2015 #18 A Bit of Victorian and Halloween {by Penny Nuttall}

 2015 Topic 18: Wearable Art

Hi and welcome everyone, Penny here...

As promised, here is a wearable art project developed from the Hot Picks samples first introduced in the new product launch earlier this month (a feast of new stamp sets and inspiration!) using HPHW05 No apologies for all the sewing.....but the stamps work really well on fabric and you could use the patches on cards as well so......

How about this waist flattering corset style belt??

I started by preparing the belt base. I layered heavyweight interfacing, thin quilt wadding and black cotton fabric, and machine stitched in sort of parallel lines (a bit random is good).

...then skimmed over the surface with a lightly loaded brayer using Vanilla and Granny Smith (apple pie and custard!) Fresco Acrylic paint. NB Granny Smith is from the brand new Limited Edition Paint set available only from a PaperArtsy stockist now!

Then I prepared the stamped images. I ironed a close weave white cotton fabric to paper backed Bondaweb, which will adhere the image to the background and also provide stability for stamping. As mentioned, I used HPHW05. Available from your favourite PaperArtsy Stockist.

I coloured the images with Fresco paint diluted with water. Wetting the fabric slightly with water first helps the colours to flow and blend without tide marks.

If you are likely to want to wash your finished project, mixing the paint with a fabric medium to make it more permanent on the fabric, and softer to the touch, but for this project the Fresco is enough on its own.

I then cut out the elements and ironed them onto a plain black background, and then cut them out again leaving a quarter inch frame...

...and stitched them to the belt, finally adding lace embellishments.

I hope you have enjoyed this project and that you will be inspired to have a go. (Take a look at my blog for a pattern and measurements for the actual belt). These stamps are deeply etched and give crisp and clear images on fabric. Choose good quality closely woven fabric for the best results..........and I love skulls and bones........weird.

Bye for now, Penny.

Wow Penny its so great to see you sewing. You are such a master costumier, so this is a perfect topic for you I am sure!! Thanks for sharing with us how to stamp and colour with Frescos onto fabric so softly, this has turned out simply amazing, I hope you have a theatrical witch to loan it to for Halloween !!!

We would love you to join in with challenge #18:Wearable Art. If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Wearable Art link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, October 19th winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00

2015 #18 Floral Clutch {by Lucy Edmondson}

 2015 Topic 18: Wearable Art

Hi everyone Lucy here from True Colours,  joining you this evening with one of my favourite things in life, something to wear! 

I've decorated a clutch bag made from flexible wood, giving it loads of texture by stamping on canvas, and finishing off with a matching tissue paper lining. I had a fabulous time experimenting with the different colour combinations achievable with the new Fresco Finish Limited Edition Paints, and the Eclectica {Lin Brown} recent glorious floral stamp collections.

I have used the Poppy stamp as a Poppy Anemone for my focal point, to fit with my colour scheme, and as a matching shrink plastic clasp. With canvas you don't achieve such crisp stamping as you do on cardstock, but I do find you get a much better image with Frescos than you do with inks.

Step 1: Remove the original wooden button clasp which has a little screw and set aside. Remove the elasticated cord which has a knot at each end. Paint the bag inside and out with gesso to help the glue adhere.

Step 2: Lightly apply Professor Plum (limited Edition PaperArtsy Paint): FFPA1 ...

... to the rough side of a piece of Frosted Shrink Plastic and stamp the Poppy from ELB23 in Archival Jet Black ink. Paint the centre with a light application of Tangerine Twist (discontinued ELB paint set, try Yellow Submarine  instead), and Zesty Zing, and the remainder of the flower with Prawn (Discontinued JOFY paint - mix Rose/ Chalk/ with the tiniest dash of Tango) and Professor Plum (FFPA1 set above).

ELB23

Step 3: Paint the 'button' you removed from the bag with Professor Plum. Cut out one whole shrink plastic flower and cut away the outer edge of the second so you have a slightly smaller flower. Shrink and flatten the first one with your heat tool. As you shrink the second, manipulate it slightly around the edges as shown so the petals are higher than the centre and the centre is flattened against the craft sheet so it will stick well. Use Golden Matte Medium to glue the two flowers together and then glue them onto the button. Leave overnight to set-up. (Do the same when you eventually glue them onto the bag).

Step 4: Brayer Professor Plum, Granny Smith, and Captain Peacock from the new Limited Edition paint set onto a sheet of canvas and some of the special tissue paper. Knock it back with Teresa Green. If it is still too strong in places, brayer a little Chalk. Allow enough canvas to wrap around the bag and also cover the oval pieces at the sides.

Step 5: Start to build up your design. It's easiest if you do the canvas and the tissue simultaneously. I have used all the paint colours from the limited edition set and stamps from ELB 22, 23, and 24. I then drooled as I mixed Captain Peacock with Teresa Green and discovered a gorgeous pistachio colour!

I used a stencil brush to apply it through the flowers from the JOFY stencil PS008 ...

... and as I didn't want all of it, I faded the colour out at the edges. I also used Granny Smith through the leaf stencil PS006.

