Circle Book with Seth Apter Products {by Ann Barnes}

Hi everyone, it's Ann (aksbarchitectCREATES) here with you today.

This year on the blog, we are being given free rein to do a deep dive into one of the PaperArtsy product ranges, and for this post I have been exploring Seth Apter products. I have always been drawn to the circles seen so often in the PaperArtsy stamp designs by Seth. I wanted to explore incorporating some of these stamps into a handmade book. I'm looking forward to sharing this fun circle book that I created.

I love making my own books. I know for some people, the book binding can be a daunting task, especially when it involves sewing multiple signatures together. This circle book is created in a way that removes all of the stress and also allows pages to be easily removed and worked on or even replaced!

A while back I was inspired by a technique that Laura Denison Designs used to create a "Twisted Pin-Bound Book". For the binding, Laura used a "pin" that the pages swing/rotate around. Extensions can be added to the "pin" to allow for multiple thicknesses. You can easily find her project if you search for her on YouTube.

Since I envisioned creating a book in the shape of a circle, I struggled with how I would bind it together, and then I remembered Laura's technique. For my book, I use a "Chigago Screw". These fasteners are used for a variety of purposes, from construction to leather and handmade crafts and are easily sourced.

While I was thrilled to be able to put the hinged technique to use in my circle book, I must admit that one of my favorite parts of working on this project was playing with some new-to-me PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic paint colors by Seth Apter. Squid Ink (FF56) becoming a fast favorite; I have already added it to my to be replenished list!

   

I loved selecting a palette from Seth's PaperArtsy colors and getting busy with my gel plate.

I first gather all of my supplies, starting with an inventory of which Seth Apter circle stamp designs I have in my collection. Seth has many wonderful stamp sets, the themes may vary but his incredible underlying grungy style remains throughout. When I saw the Seth Apter stamp set 30 (ESA30), I knew I'd found the perfect focal image for my covers. I also grabbed a few of his mini stamp designs EM40, EM45, EM107, EM112.

My original thoughts were to create my book in a monochromatic color scheme, focusing on Fresco Chalk Acrylic blues in the Seth Apter range. When I started selecting my colors I grabbed Squid Ink, imagining that it would be a dark inky blue color, but as I began to add colors to my gel plate, I quickly realized that it was so much more. I fell in love with this deep, dark eggplant color. It is gorgeous and looks amazing with Steel Grey (FF134), as well as Midnight (FF123), Double Denim (FF128), and Venice Blue (FF133). When I realized that Squid Ink (FF56) was a purple, I also added Spanish Mulberry (FF71) for a bit of pop.

Using a brayer I add the paint colors to my gel plate and make pulls on high strength tissue paper. I layer the prints with each pull from the gel plate. When I have a nice background, I also stamp into the wet paint on the plate with some of the rubber stamps. (Note: if you prefer to keep your stamps clean, be sure to keep a shallow tub of water nearby to wash the stamps after using them with paint.) I love seeing the faint designs among the layers.

I am really pleased with the combination of colors that I have chosen and am excited to work on the pages. I originally envisioned using these pages as collage material for the pages inside the book, but after seeing how wonderful they turned out, I am considering covering the entire page with the tissue and building upon it.

When I have a couple large master sheets of tissue that I am pleased with, I make the decision to create double sided pages. The master sheet layers of color are fairly dark. I decide that one face of each circle page will be layered using the same colors, but in a lighter palette. Effectively each page will be light on the front and dark on the back (or vice versa.)

For the lighter sides I print directly onto the page, using Fresco Finish Heavy Cream (FF203). I love the look of these lighter sides, they both complement and contrast the darker papers.

After letting everything dry while I clean up from the gel plate printing session, I am considering how it will all come together. This is when I decide to paint the covers in Squid Ink. The dark cover will be the perfect base for the stamped image and also highlight the color which is seen throughout the pages. I have a feeling that I will want to take the pages in and out to work on them, so I decide that it will be a good idea to reinforce the hinge point. I die cut chipboard circles and paint these with the Squid Ink color as well.

