2020 Topic #18 Tiled Journal Page with EEG (by Jenny Marples)

     2020 Topic 18: Geometric

Who knew that ordinary tiled designs could end up to be so beautiful? With her usual layering and delicious details, Jenny has illustrated the old principle of not giving up on failures and persevering to produce something lovely.
~ Keren.

Hi everyone, it's Jenny Marples with you today, and I'd like to share a journal page which includes a 'tiling technique' created using Emma Godfrey's beautiful stamp set EEG25.

Geometric designs have played an important part in the life of tiles through the ages; you only have to think back to the patterns painted onto those tiles used by many Victorians in their hallways or the symmetrical patterns created with the tiles themselves by the Moors in the Alhambra. Emma Godfrey's stamp set features a couple of tile designs as well as a doorway that has a partially tiled surround and it immediately sprang to mind as the perfect starting place for this journal page.

Below you can see more closely the geometric patterns on the tiles around the door.

Here's how the journal page came together, starting with the larger side of the journal spread painted with a coat of Blue Bayou Fresco Finish Paint.

To give the page a little more depth some Calypso Fresco Finish Paint was then brushed randomly over the top using an old paint brush - seeing the brush strokes here makes such a difference to the surface.

Once the paint was completely dry I rubbed over the surface with an anti-static bag before inking up one of the tile designs from Emma Godfrey's stamp set with clear embossing ink. Starting in the middle I repeat stamped the tile before covering it all with clear embossing powder. You'll notice below how there are parts where the powder is missing - this was deliberately done with a small paint brush as I wanted to echo the broken tiles around the door.

After heat setting the embossing powder, some Cloud 9 Fresco Finish Paint was applied over the top. Before it was totally dry I used a dry cloth to remove the paint on the embossed sections to reveal the tile design and blue/green colours below. 

This process was repeated with some Heavy Cream Fresco Finish Paint in order to add warmer tones to some areas.

Below you'll see I had some fun with a small Gel Plate and some coordinating paints, pulling lots of prints on thick tissue paper that had been used as packaging material. I chose to use the yellow piece in the top left hand corner which is predominantly made up of Gold Rush, Heavy Cream and Buff Fresco Finish Paints. Using a permanent black ink I stamped the beautiful interlocking geometric pattern design stamp from Emma's set onto it, cutting around the edges before adhering it over some of the 'embossed tiles'.

To add a little more texture and interest to the tiles without wanting to cover any more I handstitched into it using a traditional 'sashiko' pattern. The words come from Alison Bomber's EAB16 set and were stamped onto card before being trimmed to size.

Below you can see the piece of tissue I used to stamp the door on; it is a lesson in never giving up on what can seem like a disaster! As is obvious just by looking at it, this was a Gel Plate pull that 'failed' since only parts of the paint were lifted. Turns out this proved to be a good thing because I only needed fragments of colour to show beneath the stamped image.

Using a stamping platform I added the image using permanent black ink, painted over it with the colours already out on the desk for this project, and re-stamped to add the design detail back in. When tearing the tissue to fit the smaller page it was helpful to 'paint' a line of water around the image to act as a guide. It was then added to the smaller side of the journal page using some soft gel matte medium.

A little extra trim was created by painting some lace with Autumn Fire Fresco Finish Paint before dabbing on some Roast Chestnut Izink Pigment Ink in a few places.

Together with the painted lace trim more stitching was added to finish each side together with a scrap of white crocheted lace, gold pen dots and some brass embellishments. Here are some close ups of the tiled side.

Here are a couple more close ups of the finished journal page;

If you haven't tried it before I hope you'll give the tiling technique a go to create a background or even to make a surface that can then be die cut. Plus, remember, never give up on those 'failures' because they may just come in handy some day.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Jenny

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