2024 Topic 9 : Alison Bomber Fan {by Keren Baker}

Hi everyone, Keren Baker here with you today.

I'm always on the search for an unusual substrate to create with and whilst on holiday this summer I came across a fan in a charity shop. It was a bit broken at one end and they only wanted £1.50 for it. When this Alison Bomber topic came up, it felt like the perfect pairing. Something with meaning and elegance to accompany Alison's beautiful artistry.

We're in the throes of everything autumnal. I'm a sucker for a pumpkin spice latte and choc chip pumpkin loaf. So my thoughts naturally went to more autumnal colours that also tied in with the stamp sets that I chose.

This original fan had script on one side and a tree with blossom on the other. I was intrigued what the words meant. 'and make a morning' was a far as I could discover. The torn edges meant I felt ok to take it apart. If only I knew what a challenge this would be!

I had a some rice paper left over from some gel plate printing. Its partial translucency and delicacy felt like exactly the right substrate to use for the fan. I started by tracing the outline of the fan so I could create the right shape. You need to spread it out and press gently to get the correct shape.

Just like the fan, I wanted to 'fan' the floral images out around the shape. I used Stazon as I was going to use slightly watered down Fresco Finish paint and so wouldn't have an issue with ink running. I used two Alison Bomber sets; EAB31 and EAB32.

Using the smaller floral images with the bigger ones meant I could get enough variety in the stamping.

Now I needed to add colour and substance to give enough weight to the basis for the fan.

 

Knowing that one layer of rice paper would be too flimsy, I wanted to add a second layer. I also wanted to play with its transparent qualities so adding some text (which should have been alternate but I wasn't concentrating!) and little splodges of colour. The colours I used were Lawn, Slimed, Butternut and Wisteria.

Here's where a little organisation comes into it's own. What I should have done was to measure the gaps between the spokes before I removed the original paper- or traced the gaps or done some maths. Instead I winged it which did work but not as precisely as I'd have liked. It's really important that you find a way of securing the spoke's position before removing from the base. I found that sticky tape worked perfectly.

Now you need to adhere them together. I used PVA with a sponge applicator although I'll come to explaining why next time I'd choose differently, later.

Lots of our creative hobbies have tools, and this seam roller that I use in sewing came in handy here to help spread the glue well on each spoke. It also helped get a little pressure between the spokes to attach the two rice paper shapes together. However, it did show a little unevenly once dried and I would recommend that if you have a spray adhesive, this would give a more even and less obvious result.

The fan seemed to need more. I came up with the idea of partially adding colour to the spokes- and hoping that the opening and closing wouldn't rub it off. I marked where to stop painting along each spoke using washi tape.

Now came another tricky part- closing it up and getting the folds into place. If you watch the reel on Instagram, you can see how I did it, but once you've got it folded together, you do need to make the folds a little crisper by pinching them with your thumb and forefinger so the end result looks better.

It did look like a proper fan!

You can paint the spokes. Interestingly, they were supposed to be covered with Slimed so I started with a white base, but it reacted with the finish or wood and not matter how many layers of paint I added, the maroon dye came through, so I just went with the pink.

I would have liked to have added an outer stripe. I thought about folded over washi tape but wondered if it would make the folds too bulky. Some lighter paper would be fab that was less transparent but not too thick. It would make the glue showing through less of an issue too.

I would have liked to make a different fan - one that remained folded out, adding windows and actual dimensional elements. It would make a really interesting home decor piece. I wanted to add some stamped linen buttons and a tassel but it seemed complete as it was, so I left it.

This would make a fun project to do with friends and maybe we should bring back the art of understanding each other's feelings by how people were holding or moving their fans! 

Keren x

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With 3 Things: You're all invited! {by Tracy Hickman }

Hi friends, it's Tracy Hickman from @anonymous.palette with you, super excited to be a guest blogger for this 'With 3 Things' blog post.

This feature on the PaperArtsy Blog is where 3 bloggers are sent 3 items in the post. We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send us, there are slight variations (for example on this round we each were sent slightly different stamp sets) but generally 2 of the 3 things will be identical.

I received a wonderful surprise in the mail from PaperArtsy with a Hot Picks Stamp Set (HP1011), a PaperArtsy Stencil (PS106) and 2 PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic paints, in Taupe and Marbles. I also added vintage book boards for my substrate. The theme this part of year on the blog is 'Nature' and we are launching a new Topic about 'Printing' so I wanted to include both in my project.

