2024 Topic 6 : Scrapcosy - Mash Up Tags {by Autumn Clark}

Hi everyone!  It's Autumn Clark from SewPaperPaint with you today and I am ever so excited to have the chance to play with stamps for the Scrapcosy topic, as you all know how much I adore Raquel and her incredible designs!  I chose to do a Mash Up post to show how beautifully Scrapcosy stamps pair with Gwen Lafleur stamps.  Both designers have a beautiful illustrative style, Raquel with a more true vintage aesthetic and Gwen leaning toward a more bohemian vibe.  Nevertheless, the styles of illustration pair beautifully.  My task was made simple, minus the decision on which two stamp sets to marry...

My favorite part of this process was creating my own ephemera from each stamp.  I just love how these images can be personalized in any color palette, but ultimately I chose to work in an autumnal scheme, because  fall is almost upon us and is most beautiful in the foothills of South Carolina.

I was away from home, so I thought what better time to do a post featuring very few products.  I picked a trio of Distress Ink Pads, one bottle of PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic (Heavy Cream) and just two stamp sets, Scrapcosy stamp set 26 (ESC26) and Gwen Lafleur stamp set 19 (EGL19).

I started by getting inky!  I dipped a pair of Bristol panels into Distress Inks in Fired Brick, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo, repeating the process until I was happy with the color.  

I don't know about you, but sometimes just diving in with color seems the best way to kickstart my mojo.  Next, I stamped my focal imagery then played around with composition using the actual red rubber stamps as puzzle pieces to determine my layout.  

Then I started coloring my focal images to coordinate with my inky backgrounds and began stamping the backgrounds in various colors.

 

At this point, I was still contemplating our quarterly theme of "Hidden" and decided it would be a lot of fun to let some of these very rich colors and image outlines become hidden or subdued in the background.  

I grabbed a bottle of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic in Heavy Cream and brayered lightly over the center of each panel.  I just love how the Distress Inks rose to the surface, as shown in the mushroom definition on the left, and the black permanent ink stamping receded, as shown with the birds.  This instantly gave the tags a more vintage vibe.

I decided this patch of "free space" would be a great spot to add some journaling.  So to carry on with the Hidden Theme, I attached my focal images to smaller inky tags and adhered them with masking tape hinges to the larger tags.  It was a great space to incorporate additional stamping.

I used the Scrapcosy text stamps to highlight each mini tag.  The collage elements remind me of gathering nature's treasures on a stroll through the forest.

I made one tag flip to the left and the other flip to the right.  Do check out the PaperArtsy Instagram page for a reel of these tags in action...

I decided the shadowy birds needed a little oomph, so I fussy cut another colored bird and layered it over to complete the collage I was going for, with the smaller bird facing the "mama bird". 

I am looking forward to adding personal writing on these spaces in the future.

I hope you've enjoyed this Mash Up of Scrapcosy and Gwen Lafleur stamps!  Perhaps you're thinking of the sets you own and how they can be combined.  I would love to see what you come up with!  xx, Autumn

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2024 Topic 6 : Scrapcosy {by Riikka Kovasin}

Moikka everyone! It's Riikka Kovasin (@paperiliitin) here today with you to share my take on the Scrapcosy topic. While I love all things vintage, this time I went with an explosion of color and combined the detailed stamps to magazine cut-outs.

I haven't gone through my Instagram feed or used any other source to verify this, but I think every now and then I get an urge for color. My go-to color palette usually consists of blues and greens or even more likely rust tones, but every once in a while I start craving for all things rainbow. That was the case with this project. The moment I pitched for this idea, I already saw the pages in vibrant tones - quite contrasting to the vintage feel of the stamps!

What I really like about these pages, is the fact that they are so easy to replicate! You just need some paints, a bit of cardstock and magazines along with nice stamps and you are good to go! These pages hold two hidden features, though. Follow along the steps and find out what they are!

I picked two Scrapcosy stamp sets for this project. I picked the vegetable set (ESC02) as I saw the possibilities the pumpkin and onion had as really voluminous skirts. The other set (ESC24) I chose because of the owl as I saw how his head could be used to make different characters.