Using Ranger Distress Collage Matte Medium, I adhere the tissue to the unfinished sides of the pages. I weight down the pages to keep them flat while they are drying. After the glue is completely dry, I use a sanding block to create a clean edge. I have found this to be a simple way to ensure that the edges align.

I cut circles of various sizes out of the remaining painted tissue. These circles will be used as college elements within the book as well as on the cover.

Each page is then modified using the collection of stamps I have gathered. Stamping always brings to mind something I once heard Seth mention during one of his demos, "try to make the stamps your own..." One way to do this is by partial stamping, where you don't imprint the entire design, and another way is to modify the image once it is stamped. I love playing around with different ways of making Seth's designs more of my own, it makes it feel more like a collaborative effort.

I select the location where the book will be hinged and then punch each of the covers and pages in the same location. I used a Crop-A-Dile to easily punch through the layered pages as well as the chipboard. You could use any suitable punch, just be sure that the hole size equals the diameter of the Chicago Screw post so that the pages will slip onto the cylinder. The book is almost complete.

The last step to completing the book is adding the title. Since the book is circular and double sided, I thought it would be fun to have one portion of the title on the front cover and the second half on the back cover. Essentially allowing you to flip the book over and browse the back sides as well. When I chose the "what comes around goes around stamp" I thought it would be fun to use the first portion of the saying on the front and the ending on the back cover. To do this it required a bit of simple masking.

I use a stamping platform and an embossing ink pad to stamp "what comes around" onto my cover. Simply mask the words "goes around" so that they do not transfer. Then I sprinkle some charred gold embossing powder over the impression and heat it. I do the same for the back cover but I mask the words "what comes around". I then add embossing ink along the outer edge of both covers, coat it with embossing powder, and heat it. I have always enjoyed watching the powder melt.

While I have the embossing ink pad and powder out on my desk, I also add a bit of stamping and embossing to each of my pages. I use different techniques to create interest, making sure to brush off areas of the stamped images prior to heating to make the images unique.

I added some rub-on words and images to a few of the pages as well. I have a feeling I will be adding more to each of these pages over time. I just love how it turned out.

Obviously, I was drawn to the idea of creating a circular piece, but I think this binding technique could be used in a lot of different formats. I think the best takeaway from my project is that trying out new techniques and blending new color combinations can yield amazing results!

I hope that I have inspired you to pull out your stamps and Fresco Finish paints and try to create something new! Wishing you a creative day ~Ann

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2022 Topic 16 : Splosh {by Liesbeth Fidder-de Vos} with Seth Apter stamps

Hi everyone, it's Liesbeth with you today, and I'm here to share with you my abstract, sploshy, glossy cards using a selection of stamps designed by Seth Apter! 

With Seth´s beautiful stamp sets and the topic Splosh as a starting point in mind, I immediately thought about the contrast between the sturdy stamps (black ink) and very glossy paper. And to drip, trickle, drop and dribble using colourful alcohol inks, a perfect combination!

Doing these kind of techniques I can totally lose myself and make backgrounds for hours and hours, not able to stop, so wonderful and surprising to do! I just do and experiment, so at the end I have a big stack of beautiful coloured backgrounds. For these cards I picked out some nice parts and saved the rest for another use. I use lots of alcohol inks...please don't ask me what colours I used for a specific card... I really don't know. For these background techniques you need lights and brights; not too dark. The paper I use is Chromolux, 300 gr. Size A4. I also use blending solution and some golden transfer foil.

And of course this  wonderful PaperArtsy stamps! ESA29 and ESA30. I see so many possibilities with these stamps! I see circles, swirls, fences, an antenna, crosses, targets, plinths and I even see grass, bushes and paths. And of course, those amazing words and texts. Love them!

Now lets start with the backgrounds and splashing. The first technique is the one I do most. You need to work quickly; the inks and blending solution dissipate quick. That's the reason it was a little difficult to shoot good pictures!

