2019 #16 Stamp Carving: Tissue Paper Marking with ELB {by Jennie Atkinson}

2019 Topic 16: Stamp Carving

Jennie's pinky, soft and ethereal trio kicks off the stamp carving topic so beautifully. Layer upon layer of images and marks creates mini dimensional works of art. She's got some great tips about using tissue paper with her gel plate too!

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live The Dream)  with you today sharing a trio of ATCs using tissue paper to showcase Lin Brown's fabulous Artful Blooms stamps which look just as though they had been carved into the rubber.

I have become somewhat obsessed with the combination of tissue paper and my gelli plate and thought these stunning outline style stamps would be just perfect for creating a delicate impression on the tissue paper. I have also combined this technique with two wonderful new PaperArtsy Frescos which being pink are just up my street!

To finish my ATCs I have also used stamps from Scrapcosy's ESC18 and quotes from Alison's EAB01 set.

ELB03

ESC18

EAB01

It is difficult to photograph the technique of using gel plate and tissue paper as you do have to do things quite quickly before the tissue paper sticks to the plate! I brayered Byzantium, Taro Milk Tea and a little Tinned Peas onto the gel plate and stamped the large flower stamp here and there before taking a print using the tissue paper. It's a "one pull" technique!

A word about tissue paper: not all tissue paper works! Sometimes the supermarket tissue works well and sometimes not! if you can get something a little thicker and has a shiny side and a matte side you can use the matte side down and this seems to give the better print. 

Also another tip is to make sure you always have a flap of paper at one side so you can peel it off the plate, otherwise you will find that if you smooth everything down it is a struggle to get it started and it starts to tear.

When it is wet the tissue paper is crumpled and it is difficult to see the marks. Don't worry about white spaces where the paper creased - this all adds to the effect!

The tissue has now dried and I have stuck it down using Collage Medium onto an ATC which has had text stamped on it with Jet Black Archival Ink. Now that the tissue paper is on a white surface it becomes translucent (despite the paint and the stamp image), wrinkles and "missed bits" really stand out.  I just love the way the carved image becomes part of the background and is why I  often get asked "How did you do that ?"  (I should add that this photograph was taken on a very stormy day in the craft room and the colours are completely different!)

I didn't want to spoil the ethereal look so have used my stamps on tissue paper and layered them onto the ATC. I do find that the thicker tissue paper is not so great for this and normally revert to something a little thinner so it blends into the background.

I have used Watering Can Archival Ink for the background stamping as it is lighter in tone which allows the quotes to stand out in the black ink. As I have stamped on tissue paper and adhered with collage medium the image is slightly blurry which is why some of the stamping looks out of focus in the photographs - it is not so obvious when viewing the ATCs.

I have tried to place my stamping so I don't lose the Artful Bloom image and the beauty of stamping on tissue allows me to experiment with placement.

These ATCs make a lovely little trio for swapping or, as you have probably seen me do in the past, they look fabulous layered onto plain white Smoothy cardstock for birthday and any occasion cards. I always have quite a stack just ready to make into cards! 

I do hope this inspires you to have a go at this technique. It is absolutely perfect for mark making stamps which do not have too much detail which can get lost when layered onto the text stamped cardstock below. It is quite addictive, so have plenty of tissue paper cut to size before you start !

Jennie x

Blog:  Live The Dream

2019 #16 Topic Introduction: Stamp Carving

 2019 Topic 16: Stamp Carving

Well hello everyone, Keren here with a really creative theme for our new topic; stamp carving! I have to admit trying this once myself; years ago with a small rubber stamp. It wasn't the success I imagined it might be, and wish I'd seen some of these inspirational artists and techniques back then. 

Normally we'd start with a project from a PaperArtsy blogger, but I thought the perfect way to kick off the topic would be to mention Ellen Vargo who has created a wonderful range of stamps based on her stamp carvings (see more here about Ellen's carving). I've chosen this EEV03 set as a great example of the chunky style of a typical carved stamp.

Ellen also created some super fine detail carved stamps for PaperArtsy too, and these finer detailed options allow a whole lot more fun in your stamped layers and colour choices.

