2022 Topic 09: Leftovers {by Jenny Marples} with Urban Snapshots stamps

Hi everyone, it's Jenny (Pushing The Right Buttons) with you today, and I'm here to share a 'paper piecing' technique which allows you to add colour to some intricate stamped images using leftovers.

As the post progresses you'll see how this idea developed from a basic double page spread in one of my art journals, and through another two collage pages, before I finish a more detailed paper pieced postcard. I even use up the leftover paint in a final collage! Here's a couple of the finished pages to whet your appetite; 

I won't be going into too much detail explaining how this first collage came together because it's the lessons learned along the way that are the important bit. The background is just layering of neutral tones and textures (papers, lace, gesso) and some PaperArtsy Grunge Paste applied through the Sara Naumann stencil PS219.

I wanted to use the main window image from the PaperArtsy Urban Snapshots USAA3 stamp set but just wasn't happy with my first painted version. This is where I would highly recommend stamping your images on some clear plastic packaging to test what it will look like on top of different backgrounds - I've found some leftover painted tissue from my Venice book which is much more colourful and better suited to the image.

You'll spot below how in the finished collage I've masked off the border around the window so it blends more with the rest of the spread. It is worth going as far as trimming the border off in one piece if you have the mounted version because they are easily reassembled when stuck on a stamping block. The numbers come from the PaperArtsy Minis MN23 stamp.

I had some leftover gel plate printed tissue in yellow and have used the lamp-post from the PaperArtsy Urban Snapshots USAA2 stamp set on it to balance the composition, adding white highlights to emphasise the shape.

The words come from the Alison Bomber EAB20 'Night & Day' stamp set.

The next journal page starts with the lesson learned - these images work well stamped on multi-coloured backgrounds - so I've pulled out my collection of yellow leftovers and picked a bit that had a combination of 'Lemoncello' PaperArtsy Infusions and 'Toffee' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint on it. The doorway image comes from the PaperArtsy Urban Snapshots USAA2 stamp set mentioned earlier.

To lighten it slightly I've added 'Chalk' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint, applying with a brayer from a small gel plate. My next tip is never clean your gel plate! You'll see why at the end of this post.

To make the door stand out even more I've painted over that part of the stamped image with the 'Chalk' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint before re-stamping it - use a stamping platform to make this process a lot easier.

At this point I wanted to make the door red but rather than risk painting and re-stamping the image again I thought about stamping it on a leftover piece of tissue. Digging out the poly-pocket with red leftovers, you'll see I have any number of gel plate tissue prints pulled to clean off my plate when it gets overloaded.

If the colour isn't quite the right shade adjust it with another thin layer - in this case 'Scottish Salmon' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint warms the look up nicely. Again, don't clean that gel plate just yet!

After stamping the door on this tissue I've cut around it, glued it to the original image and added a little clear embossing powder for good measure. This paper piecing method seems to have worked well and is a touch less fiddly than painting and re-stamping multiple times.

The background include a combination of PaperArtsy Printed Tissue and stamped images from the Hot Picks HP1501 stamp set. I've also found a piece of 'mop up' tissue left over from cleaning up 'Golden Sands' PaperArtsy Infusions.

If you are unsure about where to stamp in the background try stamping your main image in it's final place on the page and then working around/over it safe in the knowledge your cut out doorway will be placed over the top in the end.

In a change of heart I applied coats of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Matte Glaze over the image to remove the shine and included words from the Alison Bomber EAB15 'House & Home' stamp set.

Taking paper piecing in a slightly different direction I decided to try stamping the highly detailed gate image from the Urban Snapshots USST2 stamp set onto two slightly different coloured leftover pieces of painted tissue. The top edge of one was torn and layered over the other to create a simple two-toned look.

Of course it needs mounting on something so I've re-purposed a PaperArtsy postcard with more PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Matte Glaze, 'Chalk' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint and a discarded teabag.

To complete this page I've used a bit more PaperArtsy Printed Tissue, some teabag paper stained with 'Golden Sands' PaperArtsy Infusions and the gate image, glued onto some of the paper left over from making the original journal.

And here's the finished collage, complete with more hand stitching and the words from the Urban Snapshots USST2 stamp set.

Time to get slightly more ambitious with this paper piecing technique! On the left you'll see where some more of that mop up tissue has been added to the back of another postcard and over-stamped with the script image from the Hot Picks 1501 stamp set. The second of the images from the Urban Snapshots USST2 stamp set has been added on top as a guide. On the right I've stamped portions of the image on contrasting leftovers ready for cutting and adding on top.

The extra colour and contrast makes such a difference to the finished look of the balcony especially when highlights and detailing are added with with black and white permanent ink pens. The trailing plants look better with the addition of some colour too, stippled delicately over the top. Remove any unwanted shine with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Matte Glaze.

I couldn't resist adding a number from the PaperArtsy Printed Tissue on this whilst the words come from the previously mentioned Alison Bomber EAB15 'House & Home' stamp set.

Just time for one final page which you may remember from the beginning of this post - the facing page in the Paris art journal.

To finish I've used up that leftover paint from the gel plate, pulling it on tissue and combining it with more PaperArtsy Printed Tissue and the text and stars stamps from the Hot Picks HP1501 stamp set. 

Going right back to things used in the first collage, the words are from the Alison Bomber EAB20 'Night & Day' stamp set and the PaperArtsy Grunge Paste dots have been applied through the Sara Naumann PS219 stencil.

Hopefully this tutorial has given you some ideas for using up your leftovers to colour in those more detailed images - I know it's something I'll be doing again. And don't forget, if your scraps are not quite the right shade just add a bit of extra colour to make them perfect.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Jenny

Blog: https://pushingtherightbuttons.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenny.marples.73

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jennymarples73/