2020 A Year in Review {Topics 16-20}

PaperArtsy Blog 2020 Year in Review - Part 4/4

The view from the New PaperArtsy HQ in France

 

It's our final post from PaperArtsy HQ for 2020 and what a year it was, 

 

Time for some thank-you-s from us !

To our designers, who battled through to find ways to continue to bring new classes all year long instead of teaching in stores, they partnered with our stockists, and also offered independent content, both free and paid-for classes, to inspire, distract, encourage and share their ideas with all their newest products worldwide. Initially they were all very worried this would be a tricky path to navigate, but in the end, their willingness to shift to teaching online really fast was the right move and well received! Families at home, people struggling with day to day life, or those who had hours to fill all have joined with our designers as and when they could, and learned a lot along the way. We thank YOU!

 

January 2020 - Build up of the PaperArtsy Booth at CreativeWorld, Frankfurt.

To our bloggers who kept inspiration flowing when we moved from the UK to France. Without their flexibility to create, often at short notice in the void of an unexpected no-freight situation while we established new contracts here, and who came up with  non stop amazing content week after week. We thank YOU!

To all the independent retailers out there who carry our brand, thank you for your advance planning as we closed in the UK, and for your understanding when it took us a month longer than we anticipated to re-open in France. Your warm emails of support, your encouraging comments on our Instagram and for your unfailing loyalty to our designers and the wonderful ideas you and your teachers share with your customers. Your loyalty to the brand and our values is amazing. We thank YOU!

 

Squiggly Ink Christmas Post by Keren Baker

To Keren who has carried almost all the blog admin before, during and since our move, who is always cheerful, happy, funny and passionate about doing the best job she can. She has that innate ability to always do what is right or necessary at the right time! 

 

And to Mr PaperArtsy, you are a forward thinker and awesome researcher. Were it not for all the information gathering you did and continue to do, we would not be here today starting this new phase. I love that we get to do this together. Thank YOU! To our 4 now-adult kids. I know I have been a stressed, menopausal moody cow at times over the last few years, but you guys have all played your very important part to keep the show on the road. We did not expect to move to France with all of you in tow, but Covid had other plans. Your lives, studies and plans have been willingly put on hold, until travel is possible, but the way you have all stepped in to keep the PaperArtsy show on the road over the past 2 difficult years has been amazing. You have trusted in us and fully supported and helped, and there is nothing more fulfilling then having you be a huge part of this journey, making our new house your home too while at the same time also learning a new language and culture. This is not how we expected it to be, but I am so glad that you have all been a big part of this new journey.

 

Our final Christmas in the UK, Dec 2019 (minus Courtney!)

 

To all our followers, customers, friends, family far and wide. Thank-you for your support, words of encouragement and positive thinking when things looked like the dream was not going to come together in the necessary time frame. We hope you get to come and visit in the years to come!

 

So for our final post of the year, we look back on the more recent highlights from Topics 16-20: Hinged, Day and Night, Geometric, Words of Wisdom and Icy Christmas. Read on to see just a sampling of the fantastic ideas from our superb blogging team!

 

Happy New Year and much love to you all! Here's to your good health and we wish you every good thing for 2021 and beyond!

 

Cheers!

Leandra 

Topic 16: Hinged

I guess we were all feeling a bit un-hinged by this point in the year, but the bloggers held it together, and came up with some fun projects for this topic! 

 

My first pick is this amazing beauty by Ellie. She bound watercolour paper into a fantastic journal/ book and decorated the cover. What a beautiful idea. See more here from Ellie Knol (link)

Do we call this a hinged head? Perhaps unhinged? We love this new stamp from France Papillon, and Keren does such imaginative things with stamps, every time! Keren Baker (link)

Got to love a rustic hinge! and Nikki nailed it with her well executed rusty treatment of shiny metal to make it look perfectly aged! Nikki Acton (link)

I did not know washi tapes hinges were possible, but with Jennie all things are possible! A beautiful book, books really are great fun to create, and she has several delicately decorated pages within to enjoy Jennie Atkinson (link)

Topic 17: Day and Night

My first pick is this sliding beauty by Jo Firth-Young (link). Interactive projects are really satisfying to create, and Jo has plenty of these ideas within her classes or on her blog with her gorgeous stamps!