Here are a couple of examples Ellen made with her stamps showing how the bold and fine can contrast so perfectly.

You might make a master-board to cut up into smaller sections as above, or even use a master-board as you background; this piece below is A4 in size for example. 

 

Starting with a simple but really striking example of a basic DIY stamp, is Anneke de Clerck with some lovely JoFY stamps, allowing that kraft to peep through provides a delicious contrast to the white paint.

PaperArtsy Blog

I'm a firm believer in the Sound of Music's principle of 'let's start at the very beginning'.. and this is a great blog post outlining some of the basic tools and techniques for getting started in stamp carving.

Maple Post

There are some really easy ways to begin your carving journey. Without forking out lots on equipment, why not start small and simple with rubbers/ erasers?

The Country Chic Cottage

What's really impressed me whilst researching for the topic, is the wide range of designs and the intricacy of the artwork. This example was interesting because traditionally I think of them as solid blocks.

Alisa By K

This example gives a really clear view of the hewn out block. Seeing the scratches and gouges shows some of the technique.

Isla Joy Middleton

There are some interesting blog posts about alternative substances to try your hand at carving with. How about fun foam mounted on a wood block?

Approachable Art

If you want to use something that nearly all of us would have hanging around our homes, why not try carving stamps with potatoes?! This simple project shows how powerful a simple repeated image can be.

 Mon Petit Monde

Polymer Clay might seem an unlikely candidate, but Sunni Bergeron did a really interesting experiment using it.

Sunny Bergeron

Other experimentation can be seen with this experiment of different substances to carve with. One of the winners was Pan Shower Liner mounted on mdf.

Sandrine Pelissier

If you're a bit further along with carving, this is a real mine of information for the different types of carving blocks that are the best for textiles. Fly Gurl has done a great review.

Fly Gurl

Some of the projects you can find are simply amazing, and the sizes of the carved stamps are larger than expected too.

Lili Arnold Studios

What an awesome representation of a heart. Aren't the carved curved sinewy lines so very beautiful?!

Salvaje

I thought I'd finish by showing some gorgeous examples of some carved stamps.

Suevangageldonk

Intricacy makes for a spellbinding image, but it's easy to forget what you can do with one image. This image is transformed into a mandala-esque beauty.

Andie Mayr

Lastly, carving can produce really stylised images too..

Alejandro Lopez

You're going to love the projects we have coming up for this topic. If you want to create along with us and this topic, please share on our social feeds so we can see what you get up to. The best places are Instagram @paperartsy or post in PaperArtsy People Group on Facebook. Make sure you tag us in your contributions, we love to see what you get up to in your creative world 

2019 #15 Coral: Fluttering Soul with ESN {by Autumn Clark}

2019 Topic 15: Coral

I was really interested to see how Autumn managed this cool ombre effect with her gel plate and 2 contrasting colours such as soft blue and coral. It's such a pretty effect and super-striking! Sara's bold stamps sit perfectly on top of the gorgeously arranged layers! ~Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Autumn Clark from SewPaperPaint with you, and I am thrilled to be sharing here on the PaperArtsy blog again today.  I was so excited to get a chance to play  along with the Coral topic and two of the yummy new Fresco Chalk Acrylic Paints (Coral) and (Peach Nectar), which I mixed with a little (Blue Oyster) and (Aquamarine).  To me this palette is very bright and cheery and sets the perfect stage for our beautiful PaperArtsy Eclectica {Sara Naumann} Collection (ESN33) and (ESN34).

I chose a simple ombre effect with my gel plate, achieved by brayering each color towards the middle of the plate.  My substrate was a variety of old book pages and scrapbook paper.  I was interested to see how I could create a large variety of stamping surfaces with very little supplies.  

I have always been drawn to bold imagery for stamp art and Sara's designs are just that!  I picked out the best portions of my gelli printed papers for my stamping, then tore each and every leftover scrap into just the right sized bits to add contrast and layers where needed in my four card designs.  

I used a ColorBox Chalkz ink pad in Charcoal for my stamping.  I love how this ink works with Fresco Chalk Acrylics.  Splashes of Nougat bring in more contrast.

