Saturday 28 September 2024

2024 Topic 8 : White {by Riikka Kovasin}



Moikka moi, it's Riikka Kovasin (@paperiliitin) here today with you to share my take on the "White" theme! I thought the color suited Christmas cards perfectly, with glistening snow and sweet angels, so I made a set of Holiday greetings. The quarter theme "Nature" also seemed very fitting as I could add small die cut spruce branches to the cards. In the end I decided to add a cinnamon stick as well, as I incorporated some brown tones into my white make.


At first the white-on-white seemed a bit daunting to me, but when I looked through the inspiration shots Dounia had sent to us, one project in particular spoke to me. It had this dusty vintage vibe with white and neutral tones. That got me thinking "I could do that!". I mean, my first thought with white was this clean and simple look, and that's not something I'm that good on executing. Vintage on the other hand is a whole other ballgame!

I really enjoyed playing with different textures in my cards and added three different white mediums to them. If you want to know more, please read on!



I knew immediately, that I'd want to incorporate two white acrylic colors in my cards. I chose the pure, more optic white of Fresco Finish acrylic paint Snowflake (FF15) to represent snow but also picked Fresco Finish acrylic paint Chalk (FF83) as that had that warm tone fitting to vintage make. It's also a bit more opaque than Snowflake (FF15), so that was handy, too.

For the stamp set I chose Lynne Perrella stamp set (LPC020) because of the darling little angel. When you look at the set, you could use the other elements to make Holiday cards as well - like the musical instruments or the big "Joy" stamp. The last mentioned one makes me hum carol "Joy to the world"! I guess the hardest one to incorporate to a Christmas card would be the harlequin staff... Maybe he could be turned into an elf?

For these cards I did something I seldom do, and that's to make a sketch of the composition beforehand. Usually, I just go with the flow, but this time I had a little ponder before starting. It was mainly which way to include the doily and the corrugated cardboard. As you could see from the previous photos, I accentuated the halo with the doily and added that as the top element, corrugated cardboard acting as a grounding piece.

I took this photo of the materials gathered after finishing the cards, though, so I could add the cinnamon sticks also to it. The cinnamon sticks were a later addition due to the stamp color I chose to use for the focal angel. Want to hear the whole story? Then read on!


I started the make by cutting the base elements. To enhance the white-on-white look, I cut the card bases out of milky white cardstock and backing pieces out of cream colored one. For those pieces I used my paper cutter. I made the card bases with the fold on the top as I favor that easel-style version to a book-styled version with the fold on the side. It's maybe because those cards are more easily displayed and photographed!

I also cut some pieces out of an old book. Well, I say "cut" but it's rather "tore". I didn't want the edge looking too neat, so instead of using the paper cutter I used a ruler. In fact, I traced the backing cardstock piece to the book page and then aligned the ruler to the drawn guide. This way, using the ruler, I got a relatively straight, yet torn edge to the piece. I chose to use the backing pieces to the book pages, because I was afraid that the old book was too flimsy to be the background.


Next I headed for my sewing machine and sewed the book page piece together with the backing piece. This was the second reason I chose to use the backing piece as I could add another little element this way! Sewing straight to the book page might have caused it to tear.

I chose to use a straight stitch and left a little gap between the edge and the stitch as I wanted to make the edges more dimensional and distressed in a later stage.

I also applied the first white paint layer to the project by using a palette knife and smeared some Fresco Finish Chalk (FF83) to the book pages. This was partly of getting them a tad more white but also to hinder the contrast between the black font and creamy page. It also allowed me to hide some words completely as they seemed to be ill-fitting to Christmas cards.



While the book page pieces were drying, I turned my attention to other elements of the cards. I used the same Fresco Finish Chalk (FF83) paint, but this time used a brush to apply it to corrugated cardboard. I first cut the pieces into correct size and then used a big, flat brush to go over the surface. While in places the cardstock turned totally white, I kept other places a bit more rustic, revealing the brown tone of the cardboard. This reminded me of frozen surface.



Then it was time to stamp the image. While you can see that I ended up using a brown ink in the end, I did experimented with other tones, too. 

