PaperArtsy year in review (Topics 17-21)
Have
you managed to clear all those Xmas food leftovers yet? Well keep at
it! here is our final post for the year in review, and then we take a
break until the new year when we start sharing our new product releases,
well some sneak peeks to begin with! Lets see what Alison loved about
the final topics of 2018.
Leandra
Hello all, Alison here again from Words and Pictures. As I said in my earlier round-up on Christmas Day, I missed so much this year, so this has been a great way for me to catch up with just some of the amazing work here on the PaperArtsy blog. Tonight I'm sharing my picks from Topics 17 - 21: Box of Eggs, Stamping Platforms, Tissue Paper, Foiling and Matchbox Art.
Topic 17: Box of Eggs
My first pick is this amazing layered collage by Kate Yetter.
She went for the brighter and grungier end of the colour palette -
though the duck-egg blue of the Seaglass paint is singing to me from the
teacup! - and added in grunge paste for extra texture. The
fussy-cutting of the Scrapcosy images is so worth it for the finished
dimensional effect.
Ruth Mescall went to the other end of the colour scale with this pastel, neutral altered mirror frame.
The delicate colours and textures are so ethereally pretty, and I love
how she has balanced the composition - echoing the natural elements with
the Urban Snapshots Nature Series images on the Stampbord panels.
Okay, a slight blush as I offer up one of my own creations in this review... but I so enjoyed creating my actual box of eggs
using Courtney's Box of Eggs-coloured paints. Ugly plastic eggs became
decorative shelled objects, and I had a lovely time altering some of
the newer Hot Picks images to suit my altered eggbox covers. A crazy
idea, but it made me happy.
We had some lovely entries to the challenge (which you can check out here,
along with what must surely be one of the prettiest Intro posts of the
year!), and one which really caught my eye was this amazing woven panel
created by Sue of Sue the Iron, using stamps by Lynne Perrella and Ellen Vargo. Fabulous!
Topic 18: Stamping Platform Techniques
I love the Techniques challenges because you always learn so much. I've used my stamping platform occasionally, mainly just to get clear images on tricky surfaces, but the inspiration offered up in this fortnight has me raring to go and experiment more with what is clearly a very versatile tool in the craft room.
Jo Firth-Young gave us a masterclass in inventive stamping techniques to create this delightful summertime floral wreath
with her own JOFY stamps. She included really detailed notes and
photos in the post of how to achieve this amazing look... so there are
no excuses!
There were plenty of great tips from Keren Baker on how to get a really high-quality finish when stamping on fabric. She also shared techniques using aperture stamping and slashing the fabric and ended up with this gorgeous textured bag, featuring stamps from several collections - Ink & the Dog, Hot Picks and Eclectica Seth Apter.
There
were some creative stamping platform techniques on show among the
challenge entries too, and I've chosen this dramatic Black Widow coaster
made by Flo of Florence and Freddie
to highlight. She cleverly masked off the parts of the Lynne Perrella
stamp which she didn't need, and created this spooky little treat.
Topic 19 : Tissue Paper
There was another brilliant Intro post for this topic... so many gorgeous ideas for transforming projects through the use of tissue paper. As always, the PaperArtsy Designers pulled out all the stops to show off what you can do with this humble ingredient.
I loved the use of vintage tissue paper in the form of old sewing patterns in Jennie Atkinson's charming little gift box.
Her shabby chic style and neutral colour palette work perfectly with
the Hot Picks stamps to create this elegant altered box, and there's
even tissue paper on the inside to keep your treasures safe!
Ellie Knol used tissue paper to create texture as well as paper napkins to provide her main images for her altered cigar box.
There's real delight in seeing how the tissue paper image can get into
all the nooks and crannies of the intricate moulded embellishments she
made to go on the top of the box.
This exquisite autumnal page spread
by Autumn Clark exploits the layering possibilities of tissue paper
stamping. She shared lots of tips for reverse-painting your images on
the tissue paper, and the layering of many Eclectica collections -
Scrapcosy, Emma Godfrey, Lin Brown and my own Alison Bomber quote stamps
- just adds to the depth and atmosphere she's created.
