PA Blog 2018 Year in Review: Topics 9-12 with Alison Bomber

 PaperArtsy Blog year in Review (Topics 9-12)

Hello again from PaperArtsy HQ,

We are in the middle of a series looking back on the year of creativity on the PA blog, and tonight's curator is Alison Bomber. I'm sure you have already seen the last 2 posts, but I urge you to take a look as we are all really struggling to choose highlights! The posts have been stunning!  Enjoy! ~ Leandra

Hello all, Alison here from Words and Pictures and tonight I'm sharing my picks from Topics 9-12: Vintage Neutrals, Paper Dolls, Enshrined and Transfers. I missed so much this year as I had a lot on, one way or another, so this has been a great way for me to catch up with just some of the amazing work here on the PaperArtsy blog.

Topic 9: Vintage Neutrals 

This first topic is certainly right up my street. As most of you will know, I spend a lot of my time in the neutral palette, and vintage comes more naturally to me than modern. I was really honoured to be double-featured in Leandra's introduction to the topic... so it was wonderful to see what people created in the Vintage Neutral zone. For some it was business as usual, but for others it was a real step outside their comfort zone - which is often when exciting things happen.

My first pick is this amazing monochromatic panel by Nikki Acton, using the intricate Eclectica³ Seth Apter stamps. It's a brilliant example of how textures and layers, lights and darks, can give incredible atmosphere, detail and interest to a piece, proving that you don't really need colour at all.

Autumn Clark offered up a stunning nautical altered notebook cover, with a brilliant weathered plank technique into the bargain.  Check out how perfectly the vintage style of the Eclectica³ Scrapcosy stamps fits with the shabby chic look of the finished book.

I adore how Debs Wainwright uses vibrant colour in most of her work, but she changed direction to give us a deliciously soft version of vintage neutrals with her beautiful patchwork fabric needlecase.  With those scrumptious lacy textures and Hot Picks images, it looks as though it could have come straight from an 18th century lady's boudoir!

Additionally we saw so many beautiful vintage neutrals in the entries from all of you.  Sadly, there isn't space to honour all of them here, so do remind yourself of them by visiting the challenge post, but I couldn't resist featuring this tag by Julia Azenor.  Its gentle sweetness fits the topic theme to perfection (and I promise I'm not biased by her use of my Eclectica³ Alison Bomber quote!).

Topic 10: Paper Dolls

With my family background in dollshouses, you'd probably guess I'd be drawn to dolls... Well, I've never actually been that keen on real dolls (those waxy complexions, those staring glass eyes!), but I was definitely a Paper Doll fiend when I was younger.  I was never happier than with a pair of scissors, snipping out new outfits for my two-dimensional paper dolls.  So, again, this was a topic which provided so much delight for me.

After all those neutrals, my first choice had to be this vividly eye-catching page spread by Kate Yetter, using the miraculously detailed Lynne Perrella women as her Paper Dolls.  What a feast of colour, layers and feathery dimension.

Jo Firth-Young managed to clothe her Paper Doll by brilliantly adapting her own JOFY flowers and feathers and vases to make a whole wardrobe of stylish, versatile outfits.  Do visit the post to see the variations and accessorising - it's better than a fashion magazine spread.  There's even a shot of the Paper Doll admiring herself in a miniature mirror!

There was some more clever stamp adaptation going on in Etsuko Noguchi's wonderful Santos Cage Doll.   She combined Hot Picks images - one of the Clockwork Bird's heads added to a vintage corset - to create her Paper Doll.  And the traditional caged stand brings us into three dimensions too.

Plenty of the PaperArtsy designers used the fabulous Tim Holtz Paper Dolls in their creations (including me), and they featured amongst many of the entries to this challenge too.  Again, do visit the challenge post to see all the fabulous contributions from around the world.  It's mean to have to pick a favourite, but this project by Ann Chuang, using Eclectica³ Kim Dellow flower stems, couldn't help but win my heart... you see, it's got a dollshouse as well as the dolls!

Topic 11 : Enshrined

The Enshrined topic is so enticing... it promises so much - hidden delights, altars of celebration, dimensional shadow boxes full of possibility.  There were many gorgeous PaperArtsy designer projects to choose from, but I'm only allowed three, so here they are. 

Helen Chilton created a fabulous shrine dedicated to the extraordinary new characters from Darcy's fevered imagination.  This couple from the recent Eclectica³ Darcy release have been given a rainbow altar on which to display their charms... I just love that curly wire soaring over their heads.  Quirky, original, and so worthy of worship!

Miriam Grazier also headed down the quirky route with this hilarious shadow box shrine.  Those number counters will certainly come in handy when all you can really count on is your own advice, coming from the voices in your own head!  The whole thing was created with only a handful of paints and just one Hot Picks stamp set.  Keep talking to yourself, Miriam... it's working brilliantly!

We went from quirky to truly touching with Lucy Edmondson's commemorative shrine to the soldiers of the Great War.  The vivid red Hot Picks poppy glows amidst the gentle blues and greens, and memory of the lost soldiers is carefully preserved, hidden away in the drawer at the foot of the shrine.  An evocative piece beautifully appropriate to the topic.

There were fewer entries for this challenge - summer holidays, anyone? - but those that played along were equally inventive and varied in their interpretations.  Hazel Agnew gave the Fresco paints a workout to create this fabulously crackled, gilded box of treasures for her granddaughter.  It's well worth a visit to see the altered seashells and other treasures hidden away inside.

Topic 12 : Transfers

I've always loved the look of transfers, but there are so many ways to do them.  This topic provided a wealth of information about different techniques and transfer mediums - there's so much to try out... so it was brilliant to have so many PaperArtsy designers offering up their experiments and experiences for us all to learn from.

Carol Fox used Fresco Finish Matte Glaze for her transfer technique, and created this dreamily romantic journal page with Eclectica Sara Naumann stamps, Seth Apter paints, and a Kim Dellow stencil.  It's like a walk in a summer garden, but with added wistfulness from that fragile beauty in the photograph.

There was oodles of both inspiration and information from Alison Hall, who experimented with various ways to transfer images onto oven-baked clay.  She used Ink & the Dog stamps and other gathered images to create these fantastic cards featuring her gorgeous clay tiles.

Dounia Large worked overtime for this topic, producing two posts full of exciting experimentation.  In the first, she played with transferring images onto stencilled Grunge Paste, using Eclectica³ Ellen Vargo stamps and Tracy Scott stencils.  Dimension, texture and transfers - who could ask for anything more?!  It's really worth a visit to check out the amazing effects in close-up if you didn't see them at the time.

I also went way outside my comfort zone for this topic (I even went so far as to buy a fashion magazine for my transfers... eek!), so I was delighted that my Courage Of Your Dreams post inspired Etsuko Noguchi for her entry to the challenge.  She created a "Queen of Sorrow" using the Gelli-plate transfer technique I'd showcased, with a Lynne Perrella stained glass panel and one of my Eclectica³ Alison Bomber quotes to frame it - an atmospheric piece, almost like a medieval icon. 

It's really extraordinary how much variety and how much inspiration there is to be found in the responses to the PaperArtsy topic challenges, from designers and entrants alike.  I've really enjoyed being reminded of projects I did see and discovering new ones which I missed at the time.  In fact, I've had so much fun that I'll be back with some more favourites in a couple of days time!

Alison x