And I hope you didn't miss Claire Snowdon (link) and her contrasting Night-Day journal spread, what a great colour contrast with Tracy's stamps in B&W.

I adored how Helen Chilton (link)'s flower wheel really caught the day to night vibes, this would work so well for a seasonal wheel too!

Jenny Marples (link) has some many great projects using Sizzix (Eileen Hull) dies, and the way she pulled together Zinski houses with Kay Carley trees for the cover of this booklet was fabulous!

Topic 18 : Geometric

 

We have seen a lot of Geometric influences within interior decor trends in the past year of 2, and for this topic, I knew our designers would pull some gems out of their hats! I really loved this simple background Miriam Grazier (link) used to set off the Ellen Vargo flower.

I hope you didn't miss the amazing paper piecing Etsuko (link) did for this little booklet!

I was wowwed by Keren Baker (link)'s layer of geometry over this vellum, you can still see the Lynne Perrella stamp beneath, and the shapes linked to points on the stamps below!

Topic 19 : Words of Wisdom

 

We were all desperate for some wise words as the year came to a close! Jenny Atkinson (link) used lots of ephemera from the Ink and the Dog collection for her project.

 

Ellie Knol (link) filled tins with words of encouragement for her post! What a lovely and truly uplifting idea!

Miriam Grazier (link) is our biggest fan of Sara Naumann stamps, and she pulled out a beautiful sentiment for her contribution.

I really love how Amanda Pink pulls a project together. Lots of scripts, numbers are softly in the background, but her sentiment is perfect! Amanda Pink (link)

 

Topic 20 : An Icy Christmas

 

Christmas and cooler weather seemed a long time coming this yeaar, so perhaps it was not so Icy as we anticipated, but the blog was dripping with icicles and glitter!

Nikki Acton used painterly textures to great effect in this post with Seth Apter stamps and a handy palette knife to make some scratchy effects!

And I hope you didn't miss this stunning wreath by Helen Chilton with Tracy Scott stamps and Flower Foam!! (link) The technique to bring these to life is stunning so do check it out!

Kate Yetter made the cutest decorations with Gwen Lafleur stamps! I love how the composition was just idea for both gift tags and christmas tree ornaments!

And Jennie created this very Icy looking Christmas decoration, would be perfect on a mantlepiece, in soft shades of blue.

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Once again, we wish you all the best for 2021, take good care

Leandra and all of us here at team PaperArtsy

2020 A Year in Review {Topics 11-15}

 

PaperArtsy Blog 2020 Year in Review - Part 3/4

 

Welcome to the post-Christmas period

 

This is my favourite week of the year. The Christmas crazy is over and we get to relax, look back and look forward. And for us, being here in France this year is a very new experience.

 

Yes! We even managed to decorate the front door this year!

 

Like many of you around the world, we have been keeping to ourselves and staying at home except to get groceries. But the last few weeks we have seen a glimmer of normal life here in France when our lock down lifted on Dec 15th. That week, we were invited to our neighbours for a wonderful afternoon of Christmas nibbles and drinks, which was the perfect way to kick us into a more upbeat Christmas spirit than we had thought possible under the conditions. Our schedule too is quite different this year. Normally we are just 2 weeks off doing 3 trade-shows in 6 weeks in 3 different countries, and it is absolute bliss not having that anxious pressure looming which certainly usually undermines the festive period. Not this year!.

 

Daily walks around the local village just 20 mins from us and we are constantly amazed at the picturesque views we get to appreciate in this beautiful Dordogne region. 

