit larger journaling projects and interior décor items. Initially we designed 'stamp and die' sets with some of the images (no other company was doing stamp and dies at that time, dies were exclusively frames or tags and nested scallop or plain borders - not us!).
Here's another example of the type of Hot Picks projects we were teaching at our ArtsyCrafts events0, deep into the mixed-media world of texture mixing cardstock, metal stamps and paints and glimmer mists - remember those?!
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| ArtsyCrafts Project with Hot Picks from October 2010 |
Since those days the Hot Picks collection has expanded into sewing themes as well as sea life, ships, fish and vintage cars...so we cover almost anything - where our muse leads. There is generally a vintage vibe, and designs that will work for a wide range of projects.
Hot Picks Collection: HP2501, HP2502 & HP2503
Stencils: PS456, PS457 & PS458 (Regular size)
So here we are 16 years later, I'm sure these newer designs would not look out of place had we designed them all those years ago.
Riikka used the March release of stamps and stencils for a vintage journal spread.
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| Riikka Kovasin Art Journal Spread |
TIP on Ink: When stamping fine, detailed images, look no further than Versafine Clair, a deep beautiful black that is wet long enough to clear or matte clear emboss, is permanent when dry and does not wick when it hits the paper, so stays put beautifully. It also stamps over our Fresco paints well too. We recommend that you use a smooth cardstock to get the best results with detailled imagery like this, such as PaperArtsy Smoothy Card. It is a beautiful stamping surface, but also wonderful for gel printing and fresco paint creativity.
A journal spread by Leandra below, using the March release with texture from the stencil and Grunge Paste in the background. An unusual colourway for her!
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| Hot Picks launch blog post here |
Charlie Chaplin inspired movie set within this release, and Leandra is back in the room in her firey colours of choice, building a lot of stamps together to 'ground' Charlie among his ephemera of this stamp set!
And look at how small bits of a larger stamp and Printed Tissue can create mini focals in each of the boxes from the swatch stamp set.
On this sample below, the swatch stamp was deliberately not fully inked, creating new spaces for larger stamps to occupy, plus some of the bold diagonal shapes block off some sections of the framed stamp, bringing a new look. It is so much fun to see how you can use partial bits of stamps in unexpected ways.
Last sample from this release is using one of the stencils over Printed Tissue.
MATTINTS & PRINTED TISSUE
Mattints: Shadow, Bellflower & Foxglove
Printed Tissue: PT11 'Birds'
Layering blank tissue that has been painted both sides with Mattints (these are a matte glaze) renders tissue paper transparent, allowing you to subsequently layer up sheets for a stained glass effect as shown above.
What Leandra enjoys to do most; play with a mix of paint, cardstock and stamped embellishments to make an interior decor piece. The 'birds' printed tissue is so much fun, you can make them pop by colouring in pale paint from the reverse so that once layered on a background it pops easily as a focal.
Added to a vintage frame, and this Printed Tissue is elevated to something that really is worthy of being on display. Many more samples on the launch blog post here.
Let's take a look back at what our bloggers got up to with this release! Jenny Marples focussed on the Mattints with one of last year's Tissue Papers: Hot Picks Backgrounds (PT01)
She tested the Mattints onto a gel plate, they are Matte and very transparent, so you can build layers and intensity with each print
This post is absolutely jam packed with images, I urge you to head over for a look at how she used tissue, mini stamps and Mattints to great effect.
By April 2025, here is the full range of Mattints to date, 18 transparent tinted Matte glazes.
XMAS HOT PICKS + PRINTED TISSUE
Hot Picks Xmas: HPXM10, HPXM11 & HPXM12
Printed Tissue: PT12 'Script'
We just love some Christmas Spirit, and as that time of year is almost upon us for 2025, perhaps this will remind you that we released this series of Christmas stamps back in June, so they should be with your preferred retailer in your corner of the globe! We are smitten with this release, some gorgeous classic Christmas designs.
Leandra got busy with some gel printed vintage papers, the stamps in black speak for themselves, but Mattints are the perfect tool to add touches of colour without too much fuss.
Jenny Marples made a whole series of cards with these stamps, you will find the details her in the blog post, and the eagle eyed among you will spot she also used the brand new 'Scripts' Printed Tissue (PT12).
She explains in depth how to create this style of background and the Mattints are used on top of the Printed tissue for subtle contrast. Onto these cards she adds her focal stamps and other embellishments to create the entire box of cards.