When it came to choosing colours, I limited myself to only three. This was because I wanted the project to be easy to do even with a limited stash. If you own a huge selection of colours, by all means use them, but you can get a lot done with a limited palette, too. 

I usually pick neighbouring colours on the colour wheel, i.e. I use an analogous colour scheme. The beauty of that is that all the colours go nicely together and it's almost impossible to create mud even though you combine all of the hues. But this time I didn't want to play it safe! I wanted as wide a range of colours as possible and instead of the usual neighbouring colours I chose a pale blue Summer Sky (FF150), peachy red Peach Nectar (FF144) and a fresh green Granny Smith (FF108). Having opposite colours like green and red in the palette had all the ingredients of a catastrophe in the air, but I think I pulled it off! See for yourself in the step by step photos underneath.  

The paints in the step photo below probably look familiar, but the cards might cause you to scroll back. They are the first hidden element of this project. They are hidden in plain sight, but just under a bit of paint! 

These cards have a little story of their own. I picked them from an antique market at Tallinn with this project in mind. I think one of them was in Estonian, one in German and rest in Russian, but as I don't really read any, I could be totally wrong! The point was not to be able to read the text, and personally I find it even easier to craft the background with a language I don't understand, but instead to have a handwritten surface to create upon. 

To add the paint touches on top of the cards, I added some dots of colour to each and then sandwiched the cards with the paints inside. A little squeeze and wiggle then got rid of the blank page dread and I finished the colouring with palette knife. 

With palette knife there was a bit of mixing involved, so there's a touch of brown tones here and there, but I didn't mind. If you, however, don't want any mud in your project, add the colours one by one and let each one dry before adding the following one. Or if you're using a palette like mine - two neighbouring colours and a contrasting one - use the opposite colour on its own layer and the two neighbouring on their own. 

Next step is optional in a way. Let me explain. I love to work in my journal but I hardly ever work directly on it but instead start with an extra piece of cardstock and then adhere the page in. The cards were too small on their own, so I needed to create a background for them. Depending how you work, you could just add the stamping directly to your journal or just skip it all together, if you are making loose pages. 

I used the same colours I used to add colour to the cards, but this time brayered them one by one to my gel printing plate. I then used the moon stamp from the Scrapcosy set (ESC24) to add a pattern to a piece of cardstock the plate acting as my ink pad of sorts. 

When stamping with acrylic paint, don't let the paint dry to your stamp but wipe it clean after stamping. 

Now that I had a couple of sheets all patterned with paint and the cards coloured, it was time to combine the two. While reaching for double sided tape and a paper trimmer, I realized I could make a pocket to my page! But before I could do that I trimmed the A4 sized sheet into two smaller bits that fitted inside my art journal. I saved the trimmings. I usually do that at least as long as I'm working with the project as those little strips might come handy in a later stage.

When the sheets were cut, it was time to combine the stamped piece with the post card. I used double sided tape to mount the piece in place. I think the idea of the pocket popped into my head because I had just seen the fabulous card project by Claudia Neubacher (link). So instead of adhering the card to the base from all four edges, I secured three with the double sided tape and left the fourth open to slide a tag inside. 

One of the cards was smaller than the three others and for that one I needed to trim the tag smaller. This way it could slide nicely inside the pocket. The others, however, were just fine the way they were. 

I had created a burst of colour like I wanted to, but now some contrast was needed for the background. There was a bit of the handwriting showing here and there and some postal stamps, but I felt that the background still required more visual texture. I used stamps from both Scrapcosy sets to add patterning to the background. I could have introduced another colour into the mix, but I felt that black would be the way to go, thus adding contrast to the mix. 

As you can see from the step picture below, I used one of the sentiment stamps repeatedly to create texture. You can make out some of the words, but more over I wanted that to represent a script texture in the background. I also used the stamps in clusters combining the different motifs to make bigger segments while leaving other places without any added patterns. 

Now I had the backgrounds ready for the focal points on top. I was pleased about the splashes of colour I had created but at the same time I lost a bit more of the handwriting in the cards that I may have wanted. That was due to the method I added the colours and also the colours I chose. If I had chosen a trio of translucent or semi-opaque colours, the outlook would have been different.

