2018 Topic 2: New Seth Apter Fresco Paints {Challenge and Winner}

 2018 Topic 2: New Seth Apter Fresco Paints

Well hello everyone, Darcy here with a new topic to get your teeth into, by far the most colourful topic!

Before we start, let's see who won the Topic 1: ATC's Challenge...

The winner is: Julia from Azenor Artwork

Email Darcy to claim your prize. Darcydotneedles@gmail.com

This is kind of an unusual Topic Challenge, as we are very focussed on Seth's New paints (we know how much you love a new paint colour). Obviously they are so very, very new, these babies are still filtering through to the PaperArtsy Stockists as we speak! However, you may have in your stash some of these, as the picture below shows you all of Seth's 16 paints together...either way, whether you have old or new, these 16 paints are fun to play with!

So, if you have not laid your crafty paws onto Seth's newest offering, then the topic challenge will still allow you to share your painterly adventures with all our Fresco Chalk Acrylic Paints. We do have rather a lot of colours on offer in addition to the limited editions (which now number 24 paints) there are another 96 on the racks! That's 120 in total!

Naturally, we are happy to see you using other brands too if you wish. It's all about having some fun and getting your paint apron on!

In the meantime, let's take a look at some past and present Fresco magic. 

The beauty of Fresco paint is just how versatile it is in terms of how well it works on all kinds of substrates, from paper to card, to glass, metal, wood and fabric. 

Anneke de Clerk shows us a perfect example here as she paints on fabric to create this fabulous pocket journal.

Jo Firth Young has also played with fabric to create this gorgeous gelli printed bag. 

Another bag, this time from Darcy 

and here Lauren Hatwell takes painting and stencilling to another level with this gorgeous cushion.

Frescos also work on wood, here Jo Firth Young has a gorgeous wooden frame, decorating simply, but the combination of beautiful colours and matte finish means this turns out looking professional. 

Above, on the frame, do you see the hint of a shadow?, this was done with a coloured pencil, but there is an amazing technique for creating shadows that when you see it you will want to try immediately. 

It is called the stencil bump, and here is Leandra to show you how. 

Of course Fresco finish paint is just as at home on paper and cards, especially our Smoothy card, as the colours are fresh and beautifully matte they work brilliantly for the minimal, clean look that Keren Baker is known for. 

and it is perfect for  Zinski characters, here Christine Dark has created a gorgeous  brayered background, leaving lots of texture to give these characters extra personality. 

Another project by Anneke de Clerck showing how Frescos work fabulously on glass bottles, the coverage is perfect and the matte finish is so classy. 

Fresco finish paints are compatible with so many techniques but also with other products. Here Ellie Knol combines them with Infusions. 

Next up a video from Leandra, showing Fresco paints with crackle glaze, over grunge paste and topped off with a touch of Treasure Gold, a real mash of products that all work in harmony. 

Here Gabrielle Price shows us the perfect marriage of grunge paste with fresco, texture and colour.. ahh be still my beating heart!

We are often asked to show customers how to create a background, and by far one of the easiest ways is with a brayer. Watch this video from Leandra as she shows how to create a painted background, also sometimes called a master board. 

Following on here we have Emma Godfrey showing all the steps from creating her masterboard right through to how she then uses the background to create cards. 

If brayering isn't your thing then Leandra has another video, this time showing her corner,corner side technique to ensure even distribution of colour. 

Another great technique is the transference of paint, this can be done by painting onto card and transferring this to another piece of card., known as mono printing. Seth After uses this technique a lot, here he is demoing from last year. 

Many people wonder if PaperArtsy Fresco finish paints can be used on gelli plates, the answer is yes, of course, with gorgeous results. 
Here we have a wonderful creation of layers resulting in this fab elephant. Follow the link through to see all the printing steps. 

Holylise

A project now from Carolyn Dube, not only showing gelli printing but taking an underused substrate ...an envelope... and turning it into art! Follow through to see how her mail art turned out. 

Another gelli print here, used in the background with a hand painted face over the top. I gelli printed onto smoothy card, using torn paper to mask off areas that could be kept clean ready for the focal image. So easy to do and you end up with a ready made frame for your drawing or stamped image. 