I used upcycled packaging to build height with my layers, tucking in bits of doilies and scraps of lace along the way.  The cardboard is easily stapled and I made marks with the staples here and there for interest.

When working on collage style cards like this, I often make the entire set simultaneously.  This helps me spread out my elements evenly and make the most of my creative time, which we all know is more and more precious...

I hope these cards have encouraged you to have a little printing party with two or three of your favorite paints.  It has been such fun to see what colors each contributing artist has paired with Coral these two weeks.  We hope it helps you see the color in a whole new light.  

Until next time my friends, Autumn

Blog: SewPaperPaint.blogspot.com
Facebook: Autumn Clark
YouTube: Autumn Clark
Instagram: @sewpaperpaint
Pinterest: Autumn S Clark

2019 #15 Coral: Vintage Botanical Tea with Scrapcosy Stamps {by Raquel Burillo}

2019 Topic 15: Coral

Some infusions magic for you in this post, but in true Raquel-style, she also has paints, inks, and many techniques for you to contemplate. This is a bright spread for her, and it seems many of these colours are outside her usual comfort zone, so what about you, will you turn your hand to a new shade of coral ?? you know you want to!!! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Raquel (scrapcosy) with you today, and I'd like to share with you this art journal spread inspired by my tea set collection and the coral colour. I used very simple techniques, not many steps, but the result is a vintage tea garden full of details achieved with minimal art supplies (in terms of colour), but lots of stamps... I couldn't help but use my entire tea stamp set collection!

As you may know, I love to add colour with infusions, so these will be the main supplies I used, but not the only ones. I wanted to add a touch of paint as well, so I couldn't resist to use one of the new colours recently released which perfectly matches with my colour palette. Can you find out which one it is? Let's see first the result and then I'll give you more details and a video with all the steps as well.

Since the topic was coral, it was only natural that I would explore the 24 colours of infusions and I would select the one which resembled more the living coral (Pantone colour of the year 2019). I may be wrong, but my selected colour was Orange County, a colour that to be honest, I had never used before, since among the shortlist were 2 of my all time favourites Rusty Car and Sunset Beach. But this time I decided to set those to one side. Terracotta was also very promising, I'll come back to that one in the future too. And to add some contrast I went and chose again a colour that it's not in my preferred list at all, but I know in Spain this colour is killing it! Is a Bit Jaded  a favourite of yours as well maybe?

And since I love metallics, I thought that WOW embossing powder in gold (Metallic Gold Rich Pale - superfine detail) would be a nice touch to add here and there. So this became my basic palette.

In addition to Infusions I also used these 2 paints: Chalk Fresco Acrylic Paint and the new Cayenne (available ONLY from approved PaperArtsy stockists - see here), which perfectly matches Orange County.

I selected all these stamps ESC13, ESC14, ESC15 and ESC16. I was particularly interested in all flowers, laces, cups and postage stamps from the collection, as you will see.

And I selected the stencil PS105 as well

Let's talk about the background first.

First layer is Chalk Fresco Acrylic Paint, added to cover the book pages, but
still leave a hint of the letters visible behind.

The next layer is sprinkles of Orange County Infusions spritzed with water. If you see, the edges of the page (porous surface, since I added less paint at the edges) have richer infusions colour and more spots than the rest of the page (which is less porous due to the paint layer).

Next, using the Tea cloud stamp from ESC16 "inked up" with leftovers of wet infusions from my craft-sheet, I stamped all over the page. In this case it's a very subtle result which can be only seen on the lower-left of the picture below. Depending on the amount of water and infusions you use (how wet the stamp is and how much colour there is on it) you'll get
different results.

Then, using a brush to get more dirty water from my craft-sheet I did some splashes. Please note, if there is no leftover of dirty gorgeous infused water on your craft-sheet at any of the 2 previous steps above, just create a puddle to splash with on purpose!

And once all Infusions layers are done, we go back to the paint and use Cayenne, which sits underneath the 3 clusters I created for the spread. I just used a stencil brush to apply it before I stuck anything on the page.

