2016 #15 Patterned Gift Box {by Chris Cresswell}

2016 Topic 15: Patterns

Hi everyone Chris Cresswell here joining you this evening with a post about ‘Creating Patterns’ using one of Emma Godfrey’s brilliant stamp sets (EEG17) and one of her minis (EM24). I chose this particular technique because of my love of doodling and creating patterns in my art journaling. All of my art tends to favour symmetry in shape and design so repeating patterns is something I turn to again and again. My attempts to introduce asymmetry into my art make me feel uncomfortable and less happy with the result. So, when I chose this theme I knew that I was going to love it. 

Right from the start I wanted to make a Gift set which could incorporate a Gift box, Greetings card and mini gift tag. There was no problem choosing colours either! Bougainvillea was going to be there for certain. After that, I was just going to play around with some complementary colours. 

Before making the actual items, I decided to play around with an idea that I’d seen Birgit Koopsen use when she stamped straight onto the Gelli plate. Now, I love my Gelli plate so I couldn’t wait to try this technique with Emma’s stamps. More process photos of how I did this can be seen on my blog, but I will show a quick step from a favourite paint combination (Bougainvillea/Captain Peacock) here… 

…to the stamped into version here. I told you I love symmetry - no random stamping here as I was trying to create a symmetrical pattern! I love the way one colour is lifted into the other colour as you repeat stamp across the colours. As you can see, stamping into the paint on the Gelli plate removes it to leave white space. 

EEG17

After several colour combinations and lots of fun stamping into paint, I finally decided to opt for the Bougainvillea/Captain Peacock combo for the Gift box set.

 I started with the Gift box, or rather, the gift box came to me following a lovely day out in the Cotswolds with my daughter and grandchildren. We had ordered Fish and Chips for tea which came laden with bread and butter in a white, cardboard take-out box. So that came home with me! 

I deconstructed it and laid it out flat. Now for the tricky part! Due to its odd shape it was not as easy to press onto the Gelli plate in the way the PaperArtsy Smoothy card had been. But I persevered and was pleased with the outcome albeit not as symmetrical as I would have liked. 

The next step was to select one of the images to overstamp with Ranger Black Archival ink. This really makes the colours pop. I just love this big doodle ‘square’. 

Then, a little more stamping and doodling with my favourite white, uni-ball signo pen finished the design. 

I painted the reverse with Fresco chalk Captain Peacock and used stamps from the main set and the mini set to create a pattern for the box interior. 

Now it was just a case of reassembling it all back together again. I love this close up, showing the merger of the two colours in creating that delicious violet colour. Serendipity! 

Having completed the Gift box, I only needed to use some pieces from the Smoothy Card experiments to create a gift card and tag. With the addition of some pink tissue paper, pink wool, and some raspberry/blueberry cookies, this is now ready for a lovely friend to cheer her up during a difficult time. Hope she likes it! 

Having created so many colour combinations on PaperArtsy Smoothy card, I was able to make a lovely stack of cards and tags using Emma’s brilliant sentiments on her mini stamp. This is a small sample! 

EM24

I do hope I have inspired you to use your stamps to create patterns. Another idea I now wish I’d used was to use PaperArtsy Tissue stock to create my own patterned tissue to go inside the box. I might still do that. This is also a great idea for Wrapping paper or a journal cover. I will certainly continue to make patterns in my art. Happy Crafting everyone, 

Chris Cresswell 

Blog: loopsandlines

Twitter: artmadnana 

Facebook: Christine Cresswell 

Instagram: Christine Cresswell 

Wow Chris! I am sure the recipient will adore this gift set. The colours are perfect, punchy, bright and happy and the overlap secondary colour mix is just beautiful. Using large stamps like these is always a winner on the gelli plate as they create a brilliant base on which to build. Looks like you had a blast making them all going by the last photo. ~Leandra

We would love to see how you interpret this House topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #15: Patterns, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Paper Piecing link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Aug 21st 2016. The winner will be announced 2  hours later at 19:00.