Black seemed a way too harsh to be combined with that relatively white base. My initial idea was to use grey ink, but when I tried it, the character looked a bit funny and also the design didn't show as much as I wanted the focal point to show. I guess the funny look was due to the colors being "the wrong way around". Because of the design, you'd expect a darker color for stamping, adding the shadow to the piece, but with grey it looked just off, there wasn't enough contrast.

Inspired by the brown tones of the corrugated cardboard, I tried brown ink and that seemed to do the trick. I chose a water activated ink as I knew that with a little spray of water I could add a greyish tone to the inked surface, thus maybe tying the focal element even better to the rest of the composition.



In the next phase scissors came handy! Not only I cut the angels loose to be used as the focal points, but I also used the scissors to distress the edges of the focal area. When cutting the angels, I decided to edit the Roman numerals out, as they seemed a bit too spiky the way I cut them. I also cut the robe away just leaving the ornate collar to get the character lighter and whiter.

After distressing the edges both of the old book page and the cream colored cardstock underneath, I then treated the edges with a grey ink. Again, this was a bit of a trial and error as I first tried a much lighter tone of grey only to realize it didn't show almost at all. Now thinking back, it's funny that I then didn't pick my go-to ink color brown, but instead another, darker grey!



What I also did on this stage, was to take a piece of white cardstock and cut a bunch of spruce branches out of it using a punch. Initially, I was thinking of using a die for the branches, but when I was in the crafty zone, the punch seemed a lot handier to get a pile of elements done in no time!

Now that I had my elements done, it was time to start combining them to make the card!
 

The fist layers I added to my base were the earlier treated piece of corrugated cardboard and a paper doily. I brushed a touch of ink to the doily as well to get a bit worn look to it. Initially, I just stapled the two layers to my card base, but soon realized that as they were supporting the whole composition, something sturdier was needed. So, I added some craft glue underneath both layers.


Next came the bit that needed the most drying time, but I was determined to do it anyway. What makes me say that? Well, as you probably have heard before, I'm quite a speedy crafter and don't like waiting when I'm creating. My usual trick is to do any layer that needs air-drying just before I go to bed and then continue the next day. This time I applied the Grunge Paste (GP190) before going for a walk and when I got back, the paste was dry! Handy!

The other reason I was determined to add it was to make a snowy element to the card. I added a length of twine around the focal area before applying the paste. I then used a palette knife to add a thick coat of Grunge Paste (GP190) here and there around the center of the card. I didn't add much on top of the doily, as I knew the thin paper would react with the moisture of the paste, but more to the corrugated cardboard, which could handle it. I also concentrated the amount on top of the corrugated cardboard piece, like there was a pile of snow gathered there. I did add some "snow" to the base as well to make the whole complete design more cohesive.


After letting the paste dry, it was then just the final little steps left! To add more nature feel and also another texture to the piece, I added some sisal fiber underneath the focal element. I just took a couple of strands of the fiber, curled them to a loose loop in my hands and place underneath the angel. I adhered the angel in place using foam tape and craft glue together, because the sisal "used" some of the tape's stickiness. To make the composition fuller, I added the little spruce branches to envelope the angel.


Then it was spice time! It was a bit tricky finding small cinnamon sticks, I can tell you! Luckily I found a bag with a couple of smaller, narrower ones and then used scissors to cut those into two bits as I didn't need a long piece to decorate the cards. To make the cinnamon stick more a part of the composition, I used the same twine to twirl around it as I had used to the base.

After securing the cinnamon stick in place using craft glue, I let it snow! That means I diluted the Fresco Finish Snowflake (FF15) with a drop of water and added white splashes using a fan brush around the card. To avoid the angel getting a flick of snow on her eye, I added a piece of scrap paper on top of her face before adding the splashes. No snowball fights among heavenly beings, please!


After letting the splashes dry, it was then just a couple of more things to do. To mount the card for one, but I also wanted to add another white element to the make. Keeping it aligned with the vintage palette, I opted for some nice white pearls and added three to each card. I really like how they shine against the otherwise matte project!


To mount the center piece in place to the card base, I used just double sided tape.