The idea for this project came together very quickly: Ann Barnes (@aksbarchitect, part of the regular PaperArtsy blogging team) and I are friends and she has an amazing garden. When I saw the arched door stamp I imagined her garden so I created an imaginary “invitation” to all the PaperArtsy folk as if I was hosting a party in her garden and all were invited (but an imaginary one ;). I made it with formal event invitations in mind to go with the 'Printing' Topic.

My starting point was the stamp set HP1011 with its amazing floral arched doorway that immediately gave me tunnel book vibes. Have I ever created a tunnel book? You may wonder and the answer is definitely no! ... but I was up for the challenge! Ellen Knutson from UFlibraries has a tutorial on YouTube that I watched to get the basic gist of the construction.

I experimented stamping on several types of paper in both black and brown archival inks and ultimately ended up using vellum for the crispest images.

The conundrum I had was the size of the stamp: it needed to be larger and scaled up further for the scenes to create a tunnel. I finally had eureka moment of using a printer to scale up the stamped image. This had me very excited! I enlarged the arched doorway image to 110%, 130%, and 150% and printed on to Canson Mixed Media Paper, a thinner weight that would go through the printer.

The size of the tunnel book and frame 7 1/2 “ wide x 9” tall ended up deciding the size of the cardboard book structure, 9” wide by 10 1/2” tall.  I spent a ton of time on mock ups using duplicate images and sighed with relief when the actual tunnel construction happened and worked out…

I also used the owl stamp in that set and reduced it to 75% and 50% to add to the tunnel. To bring some colour and variety, I had some vintage floral illustration books that were calling out to be fussy-cut. I added them to the floral arches using the larger flowers in the foreground and smaller flowers in the background to further enhance the sense of depth.

Now, onto the background! I’m an oil painter and currently taking a cloud workshop which inspired the background.  A coat of white Gesso covered the book boards and then the fun began!

The back and forth dance of a brush quickly blended three paints, Marble and Nougat with hints of Taupe to make a misty summer sky, perfect for a picnic garden party!

PaperArtsy Stencil PS106 by Scrapcosy followed and was placed strategically on the front cover and both inside pages. I used a few drops of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint in Taupe to tint a paste to spread through the stencil for some pattern and depth. I did have one area on the front cover that smudged but the other areas turned out beautifully. I ended up sticking a butterfly on the smudge in order to conceal the mistake ;) Butterflies fix everything, right?

My tunnel needed a frame! I almost attempted a plaid pattern on it but really wanted some grungy texture to contrast with the “prettiness” of the other elements and a weathered crackled wood look came to mind. 

PaperArtsy Crackle Glaze came to the rescue and I revisited a PaperArtsy YouTube tutorial by Leandra that was super helpful. The first layer of Taupe went down on the front and when the cardboard started to curl a bit, I ended up applying paint it to the back as well and it flattened right out. Once dry, I used a wide plastic pallet knife to apply the crackle paste very thinly and evenly and prepared my 2 top coat colors of PaperArtsy Fresco Paints in Nougat (tying in the clouds) and Chantilly.  The key to the crackle is to apply your top coat generously and fast, so I did so with a wide flat brush, being careful not to go over existing areas of paint. 

Those glorious cracks you can see on the frame started forming immediately and using a heat gun, I was happy to see both large and small cracks come together. I added a bit of Ranger Industries Distress Ink in Vintage Photo around some of the edges and using a brayer (a Mags Woodcock tip) applied some hits of Marble to pull in the sky themed book background onto the frame also.

As further embellishments, the flower stamp in PaperArtsy Hot Picks set HP1011 were also stamped on vellum and printed out in 3 sizes. I even mirrored the image as I wanted the swing of the flower and stem to be very specific on the front cover. Another Eureka moment and now all stamps will be looked at with new orientation and sizes…  

I cut out a whole field of flowers onto mixed media paper, used three colors of Ranger Industries Distress Oxide Inks (Antique Linen, Lost Shadow, and Vintage Photo) along with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic in Chantilly to create a vintage daisy. I cut off some of the petals of several and used them to stack on top for a 3-D effect on key flowers.

For extra interest, the center of the flowers was embossed with WOW Embossing Winter Ice and Lindys gang Toadstool Taupe which I dotted with an embossing pen.

Now I needed an actual invitation!

PaperArtsy Crunchy Paper (waxed kraft paper) was the perfect accompaniment for a picnic! The blackthorns from PaperArtsy Eclectica Set EAB31 by Alison Bomber seemed perfect to adorn deckled paper with WOW Clear Ink and embossed with a fine Taupe embossing Powder from Lindysgang as a base for a delicate vellum text. I also used the postcard stamp on the “r.s.v.p.” slide die cut and added some of my customs flowers. 

With the inside now all decorated, it was time to work on the covers. 

