2021 Topic 5 Find Your Vibe with EGL {by Autumn Clark}

   2021 Topic 5: Find Your Vibe

Autumn's vibe is soft, vintage-y and full of subtle layers. She knows where to find her vibe and has created such a beautiful card folio and even some fun phone screensavers! This is one idea that'll have us reaching for our phones.
~ Keren

 

Hi everyone, it's Autumn Clark from SewPaperPaint with you today, and I'd like to share with you a gift booklet of thank you cards I made using all of my favorite style elements: gel printing, stitching, watercolor and soft color palettes.  It was such a comfort to go to my favorite things for the current blog topic, Find Your Vibe.

I created this project to inspire you to be brave and make some gel prints.  Just get started!  I also wanted to show something with only one stamp set to encourage you guys to see how much can be done with a few bottles of PaperArtsy Frescos and one set of stamps. So let's get started...  I truly hope you will find your vibe in the process.

We used to make these types of stamped card folios a lot in the late 90's, but some concepts just get better with time as we learn new things and adapt in our styles.  I think that's certainly the case with this project.  

I've been so eager to experiment with new techniques using the Gel Press and am trying to branch out to include more colors in my designs.  I pulled out some gorgeous paint colors and gave it a try.  I used PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics in Frost, Front Door, Caramel, Surf's Up, Peach Nectar and Vintage Lace.  I wanted to see what would happen if I used a paint brush, applying colors in small portions in an abstract manner, as opposed to the  normal way of brayering paint on.

You can see how I managed.  I used Vintage Lace over all of these colors to "pull the print", meaning I let the base colors dry on the plate then brayered a top layer that act as a bonding agent to pull what is beneath on the gel plate.  If there are any open spaces this color fills them in.  If there are any paints on your plate before you start this process they will be in the foreground.  My plate was pretty gunky and had a lot of Bougainvillea in the corners from a previous project and was delighted to see the addition of this gorgeous plummy color added to my print.  Here is the finished result.  I thought it made a great iPhone wallpaper!  You can download this photo and use it too if you like.  Or better yet, why not make your own print and use it?

I really love to do somewhat solid color gel prints, so once my plate was left with bits of all of those lovely colors, I did a solid print in Vintage Lace, then in Frost, then another in Caramel.  I used this for my home screen wallpaper, since I like less busy patterns behind all of the apps.  It's really rewarding when your creations come full circle, don't you agree?

Now, I printed the Vintage Lace solid print onto the back of my first abstract print for my card booklet.  I scored a gutter in the middle of about 1/2" and then scored the bottom sections to make flaps, cutting away the center.

You can see how beautifully the inside looks against the flaps!  I used all of my leftover papers to make the little thank you cards.

I pieced them together and then stitched them like a crazy quilt.  This simple touch turned such clean and simple cards into more artsy/tactile ones.

I moved onto one of my favorite parts, watercoloring the images.  All of these beautiful flowers were stamped onto Smoothy Cardstock with Gwen Lafleur's gorgeous new stamp set, PaperArtsy Eclectica {Gwen Lafleur} Collection (EGL13).  I like to add a little color around each images this way because 1. it lets a little pure white show through for added contrast and 2. it gives a vintage quality to the image.  You could certainly sponge with a light brown ink if that's easier for you.

Adding this border made them very easy to cut and look how they look on the quilted backgrounds!  With the smallest flower stamp I was able to make customizable envelopes, stamping over a brushstroke of Vintage Lace.

This project really didn't take a lot of time and I would like to make several more as Christmas gifts.  With so many stamps in this set it offered quite a variety for the finished cards.  Which one to you fancy?

I finished the cover off with another piece solid print, which I embossed with both an embossing folder and Frantage EP along the edges.  I added a torn snippet of French book page with crocheted lace and crinkle ribbon.

So now that you've seen me find my vibe, how are you inspired to play in your own comfort elements?  For me, I am looking forward to trying this abstract gel print concept with lots of other colors and possibly adding some stencil work or color blocking to the finished papers.  I'm also looking forward to watercoloring these images again, maybe stamped in a soft brown or grey next time.  The possibilities are truly endless!  

Thanks for joining me today, Autumn

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