While I could have worked directly on top of the card base, sewing the piece of book paper to that, I often like to make a separate piece. This then allows me to easily add different layers and work with mediums, as I don't have to mind the base itself warping. It makes the whole creation easier and sturdier. What using a smaller separate piece also creates when mounted on top of the card base, is a lovely frame outside the focal area, highlighting it further, in my opinion.

Like the segment title says - ta dah! The first Christmas cards of the year done! You can see a couple of the cards all ready in the picture above. I made a trio of them in one go, but you could create a whole bunch with relative ease. Just work step by step, making one step to the whole batch at the time, and you get your Christmas cards done in no time!

These cards are somewhat dimensional, as my projects tend to be. If you are sending your greetings by post, you can of course leave the cinnamon stick out and use half pearls instead of the round ones to diminish the height of the creation. However, I encourage you to allow the make some dimension by adding the angel in place using foam tape or foam squares, as that allows you to tuck the branches underneath and accentuates the focal point more.

I used a sewing machine to add the old book paper layer to the cream colored backing piece. If you don't own a sewing machine, you can of course add the layers together just by using double sided tape. The sewing adds a little detail to the edge, kind of a little frame, but that's not a big detail. However, if you want to imitate the distressed edge, add the tape a bit further away from the edge that you normally would. That way you can treat the edge with scissors and ink and make that weathered and vintage looking.


I had quite a long ponder about whether to add a sentiment to these cards or not. Especially if you leave the cinnamon stick out, you might have a lovely space for a Holiday wish there. On the other hand, without any added sentiment, these could be just snowy winter cards or even an angelic greeting.

All in all, I'm quite delighted about these cards. I especially like that the background is different tones of white, but the angel really pops because of the brown ink I used. If you wish for a more subtle effect, experiment with a lighter colored ink!

Thank you for stopping by today, wishing you beautiful start to soon beginning October!

Xoxo Riikka


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Thursday 26 September 2024

NEW PaperArtsy Products {Tracy Scott} September 2024


A note from Leandra:

I know you all just love how Tracy makes each stamp set stand-alone and different within her release, and these are exactly that. Read on to see how she not only uses them in interesting ways, but she also can make one stamp into different things too. Take for example the geisha above - well, she doesn't have to be a geisha, in fact, Tracy makes her into 4 different women!
 
Tracy will be along to share with you LIVE her new products and ideas over in our Facebook Group, 'PaperArtsy People' shortly after this post publishes, and ... don't forget
 
These stamps are available EXCLUSIVELY from our approved stockists. Please check the list at the foot of this post to find a retailer online or geographically near you, it makes sense to order within your country where possible. Our retailers also endeavour to join the designer's live to share their direct shopping links - this makes it super easy for you to find a store with product in stock immediately.


Hey everyone. Tracy here. Woohoo. It is that time again. New release time, these come around so fast don't they?.....
 
Let me introduce you to 4 new stamp sets and 4 new stencils........ 


Red Rubber Stamps (A5 set)
Price: RRP €23.00 +VAT    
Size:5" x 6" (13 x16.5cm)
All stamps are individually trimmed onto cling foam, with a laminated storage/index sheet.

Tracy Scott - A5 stamp set 092 {TS092}

I loved my previous 'fishy' stamp set and have had in mind to do another for a while now, I wanted something as always that would be multi-purpose and could be used in a multitude of ways.....

My first sample is using the set as it was clearly intended, a fabulously fishy pond scene in my collaring in journal, I loved to make my own colouring books from my stamps, masking and layering the stamps adds detail and then I'm all ready to colour them in on the go....
 


And of course I had to change it up for my second sample!.... how cool do these little mermaids look, using my previously released mini girl stamps and elements from the new fishy set..... can you spot all the stamps that have been used?...






Tracy Scott - A5 stamp set 093 {TS093}

As you will recall from my previous release, I am loving the oriental vibes at the moment that are appearing everywhere, and knew that I had to continue these theme into this release......

My first sample is a origami folded kimono doll, I had previously made a folded kimono as a demo piece in a workshop I was teaching but hadn't yet added a face, without realising that this one would fit perfectly!!
She was obviously meant to be, don't you think?





