2021 Topic 12 : Sustainable Crafting with ECF {by Nikki Acton}

   2021 Topic 12: Sustainable Crafting

A beautifully thoughtful piece from Nikki, contemplating our planet, living trees, and how to reuse the fragile papers a bunch of flowers was wrapped in. Our earth is in a fragile place, and the holes in the leaves of these stamped images also emphasise that message too.
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, Nikki here from Addicted to Art with you today, sharing my interpretation of our sustainable craft topic.

Quite a simple creation from me, but one in which I have tried to incorporate the topic into both the form and content, i.e. both the materials and the subject.

I was kindly gifted some flowers for my recent birthday. As I unwrapped them I was shocked at all the packaging so put it to one side to use on my project... some tissue along with the plastic wrap.

I have always liked using tissue paper for stamping - but often as a translucent layer. I stamped the leaf images from Courtney Franich Set 6 (ECF06) with Fresco Chalk Acrylic (Lawn). Stamping in paint doesn't always give you 100% of the detail of stamps (compared to ink) but I was happy with the result.

 

This stamp set is probably my favourite from Courtney and I chose the bottom left leaf on the set as I love the design and liked the idea of the leaf representing our lost trees and the bubbles, perhaps, the CO2 that is contributing to global warming.

 

I drew (with a compass) a circle on the plastic wrapping and cut it out - before sponging some Fresco Chalk Acrylic (Waterfall). The circle represents the Earth.

Although not visible I like the contrast of the two textures of the materials - the plastic earth and the fragility of the leaves stamped on tissue paper.

 

 

I only used four colours on the project - Fresco Chalk Acrylics in Lawn, Waterfall, Celery and Chalk. The Celery was brayered onto the background and Chalk and Waterfall added using Tracy Scott Stencil PS234.

 

I added some additional stamping around the outside using the branch stamp and some of the circles from the circles / text stamp image. 

Finally I used Gwen Lafleur Stamp Set 16 (EGL16) to stamp the word HOPE onto some more of the plastic wrapping. I stamped in paint, so that it could dry on the non porous surface, before outlining in a black pen and adding a little extra colour for emphasis with a oil based crayon.

 

 

I stamped in paint, so that it could dry on the non porous surface, before outlined in a black pen and adding a little extra colour for emphasis with a oil based crayon.

 

Using items that might have ended up in the bin (recycling of course) adds visual and tactile contrasts in texture to projects. Recycled cardboard, coffee tins and tea bags are favourites of crafters - but I am sure there is much more we could reuse.

Nikki x

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