NEW PaperArtsy Products: Lynne Perrella {August 2025}

A note from Leandra:

If you are a Frida Kahlo fan, then this release is for YOU! Lynne has captured the essence of Frida, not just in 3 new stamps sets, but for the first time ever, she has designed 3 Frida portrait stencils, and ohhh they are fun! Lynne is here to share her thoughts below about this release, so take time to read her comments, then you'll find some of my samples below.

 

Leandra will be along to share with you LIVE these new products and ideas over in our Facebook Group, 'PaperArtsy People' shortly after this post publishes. If you miss her live, Tuesday Aug 26th at 20:30 (Paris Time) in our Facebook Community, PaperArtsy People, you will see the replay is pinned to the 'featured posts' section.

 

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.

Hi everyone. Lynne Perrella here with you today to share my design notes on this new series of stamps and stencils I've named 'Fragments of Frida'

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907 – 1954) is the flashpoint for this NEW collection of rubber stamps and stencils; although my fascination with her has been brewing for decades. A good friend once sent me a news article about the discovery of an intriguing cache of suitcases and trunks languishing in a neglected closet.  Rumored to be Kahlo’s belongings, the cases contained garments, boxes of ethnic jewelry, sketchbooks, letters,  and more.  The discovery set off a hailstorm of controversy; but by then I had already concocted the idea to give a workshop titled “Frida’s Trunk”, and my fascination with her deepened.  I eventually gave the workshop on both East and West Coasts, and we explored mixed-media collage, artist books, and Day of the Dead shrine-building.

As years passed, my awareness of her grew and deepened; and I was equally inspired by her works of art, as well as her love of personal adornment, ethnic textiles, and her surprising domesticity.  Throughout her life she indulged in the colors, flavors, traditions, and eccentricities of Mexican holidays and celebrations; and she brought her decidedly-feminine flair to arranging and decorating her unique home, Casa Azul.   Small in stature, this delicate woman had a gift for self presentation that was both indelible and dramatic; captured with an unblinking eye in her many self portraits.  Probably one of the most photographed women of her time, Frida Kahlo embraced being “other”; upending society’s notions about feminine beauty.  Equally stunning wearing men’s suits, or a lacy traditional “Rasplandor” headdress; her confidence and bravura always triumphed.

Every visual element in this collection is a touchstone of Frida – her persona, her unique home, her love of ceremonies, her fascination with traditional folk art, and her reverence for Mexican culture. The art of collage is about combining and weaving visual elements together, so my collective knowledge of Frida is reflected in these designs. You will find festive “papel picado” party décor, flourishing floral motifs, intricate ethnic patterns, fragments from Frida’s diary, glittery gems, fluttering streamers, folkloric animals and birds, edgy zigzags and sentimental hearts. And there is a whole sisterhood of Frida personas making full-frontal eye contact and posing in intricate costumes, her hair coiled into braids or studded with ribbons and fresh flowers. This collection is a primer of Mexican culture, with Frida as our spirit guide.

It seems fitting to me that my very FIRST collection of stencils, is inspired by Frida.

Three different poses are inspired by her self-portraits, and I have poster-ized her well-known gaze, plus added motifs that can be used separately to add thorns, confetti, or an Aztec border.   Like Frida, I love setting a colorful expressive table, and I used some of my Frida images to make party décor.  The placemats are colorful cardstock, with Frida stencils, and an edging of white paper lace.  Tip:  When I do my stenciling, I use acrylic paint applied with a make-up sponge.  The trick is to work extremely DRY in order to avoid blobs of paint – plus I can get a precise “air brushed” effect by applying a couple of colors to the same stencil.  Perfect for high-lighting or suggesting shadows.  Try it! 

There is a Frida-themed embellishment/napkin ring at each place setting; and the table looks like a festival with paper streamers, faux flowers, and handfuls of confetti.

My thanks to Paper Artsy for the opportunity to design a NEW exciting collection of stamps, as well as a group of coordinated stencils.  (my first stencil designs!)

Enjoy!   --  from Lynne 

Lynne has very recently joined Instagram here  @gio.simon2

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.

These 3 stamp sets are a mix of Lynnes' design style, many are her modern-quirky style, and there are some more traditional style creations too. I love the extravagance and over-emphasis of those typical Frida iconic elements; a head-dress of flowers becomes a complete vase, for example. 

Lynne Perrella Stamp Set 076 (LPC076)

BALANCING ACT

Onto paint-slotched backgrounds, a simple overstamping and highlighting of the design is enough. Words are journalled around the edge, characteristcs of Frida.

 

Adding some colour to the face and jewellery allows more colours to be layered.

 

 

Frida had many animals she kept close too, here a bird is part of the entourage. 