ELB22

ELB24

Step 6: Another drooling moment! This time using Professor Plum and Captain Peacock to make a deep mauve for the fronds from ELB22. (see below)

Step 7: Stamp the Poppy from ELB23 in Little Black Dress to the right of the flap part of the prepared canvas piece. Paint the centre with Tangerine Twist and Zesty Zing mixed with a little Satin Glaze to make them more translucent, and add a little around the stamens. 

Mix a little Captain Peacock to Professor Plum to make a lovely bluey mauve and add a little Satin Glaze to make it less opaque so that it does not obscure the black details.Paint the rest of the flower with a small brush.  I kept remixing on my craft sheet so that in some areas I had a more blue, and in some a more pink, mauve. Dry brush some highlights onto the petals in places and around the centre with a little Bougainvillea. Stamp 'Find Beauty in the Small Things' from ELB24 in Professor Plum to the left of the Poppy Anemone.

Line the bag with the decorated tissue using Golden Matte Gel. Cover the bag with the prepared canvas in the same way. Reattach the elastic cord and edge the bag with some Granny Smith on cut n dry foam. To finish, add the shrink plastic flower clasp.

Finally, here's a close up of the bag, showing the flower in a bit more detail. You can see the pink highlights in this shot, and the canvas texture.

What I liked most about this project was that I totally adored the new colours and the floral stamps, and for me, the chance to use them on something I could carry around as part of an outfit was perfect. The new colours work so well side by side, but also as blends. I am thinking this may end up as a fancy pencil case to use on workshops. That would be a good chance to show it off!

Loads more photos on my blog! Thanks for looking,

Lucy 

The new colours are gorgeous indeed Lucy and work in harmony together. The little shrink flower embellishment is adorable. Wonderful project to kick start the new theme. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us. ~ Gillian

We would love you to join in with challenge #18: Wearable Art If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Circles link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Oct 11th winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2015 Topic 18 Wearable Art {Challenge}

 2015 Topic 18: Wearable Art

Hi everyone Darcy here to introduce a new topic for the blog: Wearable Art. Are you a bit puzzled? just what is wearable art? 

We are more than use to working on canvasses, boards, paper and card and even on fabric: these have come to be regular substrates for us. Mostly we work flat, occasionally we transform our creations into 3D objects, but their sole purpose is generally decorative. This challenge aims to take your creativity out of your craft rooms and into the outside world.  To make things to wear, showing off your talents and creating accessories that are truly unique. 

Think back, how many of you , when younger, painted on your jeans? or decorated the back panel of a denim jacket, or painted on your school bag? You were creating wearable art even then, you just didn't realise it. 

Before we get into what is out there now lets see who won the Topic 17: Pigment Powders Challenge. We had fabulous bursts of colour over the 2 weeks resulting in some really great inspirational projects. 

The winner is Mac Mable  from The Sweetest of Peas

Please get in touch with Darcy by emailing darcydotneedles@hotmail.com to claim your prize.

So, what is out there now? well, when you start to search the results are mindboggling, from the sublime to the ridiculous and everything inbetween. Many searches reveal fashion items, and while the designing of clothes is surely an art form, 'wearable art' is another animal completely. The pieces are usually one-offs and not part of a marketable range, often they are made with unusual and/or recycled materials, hand painted and  hand crafted. I think the main difference between fashion and wearable art are the personal touches, the input of oneself into the project, heart and soul, personal preferences and methods. 

Let's start with clothing, there are many,many beautiful textile and fibre arts pieces of clothing out there such as this.

Pinterest

and paper based ones like this 

Pinterest 

or how about this one made from balloons.. 

Pinterest

Here is a short video from the World of Wearable Art Awards, this is an art and  theatrical extravaganza  from New Zealand.

But how about one a little more achievable, this canvas dress by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer is gorgeous (Julie has a line of fabulous stencils with Crafter's Workshop, many of which we sell in the PA webshop), the ideas here could be translated to a plain bought dress or apron. Julie used printed canvas, but you could easily replicate this with stencils and Fresco finish paint. 

How about getting creative with Duct Tape. 

If you don't fancy a whole outfit then how about just a duct tape bag. 

How about a painted bag, if you are nifty with a sewing machine you can start from scratch, but no fear there are plenty of bags out there that need a new lease of life. 

Or take an old book, decorate the covers and make a bag from them. See how that can be done HERE. 

What would an outfit be without matching shoes like these stunning ones from Hazel 

Now for some smaller pieces, the accessories, these are probably the most achievable projects. but hey if you want to enter the challenge with a duct tape ballgown, then go for it!

Pinterest

The texture on these could be recreated with stencils and gel mediums, or stamps pressed into paper clay. 

Do you remember these beautiful pieces by Alison..

I found this really cool necklace tutorial and just had to share. This could be done with gelli prints as in the video, or with your stamped masterboards. 

Don't forget domino bracelets, always interesting and can be a fantastic addition to an outfit. 

I love these brooches, can you just see something like this being made based on Jofy flowers..

Only one thing remains, a little something to complete your outfit:a crown!

