Hello everyone, Keren here with you today for a closer look at Gwen Lafleur’s exciting new release. We all know Gwen for her gorgeously detailed stamps that bring a little slice of another part of the world. I wanted to do some lovely layering with them.
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I also used some of the PaperArtsy Printed Tissue in Frames PT2 and the new Paris Map tissue paper. I used Green Patina, Firebird, Yellow Submarine, London Bus & Cerulean PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics.
I'm not really one for multi-layered projects, and yet Gwen's designs drew me down that path. Years ago my Dad asked if I could give him a box of some of my card designs so he could use of them if he needed one, and I thought I'd create a simple tag holder that would make an equally useful present for someone.
This is the simple design using an A4 sized piece of brown graph-design card. Just fold, glue and then add glue at either edge of the pocket.
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I didn't want to cover all the background with stamping and tissue paper; just enough to give a little extra texture.
The next part was deciding how to use the stamps in a way that didn't overwhelm the design, so I wanted to stamp them and build up transparent layers. Acetate was the go-to for this.
To create the pocket tags, I added the tissue paper. A little tip, is to use PVA style glue and immediately spread it thinly over the surface with your finger. It helps avoid as many wrinkles. You can also layer up different pieces like the link on the bird's beak.
The next part of layering was to add Grunge Paste but in a pared back way. I used the Sara Naumann stencil PS219.
I've already talked about some of the simple techniques that I've used, but one that really gives dimension to images is paper piecing. You just need to stamp images multiple times in different colours, trim them out and add them to the base image.
Another really easy technique is to layer up multiple transparencies just like I did on the smaller tag. It doesn't clutter, it just adds a little extra.
Now I just needed to add layer upon layer and create a set of tags. Here's the finished line-up. I trimmed out the boy's hand so he was holding onto the flower like an umbrella.
Even the miniature stamps in set EGL49 are fabulous for adding details to the punched circles.
Add a little colour to the stencilled Grunge Paste and you can paint on the opposite side of the stamped acetate to give pops of colour.
The frame stamps work beautifully when you trim out the outer parts of the frames or even the centres.
You might be able to tell that one of my favourite stamps was the crosses image. Super useful for adding detail and texture. Using some of the smaller stamps to use to pull the inner tag is a fun detail.
On the reverse of this tag, I used tissue paper, stamped directly on it, used trimmed out acetate stamped frames and stamped over painted strips onto the tag.
I loved creating a design by playing around with smaller tag elements. This idea could be extended by creating a multi-paged booklet with one or two tags per page. It would also be a nice record to see your artistry develop over time. Why not try layering tags in a journaling spread? See them as the main event rather than an decorative extra.
Thanks for joining us on the PaperArtsy blog tonight. If you're relatively new here, this blog contains so much inspiration. If you've ever wanted to see how one of the blogging team or designers used a product, just type in the details in the search box on the right, and you'll have a plethora of inspiration right there!
See you again soon,
Keren x