I wanted to make them interesting but just a tease for what was inside. For the front, I printed out 2 more enlarged doors, cut out the awning and door panels of one and layered them to make the door feel more 3D. 

I added even more dimension with a bit of Oxide Ink in Lost Shadow for shadowing. A vintage flea market escutcheon was the perfect addition to anchor the assemblage and some ephemera from AB Studio and Tim Holtz Ideology were nice add ons!  Note the “for you” stamp from set HP1011 that leads you to the knob to open the Cover….

When I saw the 'Wise Owl Quality' stamp from Hot Picks stamp set HP1011, I knew this would go on the back cover like a signature. To go with this, I included another owl from that set along with a stamped flower quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson from Alison Bomber.  The larger owl is from the PaperArtsy Scrapcosy PT05 Tissue Paper for scale. A feather and a few other tiny labels finished off the back cover.

Thank you PaperArtsy for the challenge and coming on this imaginary picnic with me :)!

Tracy Hickman

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2023 Topic 11: Monochrome {by Jenny Marples} with red & Alison Bomber stamps

Hi everyone Jenny Marples here with you today. I love working with a limited colour palette so the monochrome theme really resonates with me. During a visit to a beautiful walled garden I was drawn to the plants, flowers and fruits being grown in a range of red shades and tones. Immediately they reminded me of Alison Bomber's watercolour samples and I was itching to have a play.

With a personal preference for paint over ink I wondered if it would be possible to mix PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints with something to make them react on paper like watercolours - turns out there is! It lead to me creating a double-sided accordion book featuring the berry stems and flowers, adding touches of typography throughout.

To start I picked a couple of Alison's stamp sets - EAB31 the Blackthorn Edition and EABF the Fodder Berry Edition - as these collage style sets have a great range of flowers, berries and script/ephemera to create focal points and backgrounds. Actually this is true of all of Alison's collage style sets so if you already have one/some you are already half way there. The PaperArtsy stencil PS394 proves to be useful in unexpected ways later in the project.

Sticking with the monochrome theme (and with thoughts of those red flowers in my head) I chose Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint in Blood Orange as my hero colour, adding Snowflake and Little Black Dress to create the different tones and Nougat and Sand for the neutral background on each page.

Time to start stamping your flowers and berries. Whilst it's important to use a permanent ink that won't react with water or bleed on your watercolour paper don't feel limited to picking black. Dark reds, plums, browns and even greys are a more subtle alternative.

Now for the magic ingredient, an acrylic paint extender (often called a flow medium/enhancer). There are many brands so it's important to follow the instructions on the bottle when you start to mix it with your paints. Mine needed diluting with a lot of water before it could be added to tiny amounts of paint in the palette. The aim is to make your paint thinner and with a slower drying time so it can move and sink into the watercolour paper. PaperArtsy do have a drying extender which they reccomend to use with frescos on gel paltes, or in hot climates to extend the drying time. I did not have a bottle to hand, but I am sure the same principles apply as explained below, in general, very little product is needed to notice an impact.

Start simply by mixing some 'flow water' with the Blood Orange paint, colouring the berries and flower centres in a precise way like me or in the more fluid, less accurate style we are accustomed to seeing with watercolour painting. I must admit I need to practice letting go a lot more in future! Notice that the addition of the water doesn't affect the pigment of the paint - a testament to the quality of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints.

{Edit from Leandra - I have never thought to use it for this purpose! great idea!}

Now you have your Blood Orange red on the go separately mix some of the Little Black Dress and Snowflake paints so you can begin to create different tones. I combined the Blood Orange with the Snowflake to make a pale pink, layering it over the red in the centre of the flowers. You'll find you can layer colours without losing what has gone underneath (including the stamping) because the paints are no longer opaque.

Mixing the Blood Orange with the Little Black Dress gives you a much deeper tone (similar to Squid Ink Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint) for colouring the stems and adding shading to the berries.

Save what is left of that colour combination and add some of the Snowflake to get a mid-tone for painting the leaves. 

Painting these in multiples seems to speed up the process and give you plenty to choose from when you start to make your pages.

You'll see from the finished pages below how I've added pops of white to the berries with a white paint pen.

Adding tiny dots with the white paint pen can also look good on the flower stamens.

And now you've seen a small part of the finished book you are probably wondering how the rest of it came together.

 

Time to start creating layers and backgrounds on which to mount your painted flowers. I began by using up leftover paint from the flowers and berries to create an ombre effect on a separate sheet of watercolour paper. With the black at one end, the white at the other and the red in the middle you can then use the mixed ones in between, knowing they will naturally blend together. 