Darcy

You might think that Frescos are just craft paints, they are so much more, they are highly pigmented and can be used in free hand paintings too. 
Here is a journal page, which started with stencilling in the background with very bold Frfesco colours, these , once knocked back made the perfect base for a graphite drawing. Fresco finish creates a beautiful matte base, very easy to add sketches over the top. 

Darcy

Pam Carriker is a great artist and teacher around the globe, she too has used PaperArtsy Frescos to do some freehand painting. 

Pam Carriker

A fun technique to finish with, using shaving foam! Follow through to see how Suzanne Czosek used this unlikely tool to create a delicately marbled background. 

So, if you are lucky enough to have purchased Seth's new colours, or if you have his old colours, or if you have any of the other Fresco colours, now it is over to you. Bring out those little bottles of goodness and get painty. 
Push yourself, try a new technique, maybe you have seen one you have been just waiting to try, now is your chance. We want to see your painty creations so don't forget to link up. 

Don't forget to follow Darcy and Leandra's Pinterest boards, or the PaperArtsy Fresco Pinterest Page if this topic pushes your buttons, you will see plenty more examples to whet your appetite there! I am really looking forward to seeing what you create over the next 2 weeks!

~ Darcy

We always hope that you  learn something interesting from our blog. 

Our creative team love to read your comments so much, so please take time to let them know you've been inspired!  

You must complete step 1 AND 2 to be entered into the draw. 

To join our challenge:
1. Leave a comment on the Topic Introduction Post and go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy Apron. 
2. Make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 2: Seth's Frescos will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, 18th February 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy creative apron. Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

2017 Topic 1: ATCs {New Topic and Challenge}

 2018 Topic 1: ATCs

Mary Watkin

Hi everyone, Darcy here to spend New Year's Eve with you. I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas week with families and friends. Of course we have also had round up week, looking back over some of the incredible blog post inspiration from the past year. It has been lovely and relaxing to curl up with a blog post and a chocolate or two. I have recently been converted to gin and may have had several plum and vanilla mixes, they were especially lovely. 

So onto our first challenge of the year. As usual we change things up slightly each year, and so to kick off the year we will have a month long challenge. We are going to be sharing so much inspiration with you and so many new products that we need a month to fir it all in. We have also changed the prize for now, and will be giving away the much sought after PaperArtsy aprons to challenge winners. 

Barbara Yaya

ATC's, I am sure you have all heard of them if not made some, but for those new to these mini pieces of art here is a little background information. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card, these have been around since the late 1990's, so they are a relatively young form of art. Though other forms of collectable cards have been around for over 120 yrs. A Swiss artist, M.Vänçi Stirnemann, was having a huge exhibition of his artworks which were all tiny pieces, the same size as baseball cards. At the end of the exhibition people were encouraged to swap their own art for one in the exhibition, this developed into a trading project. Anyone, from any walk of life, or skill level could take part. 

The most important part of the ATC project was that the cards were traded and not sold. Within a few weeks of this Swiss project ending other artists had set up more trading sessions in Canada, and from there it became a phenomenon that spread around the world. 

There are dedicated websites with galleries and forums just for chatting about ATCs. The flower cards below were all on the Illustrated ATCs website. 

Some people confuse ATCs with ACEOs, the latter stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals, these cards can be sold, and that is the major difference between the two. One can be sold and the other should be freely traded. 

Besides being given away, there is a standard size for ATCS, that is 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches (64mm by 89mm). This is smaller than most playing card decks. 

Here is a great template that shows an easy way to get the maximum number of ATCs from one sheet of A4 card wwith very little wastage. 

Mirkwood Designs

ATC's can be any theme, any colour, any medium, literally anything goes, however they tend to be fairly flat as they are often mailed out. It is also easier to store them if they are not too chunky. The following two cards both have embellishments but you can see they do not add too much bulk. 

An ATC does not need to be paper or card, it can be fabric, just adhere to the size guidelines. 

Quilting Arts

This one has such fabulous textures and layers, fabric, stamping, embossing, old paper, what is not to love.