And of course its always a challenge to come up with different uses for my stamp...  The four different style faces below are all made from the same geisha stamp and altered to create completely new versions!......
I have so many more ideas for altering this stamp... watch this space!





Tracy Scott - A5 stamp set 094 {TS094}

Tropical blooms have been on my list of must haves for my stamp collection forever, so I felt it was about time I introduced a set.....

I really don't think this particular set needs any hyping up, they are just gorgeous, an absolute joy to colour and really just speak for themselves....

For this sample I decided on a multi layered cut page, these stamps worked perfectly with the trellis cut out behind.
 



For my second sample, I reverted back to my colouring journal, masking and layering the stamps to create a vibrant cluster......





Tracy Scott - A5 stamp set 095 {TS095}

Ever since creating my steampunk butterfly set several releases ago I've wanted to create a steampunk flower set.

I love anything floral and am always looking for new design options and this definitely fits the bill.

There's 1 large and 1 smaller focal flower with various petals, cog and screw centres, and added to the fact that this can be teamed with the previous butterfly set this really does give endless possibilities when combined.




My second sample I decided to go down the pattern play route using just one of the petals in my colouring journal, the petals in the set are specifically designed to make extra flowers but how fabulous does this pattern look using just one small stamp and my coloured pencils?






PaperArtsy Stencils {Large}
Price: RRP €6.58 +VAT
Large Size: 6.25" x 9.5" (16 x 24cm) 
Robust mylar designed to offer longevity, deep texture and easy clean up


PaperArtsy Stencil by Tracy Scott 443 {PS443}

Following on from the oriental stamp sets both current and previous I knew I needed another stencil to open up more options. Bamboo and the perfect panel for Chinese screens/ cut pages - I know ill be using this one for a long time.

Did I mention how much I am in love with this theme right now... see what I have done below....

My first sample for this one was done in my colouring journal and the stencil bamboo part of the stencil was used as a template to drawn in the foliage around the Geisha stamped image.
I love to be able to use my stencils as templates which always then add a hand drawn touch to a project t rather than a defined stencil look.
 



For my second sample I am showing the versatility of the panel stencil. Just because it's a squared rectangular shape certainly does not mean its restricted to that shape, on this one I created a circular opening cut window using the panel as the template for the cut outs.





PaperArtsy Stencil by Tracy Scott 444 {PS444}
 
I wanted to create a stencil that would coordinate with the steampunk style stamps and decided that chains, cogs and screws were the perfect accompaniment. The chain elements were made so that they could be repeated indefinitely to create much longer strings.

This sample was a remake of a previous page that I had created... sometimes you just know that the new products available to you will make such a definite improvement to the original concept.
For my pop up page the gold embossed chains make the perfect background for the Steampunk pop up flower.
 




You may not have noticed on the previous sample but I used a couple of the chain details from the stencil to add some borders to the edge of my double page steampunk butterfly spread.



PaperArtsy Stencil by Tracy Scott 445 {PS445}

I knew instantly that this was going to be a perfect stencil to use as a colouring template, I love using my coloured pencils and thoroughly enjoyed sketching this one out and spending my time mindlessly colouring to create a simple but beautiful art journal page.

I found it easy to move the stencil to extend the design to fit the whole of my A4 page.
 



And of course this stencil works wonderfully with all of my existing stencils to create fabulous multi layered backgrounds.

In this sample below it has been combined with older stencils and new.... can you spot the new bamboo stencil in there too?





PaperArtsy Stencil by Tracy Scott 446 {PS446}

So I think the idea for this one is self explanatory.... I wanted some larger stencilled words that I could add to art journal pages to create some real impact.
I can also see these used in a background for a more subtle typography look.

These larger words will go with any themed page and really do make a statement.

 



Another example, I added this to the side of the steampunk butterfly page to finish it off.....



On the page below, I used the stencil as a template and joined up all of the open spaces to created a hand lettered look....



Thank you so much for joining me tonight, I will be over in the PaperArtsy People Facebook group at 19:30 London time where I may be sharing a few more surprise samples

I hope you can join me there.....