PAPERARTSY PROJECT
by Keren Baker: Inspired By Samuil
Hello, Keren here, with a very small project inspired by a man many miles away called Samuil. We've all heard the phrase 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'?! Well I was foraging around in my local charity shop & found some items that were the start of this project. How does this man fit into the inspiration? I'll tell you more about him as we work through the process.
You can see a few new things, some old, and some leftovers. We can live wastefully sometimes and it was learning about Samuil that made me want to reuse as much as possible. Samuil lives in Yakutia in the Wild Siberian Forest. He lives alone & with very little, only recently getting electricity and doesn't have running water.
So I wanted to do something simple that echoed the woods of the Forest & included his special Christmas tree.
I needed to prep my tins. I cleaned and sanded them- loving that they've already had two lives judging by the writing on the top, once as some tobacco tins, secondly as bits for drills etc.
I did use some alternative paint to cover them. I knew it would take several layers, and some of us guard our PaperArtsy Acrylic Chalk paints maybe a little too obsessively. I'm glad I didn't use my paint as it would have used up more than an entire bottle. It took quite a few layers. It was just some furniture paint that I had laying around so was glad to use it up.
The colour scheme was easy, something natural and outdoorsy with a pop of red. I hadn't got much room to fit many of the stamped images but got to painting the beautiful Christmas tree
It's worth using a stamping aid if you want to get concentrated colour and then re-stamp the detail. I could have just left it like this, but went on to over-stamp.
I love that mixing in dark blue will darken the green but still keep it in the same tone as the rest of the colours. You already knew that these paints were just fabulous, didn't you!
I didn't bother painting the trunk as I already knew that this tree was too expansive for my tiny tin. Now to try and create a scene with lots of elements.
Starting to create the background, I just dry brushed over some Smoothy cardstock, a really simple way to get texture.
Cutting out shapes that fitted exactly in the tin was a little more complicated because the tin had been battered out of shape but was still holding fast!
My story with Samuil echoes the tin; he's lived a life of subsidence for 20 years by himself and has seen tragedy in his family which is why he ended up living this way. His resilience and will to survive is quite incredible and moving. With only recently fitted solar panels, he spent many years using candle light and a torch. I wanted to create a starry night sky like his.
Yes, you may laugh. I watered down Heavy Cream and splattered it onto the sky. The result was pretty poor, but nothing that some more Baltic Blue and a little white gel pen couldn't improve upon.
I added lots of tiny blue stars and a little detailing on the scenery, trimming down the tree and saving the bottom branches for later.
I'm not sure which varietals of fungi are available in Siberia, but these were looking far too shiny and white, so I dulled them and added character using Baltic Blue, and London Bus was perfect (as a translucent) to dull the shine and make them a little less perfect.
I wanted my tree to not get lost into the background but also needed a little space to add greenery, snow and the mushrooms so added some foam pads to lift it forward slightly.
Samuil has plenty of trees to choose from- and he was gifted some lights so he chose one from the forest and carried it back through the frost. The delight that a singular Christmas tree brought him was overwhelming to watch. He brought a touch of magic to his little home.
I used the stamp from HPXM10. They were proportionately the right size and also gave me a base to add the stars sandwiched onto thread, the branches and a pretty bow.
I also used some left over wadding from a quilt and sewed a little part together to help it stand proud and keep everything else from falling out of the tin.
Here's the little tin- you can just about see the lights I've attached around the edges...
And here it is, lit up like the stars on a crystal clear night.
The Oasis greenery worked well, and I was surprised at how good the wadding looks- obviously everything was given a liberal dose of glitter and glitter glue.
My plan initially was to use the tin lid as part of the design and hinge it on, but once I'd added the lights and the title, it never would have fitted, so I now have some lids ready (which would make awesome tags or tree decorations). I wanted to use the car from the HPXM10 set, and do a landscape version, but time rather overtook me.
Warning, these tins are a bit addictive. I intend to go back to the charity shop (as one of the colleagues insisted that no-one would want the tins & just to throw them), to show them what you 'can' make with someone else's leftovers!
The sustainability of Samuil's life (& his struggle) is powerfully challenging. If you want to watch it (I challenge you not to be moved- the Christmas part 5 is here and you find the whole series on YouTube).
I'll finish, thanking you for being with me today and wishing you all a very Happy Christmas. But I'll leave the very final word to Samuil's series narrator,
'But he has never stopped believing in Christmas miracles. Every year, he quietly makes his wishes, holding onto hope.'
Keren x
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