Belinda Spencer

Anything goes, what will be your chosen theme? I especially love the simplicity of this doodled flower with text. 

Arts for All

 These cards have such lovely blended qualities over the torn paper edges. If you like the distressed look then these are for you. These are done on playing cards, so not strictly ATCs, but there isn't much difference in size. 

Claudia Neubacher

 Some people like to round off the corners of their ATC's. 

Anne Kristine

More mixed media, stamping and layering. I love the eye peeking out from the butterfly. 

Kelly Hoering

 Mostly artists will make a set of cards in one theme, they will keep one from the set and trade the rest. All traded cards should be numbered on the back, and should also have a title and the date and the artists name and contact details on the back. 

Magda Bolinksa

 A minimalist set now from our own Ellen Vargo, these could be traded as is or built upon. 

Ellen Vargo 

These ones are so yummy, the gorgeous colours that pop, the sniped paper feathers, the painty, corrugated texture in the background and the tiny words and number embellishments. 

April Marie Cole

 These birds are so bright and pretty, they were fussy cut from scrapbooking paper, the artist had added such interesting layers beneath them. 

Terhi Koskinen

This set comes from a theme that is just 'yellow' , a lemon and a yellow frog are amongst others on her blog. Your theme does not need to be complicated, a simple colour is enough. 

Sally Rose

Sally Rose

 This one really caught my eye, the image is a simple vintage photo, but how clever is the  hinged, acetate door. 

Arte Banale

 A small paper clay heart adds subtle dimension to this set. 

Katja

 These great zendangles are simple but very effective, it is all about the variations in length and pops of colour. 

John Bloodworth

This is possibly my favourite, because .. well just look at her, so weird lol 

Karen deWalt

 This set looks to have been influenced by zettilogy, what are your influences? do you have a favourite artist or song or book? any of these things could inspire a set. 

Illustrated ATCs.com

 These cards have been done in a Tim Holtz style, these really stood out as the stamping is so crisp and clear. when working on such a small scale it is important to keep stamping as clear as possible, always use the right ink for your surface. 

Redanne

There was so much inspiration, but I couldn't pass by these wonderful creations. I love the humour in them. 

Rosie Schirrmeister

Once you have your ATCS made you need somewhere to store them and to store your swaps, you can buy plastic pockets for trading cards and keep them in a binder, but there are some fab handmade storage ideas out there. 

Of course you can just pop them onto a book ring and hang them in your studio rather than hide them away. 

Stephanie Ackerman

I do really like this box though , it is filled with small envelopes to hold the ATCs, this could be made to match  your cards or to match the decor of your room. 

Anjuli Johnson

I hope that has inspired you, I pinned so many cards, it was hard to choose. One sheet of A4 card will give you 10 ATC blanks, so pull out a sheet and get cracking. We would love to see what you make, and if you feel inspired why not swap your cards with other people. 

Don't forget to follow Darcy and Leandra's Pinterest boards if this topic pushes your buttons, you will see plenty more examples to whet your appetite there! I am really looking forward to seeing what you create over the next 2 weeks!

~ Darcy

Our creative team love to read your comments so much, so please take time to let them know you've been inspired!  

You must complete step 1 AND 2 to be entered into the draw. 

To join our challenge:
1. Leave a comment on the Topic Introduction Post and go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy Apron. 
2. Make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 1: ATC's will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, 4th February 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00. (Please note the challenge is 1 month long due to significant new Product news during January)

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy creative apron. Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

2017 #12 {Challenge Winner}

Well hello everyone, Darcy here,

Bit of a change to the scheduled programme for the next 2 weeks. We have a fortnight of new products starting shortly, but first, lets see who won the Hybrid Inks Challenge.

Topic 12: Hybrid Inks Challenge...

The winner is: Marina from My Perfect Life with a lovely mixed media piece, combining tissue, oxides and stamping. 

Email Darcy to claim your prize. Darcydotneedles@gmail.com

So we'll be back here again for some new products, so stay tuned for the next 2 weeks, we have 6 designers releasing Christmas, Halloween and wintery feeeling stamps!

Are you ready???