Drip several colours of alcohol ink in a nice mix of light and bright colours onto a craftsheet.

Drop some blending solution as well, not too little, as shown here.

Put your glossy paper in right away and press and move & turn it a bit. Lift the paper off the surface again... magic!

For a 'bokeh' effect: take the bottle of blending solution in your hand and through and splash some drops on the coloured paper.

Another technique: spread a large amount of blending solution on the paper using a blending tool and felt.

Drop different colours of alcohol ink, it will flow much more now. Interchange every now and then with blending solution till the paper is almost full or until you are satisfied.

When the ink and blending solution is almost dry it's nice to add some gold transfer foil on edges that are still a little wet.

The third technique is this: Hold the paper (here I used a smaller piece: A6) upright and drop the ink at the top and let it weep and flow downwards. Sometimes some blending solution is needed here.

Doing this technique, sometimes a landscape appears! So I made a sun with orange ink, a piece of felt and a circle stencil.

And the fourth technique: 

The same vertical dropping, but in this case first spray the entire paper with blending solution. I put some in a mini-mister. Then quickly throw and slash some alcohol inks from a bigger distance (20-30 cm) and magic will happen. After drying it's great to spray a bit of blending solution again. Make sure you ventilate your room well and don't do this for too long.

And now the good old marbling technique: put some drops of alcohol inks and a droplet of blending solution onto the blending felt and start pounding. twist the blending tool a little after each time to change position.

Sometimes you need some new/more ink or blending solution. This needs some patience, keep going until you are satisfied.

Here I did some extras onto the marbled paper: I used PaperArtsy stencil PS040 (Kim Dellow), put it on the paper and added some more alcohol ink using the felt tool.

This is the result, I love it! Stained glass!

And now a bonus technique using the same stencil, a bit different. Roll out some light alcohol ink onto a gelli plate with a brayer.

Put the stencil on the gelli plate, the ink works as a glue. Now start dropping again, lots of colours of alcohol ink until you don't see the gelli plate anymore.

Leave the stencil on, let it dry for a long time, overnight for example.

If dry, add a thin layer of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint: Chalk onto the surface, take a piece of (normal, not glossy) paper and press in down firmly using your hands or the brayer.

Peel off the paper carefully and...magic again!

Here is the result of not being able to stop...a pile of wonderful coloured papers. Of course, it's also great to mix and combine the different techniques and there are so many more nice techniques. Now it's time to cut out some beautiful pieces and stamp!

I have chosen some nice parts from the papers and cut out different sizes. Using Tsukineko StazOn ink - Jet Black.

Stamping with the wonderful Seth Apter stamps, they are so perfect for this abstract cards. I stamped 'Etcetera' three times to create a shadow. The card is a Slimline (21 x 10 cm).

After stamping I drew some details with a white gel pen and a black fine-liner.

Here I coloured only half the card and left some white.

The landscape background. Here I masked pars of it and stamped a fence and some bushes. ;-)

I also drew grasses and plants and even a road and houses (See the finished card below).

Like I almost always do I finished the cards with some glitter glue (Stickles Diamond).

Some finished cards, matted on two colours of cardstock.

And here are the results: nine glossy abstract cards. First the gelli printed one: for the stamps I chose the same shape, fitting in the shape of the stencil. After that I masked the card here and there to stamp the numbers.

Two slimline cards.

'Stained glass' made with the stencil...this background needed just this beautiful sentiment! I outlined the stencil print with a black fine-liner.

A peaceful landscape. I used the big cross stamp laying at the bottom as bushes. Some white spots in the background became houses.

The other finished cards with the different and mixed splosh techniques.

A detail...

Splashing and dripping with alcohol inks is one of my favourite things to do! Especially in combination with that very glossy paper; always a wonderful effect. Beforehand you never know what's going to happen..so much fun! There's only one problem...the pictures. The photos are never as beautiful as the real pieces. It's so hard to catch the shine, the deep colours. So, there's an extra reason for you to give it a try yourself and see the magic with your own eyes! Enjoy!

Liesbeth XX

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