2022 Topic 03: Second Life {by Liesbeth Fidder De Vos} with Lynne Perrella stamps

Hi everyone, it's Liesbeth with you today, and I'm here to share with you the second life of a pair of old jeans and an old book! Together they become a (usable) handbag!

I love recycling; giving things a second life so much! I saw the idea of making a purse from an old book in Finland a few years ago. There was lots of sewing there, and I figured out how to avoid sewing by using the fabric of old jeans, so anyone can create this. For the painting and stamping techniques I never have a plan...I always just start and see what happens!

So...what I needed was an old book...not a beautiful one because it was to be overpainted and of course some old worn jeans I didn't wear anymore.

I chose these two wonderful Lynne Perrella stamp sets : LPC047 and LPC048. I also chose the colour combination...that was easy because it's my favourite: blues/turquoises and rust.

 

Let's start to prepare things first. I cut off the trouser legs from the jeans and cut the legs open to create a flat piece of fabric. I cut off the hems (as shown), I'll use them as handles for the bag.

I cut out the pages of the book (use them for your other projects!) Just the cover of the book remains.

To make the fabric inside of the purse, I set up the book sideways onto the denim opened 12.5cm as you can see here below. Using a pencil I traced the triangle shape inside the open cover. I cut it out adding 1,5 cm to all edges of the triangle. I cut this piece two times, for both sides of the purse.

I also cut out the body/lining piece, exactly the same size as the book cover. So no seams needed.

The reason for cutting the fabric now, and not after I painted the book cover is because it's much easier to work with the unfinished piece here. I put aside the fabric pieces for later.

 

Now the fun part starts! First I covered the book cover with a layer of gesso to be sure the paint doesn't soak in too much. I dried the gesso and painted big parts variably with blue and brown paints. I used PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic  China and Toffee. I love them, and I love the combination! I didn't work very elegantly here, but that's not necessary because almost everything will be covered.

As soon as the paint was dry, I covered some big areas with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Crackle Glaze. Not everywhere...but big parts. I let the glaze dry well.

Now it's the turn of the lighter colours: Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint, Blue Oyster and Stone. I squeezed out lots of both paints onto a craft sheet and made sure both colours were on the brush when I started painting. I covered the entire bookcover with these two paints, I worked quickly and tried not to touch the same spot twice. I used a thick layer of paint...I will get the BIG crackles I need! The crackling starts immediately and it's so nice to see the process; it's always magical!

I let the paints dry very well. Meanwhile I took a Kleenex tissue and took the 3 different layers of it apart. Using Tsukineko StazOn ink - Jet Black, I stamped lots of stamps from the two Lynne Perrella stamp sets onto the tissue paper. I didn't know which ones I needed, so I stamped a lot using LPC047 and LPC048 and some even twice. Instead of StazOn of course, you can use another waterproof ink.

I tore out most of the images, and some I cut out, like the hearts.

With the tissue cut outs, I tried  different compositions on both sides of the book cover. When I was satisfied, I glued all parts onto the surface, and also added some small torn out pieces of images (branches and small birds). Be careful, the tissue paper becomes very weak as soon as it's wet.

When everything was dry I thought  'hmmm, not enough is happening there... more is more!' ;-) So I stamped the wonderful grid stamp (from Stamp Set LPC048) here and there with Tsukineko StazOn ink in Saddle brown. Still...not enough... so I also stamped some leaves and branches on the edges using StazOn Jet Black. The leaves and branches...are from the headdress of the big woman's face! I just used the edges of that stamp.(from Stamp Set LPC047).

Time for the finishing touch of the images, where everything comes together. I coloured the skin (faces, hands) with some Salmon Adirondack ink and a waterbrush. Pink Distress ink also worked perfectly to give a bit of warmth!

Time to add some more colour! I love to colour images with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint in Glass Blue, because of its transparency and colour; wonderful! I coloured some details like birds, eggs and buttons using it. After that I watered down some of the Glass Blue paint with quite a lot of water till it was like watercolor paint, and painted some shadows here and there around the images so they would pop out even more.  I repeated this process with the brown paint I used before(Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint - Toffee).