 

Focal point time meant cutting, stamping and more cutting! 

I had received a pile of magazines from my mom and I started by cutting loose body parts. That sounds so weird, but as you can see, that's what I really did! I tried to pick interesting poses, but also kept in mind the size of the owl. When I had a small stash created, it was time to make the stamped elements.

I could have chosen to stamp the elements on top of white cardstock and then added colour, but I wanted the character to have the same feel throughout. So, instead of cardstock I stamped the elements to magazine pages. I picked an interesting colour or pattern, stamped the image on top and then used a heat tool to dry the ink as I was using an ink that's suitable for non-porous surfaces with heat setting. After drying I then cut the stamped element out. 

This was the most fun part of the whole process - making the characters! As you can see, I used the owl head on each one and added a pumpkin or an onion skirt or bottom to every character. If you like, you can add more variety by using different stamped heads or animals. You can also go more surreal and create your own fantasy mixes. 

If you want more inspiration to character building than these four, Siiri (link) creates fabulous animal stories and Riikka (link) has an unique way of collaging vintage images. I follow them both and I'm sure this project was inspired by what they do! 

Now that I had my characters ready, it was time to insert them into the backgrounds. I didn't want them floating around the picture plain but instead to sit or stand upon something. For that I used those thin strips I trimmed away in earlier stage (remember I said they might come handy?) but also made some decorative tape of my own. 

I put a length of masking tape to my craft mat, inked the border-like stamp from the Scrapcosy set (ESC24) and stamped the pattern on top. After heat-setting the motif I then used the tape in small pieces on all of the four pages. On top I then adhered the character using double sided tape. 

A tip - if you want the character to be secured smoothly, put a piece of double-sided adhesive sheet to the back before cutting the element loose. That turns the character elements into a stickers! Or if you have a "sticker maker" machine, even better. 

Backgrounds - check. Characters - check. Embellishments - let's tackle those! As the pages had quite a lot going on already, I decided to use similar elements to those I already had in the pages. I rummaged around the magazines again and cut some embellishment elements out but also used the label stamp from Scrapcosy set (ESC02) to make colorful labels. For those I used the same idea as with the other stamped elements - I picked a nice colorful surface from the magazine, stamped the label on top, heat-set the ink and then cut the label loose. I added these additional little elements to the pages using double-sided tape as well.

I was a bit torn when it came to journaling. The biggest question mark was the language. I had these magazines and keeping with the idea of not adding any more different elements I could use those, but they were in Finnish. As this blog post is in English I was thinking if the journaling should be in English, too. But in the end I decided it was more important to share the idea of using the magazine in a various ways than that the journaling was readable - I could always add translations! 

So, next I turned my attention to the words on the pages of the magazines rather than images. I cut sayings and words from here and there also trying to add different fonts to my journaling. To keep the pages coherent, I chose to go with black text on top of white surface. I used again double-sided tape for adhering the pieces in place. 

As a finishing touch I added some doodling to the pages. I added a bit of white to the eyes of the owls if they were stamped on top of a dark surface and then added a faux stitch line running around each page.

After the last little doodles, the pages were done! I took individual photos of them, but then added them to two journals as spreads. Often my spreads have an element running from page to page, tricking the eye and keeping the spread coherent. These didn't have that as such, but as they have the same colour scheme and style, they go nicely together.

Ta-dah, here the pages are! Colourful, paint-blotted backgrounds and collage characters on top. I'm happy how these turned out! The character with the stripy shirt and jeans is my favourite of the four. I really like the posture, how her hand leans against her feathery cheek! Although the character with ballet shoes is also intriguing as I feel the pumpkin skirt really makes a nice style detail there.

I've included a translation of the journaling underneath each page. The two first make up a spread as well as the two latter ones. Especially in the first two the journaling has a nice common theme in the both pages!

"Dear reader, to do or not to do? Use your experience"

Like I said earlier, I used the same head in each character, but you could do a mash up with different sets. Like try mixing character stamps by Darcy or Clare Lloyd in the mix! If you have room to store elements, cut out interesting poses each time you see those in magazines and create a stash of character elements! 

