PaperArtsy Blog Summary of Topics 7-9 {Curated by Emma Godfrey)

Blog Summary: Resists, White Space, Mono-Printing

As Spring brings warmth, so did the creativity heat up on the PaperArtsy Blog too. Tempered with a touch of white space minimalism, we soon found more to challenge us from week to week.

Tonight's curator is Emma Godfrey and she is looking back on Topics 7-9: Resists, White Space, Mono Printing.

Leandra

Hi everyone, Emma here, and I'm so excited that Leandra asked me to do a summary showing you some of the fabulous projects from Topics 7-9 on the PaperArtsy blog this year.

Where has 2016 gone? This year has been pretty busy for me ... I've been teaching a lot and of course designing stamps. This summary in particular caught my interest as when I have had time to create just for fun, then I've turned to my Gelli Plate. To be honest I wasn't really sure what to do with it at first, but with some help (thank you Jo Firth-Young!) and of course the inspiration on the PaperArtsy blog, I've really loved creating pages and pages of backgrounds. Most of these have now been turned into cards, with lots of white space around the printed pieces ... which again ties in nicely with this summary!

I'm hoping that with a couple of changes that I have planned for next year I'll have a lot more time to just play and experiment (isn't that want we all want in an ideal world?) ... there are just so many techniques and ideas I want to try out ... some of which are in the projects below...

Topic 7: Resists

From the obvious to the unusual ... resists are something that I use a lot of the time, often without even conciously thinking about it. Wax, embossing powder, masking fluid, stencils, stickers to name but a few ... all of them can be used to block off or reveal negative space or a wonderful patterned layer underneath. My personal favourite is embossing powder, but I definitely need to try some of these other ideas...

My first pick is Box Of Sunshine by Paula Pascual. You can see the gorgeous finished project in the main photo above - and the reason I chose this project is that I thought it was fabulous how she incorporated three different types of resist into this "clean and simple" project.

And I hope you didn't miss Alison Bomber and her Fossil Resist ATC's. I love the aged and distressed look of these cards over the top of the crisp clear embossing powder.

I also loved Gabrielle Price's Grow With Me post. I would never have thought about using Glossy Accents as a resist (genius idea!) and the flowers stamped on book text are just beautiful.

Lastly, I loved the soft colours that Seth Apter used in his Spring Wings piece. He used wax crayon to highlight areas of the stamped images - which of course resisted his pretty watercolours.

Topic 8 : White Space

White space (or negative space as it is also known - after all it doesn't have to always be white) is a fabulous way of balancing a composition. Sometimes less is indeed more. Plain areas allow you to draw attention to the main focus (or extremely busy areas) of your projects. I personally love using "white space", especially in clean & simple cards and scrapbook layouts.

My first pick is Wonderful White Space by Keren Baker. We don't often see projects using the Cats Meow range of stamps, but this little boat is the perfect centrepiece, and the heavy typeface of the word "sea" helps balance and anchor it (excuse the pun!).

Next on my list is this Notebook from Anneke De Clerck. Anneke uses white space a lot in here projects to fabulous effect. This project goes to show that white space doesn't have to be a huge expanse - even smaller areas can still make all the other elements "pop".

This is Pretty Awesome (and it really is!) by Karen Hayselden. Adding some texture to the white space adds so much more interest without detracting from the focal point ... and I {love} how she coloured in the face and hair.

Last, but definitely not least is Wanda Hentges and her Sizzling Summer Cards. Wow! What a pop of bright colour, and how wonderful do those Ellen Vargo flowers look against that white space background. Using just a bit of colour in one corner on the background just ties them all together beautifully.

Topic 9 : Mono Printing

Perfect for creating one-off and unique prints, mono printing is a fantastic way of experimenting with layers. Altering colours, patterns, products, substrates and how much pressure you apply will give you wildly different results. I've always found this technique to be quite unpredictable, but if you're open to that then it can be so much fun! All my picks below have used a Gelli Plate, but there are lots of other options if you look at the Topic intro post.

First up is Marta Lapkowska and her Gelli Doodling. I adore how Marta has stamped these Lynne Perrella stamps on top of here Gelli Plate printed background, and then doodled the quirky hats and feet, before cutting them out to create little paper dolls. Genius!

My second pick is Tags & Dominoes by Alison Hall. What a riot of colour ... and right up my street! Alison used a Gelli Plate and Ellen Vargo stamps (in a resist effect) to create these fabulous backgrounds. Touches of black and white balance everything out.

Next up is Jo Firth-Young and It's In The Bag. This project also ties in beautifully with the White Space Topic above! By using one of the small shaped Gelli Plates, Jo has stamped a calico bag with a lovely pattern - and each hexagon is a mini and unique work of art.

My final link is another fabric inspired project by Sue Carrington. This is her Daisy Journal Cover. How gorgeous is this? The background is built up using layers of prints with stencils (first prints and ghost prints). Adding some stamps to the background, and then the stamped focal images, just pulls it all together into a beautiful finished piece.

So what did you think? Weren't they all fabulous? I have to say, it was incredibly hard to pick just a few to highlight, as every single post in all of these topics were amazing. 

I do hope they've inspired you to go and play and try out some of the ideas. If you want more details on how the projects were made, just click on the designers name above the photos. And of course you can find all of the other posts for these three Topics under April & May 2016 in the side bar.

Happy explorations!
Emma

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