Hi everyone, it's Asia Marquet here (Lemon Creation) with. you today, and I am here to share with you a clean, very easy and minimalistic layout using PaperArtsy stamps designed by Seth Apter i named this project Darts and I hope you'll understand why after reading on. I absolutely love Seth Apter's designs and this is the main reason I choose this project. Also- I wanted to see what the whole fuss is about when it comes to minimalist art. So why not to do it and see for myself? To add an even more grungy look to already grungy stamp design, I've chosen to do the big part of stamping with Infusions. Stamping with powders is such a super-cool and effective technique, don't you think?
Gathering the supplies is always the easiest part, but I never finish exactly with what I choose at the beginning. I knew I was going to use two sets of stamps: ESA14 and ESA24. What I was not sure about was the choice of Infusions.
The most important thing while doing the minimalistic layout is good planning. Since the project needs to be clean and simple, there is less place for error. That's why the first thing I did was to take out the main stamp I was going to use, place it on the paper and then decided on the size of this paper. I will give you a heads-up, I wanted to make 3 rows and 3 columns of circles in different colours, but what I needed was almost surgical-like precision. The circles are uneven, so I needed to stamp them correctly. Also I needed to make a grid on the page to fit them perfectly in the squares. I divided the paper into 3 columns and 3 rows (using a ruler this time- a challenge for me!).
Then I placed the stamp on the stamping block (with a grid) and then draw an arrow on the back of the stamp to be sure I am gonna always stamp it the same way. Truly, it was almost a life-changing idea! Even though I really don't like the logical part of any creative process, I am glad I did it!
Once my paper was ready (it came out as a square of 27x27cm), I needed to make a decision about the Infusions. I was thinking I was gonna use the nicest colours in my stash, going from the brighter to the darker, but I quickly changed my mind and opted for orange, red and purple tones. If it's minimalistic, I thought the colours should be too. It's true, finally I used 9 different colours of Infusions, but because I stamped with them, some of the colours got a little similar to the others and I think if I was to use only 3: red, orange and purple, it would be just enough. Hindsight has its weak points- it happens when things are already done, lol!
Here is the full list of infusions I used:
Once everything was ready and I was happy with my planning (funny thing to plan so much in advance, I am kinda "go with a flow" girl, no real planning, just enjoying the process), I could finally start to great part of the project- stamping. As I mentioned above, I wanted to stamp with Infusions. The process is simple - you need to put tiny bit of powder on the flat surface, add just a drop of water to it and mix it. I used medium-size brush and added twice water with it to the powder- that's how much of water you would more-or-less need. Don't let the powder completely dilute and when you look at it you still need to see small particles of powder in the mixture and it needs to give an impression that there is not enough of the mixture to stamp. Just give it a few tries and you'll see what I am talking about!
Then take the circle stamp from the set ESA14 (mine was already placed on the block) and dab it in the puddle. You need to turn the stamp to see how much infusions-ink it took. If you see ink-empty spaces, just take a brush and add the rest of paint to the places when the ink is missing from.
Stamp it away, just be sure to be clean and precise about it. I didn't move the stamp even once from the stamping block- the key is not to move it and keep it in the same place. Of course I repeated this process 9 times, with 9 different Infusions, remembering to change the water and clean the stamp with baby wipes between each application.
This was the end effect and I am really happy with it- no smudges, perfect stamping, Infusions worked like a charm. Ok, it was not stress-free, but totally worth it! I think it's my cleanest project ever!
I wanted to add some numbers to the circles and I found those numbers in the ESA24- second set of Seth Apter's stamps.
This part was tricky as the numbers are printed in one block. Again it was all about precision and again, despite all odds- I managed! I used Onyx Black VersaFine ink, which is perfect for the intricate and clear stamping and with its corner I inked one by one all the numbers and then stamped them, also one by one, onto the circles.
To be sure I was pressing the correct part of the stamp to the paper, I wrote the numbers on the back of the stamp beforehand. I could have stamped the numbers on the side of circles as opposed to the middle as the numbers are small, but I wanted to make it look like it's a sort of dartboard. The longer I think about it, the more sure I am that I made a good decision- the numbers are another great element of minimalistic design, they are all tiny after all. The fact that they are not very visible, it's another cool point in this project.
The last part was to use the word NOW- so grungy and so cool, which would fit perfectly into the project. The word comes from the stamp ESA14. I stamped it onto a piece of black cardboard paper, but instead of using white ink I just embossed it with Lindy's Gang white EP for more of an impact.
After drying it with a heat gun, I cut it to size and placed it onto the middle of the middle circle (circle no.5) with double-size foam tape.
The very last part was to just ink the edges of the whole project with black Archival Ink, so there is just this tiny bit of contrast added to the page.
This project is not just a simple minimalistic page. To me it also has a meaning as I would like to think that all those type of projects are portraying something. I called it Darts. There are circles with numbers (even though they are not aligned like in real Darts), but the most important part of this project is the word Now. It's calling me, saying that it's NOW which counts, it's this exact moment, and that we need to make the most of it. Aim at it, live it and enjoy it.
I am wondering if some of you got that meaning before my explanation? Or do you have another one in mind? Please let me know, I would be so happy to hear your opinion about my very first, very logical yet so minimalist project. I hope you'll go for it and show us your clean and very simple projects.
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Asia
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