I hope these pages inspire you to try mixing different things and adding colour to vintage elements! Thank you so much for your time!

"Everything can be done as with mother's instructions"

"Trips to the ends of the world but everything nice happens at home"

"This is something I'd like to say to my former self: Get inspired!"

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2024 Topic 6 : Scrapcosy {by Amanda Pink}

Hi everyone, Amanda Pink (p1nkart) here with you today.

Since I moved house inaut umn last year I've been trying to get my new place all set up to make it feel like 'home'. I'm slowly getting there and although I have a few pieces of art on display I still feel there's a need for a few more so I thought this Scrapcosy topic would provide me with an ideal opportunity to make a new piece of art for my new place! 

I like creating art 'on the block' as the sides of the block give a bit more creative space. They are also super easy to wall hang or if preferred they can sit on a surface as a piece of table art. So today I'm sharing a mixed media art block that has a touch of 'grunge' combined with some delicate water-coloured imagery!! Two contrasting styles that I think on this occasion came together in harmony!

Our current overriding theme is 'Hidden' so within the overall design of my art block there is a little something hiding away waiting to be revealed to give a second piece of art! 

Hope you'll join me to find out more . 

Scrapcosy has so many fabulous stamps and stencil designs it wasn't easy selecting which to create with but in the end with regards the stamps I opted for Scrapcosy stamp set 31 (ESC31) and Scrapcosy stampset 41 (ESC41). I thought they'd give me a good mix of imagery and words that I could pick and choose from to play around with. Words, flowers, butterflies are always so versatile aren't they?

I could see any of these stamps working well with 'a brick wall' backdrop so I picked out PaperArtsy stencil by Scrapcosy 375 (PS375) which led my 'grungy heart' to reach for my PaperArtsy Grunge Paste (GP190). You can't create bricks (all be them faux bricks) without some grunge, right? Some PaperArtsy Infusions (Just Walnut, CS25) too. Maybe some PaperArtsy Rusting Powder? Mmmm, maybe not ! Although I wanted some grunge, this time I didn't want to go full on grunge!

I didn't initially plan to use PaperArtsy Stencils by Scrapcosy: 374 (PS374) and 191 (PS191) but they turned out to be welcome additions.  

My colour palette was very much influenced by my new place so as it's currently quite neutral/ monochrome I went with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics (Chalk FF83, Stone FF59, Slate FF84, and Little Black Dress FF19) adding in just a splash of colour: PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic (Deep Sea, FF198). 

In addition to these supplies there were the substrates including the large and small Art block  which you'll see and I'll mention throughout this post. 

The background of my art block was to be a brick wall so that's where my creativity began.

I applied PaperArtsy Grunge Paste (FF190) through what I'm calling the 'brick wall' design that's on PaperArtsy Stencil by Scrapcosy 375 (PS375). This design isn't could very easily be used for other things and in other ways.

Laying a stencil down on card and holding it in place on a flat surface is much easier than 'wrestling' with it on a raised surface like an art block so I worked 'off the block' on PaperArtsy Heavy Smoothy.

To help avoid movement/ slip of the card or stencil while applying the PaperArtsy Grunge Paste (FF190) I adhered the card to my work surface with a small piece of Sizzix Sticky Grid and kept the stencil in position with masking tape. 

(Apologies for the two colour tapes! The purple tape is low tack tape which was better to use in places as the stencil design wasn't quite the same size as the card panel so had to be taped to the card as well as the work surface. Low tack tape lessened the chance of the card ripping or marking when the tape was removed !) 

I had to reposition the stencil to extend the brick wall to cover the size of the card panel I was working on but it's design made it super easy.  All I had to do was simply place the design over the last line of bricks I'd created and I was set to continue.

N.B: Be sure to dry the first round of stenciling before repositioning or you'll end up with squished bricks!!!

