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.

The stamped gel plate print creates a perfect frame for the Lynne Perrella image.

Using a little 'Chalk' Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint and a lead pencil through the PS540 stencil links the stencilled and stamped graphic images. 

Follow the stamped wavy lines as a guide when replicating the shape of the roof tiles above.

Add hints of detail beneath your focal point including the gel print created earlier and stamping on brown packaging paper..

As you can imagine I have lots of 'leftovers' and will be using them in other art journals.

Thank you for joining me today.

Jenny

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Art of Gifting with Kate Crane stamps {by Katy Norgate}

Hello everyone

Katy Norgate with you today, and I'm delighted to have been invited to showcase Kate Crane's scrumptious festive new products released last week. I came up with the idea of making gift bags. 

I always look forward to Kate's Christmas designs; her fun style works perfectly to bring Christmas joy! That being said there are features, e.g. those lovely mice, and the stencils, that don't have to be just for Christmas!

Here is a taster of what I've been creating.....

Below you can see the new stamps and stencils! Are they not soooo much fun ?

We have stamp sets KC024, KC025 and KC026; along with stencils PS530, PS531 and PS532 (currently available and in stock with your local PaperArtsy stockist). I have utilised all of these products as you will see throughout this post.

As many of you will know, I am primarily a card maker, but I wanted to try something a little different, so I've had a go at making gift bags for a change. Nothing too adventurous, and certainly easily achievable! These could be great for end of year gifts for friends, teachers or family, so maybe this is a good time to get ahead on your seasonal 'to do' list!

The idea of designing and making my gift bags evolved slowly. I was initially playing with collage pieces from the papers I made, to creating a Christmas scene on the bags. But, the end results were looking a little cumbersome. The more I played, the more I became focussed on the papers I had created with infusions and stencils, to subsequently make collage fodder... more of that below.

Let's begin with the papers I have made. When I have new stencils to play with, making papers is my go-to activity, even before I have an end result in mind. 

Using stencils PS530 and PS531; infusions green man (CS18), a bit jaded (CS02), Emerald Isle (CS01), blackcurrant (CS09), magenta (CS23) and frankly scarlet (CS19) ; and PaperArtsy Smoothy  card (SCA4)  I had great fun getting messy. 

Smoothy card stock is perfect for handling plenty of water for great results with any wet media, and certainly for infusions. Some papers can blister when the water hits the card, but smoothy copes beautifully, so if you are not getting the results and movement you want on wet card with infusions, it's worth considering smoothy for any infusions-related techniques.

Placing a stencil loosely onto a piece of Smoothy card stock, I sprinkled small amounts of infusion crystals over the stencil.

Then activated the infusions by spritzing with water.

Here's a close up of the yumminess, notice the small droplets, so not too much water gives you that droplet texture on the card below

I then lifted the stencil carefully off the card. You can see there are lots of droplets on the stencil itself, so I gave this another spritz of water before placing it, ink side down, onto the card, to create a second print. I pressed it down by rolling kitchen roll over it to encourage to infusion droplets to soak into the card.

Here are some close ups of the positive and negative results I ended up with once they were almost dry.

I repeated this process using stencil PS530 with the same colours, and then repeated with both stencils with the green infusions.

And here is a view of the collection after a couple of hours of messy fun! I will use these pages as a main feature on the gift bags, in addition to using them to complement some of the stamped images.

Paper piecing. This is a technique that has certainly been visited before, but there is no harm in revisiting it. A video by Kate Crane is a perfect resource for this technique. If you check out the  link to Kate's website, you will find this and several other useful videos (Kate Crane resources).

Sometimes, I just don't want to spend lots of time carefully colouring stamped images, and this technique is quick, and helps to coordinate with background papers, made in the session, making a finished item look more harmonised. It is also a good way to use up some of those small scraps of papers.

 

Here I have stamped this cheeky mouse, from KC025, onto plain white cardstock with archival black ink. I cut the whole image out, leaving a small white border. I have loosely coloured face, ears, arms and legs with watercolour. I have then stamped again onto offcuts of my handmade papers. These have been cut out close to the stamped line. 

Then the pieces are adhered to the main image as shown. 

For good measure and added dimension, I have cut out and coloured a spare set of of ears! 

I have done exactly the same thing here with Santa from KS026

Once my papers were dry, I played about with them to see how I could use them as backgrounds or to paper-piece stamped images. The papers turned out very vivid and eye catching, so not quite right as subtle background layers in my opinion. (Not that I'm often subtle!!) Then I had a little epiphany with stencil PS532!! By drawing through the stencil shapes onto the papers, and using it as a template, I could create foreground features of trees instead! I was rather pleased with myself, as I believe the trees of this stencil work perfectly with the loose squares created with PS531. So this is what I did……

All cut out and ready to use

Using a small white gift bag, I stencilled complementary distress oxide ink through PS530, as well as onto a small die cut gift tag. I outlined the spots with a fine ink pen, as well as outlining the trees with a black pen. Topped the trees with a star drawn through the same stencil.

I repeated the same technique in a different colour way.

With the addition of a sentiment from KC024, some glitter glue and sari ribbon, here are two completed gift bags, with tags. This very simple technique can easily transfer to card making, and you will see at the end that I couldn't resist!! Those eagle eyed of you might also have seen a couple feature in Kate's live of the new release last week, as I have sent a couple to her as samples.

So I am far from finished, so please stick with me!

Now to add some of these wonderful stamped images to the mix. 

Here I have a larger craft paper gift bag and am arranging a bit of a snowy scene, using some of the trees and a paper pieced Santa from KC026.

I have stencilled (not so neatly!) Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic in snowflake (FF15) through stencil PS530 with a sponge. 

I've added a bit of glitter glue to the edges of white card, cut out of cheap copy card, to look like snowy hills.

I've begun to glue things in place, giving Santa something to stand on with some paper scrap and vintage music paper.  I have attached him using one of my favourite new crafting toys, a wobbler!!

Here is another gift bag, using the same techniques, and the paper pieced mouse, featured above.

....And the beginnings of another ....

..... and another!

And so here are my gift bags with complimentary gift tags, using components of all Kate's fabulous new stamp sets and stencils. I have had great fun, especially featuring the stencilled trees on each of the bags; that was certainly my favourite element during this creative venture. 

Here are a few close up photos to enhance some of the finer details 

For example look at the wondrous colours in these infusions. 

Spot the googly eyes ......

Additional ears, colouring and glitter to add extra dimension, not to mention the 'wobbler' attachment .......

Some of the gift tags ......

Ways to adapt some of my ideas from this post are to make cards, as alluded to above. Here are some photos of some I have already made as promised!

Thank you so much for sticking with me. I do hope you find some inspiration here to get creative yourself, either with Kate's new designs, or with other items already in your stash. 

Keeeeep crafting .....

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