My next step was stamping all the flowers, lace, cups and postage stamps from my tea stamp sets below on Smoothy Card stock using VersaFine Clair Pine cone ink (waterproof ink). Then I water-coloured the images with Infusions Orange County, and a Bit Jaded. Once all was dry fussy cut the lot. Gosh! Cutting all that took me AGES!! I also stamped (same ink) and embossed with WOW Embossing Powder some elements in vellum and in regular smoothy.

At this point all those little pieces are nice and flat and clean. If you ask me, they are too flat and too clean for me, so now it's when I add my vintage touch with regular distress ink (Tea dye, another new for me) and some well needed volume using my fingers and nails and the back of some brushes.

Here you can (hopefully) see an example of the 3D added to the little flower in ESC14 (I bet many people missed that this flower exists on that set !! There are 11 individual elements in ESC14... yes, 11! And Leandra and her elves must hate me for including all those pieces that they have to cut when they produce their stamps... (sorry guys!!) I bet now many of you will go up the post and have a second look at the picture of the stamp set :P)

Once all is ready, it's time to play to get the pieces to their final spots, but of course, I don't have a design for the spread 100% clear in my mind, I just had a rough idea of having a sentiment on the left page (Keep Calm and drink tea) surrounded by some elements and then having the bottom right corner full of detail and climbing up and left the spread. I also wanted to preserve some "white space" areas. So you can see the original first arrangement and how, after many hours and few days later, it actually ended up.

After all those hours spent arranging and re-arranging I felt like a florist moving all the flowers and cups and butterflies until I found the perfect arrangement - at least from my point of view. And also had in mind that I didn't want to cut more pieces (enough scissors for a while!), so I had to almost do magic with just 3 stamped tea plants of ESC16 to get all those green leaves into my composition. I may have chopped one of those plants in 4 parts or more...

The little paper pieces were moving so much (they are slippery!) while arranging them that I built up each cluster using sellotape on the back of the elements, adding one thing after the other, to keep them in place. So basically formed three clusters. Here is the title one. I originally wanted to stamp on the page but somehow I thought it may look too boring so I decided to highlight it somehow. It kind of ended up in a cross shape with all little bits and pieces of lace and some leftover flowers stamps and a butterfly.

Here is the left corner cluster. I love the postage stamp cloud in ESC15. It's a fantastic piece to create your own ephemera. And all the tea words around it can be used for different purposes as you'll see in the different clusters (they've become a lace, see title above, a word below and part of a label, three pictures below)

And the huge cluster. Here is the top part of it where I left some butterflies flying around.

And the bottom part, maybe one of my favourite sections of the spread, with that label in vellum and all the tiny leaves arranged with the postage stamps and the laces.

I glued everything mainly with mod-podge and I gave both pages a layer of it on top which then allowed me to work with distress crayons for the first time... I used the Vintage Photo one. I also used the Vintage Photo distress ink, so between the 2 supplies I managed to get some shadowing around the elements in the page.

I also used some foam adhesive to create 3D effect in the butterflies as well as in the cups. Check the result in the picture below. By the way, when I designed this tea collection of stamps I had in mind that I wanted to create a pile of cups and I love I finally decided to give it a go and how this tower of cups turned out, with spoons coming out from different directions.

Just a final picture from me, showing more 3D goodness which I love.

And if you want to see more, here is the link to the video.

I really had fun creating this spread. It was a hard work with scissors and a harder work to decide the final arrangement but I'm very pleased with the result and I can't wait to do more fussy cutting in the future. I love how collaging all bits and pieces give you the flexibility to not commit to a final stamped image on the page and let you play freely with your design until you're 100% convinced. I specially loved to chop and re-purpose different parts of a stamped image (like the tea plant or some of the laces) and see what they become in the final design. There is no right or wrong on how you arrange the items in the collage, so as long as you enjoy the playfulness of it, it's worth to spend the time.

That was all for today, thanks so much for spending your time in this maybe-too-long post, but I've been out for a while with my baby and all, and I may have come back too energetic on my typing and my sharing of pictures... I hope I didn't get you bored too much, hehe. See you around! And until the next one!

My blog: https://scrapcosy.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/scrapcosy
Instagram: https://instagram.com/scrapcosy/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raquel.burilloperez
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Scrapcosy