Pinterest

These are just a few ideas for you, there is a wealth of inspiration out there and we are convinced you will all come up with some amazing ideas of your own. Bags, belts, shoes, hats, aprons, jewellery, cuffs, ties, scarves,altered clothing, (how about an altered bra!) Try new substrates, old leather is great for painting and stamping onto. Search the charity shops for leather gloves or old bags. 

Explore paper clay, and hand crafted paper beads, painting on fabric and assemblages of unusual items.The possibilities are endless, go on, show us what you are wearing this season. 

If you pop over to Leandra's Pinterest page (Wearable Art) there will be more ideas to explore. 

Topic 18: Wearable Art PaperArtsy Blog Challenge

We'd love you to share your ideas and link up your creativity to this page. Please familiarise yourself with the challenge guidelines below before entering.

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Wearable Art link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Oct 11th , winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

1. The challenge is a chance for you to show how you have been inspired by a particular technique of the fortnight. Your entry should contain:

- a mention of which post inspired you and why, and 

- a link in your blog post to that original post on the PA blog.

The whole concept of this challenge is 'play along with us'. You are encouraged to put your own twist on ideas you see on our blog. We love to see how you are inspired and your twist!

2. The link you put on our linky page must lead directly to the specific post on your blog where you have explored the technique/ idea mentioned in point 1 above. Don't link to the home page of your blog, or we will be unable to find the post to leave you comments.

3. Spam links will be deleted.

4. We prefer your challenge post is created exclusive to our challenge, but if our topic fits perfectly with another challenge, then of course your post may link to both if you feel it is appropriate.

5. You are most welcome to use stamps/ products/ substrates you have to hand from a variety of companies, we do not expect you to exclusively use PA products - it's lovely when you do though!

6. You can enter as many times as you like in the fortnight. We don't want to restrict your creativity or participation! Link closes at 17:00 Sunday Oct 11th   (London Time)

7. The winner of the random draw will receive a £50 credit to be redeemed on the PaperArtsy Website, the credit includes VAT and postage. We request that one of your purchases is an A5 rubber stamp. You can add any other items to your basket, but the final total should not exceed £50

8. Each Sunday fortnight the winner will be announced at 19:00, also, in the same post, the link for the next fortnight will be posted. It's your responsibility to claim your prize coupon from Darcy: email her darcydotneedles@hotmail.com

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

2015 #17 Garden of Dreams {Kay Ballard}

2015 Topic 17: Pigment Powders

Hello everyone - Kay Ballard with you this evening (also known as Kaybee). I was really excited to be asked do a guest spot on the Paper Artsy blog about one of my favourite mediums – Brusho watercolour inks. They are little pots of powdered joy! 

I use all kinds of paint, including acrylic (my PaperArtsy Fresco collection is rather extensive), and I’ve recently tried oil paints. I love colour, texture and dimension, and for me, happiness is experimenting and constantly learning. My Paper Artsy stamp collection is also starting to burst out of the box I keep them in. All of them work really well with Brushos, whether stamping onto pre-Brusho'd material, or stamping/embossing and then colouring.

My project started life as a 10" x 8" watercolour board, which is watercolour paper bonded to a backing board. First I stamped and heat embossed (in white and olive green), using ELB22 and the dragonfly from JOFY 13. It is quite difficult to see the white embossing in the photo. At this stage I also added some book page slivers. 

ELB22

JOFY 13

I prepared some different materials with the Brushos – plain card, glossy card, book pages and some white felt. I forgot to photograph the felt before I had cut into it, so it was fortunate I had a piece left over!

At the same time I stamped and white embossed some images (from ELB23) onto heavyweight watercolour paper, which were then flooded with water and sprinkled with Brushos, - it is very tempting to then take a brush and fiddle with the colour, but leave it to dry to create some amazing colour combinations.

ELB23

I then stamped images from ELB22 and ELB23 onto these various materials. 

Back to the board, and I sprinkled three different Brusho colours and spritzed with water, adding more powder and water until I was happy. These powders are fabulously unpredictable when lightly spritzed, but can be used as normal watercolours if dissolved in water first. Only a very small amount of the powder is needed to produce vibrant colours; too much powder and it will become dark and muddy. 

I cut out all the stamped images from the various materials and spent a happy time arranging everything. The words are from ELB04. 

ELB04

The cone flower is made from the tulip head (ELB23), stamped 3 times and the outer petals cut away; topped with a small circle of Brusho'd card. 

The caterpillar (from JOFY37) has some hairy wool fixed at the back. I love him!

JOFY37

I also love the soft effect of Brushos on felt, and it is possible to stamp and emboss on it, but keep the image simple. Be quick when heating the embossing powder or the felt will burn.

I hope I’ve inspired you to try Brushos (or any paint for that matter) on different materials. I’ve had great fun with this project, and thank you to Paper Artsy for inviting me to play! 

You can find my ramblings about all things arty on my blog www.inkpaintandme.blogspot.co.uk

Kay 

Thanks Kay, how fabulous are those felt flowers! This is such a great piece, full of interesting textures and layers. All the different substrates working so well together. ~Darcy

We would love you to join in with challenge #17: Pigment Powders If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE.

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Pigment Powders link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Sept 27th winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.