2020 #10 Inspiration Deck with ETS {by Dounia Large}

2020 Topic 10: Recycled Packaging

Dounia pares it right back to just stencils and Infusions, one paint and a glaze and has created something that looks a little like Batik fabric. This is a great example of what you can make with limited supplies and a tonne of imagination. The finished project leaves no clues as to its humble beginnings but is going to leave Dounia with a rich source of artistic ideas.

~ Keren.

Hi everyone, it's Dounia with you today, and I'd like to share with you a deck of inspirational cards and their holder made with very little supplies.

I am the kind of person who saves all the bits and pieces of packaging because it could be useful, so I think this topic is right up my alley!. However inspiration does not always come easily, especially if you are trying to craft regularly, like  when journalling. It has been a problem for me lately, even though I have had quite a bit of time to be creative. I therefore decided to take advantage of this topic to create a tool to help me face the white page while playing with cardboard and Infusions!

My idea was to make cards with prompts. I can then choose some randomly to provide me with a direction in my crafting. I also was not home at the time and therefore could not access my stash and supplies. However packaging is available everywhere! (I had also packed a few essentials...).

Using recycled materials make this a quick and cheap project, with a lot of room for experimentation. I love stencils and they take so little space, it is easy to take quite a few with you. Here I played with 4 stencils from Tracy Scott: PS168 and PS169, as well as PS187 and PS189 from the April release. I find them perfect to repeat and create an overall pattern.

I decided on 3 categories of cards (colours, shapes, themes) differentiated by colour. Travelling with a lot of paints can be complicated so I often prefer to take my Infusions. They are quite versatile and with only a few paint colours and mediums, you can achieve different colours and textures.

Here I mixed Frankly Scarlet, Golden Sands and Royal Blood with Snowflake Fresco acrylic paint and sponged them through the stencils. Packaging is rarely all white but I was lucky and found these mostly blank frame fillers. As the cards are rather small, I could easily work around the printed parts.

I then spread the Infusions simply with a paintbrush charged with water. The ink created takes differently on the paper and the paint creating a resist effect that I particularly love. I used the same colours, mixed with others in the same tones (Sunset Beach, Orange County, and A Bit Jaded) for more variation but the effect is already quite interesting in monochrome.

For the final layer, I used the same stencils and Infusions but this time mixed it with Matte Glaze for a darker tone. No risk of colours clashing!

 

Then it was just a lot of cutting. I also lined the card with white paper because I was not quite able to keep the backs clean while decorating... but it's recycled paper!

To keep my deck organised, I found these sliding cheese boxes. They look like giant matchboxes! They came with corrugated cardboard liners but I did not use those in the end.

For them to still fit, I could only really work on the interior of the drawers. I still painted the exterior a bit. I then had to use soap for them to slide in and out but that blue was just too stark!

The inside liners are made using the same techniques as the cards, without the last layer. Instead I sprinkled water droplets to lift some of the colour and provide texture.

 As I worked on the different pieces, I stencilled the leftover paints on another piece of card. It ended looking great and I promoted it to exterior cover.

I used two boxes because I thought I would need the space for the cards but they ended fitting in only one. The other one can be storage, for pencils and pens for example.

I have not had the occasion to play with it yet but I'm quite excited!

I hope this project inspired you either to make your own deck or to play with stencilling and layering Infusions. I always find creating masterboards fun and relaxing so don't hesitate to give it a go!

Stay safe and creative!

Dounia x