No doubt you spotted the 'little holes' in the bricks? I like stamping into PasterArtsy Grunge Paste (FF190) using detail stamps but thought this time instead of using stamps I'd use a ball tool. Ok, probably not 'stamping' as we know it...more 'poking' ;). No precision was involved,  My 'poking' was all very random and care free!  A fun way to create some marks in the bricks!  Great for stress relief too !! ;) 

Once the brick wall was dry it was time to paint.

I started with an all over coverage of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic (Chalk, FF83). Using a stencil brush with a pouncing action allowed me to get the paint in between all the peaks and troughs of the PaperArsty Grunge Paste (FF190) stencilling with ease. Quick and easy too !!

As PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics have a drying time of what I call 'Now' (super quick no waiting around) by the time I'd finished painting the panel with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic (Chalk, FF83) I was able to start dry brushing it with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic (Stone, FF59). Dry brushing allowed me to catch the base colour in some places not others to give nuances of colour, light and shadow all be them very subtle. Again quick and easy too!

Painting in the 'cement' was the most time consuming but I didn't mind at all as I find intricate, fine line painting relaxing and focusing. A way to zone in and forget the 'outside noise' so to speak. Using a Rigger brush made it much easier too. If you haven't got a Rigger brush and you want/ like to paint fine lines/ detail/ intricate patterns I would definitely recommend investing in one. I wouldn't be without mine! 

Alternatively, if this kind of painting is not your thing you could always try switching up my order of creativity and paint your card panel with the cement colour first then proceed to stencil the wall. If you did it that way you would need to reposition the stencil over the bricks in order to paint them. The results may not be exactly the same doing it this way round but pretty sure they'd be similar!

I kept within the lines on the whole but didn't stress if I slipped over as I also purposely smudged the cement painting out onto some of the bricks. This helped to make them look a bit more grungy / weather worn and also emphasise some of the brick 'poke holes'.

Although I was pleased with how the brick wall was looking I still felt it needed 'grunging' up a bit more but as I mentioned in the intro not too much. I thought PaperArtsy Infusions (Just Walnut, CS25) would give me just the extra touch of grunge I was after.

With PaperArtsy Infusions being water reactive and the brown and colour crystals they are made up of reacting at different rates I thought they'd allow me to control the level of grunginess. I felt they did !

If the PaperArtsy Infusions (Just Walnut, CS25) were looking too dark I simply added water and / or wiped / dabbed dry. I was also able to drip and move them around the areas I wanted them (primarily the corners and sides of the panel) with ease.

I realised while making the brick wall that I would need another as I was thinking of taking the  wall around the sides of the large art block and maybe also carry it onto the smaller art block too so I hit  repeat to make another that I then cut into strips.

Pleased with how the brick wall panels and strips were looking at this point I moved on to the focal image and the hidden art.

First the focal image for the main art block.

I felt painting some pieces of PaperArtsy Heavy Smoothy with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics (Chalk FF83, Stone FF59) would maintain continuity of colour throughout the project.

While considering the overall design of my finished project I knew I needed a relatively small focal and as I love the 'daisy' on Scrapcosy Stamp set 41 (ESC41) that's what it was to be. 

I thought it would be good to 'spotlight' it in some way as this would help draw the viewing eye in which is what a focal is all about, right? 

The larger circle on PaperArtsy Stencil by Scrapcosy 191 (PS191) gave me just what I needed. 

This stencil gives you both the circle stencil and the circle masks. Either could be used but I used the mask, simply placing it in the middle of a piece of painted card and drawing round it lightly with a pencil.

I stamped the 'daisy' within it ! What a beauty and even before its coloured !

To water colour the flower I carried the brown of the PaperArtsy infusions (Just Walnut, CS25) from the brick wall through to the focal and introduced a splash of colour with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic (Deep Sea, FF198).

I went a bit left field mixing up what would probably be the expected colours of the flower and the leaves but that's what's so 'liberating' about creativity isn't it? If you want brown flowers and blue leaves, stems, flower heads that's ok!

More than happy with my painted flower I felt the surrounding areas of the circle were looking rather 'empty' so some subtle stencilling using one of the designs on PaperArtsy Stencil by Scrapcosy 374 (PS374) in the same colours as the flower helped resolve that.