 

Frida lived an extraordinary life, and I went down a rabbit hole of discovery to better understand her life and character. It is well-recorded she was respectful of all people, cultures and 'classes', so kind and thoughtful to anyone, in need or not. If she engaged with you, it was heartfelt. Also noted was her zest for life, her sense of humour and fun, and also deep care for those near. But what struck me most was her strength, despite her frailty, her strong will to not let her body win the battle over all aspects of life; travel, creativity, parties .... where many would give up, she was so determined to continue to thrive and grasp life in the moment. 

 

Lynne Perrella Stamp Set 077 (LPC077)

FEARLESS FRIDA

You can see Lynne has captured her stoic, determined  expression in these stamps perfectly. Gel prints form the beginnings of these 'sister' cards. Lace offers a skirt-like embellishment.

 

All the arts seems to touch her life, including music, so layering onto vintage music paper seemed logical. Her clothes were colourful with bold, exotic patterns.

 

 

Flowers in her hair, big jewellery pieces were selected. Her features were androgenous with her iconic bold eyebrows and her masculine jawline, and her clothes were feminine flamboyant, especially for occasions, through to masculine and practical - suits/ trousers, her confidence to wear what was right for her was bold and no doubt controversial, but striking. 

 

Frida Kahlo loved people deeply, but also suffered great hurt and sadness, both from close family and lovers. Her art often has tears rolling down her face, or wire wrapped around her body to signify the scars from surgeries and the relentless pain she endured. Through all this, she surrounded herself with books, art, artist supplies and adorned herself with bold jewellery, patterns and colours. I can see why Lynne Perrella has such a strong affinty for Frida Khalo and her fascinating life.

Lynne Perrella Stamp Set 078 (LPC078)

THIS IS ME

At a time when women were pressured to conform, she stood out as a non-conformist, but her kindness, respect and care for people saw a generosity of attitude returned to her.

 

 

 

We are thrilled to share with you these first stencils by Lynne. Portraits of Frida, they are interesting to try with gel plate printing, using both sides, and as you will notice below, I used infusions on the stencil, taking prints onto various surfaces, from Tissue Paper to PaperArtsy Smoothy card - which is specifically well formulated for ink, as you will see.

PaperArtsy Stencils {Regular}

Price: RRP €5.64 + VAT

Regular Size: 6.5" x 7" (16 x 18cm) 

Robust 250 micron mylar designed to offer longevity, deep texture and easy clean up

PaperArtsy Stencil 480 (PS480) by Lynne Perrella

As mentioned earlier, Frida made a self portrait with thorns about her neck, symbolic of the physical suffering she endured for most of her life, requiring many many operations. She bore scars and pain with courage, and without complaint.

 

PaperArtsy infusions are gently sprinkled in patches over the reverse of the stencil, spritzed fairly heavily with water, and a print taken, in fact several prints are possible, including onto tissue (as above) which was then adhered to white card. 

The stencil leaves a white space where the 'holes' of the stencil are free of infusions. Once dry, the stencil is repositioned, and with a slight nudge, forms a highlight, black paint is applied to the stencils 'holes' for dramatic contrast.

This technique I explored in different ways for most of the samples that follow.

 

 

Directly onto Script Printed Tissue (PT12) as above, but no highlight. 

Below you can see the 2 step process more clearly, infusions on the reverse of the stencil, printed, with the white space where the stencil holes are, then on the right, afger black paint is applied, with a subtle nudge to make the highlight.

 

PaperArtsy Stencil 481 (PS481) by Lynne Perrella

STENCIL MAD

You can see the background is heavily stencilled, in a variety of designs and colours across the piece of paper. Next the design was stencilled in a mix of colours, but they did not pop enough, so I came over with black for the 'pop'. I need to add dimensional paper flowers to her ahir, but so far, I have (still) not found the box they are stashed in in the barn!

 

I had to first knock back her face and neck areas to reduce the stencil noise, and then add back golden colour for shading and warmth to the skin areas.

 

PaperArtsy Stencil 482 (PS482) by Lynne Perrella

MODERN FRIDA

This stencil she looks more alike a 1960's or 1970's Frida might have looked if she were young in that era. I had some scrap papers that had rusting powder on the papers (you simply sprinkle onto paper, activate with vinegar-water mist, pop the wet rusty paper in direct sunlight and within an hour you will have a rusty piece of paper).

This seems perfect to place the stencil on top. Easy! And, I love those contrasting patches of rust with the differing depth of colour.

 

INFUSED 

 

My favourite sample, on this one I somehow managed to get a dark walnut brown shadow down one side of her face, and red on her lips and cheeks, with various colours emerging as the infusions blend into one another. When black paint was added, I only applied it to the face, not the stencil patterns at the edges, to create a bolder focal.

 

 SKETCHY

 

As explained previously, the initial print is like a starting point, so what to do? Well, you can just add some black detail with a pigment pen .... a stabilo all pencil would also be a useful friend for this step, and offer a much bolder option, especially if water-activated.