Now for an experimental background that turned out better than expected. Looking back over previous journals/books I noticed one way of making smaller flowers stand out is to put them on plain dark or light backgrounds. Whilst coloured card can work I wanted something with a more worn look. Try adding a thin layer of Little Black Dress paint to a gel plate removing a little with the brayer and allowing it to dry completely.

Then add a layer of Nougat paint over the top with a brayer, pulling a print using black card.

The resultant patchy looking results are perfect to use with scissors and for die cutting. Add extra interest by stamping and heat embossing some of the script/ephemera images from the two stamp sets using fine white embossing powder.

 

This process can also be done in reverse, covering the gel plate patchily with the Nougat paint before adding a layer of the Little Black Dress paint ready for pulling a print on white/ivory/cream card.

 

In the close ups of some finished pages you can see where both versions were die cut into tag and postage stamp shapes to act as contrasting layers beneath the watercolour berries and flowers.

Here you can see how the delicate black embossing looks on the pale background of the die cut postage stamp.

Since the process of creating these gel plate printed pieces of 'worn' card is so simple and effective it's worth making up batches to keep/use in future projects.

Now for the accordion book, beginning with the background papers for each of the pages. Stick torn scraps from different books and music manuscripts to a large sheet of thin paper (to fit with the typography theme) then blend the edges together with the Nougat, Sand and Snowflake paints. You can cut this up into pages or take it to another level by adding coordinating patterned gel plate prints.

The prints below were pulled on wet strength tissue using the same five paint colours and stamps from the two sets. Try stamping onto your gel plate with permanent ink in brown and plum before adding a layer of paint over the top. On others I brayered a layer of paint onto the plate, stamped into it, then let it dry before using a contrasting paint over the top to pull the print.

Cut your collaged paper into strips roughly 13cm/5 inches tall, gluing the strips together at the ends to create one continuous long piece. Tear your neutral coloured patterned tissue prints into small pieces and add to the paper, much like creating a quilt. Once done chop your long strip into 13cm/5 inch squares ready for mounting onto a long strip of calico fabric.

I just needed one last piece of contrasting patterned paper and this time went with a simple piece of card painted with the Blood Orange paint and over-stencilled with the Nougat paint. This was then ready to be die cut into tag shapes (picking up on a topic from earlier this month).

You'll see in the close ups from more of the finished pages how the Blood Orange stencilled tags layer together with the black embossed card to frame and contrast with the watercolour flowers.

It is also easier to see how the separate pages have been mounted onto the calico fabric, leaving a gap between each one to allow for the accordion action to work more easily when the book is closed. You can add to the quilted look by machine stitching around some of the blocks of paper/tissue.

You will by now have seen how I chose to cut around the watercolour flowers and berry branches, inking the edges before mounting them onto the pages. To help create a variety of layouts on each set of pages it is worthwhile cutting up your images, but this can leave you with a 'raw edge'. Easily disguise it by sticking another piece of the watercolour card underneath the raw edge before re-trimming to add back in the border.

You now have all the elements needed to build your collage pages and display your watercolour images. Don't be afraid to tear and cut up pieces to spread across two pages or to make them fit within a single page.

In the double-page spread below you'll see how I split a long die cut strip across the middle to help draw the eye from one side to the other.

Don't be afraid to cover up some of your layers as I have with the ombre effect watercolour paper. Here it acts as a graduated border beneath the die cuts.

And there are some other tips for adding finishing touches to your pages to enhance them.

Add extra stamping behind your layers to add to the overall design.

Hand stitching is a great way to add texture and detail to your collages. To get that 'random line' look try using your stencil as a guide.

Raid your stash to find bits and pieces that will add to the design - lace, metal filigree bits, tiny price tags...

 

... tiny scraps of fabric, self-adhesive pearls and washi tape have all been used on mine.

Finally the covers for the book makes use of the translucent quality of the Blood Orange paint in its acrylic form. Use the stencil again, this time with Grunge Paste, and when dry paint over the top. Sand back the raised areas to reveal the pale paste below, then apply a second coat of the same paint. The base layer will be deeper in colour than the raised areas, accentuating the design.

Assemble your accordion by applying the pages to calico base before adding the cover boards on the front and back. I also created a coordinating case using some of the leftovers from the pages.

Here's the finished accordion album with it's matching cover.

And here are the completed pages shown in full so you can see the different compositions on each spread. You'll also be able to see that I've taken one of the quotes from the stamp sets and added parts of it to each page in turn.

I was so pleased with how well the flow extender worked with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints and will be practising using them in a looser style in future. And finding a way of creating 'worn' look card was an unexpected win. I hope you've also found some ideas here that will add to your list of creative techniques.

Jenny

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