PaperArtsy: Japan Journal Art with EPA {by Jenny Marples}

Wednesday, 23 September 2026

Japan Journal Art with EPA {by Jenny Marples}

Hello everyone, Jenny Marples here with you today and I'll be sharing the fun I've been having with the new Eclectica³ PaperArtsy collection, with ideas for how to incorporate these designs into your own art journals.

Here is the amazing new collection - I use all three A5 stamp sets and all three stencils throughout this blog post to show ideas for combining them in your projects.

You'll discover as we progress that I get carried away by the possibilities and end up making a number of different pieces for my Japan Art Journal.

Let's get started with some paint action and two of the stencils. Use a brayer to layer up some neutral colour paints, working from lightest to darkest. I've used 'Nougat', 'Eggshell', 'Caramel' and 'Truffle' Fresco Finish Chalk Paints, though any contrasting neutrals will work for this.

The 'eagle-eyed' amongst you might spot some stencilling buried beneath these layers - my first attempt failed so I just added more paint on top and ploughed on - don't give up on disasters!

Now add some colour into the mix with 'Cherry Blossom', 'Wisteria', 'Spring' and 'Blue Smoke' Fresco Finish Chalk Paints applied through the PS539 stencil. Make sure the colours you choose are deeper shades than you need because we are about to lighten their look.

To get a more subtle look gently brayer a light coat of 'Chalk' Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint over the whole background. Then apply more of this paint through the PS540 stencil between the coloured 'arrows'.

It's a subtle pop of colour that will become a useful contrast to the neutrals.

Now let's get into some stamp action. The stamps in set EPA05 are ideal for this technique. Try stamping into a fresh layer of wet paint on a gel plate. In this example I've used 'Taupe' Fresco Finish Chalk Paint. Work fast and make sure to wipe the paint you remove from your stamp every time to get a crisper finish.

'Pull' your print using a contrasting colour to make this reverse stamping stand out - I went with the 'Chalk' Fresco Finish Chalk Paint. As you can see from the pile of prints you can experiment with lots of different combinations of stamps/paints, in this case all in a neutral colour palette.

You can also stamp directly onto the gel plate using your permanent inks and then add a layer of contrasting paint as I did with the examples at the top of the photo.

So now we've got lots of stamped and stencilled backgrounds it's time to move onto the focal points.

Where do you start when you get a new stamp set? I like to get stuck in with the ink and stamp the designs a range of surfaces. Try repeat stamping and layering the designs with different colour inks to provide a contrast with your backgrounds. Here I've used stamps from sets EPA04 and EPA06

And here's more repeat stamping, this time on paper that has been given and aged looks by spritzing and splattering diluted 'Just Walnut' PaperArtsy Infusions.

Here's a final idea for using your stamps - creating pictures. What can you see when you look at this image from stamp set EPA06? Maybe a pile of books? Possibly the bricks at the corner of a building?

I immediately saw skyscrapers and trialled a couple of alternatives using personal travel photos as a reference. The one with Mount Fuji won so I used the second idea as a mask, cutting into the paper by following the lines at the uneven edge of the design. Use paler neutral inks as you work upwards/backwards and try stamping with either end of the design to get a less 'repetitive' look. Then apply some translucent colour (in this case watercolours and some 'Snowflake' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Paint) for depth and contrast.

You'll see in the finished photos how I used different stamps to come up with another picture.

A quick heads up before we look at the finished pages that I used an older Lynne Perrella stamp set LPC021 to create a couple of focal points for my Japan Art Journal.

This is where you layer up those backgrounds and add the focal points on top, in this case using Grunge Paste through words from the PS541 stencil.

I added extra stamping and stencilling to the picture of Mount Fuji; the pink stencilling represents the direction we were travelling in when I saw this view and the stamping reminds me of the Shinkansen train we were on.

The journal page beneath again combines the stamped images with the stencilling, again using the coloured background to offset the Grunge Paste word on top.

Opening up the smaller Mount Fuji page reveals more colour with one of those Lynne Perrella images and a couple of the tags. I love how you can combine the words in stamp set EPA04 in many different ways.

More pages now, again combining one of the Lynne Perrella ladies with stamping and stencilling. Don't the different graphic designs play with one another so well when you use pieces of them layered on top of each other.

Think about using just one word from a phrase: this one is from stamp set EPA06 and is a nod to the tradition of transforming worn/damaged fabrics into useable pieces by employing hand stitching. Underneath, the worn look of one of the stamped gel prints adds an extra contrast.

Finally the second 'stamped' picture I promised earlier; I've combined two designs from stamp set EPA06 as part of the Noren curtains that hang outside restaurants in Japan, one from stamp set EPA05 to create the edge of the tiled roof, and the word 'explore' from stamp set EPA04.

Let's take the chance to look at some of the details like using a fine tip pen to add wonky lines alongside your stamping and drawing to give it a loose, 'urban sketching' look.

See how the splat stamp from set EPA04 emphasises the darker areas of splattering, whilst the Grunge Paste stencilling softens and blends the transition between the pink background and stamped panel.