 

ABSTRACT

This was a second print from one of my tests, infusions reactivated, colours move and merge, and i printed onto our newest Printed Tissue, the 'script' (PT12), again, I  added some facial details, but then stood back to leave the ghostly face seem slightly hidden within the colours. I really like this version too.

As you know we have been shipping these products to retailers the past 2 weeks, so head to your favourite stockist to make your purchase. Join Leandra over in our FB community PaperArtsy People to see these ideas up close.

 PaperArtsy Stockist List

Our stockists are your go-to  source for all PaperArtsy products, and we suggest that you also use the PaperArtsy People Facebook group to source a retailer in your country. Many are members of our FB group and will happily share links to their online stores.

Australia

Bev's Cross Crafts, Spreyton, Tasmania bevscrosscrafts

Crafters Cupboard, Berwick, Victoria crafters cupboard

Hillbilly Scrappin, Nikenbah, QLD hillbilly scrapping

Natalie May Scrapbooking, Dover Gardens, SA natalie may

Scrapbook Superstore & More, South Penrith, NSW scrapbook superstore

Austria

Stempel Wunderwelt, Wilhering, stempel wunderwelt

Belgium

Cart N Scrap Art, Antwerp, cart n scrap art

Créatelier Caracolle, Liège, createlier caracolle

Canada

Boutique Scrapbook Tendance Inc, Quebec, Qc, scrapbook tendance

Clipper Street Scrapbook Company, Langley BC, Clipper Street Scrapbook Co

Glitter & Ink, Belleville ON Glitter & Ink

Paper Art Creations Inc, Leduc, Alberta, paper art creations

Re.defined, Kentville, NS, redefinedforyou
Scrapbook Centrale, Dollard Des Ormeaux, Quebec scrapbook centrale

Scrap Addicts, Edmonton, Alberta scrap addicts

Scrap and Bean, Edmonton, Alberta scrap and bean 

Scrap en Masse, Plantagenet, Ontario scrap en masse

Scrapbooking Fairies, Drayton Valley, Alberta scrapbooking fairies

The Paper & ink Boutique, Calgary, Alberta paper and ink boutique

Denmark

Hobbyboden Scrapworld, Samso hobbyboden

Finland

Klemmarikellari, Turku Klemmarikellari

Piia Paper, Kittilä, Piia Paper

France

Emispheres Eurl Ruy Montceau, ephemeria  

Fée Du Scrap, Saint Sébastien-Sur-Loire, fee du scrap

Horizon Créatif, Ste Jalle horizon creatif

Kerudoc Creation, St Yvi kerudoc creation

Le Grenier des filles, Pierre Benite

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

Toutencolle, Dun sur Auron toutencolle

Germany 

Papier & Feder, Owschlag, papier & feder

Stempeloase Munich, Munich stempeloase

Stempelfee Shop, Hilden stempelfee shop

Stempellaedle, Stuttgart, stempellaedle

Tue Was Di Liebst, Bayern, Tue Was du Liebst

Greece

Decoupage, Vergina

Italy

Pezze E Colori, Lissone, pezze e colori 
Piccole Passioni, Siena, piccole passioni

Japan

Tiny Dots, Funabashi-shi, Chiba tiny dots

Netherlands

De Hobbystudio, Genemuiden, de hobby studio

Doe@ding,Spijkenisse doe @ ding

Hobbycompleet de Duif, Leeuwarden hobby compleet

Hobbyshop Sandra, Wierden hobbyshop sandra

IK Journal, Boxtel, ik journal

Stamptable, Roosendaal, Stamptable

Norway

Hobbykunst, Oslo, hobbykunst

Puerto Rico

Paper Boutique, Fajardi Paper Boutique

South Africa

Kcraft imports Ltd, Centurion 0014  kcraft

South Korea

Torn Paper, Namyangju-Si, torn paper

Spain

Cien por Cien Manualidades, Barcelona,  100 x 100 manualidades

Ideas 10 Manualidades Y Scrapbook, Bilbao ideas 10 manualidades

La Sonrisa Creativa, Valencia, la sonrisa creativa

Les Coses de Raquel, Barcelona

Scrap & Papers Experiences, Barcelona, scrap papers experiences

United Kingdom

Amelia's Creative Crafts, Studley, Warwickshire Amelia's 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

Twilight Crafts, Radstock, Somerset, Twilight Crafts

USA

Artistic Artifacts, Alexandria, VA artistic artifacts

Artistic Studio Creations, Fayetteville, Georgia Artistic Studio Creations

Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, Lake Worth, Florida Everything Scrapbook & Stamps

Free Heart LLC, Denver, Colarado, free heart llc

Joggles, Coventry, Rhode Island, joggles

Messy Papercrafts, Temecula CA Messy Papercrafts

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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