You can see more and visit me at... 

instagram Tracy Scott


 Australia

Bev's Cross Crafts, Spreyton, Tasmania bevscrosscrafts
Crafters Cupboard, Berwick, Victoria crafters cupboard
Hillbilly Scrappin, Nikenbah, QLD hillbilly scrapping
Memories on the Murray, Murray Bridge, SA memories on the murray
Natalie May Scrapbooking, Dover Gardens, SA natalie may
Scrapbook Superstore & More, South Penrith, NSW scrapbook superstore
The Scrapbook Store, North Perth,WA the scrapbook store

Belgium
Créatelier Caracolle, Liège, createlier caracolle

Canada
Clipper Street Scrapbook Company, Langley BC, Clipper Street Scrapbook Co
Scrapbook Centrale, Dollard Des Ormeaux, Quebec scrapbook centrale
Scrap Addicts, Edmonton, Alberta scrap addicts
Scrap and Bean, Edmonton, Alberta scrap and bean
The Paper & Ink Boutique, Calgary, Alberta paper and ink boutique

Denmark
Hobbyboden Scrapworld Samso hobbyboden

France
Emispheres Eurl Ruy Montceau,38300
Fée Du Scrap, Saint Sébastien-Sur-Loire, fee du scrap
Horizon Créatif, Ste Jalle horizon creatif
Instant Créatif, La Possession, La Réunion, i creatif
Katzelkraft, Ingwiller katzelkraft
Kerudoc Creation, St Yvi kerudoc creation
Page de scrap, Saint Pavace, page de scrap
Passion Scrap, Vieux-Conde, Passion Scrap
Scrap by Jo, Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, 31650 Scrap by Jo
Scrap Déco Home, Goutrens, www.scrap deco home
Toutencolle, Dun sur Auron toutencolle

Germany
Stempeloase Munich, Munich stempeloase
Stempelfee Shop, Hilden stempelfee shop

Netherlands
De Hobbystudio, Genemuiden, de hobby studio
Doe@ding,Spijkenisse doe @ ding
Hobbycompleet de Duif, Leeuwarden hobby compleet
Stampingcorner, Capelle Aan Den Ijssel stamping corner

Puerto Rico
Paper Boutique, Fajardi Paper Boutique

South Africa
Kcraft imports Ltd, Centurion 0014 kcraft

Spain
Cien por Cien Manualidades, Barcelona, 100 x 100 manualidades
Ideas 10 Manualidades Y Scrapbook, Bilbao ideas 10 manualidades/

United Kingdom
Amelia's Creative Crafts, Studley, Warwickshire amelias creative crafts
Art from the Heart, Harrogate, Yorkshire art from the heart
Crafts at The Malthouse, Herstmonceux, East Sussex, crafts at the malthouse
Countryview Crafts, Potton, Bedfordshire countryview crafts
Loobi Crafts, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, loobi crafts
Procraftynation Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk Procraftynation
Sir Stampalot, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire sir stampalot
Stampers Grove, Springbank, Lilliesleaf, Melrose,Scotland stampers grove
The Artistic Stamper Craft Store, Faversham, Kent the artistic stamper
The Forget me not Kraft Kabin, Rochford, Essex, The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin

USA
Artistic Artifacts, Alexandria, VA artistic artifacts
Craftiness, Chatsworth, CA, craftiness
Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, Lake Worth, Florida Everything Scrapbook & Stamps
Frantic Stamper, Oregon frantic stamper
Free Heart LLC, Denver, Colarado, free heart llc
Joggles, Coventry, Rhode Island, joggles
PaperCraft Clubhouse, Westbrook, Connecticut, papercraft clubhouse
Runaway, Art & Craft Studio, NE Salem, Oregon runaway
Scrap-A-Latte, West Babylon NY scrap a latte
Scrapbook-N-Memories, Harrisonville Missouri Scrapbook N Memories
Simon Says Stamp, Columbus, Ohio simon says stamp
Topflight Stamps, Irmo, South Carolina topflight stamps

If you are interested in becoming a PaperArtsy stockist contact Dounia@paperartsy.com for more information

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