Fun with Mini's, with Kate Crane products {by Nikki Acton}

Hi everyone, Nikki (a2a.craft) here with you today.

This year on the blog, we have free rein to do a deep dive into a PaperArtsy product range of our choosing. For this post I have been exploring Kate Crane's products. 

Today I'm looking forward to sharing some fun cards using her mini stamps and stencils.

I do love making two cards at once, using the same colours but in different places. I have used one mini stencil to give two effects.

I love these cute mini stamps - fun images and easy to colour. I took a simple approach to colour choices - lilac and blue/green always works well.

I had a good idea I was working with circles to frame my images so reached for PaperArtsy Mini stencil - PM034 by Kate Crane. Using Fresco Chalk Acrylic in Berry Nice (FF216) I first sponged through the stencil giving the top image above. I then added paint to the stencil and spritzed with water before laying on some card. This is effectively stamping with the stencil. 

I repeated this with Fresco Chalk Acrylic in Bermuda (FF224).

To create my background I cut some card to size and used PaperArtsy stencil PS453 by Kate Crane and Fresco Chalk Acrylic in Little Black Dress (FF19).

PaperArtsy Mini stamp KCM013 goes very well with the larger stencil. I added some leaf stamping in Ranger Archival (Majestic Violet) to the stencilled background. 

Next to focus on the chicken....

 

First I stamped a few images - always good to have a few spare before starting to add colour.

The chicken stamp is PaperArtsy Mini stamp KCM010 and the Owl KCM011.

I used coloured crayons to match my paint colours - just adding colour in places.

I added Ranger Glossy Accents to the eyes and Ranger Stickles in places for a little sparkle. Before adding to the eyes I took a black pen and emphasised the black lines and pupil as the colouring in had dulled the black a little.

Finally I coloured and cut up some stamped leaves from KCM013 to add some embellishments around the circles.

I die cut the circles and added an additional black circle. For my greeting I reached for some older PaperArtsy stamps by Emma Godfrey - Eclectica Mini18 (EM18) and Eclectica Mini 20 (EM20). 

Finally I had to make another one using the Owl!

I hope you think these images are as fun as I do, and I am wondering if the chicken might look good in Christmas colours?

Blog: Addicted to Art

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2020 #13 Using lines in composition with Kim Dellow Stamps {by Nikki Acton}

2020 Topic 13: Lines

Sometimes simple cards can take more planning and design choices, and Nikki has taken a deceptively simple card which actually has lots of designed elements within. Nikki cleverly transforms some inexpensive plastic grid that we'll all be looking out for now.
~ Keren

Hi, Nikki here today, from Addicted to Art. For the theme of lines I decided to utilise various 'lines' to, hopefully, enhance the composition / layout of my card.

Composition in my artwork is really important to me - although sometimes I get it very wrong! Colour, positioning of items, focal points and tonal balance can all impact the overall design. The goal is for the eye to be drawn to the focal points and not get confused chasing elements around a page or being drawn out of the picture!

I started with two initial line ideas - some of this grid material I have (had it ages -UK  Poundland I think!) and my inky highlighted folds in the background. But as it developed I also used the lines of numbers and the horizontal tag to bring it all together.

I first brayered some white card lightly with Sand and Chocolate Pudding Fresco Paints. I  used my score board to create lines on the reverse and then swept the edges and creases with Potting Soil Archival ink (any brown ink will do). I stamped the little circles from Kim Dellow stamp set EKD01 and the lines of numbers from France Papillon Stamp set FP002. However I did these later so I knew where to place them to build the composition.

I added some Chocolate Pudding paint to the plastic grid so there was more of contrast with the background and also added a little tissue paper underneath.

I used Distress Oxide (Peeled Paint) to colour some card which I used to stamp my flowers and little hedgehog from EKD01. I cut my little tag to frame my greeting (from EM18). This horizontal 'line' compliments the vertical lines of the the background, the flower stems and the stamped numbers.

A relatively simple card! But hopefully you can see how I used the various vertical and horizontal lines to create the composition. 

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

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2019 #16 Stamp Carving: Stamping on a Gel Plate with EGL {by Nikki Acton}

2019 Topic 16: Stamp Carving

Using her gel plate and some inspired 'stamp-carved'-like images from Gwen Lafleur's wonderful new stamps, Nikki has created some art with depth that doesn't look like its just a monoprint. Lovely subtractive techniques make the pieces look like they've got real carvings incorporated.

Hi everyone, it's Nikki with you today from Addicted to Art. I am excited to be using stamps from PaperArtsy's newest designer today, Gwen Lafleur. I have been a huge fan of her work for a while and love these stamps.

I am using set 1 today, EGL01 which Gwen calls her 'Medallions' set. These hand drawn stamps have a hand carved vibe about them (not surprising, Gwen also carves her own stamps). Still being a little obsessed with gel printing currently I decided to combine her images with some mono printing.

There are three layers to these cards which all feature the repeated motifs of the medallions on EGL01.

The background, mostly hidden, is a gel print where the paint has been removed. I have brayered paint over the plate and then repeatedly stamped onto the plate, removing the paint off the stamp each time.

For the cut out medallions I have stamped over the same background - in this case in Cobalt Archival ink. 

On the middle layer I stamped the same image a couple of times onto my Smoothy cardstock - in Majestic Violet Archival.

I love how the removed paint gives this wonderful subtle effect of the stamped image. My current favourite colours on this one; Byzantium, Midnight and Professor Plum.

The wonderful words are from Alison Bomber's new stamp set - EAB14 - The Happiness Editon.

 

I repeated the process using a different set of colours - Professor Plum, Autumn Fire and Red Lipstick. This time instead of taking my print as soon as I had finished stamping off the plate, I waited until the paint was dry. I then added a thin layer of Butter Fresco Acrylic and took my print. The wet layer brings most of the dry paint with it - but gives a slightly different effect to the first card. (The darker colour you might see is some Midnight left on the plate from the first print - but this just adds to the background.)

The medallions were stamped in Black Archival and Orange Blossom. The birthday greeting is PaperArtsy Eclectica³ Mini 18.

Do get your gel plate out and have a go! These images stamp so beautifully they are wonderful for this technique. (Do clean your stamps quickly afterwards though - it's a lot easier to do this while the paint is wet.) I am looking forward to collaging lots of these medallions stamped on different coloured gel prints possibly onto a canvas or board. I also have several stamped which are providing wonderful colouring in playtime!

Thanks for joining me today, I hope you have a creative week.

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

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