 

 

 

I'm slightly obsessed with doorways and mossy steps, paths, walls!

 

 

 

We are fortunate to have my sister and her fiance arrive here just over a week ago; they are here for a month. It became pretty obvious early in Christmas week we would be working right up to the courier collection late afternoon on Christmas Eve. Along with Courtney, they happily took over all the Christmas planning, and boy were we treated to a French-style Christmas feast. Lots of small courses: aperitif, 2 starters, main, cheese, and the traditional Bûche de Noël (Yule Log) for dessert. 

 

Each course was meticulously planned and utterly delicious. After not eating out all year due to Corona restrictions, it was like being in a restaurant, and felt extra special to have them here and the most wonderful dining experience to boot! One we will never forget! Most of the details were deliberately kept secret from me, so it was such an exciting day of anticipation! 

 

 

 

They even took their menu to the local wine 'cave' in our village, and the lovely man was quite impressed. They all very much enjoyed selecting the perfect matches for each course. We slowly oozed through each course, suffice to say it was a very long day/night!

 

For us, and each of the past 20 years, Christmas is always a series of video calls to chat with family who are all on the other side of the world, so this year is not so different to how we normally spend Christmas, but I totally understand how difficult it must be for so many people who have not been able to travel or visit with friends and family. I truly hope you have managed to make the most of this very odd Holiday Season.
 

Time to continue with our annual blog round up, today we're sharing picks from Topics 11-15: Calming Colours, Typography, Lines, Fused and Shade of White. Join me as we look back on some wonderful inspirational highlights.

Leandra 

Topic 11: Calming Colours

My first pick is this amazing beauty from Alison. I am captivated by these tree-leaves designed by France Papillon. I just love the shapes. Alison Bomber (link) and a lovely journal spread.

And I hope you didn't miss Ellie Knol (link) with her fun Kay Carley mushroom houses.

I adored how Lynn Good (link) made such soft layers in the spread with JOFY stamps, yes the colours are really soothing!

And Claire Snowdon (link) shared soft shades in a Tracy Scott lace book.

Topic 12: Typography

We all seem drawn to the shapes of letters and fonts, and when you are creatinv, there are so many ways to use them, be it as a focal or background. Etsuko Noguchi (link) really makes the word 'nature' pop in this piece.

Corrie Herriman (link) used words and numbers large and small, textured and indecipherable in her background.

  Keren Baker (link) created this fabulous tribute, she does love a bit of acetate! So effective!

 

How about this typography doll by Helen Chilton (link) !

 

Topic 13 : Lines

I loved this planner by Autumn Clark (link) with JOFY stamps. Perfect for fast journalling!

And I hope you didn't miss Jenny Marples (link) and her Zinski house tags

 

Nikki Acton (link)'s contrasting colours and wood panels were fabulous for this card!

Dounia Large (link) with her beautiful mini journal and beautiful painted layers was adorable!

Topic 14 : Fused

Fusing things is lots of fun, and our bloggers came up with lots of ideas! My first pick is from Ellie Knol (link). Loving these colours and how the layers are so beautiful on the corrugated card.

And I hope you didn't miss... Keren Baker (link) who had real fuses in her piece!

  Etsuko Noguchi (link) got out the embossing powders to great effect !

And Carol Fox (link) did this piece on glass! Yes glass!

Topic 15 : Shades of White

This isn't the first time White has been a blog theme. The bloggers always feel challenged by it, but they utterly LOVE the outcome, so if you do anything, try this! Love this by Corrie Herriman (link) .

 

And I hope you didn't miss... Lucy Edmondson (link) - the hessian makes a great backdrop for the gorgeous central frame.

  Jennie Atkinson (link) is no stranger to soft shade of white, so this is her safe place!

Alison Bomber (link) tried some inverse experimenting

We'll be back again in a few days with the final round up for the year. Here's wishing you a great week ahead. Time for a book and curl up in front of the fire.

Leandra