PA 2017 : Blog year in review: Topics 13-16

Hello again from PaperArtsy HQ,

I hope your Christmas break is going well, although many of you will have had a day or 2 back to work, for many people its a relaxing time over the Christmas New year week. Here is another post looking back and celebrating the inspirational ideas presented on the PaperArtsy blog in 2017.

Tonight I'm sharing my picks from Topics 13-16

Leandra 

Topic 13: Metallics

Metallics have been such a strong trend in interior decor for a few years now, and naturally this is also reflected in our crafting. Gold leaf, metallic paints, embossing powders, mica powders and sprays, there are multiple ways that all these elements can successfully add the blingy 'magpie' effect into your work!

Autumn Clark created such gorgeous Xmas cards with Lynne Perrella stamps and a pop of shine. My first pick is this amazing beauty by. A very ...(link to original blog post)

Jennie's trademark soft shades contrast with gold perfectly in this textured assembly of vintage-looking elements.

I thought the delicate metallic embossed colour on Alison's post worked perfectly with the shades of brown. Both she and Raquel prefer to stamp in brown, than black, and i must push myself to stamp wit other coloured inks this year! There you go, one New Year's resolution sorted!

Topic 14: Glitter

Well, yes, we chose Glitter as a topic!!. So don't fall over in shock! But all these sparkly blingy things fell into the same zone for this round, so glitter it is...take a deep breath!

Chris Cresswell made a wonderful array of cards and these popsicle sticks fitted the tall zinski stamps perfectly, look at the cute glittery tops! Go and check out her post, so many card ideas here!

When Jo Firth-Young happened to drop into HQ, and saw me planning out the topics, she booked herself a glitter spot there and then! She LOVES glitter, and Christmas is always her perfect excuse! Here she has decorated an advent calendar perfectly!

The really funny thing about this topic was that (apart from Jo) almost ALL the bloggers were OUT of their comfort zone with glitter, so many went for the non-traditional glitter option, or used very little of it. This was one of those very subtle takes on the topic from Sue Carrington. Fabulous!

And Corrie added subtle holographic glitter to her Halloween backgrounds!

But I was blown away by Raquel's Star decorations. She turned her 'flat' star stamp into a whole bunch of glittered tree decorations!

And Keren used alcohol ink pens to colour glitter paste!! Clever clogs that she is!

Topic 15 : Pearlescent

So glitter lead us nicely into the pearly area of mica, pearlescent paints and so on! You can see this really kicked us into a festive vibe in October! Plenty of cards and decorations were being made in readiness for Christmas!

I loved this frame by Autumn with the pearly vibe to the eggplant EP, but the panel inside was a gorgeous marbled effect! How elegant!

Helen made pearly skins....

And then stamped on them! How does she think this stuff up?!??

I adored Ruth's soft mosaic tiles! These would make an amazing frame for so many pieces of art!

And Bryan created some fast cards with his layering of pearl onto other shades for a quick 'pop' of pearl.

Topic 16 : Rustification

Well we couldn't miss out 'rust' in this round of metallic madness! Many people knew about our rusting powder, but never really played with it extensively! The trick is you need to glue it down first with a good gel medium, then spritz, keeping it damp until the colour is at a tone you prefer. My best results are direct onto untreated wood or fabric. (so no painty base layers) But our bloggers had other ideas to try!

Sue Carrington rusted everything in sight, then created a fabulous homage by the way of this collage.

Clare M used layers of paints to create her rusty effect. This is such a striking background!

Nikki nailed a patina effect (of course she did!!) as she is well known for her patination skills! The colours in this are amazing!And she also used that gorgeous star of Raquel's!

 

And finally for this topic we saw Miriam rust a stamp image onto fabric! Worked a treat too!

It is awesome to look back on what our bloggers have created. Tomorrow will be our final wrap up of the final 3 topics of 2017. Thanks for being part of our blog, and following along with our designers, and responding to their creativity!

Leandra