There
was lots of tissuey loveliness in the challenge entries too, but I
particularly enjoyed the bright colours and bold shapes in these art
journal pages by Rachel of Arty Beginnings. She combined paper napkin leaves with Ellen Vargo and Kay Carley stamps to make this cheerful spread.
Topic 20 : Foiling
I
tend towards the distressed rather than the shimmering end of crafting
styles, but I do love the gleam of a metallic hit of foiling when I see
it in action, and have been known to indulge in it myself at times.
This theme was timed for the beginning of November - a perfect
invitation to get going with some festive makes.
Wanda Hentges picked up the festive challenge and really knocked it out of the park with her colourful collection of cards.
I love the glint of the foiling - especially those fabulous fussy-cut
fir fronds - as well as the really inventive way the greetings are done
differently on each card. That vellum overlay is wonderful.
And
I hope you didn't miss Leandra herself putting in an appearance with
one of my favourite creations of all those I saw this year here on the
PaperArtsy blog (and I'm not just trying to curry favour... honest!).
It's an atmospheric piece of abstract art,
with scrumptious texture, vintage script, some of my favourite colours
and that glorious gleaming gold at the horizon line. Stunning!
It's a second appearance for the delightful Scrapcosy teacup stamps in these fabulously zingy cards
by Josefine Fourage. It's one of my favourite properties of a metallic
shine that it has a now-you-see-it, now-you-don't quality. The foiled
teacups appear and disappear amidst the vivid colours and brayered
textures according to the angle of the light - magical!
Quite
a few of you took the opportunity to get cracking with your Christmas
cards, but the challenge entry I've chosen to feature here has a more
autumnal starting point. Mac Mable of The Sweetest of Peas
used a real leaf from her garden and some humble kitchen foil to make
this superb card. Check out that puddle of molten metal - I love it!
Topic 21 : Matchbox Art
So
many possibilities in this topic - hidden drawers, architecture and
construction, surprises and nooks and crannies... and, as you might
expect, there was oodles of imagination and inspiration on show in the
projects shared both by the PaperArtsy designers and those who entered
the challenge.
You
can tell it's a meeting of quirky creative minds when you see Helen
Chilton in action with the brilliant Zinski stamps. This underwater fantasy takes you completely by surprise as BOTH ends of the matchbox open up to reveal more of the scene. It fills me with glee!
I fell head-over-heels in love with this matchbox house
by Corrie Herriman, using some of Courtney Franich's new stamps. Not
only did I love the outside-the-box thinking of adding the triangular
roof to the matchbox, but you'll have to visit the post to see her
inside-the-box thinking. There's a reason you absolutely can't park on
the no-parking sign at the bottom... it's a tab which pulls open a
drawer containing an enchanting little mini art journal. A lovely
surprise extra element.
Etsuko Noguchi created an Egyptian treasure trove
using this year's new Lynne Perrella stamps. Her jewel colours are
glorious against the textured stone background, and those "exploded"
matchboxes frame the exquisitely detailed imagery brilliantly. Not only
that, but they've been done on shrink plastic to fit them into the
boxes! Again, I highly recommend a visit to the post if you missed it -
there are great close-ups to get the benefit of all the angles of this
incredible project. Oh, and she used my Alison Bomber quote stamps
too!!
I'm
sorry - I tried really hard to stick to just three designer pieces, but
I simply couldn't leave out this incredible labour of love by Chris
Dark. Think of it as your Christmas Bonus! Her Advent calendar gift boxes are simply glorious... colourful, decorative, an absolute delight.
By
now it was the beginning of December and, of course, everyone gets
busy. There were only a few entries for this theme, but I wish I could
feature every single one of them - they were all amazing. Check them
out at the end of the Intro post here. The one I simply couldn't resist, though, was this utterly captivating little vignette box by Christine of Crafty Endeavours. Do visit her post to see how those stars on the outside gleam in metallic copper in the right light.
What
a privilege to be part of the incredible team of creative artists and
crafters here at PaperArtsy, and what a joy to see how the work shared
here on the PaperArtsy blog fires the imaginations of so many more
amazing creators out in the wider world. It may be a little
time-consuming to create these end-of-year posts, but it's time so well
spent, revisiting these inspirational projects full of ideas, techniques
and expertise. I hope you've enjoyed reading these review posts as
much as I've enjoyed putting them together.
Alison x