Time for make-up! With blue colour pencil I coloured the eyelids and irises of the women, the cheeks with pink and the lips with red. The white of the eyes I highlighted using a white gel pen. All these details bring the face alive.

I really LOVE glitter, and use too much sometimes... (not this time 😉) Very subtly I added some blue and copper glitter glue (Stickles) on the leaves, branches, eggs and buttons of the images.

Well...I think the book cover is finished...yes, it is! This is what it looks like now, now it's time to turn it in a nice handbag!

Some details: you can see the shadows I made with the (very) watered down paint next to the faces.

Bringing everything together! But first, while I was poking around in my studio, I found these beautiful metal corner-pieces...perfect for this book-bag! Using tacky glue, I glued them on the upper corners.

I thought the pieces of jeans I cut out before were a little boring...so I decided to stamp onto the fabric. Once I'd seen some pictures of beautiful bleached stamped images on fabric so I thought let's try! So I took a scrap piece and started stamping using pure bleach. Again, I stamped with the haircut, leaves and branches, from the woman's head on Lynne Perrella Stamp Set LPC047

Unfortunately it wasn't a success, the prints were smudged and not detailed at all. Experiment FAILED! 😀

So I tried to decorate the fabric with paint, and that worked well! Same colours again : Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint in Blue Oyster and Stone. I added both colours together on the stamp, and stamped randomly, turning the stamp every time in another position. I liked it!

So I stamped it the same way onto the cut out panels.

To create the handles of the bag, I glued down the hems on the inside of the book cover, at the same distance to the centre. Allow to dry well. I used clamps whilst it was drying.

For a closure, I attached a hitch fastener (Tim Holtz) between the handles. On the other side, I glued a rubber (hair) band using tacky tape and tacky glue.

Using tacky glue, I glued the triangle end panels at the inside of the bag (yes, now it's a bag!) You have to be very careful here, use rather a lot of glue on the edges, put the fabric in place, press each time with your fingers, press and smooth the seams till it's fixed.

Using a lot of tacky glue, at the edges and in the middle and onto the spine, I finished the bag by adding the remaining piece of fabric (lining) into the bag. I pressed for a long time with my fingers again until everything was fixed.

And a unique handbag is ready to be used!

This was so much fun to create, I hope you will give it a try yourself! When I started, I didn't know where it should end. I would recommend this way of working to all of you! Just let your inspiration and brainwaves lead you and you will be surprised! 😀 During this creative process I was so surprised and happy with the crackles of the paint shining through the tissue paper; it makes the Lynne Perrella faces so beautiful. And I also love the painted fabric, to me it looks so well in this piece! 

So...grab some old jeans and a book and have fun! I'd love to see your results!

Liesbeth

Blog: Liesbeth's Arts & Crafts

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2021 Topic 12 : Sustainable Crafting with EKC {by Autumn Clark}

   2021 Topic 12: Sustainable Crafting

Creating your own paper might seem a step too far, but Autumn brings an achievable project that seems simple but results in something beautiful. Granted, you might need to carve out a little time, but isn't creating about the cathartic process as well as the end result? 
~ Keren.

Hi everyone, it's Autumn Clark from SewPaperPaint with you today, and I'm here to share with you my upcycled project making handmade paper.  As a stamper, my primary need is for paper!  For this topic I thought back to last year's lockdown when I ran out of white card and ended up taking old scrapbook paper and using the backs for gel printing.  I thought of taking a step further now and making my own paper using shredded paper from the endless supply at my work.  I was very pleased with my paper and have made a journal and several cards from the stash.

I chose this process because I could enjoy a day on my patio soaking in the sun, as a break from creating indoors.  I have been wanting to try paper making for months, after seeing a video by Sharmane Coquilla and her lovely Instagram reels.  She made it look so easy and satisfying and it truly is!  I hope you will be tempted as well... 

I often start a project with a sketch and am always pleasantly surprised when my finished work resembles my starter idea.  My hope was to fill a small journal with my handmade papers with its jaggedy edges showing, coordinating with very textural cover art.  

I have recently developed a love for fountain ink pens, feather pens and glass dipping pens.  I cannot wait to try out my new collection on these rough pages in my new journal.  I always enjoy experimenting with bookbinding and this version was new to me.  I thought it would be neat to have an exposed signature binding to show off the textured pages.  