Usually I would really think about/ consider my choice of stencil but in a bid to free myself from my 'overthinking' I just went on a whim that it would work ok with the flower. I think it did ! Are you an over thinking creative too?

A black micron pen helped emphasise the previously drawn 'spotlight' circle.

To finish the flower focal panel I adhered it to matt board to give it some rigidity, added some faux Micron pen stitching for a touch of extra detail inside the 'spotlight' circle and distressed the corners and sides very lightly with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide (Black Soot).

The Hidden Art!

My overall design was such that a small square art block would sit centrally on top of a larger square art block. The flower focal would cover the top of the small art block hiding what was beneath and in order to reveal what was hiding the flower focal needed to be removable but at the same time it needed to stay firmly in place until removed.

So I trialled an idea out to see if it would work and it did. 

As the smaller art block would be reversed and used as a window frame I measured the dimensions of the window, took those measurements to card to draw out what would in effect when cut and scored be an open top box.

I painted the open top box and a MDF panel which it will be adhered to with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic (Little Black Dress FF19) in keeping with the colour of the large and small art block.

So what do you think might fit into the window of a small window frame ? Why a butterfly of course! ;). 

I always welcome the opportunity to feature or include a butterfly in my creativity and as butterflies are said to signify hope, love and new beginnings I thought it was a perfect choice given this piece of art is for / inspired by my new place.

She was watercoloured with the colours used so far: PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic (Deep Sea FF198) and PaperArtsy infusions (Just Walnut, CS25) along with some delicate touches of PaperArtsy Infusions: Rusty Car (CS17).

I thought some of the words on Scrapcosy Stampset ESC41 (ESC41) would be great to include somewhere on my project.   

The stampset comes with the words all partially joined together so they can either be used as you see them on the carrier sheet or a simple scissor snip will allow you to use each of them on their own. That's what I did as I wanted a couple of long strips of words: 'Live, Love, Laugh' aswell as some single words: 'Pause', 'Breathe', 'Relax'.

I know I'm going to be reaching for these words a lot in my creativity - a great selection in a general, versatile font that I reckon would lend itself to any style of creativity.

The tiny small diamonds on PaperArtsy stencil by Scrapcosy 374 (PS374) helped fill in the gaps between the words on the long strips, also offering the suggestion to 'pause' when reading the words.

I was now ready to start bringing everything together.

The large art block in situ already makes my new place feel more like 'home'! 

Now for some close ups starting with the flower focal. 

This was adhered to a back matt board panel then mounted onto the black MDF panel/ open box 'insert' I'd made. It fitted snugly within the window of the small frame to hide what's beneath. 

Some script stamp triangles topped with some Tim Holtz Ideology hitch fasteners decorate the corners of the black MDF panel/ open box 'insert'. They also help when removing the flower focal. 

Carrying the brick wall down and around the sides of the main art block aswell as up and around the sides of the small art block help bring the 2 together and gives continuity throughout the whole project design. 

The 'Live love Laugh' word strips covered one row of bricks perfectly both above and below the flower focal.

(I hadn't realised that when I was cutting the strips . Serendipity, hey? ) 

Let's lift the flower focal to see what's hidden beneath....

A butterfly of course .... giving a second piece of art !  

The script stamp from Scrapcosy stamp set 41 (ESC41) stamped very lightly in Ranger Archival ink (Jet black, Coffee) nestles in the window complimenting the background colours.  In the centre a small black disc on which the butterfly rests, her thorax embellished with some pieces of Tim Holtz ideology .

The single words placed around the frame with the addition of part of a quote from Scrapcosy Stamp set 31 (ESC31):  'Pause, Breathe, Relax with the Butterflies'!  Oh how I'd love to! 

I really have enjoyed making this artblock/s and I'm happy with how it all turned out. 

I love the idea of having an hidden element behind the focal which in this case gives a second piece of art. I may have used a stamped butterfly to hide but that could easily be switched up for something else: a treasured photo or a precious keepsake maybe, or how about using the hidden space as a place to keep something like keys safe??

Thanks for stopping by today/ tonight
Creative Wishes
Amanda

x

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