 

 

A while back our leather sofa broke beyond repair (think four kids bouncing on it).  I cut all of the leather portions away and have saved them.  I firmly believe reusing & repurposing is one of the most sustainable concepts.  For my book, I picked the most worn leather and cut two strips from it to bind my journal.  I folded in half each of the five sheets of handmade paper and made a guide to poke my holes with an awl and stitched the journal as shown.  

To make the handmade paper I simply added one very large handful of shredded paper to my food processor, then covered it with water and blended, adding more water half way and blending more than you would think necessary.  Next, I dumped the pulp into a plastic container of water, larger than my paper screen.  (You can make your own screen following numerous tutorials, but I purchased a very cheap one because I don't have the wood working tools to make one.)  I submerged my screen and lifted the pulp in an even layer.  Then I transferred it to a towel covered with an old cotton pillowcase.  Then I pressed the back with a dry rag to remove as much water as possible and lifted the screen gently.  My mistake was not considering my table surface.  My dried paper had embossed into the pattern of my trellis topped iron table!  Yikes!  To remedy this, I misted the dried paper with water and pressed it with a hot iron.  Next time I will pick a flat surface and also iron my cotton drying surface to avoid creases.  But honestly, handmade paper is supposed to look handmade, so I have no qualms over my first work.  From one batch of pulp you can get maybe 4 sheets of paper, then you repeat the process.  Nearer to the end my paper got thinner (and very easily torn), so I learned to keep adding pulp faster.  

For my covers, I slathered two thick chipboard panels, which were upcycled from the backs of watercolor paper pads (always save those!), with PaperArtsy Grunge Paste.  Because Grunge Paste is so thick, I was able to make impressions into it with stamps.  I picked PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Scrapcosy} Collection (ESC25) because I thought the ornate leaf stamp would make an incredible repeat pattern and work beautifully behind my chosen flower stamps.  Tip: when you apply moisture to the front of chipboard, try to apply moisture to the back to keep it from warping (Grunge Paste front/gesso back).  

 

I gessoed the backs and let these panels dry for a day, then left them under a stack of books for a day to flatten.  I built layers of color overtop by mixing one dollop of each color of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics with an equally sized dollop of Matte Glaze and sponging with cut and dry foam.  I started with French Roast, then Claret, then Amethyst.  Finally I sprinkled Black Current Infusions onto the damp panels and sponged Matte Glaze on top.  You can see how much difference the Infusions make!  

I used my stamp platform to stamp, then paint, then restamp the flowers from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Kay Carley} Collection (EKC48).  I used the above mentioned PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics with the addition of Nougat and Toffee.  I chose a sentiment from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Alison Bomber} Collection (EAB21): The Nature Edition.  

Leandra always encourages us bloggers to share our fails, so let me say that I made an attempt at dyeing my first lot of paper by adding a half of a bottle of Violet Storms Infusions to my vat of water, but it did not turn out well (it was more grey than violet).  I've since read about dying handmade paper and it seems that paint is a better alternative.  I can't wait to dump a bottle of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics into my next vat!  Nevertheless, I ended up using the stained paper as a mat for a batch of cards. 

 

 

See how nicely they layer together!  I used some of my handmade paper scraps to test how watercolor and paints worked.  Watercolor was a no-go due to the density and irregularity of the paper, so I used PaperArtsy Smoothy card for my focal stamping and watercolor.  But paint was a total win!  I chose PaperArtsy {Tracy Scott} Stencil (PS210) and sponged Taro Milk Tea Fresco Chalk Acrylic onto my panels.  I chose purple cardstock for the bases that I've had for decades as one final sustainable push.  Purple is usually the last color I use, so it was fun to nudge myself out of my comfort zone for a change.  

 

 

These projects are quite different, but I hope they've shown you just how versatile Kay's stamps can be.  I think they play just as well whether earthy or vibrant, for cards or mixed media...

 

I hope you've thought up a few items you've been saving or have in excess that you can put to work in your own art.  Sometimes you will find the most creative freedom when working with "junk" because it's not so intimidating, being something it won't hurt to mess up.  

It's been a pleasure to share with you today!  xx, Autumn

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