Envelope Pocket Tags with Sara Naumann products {by Victoria Wilding}

 

Hi everyone, nice to be back with you again.

Victoria 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 Sara Naumann products, many of which provide a mix of text, vintage ephemera and nature themed images. Sara’s designs call to my creative being and my love of paper projects.

Today I'm looking forward to sharing with you a project, turning envelopes into pocket tags, which hold a range of ephemera. Playing with lots of different elements in a project is a lot of fun and makes use of so many of the stamps in a set.

There’s an endless range of options with this project, from how you decorate the envelope pockets, to what ephemera you include. I kept things fun and playful, with the gel plate and simple stamping.

I decided to use two of Sara’s stamp sets, ESN21 and ESN34. The insects and birds work nicely together and the mix of stamps and text gave me lots of options for creating the ephemera.

I love a soft and dreamy colour palette, so I selected four PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics in Chalk (FF83), Haze (FF217), Powder Pink (FF220), Stardust (FF222). And I picked out stencil PS449 for some subtle background detailing, as it has some big open space in the design.

To start, I decided to add some background colour and texture to the envelopes using the gel plate. I added a layer of Stardust Fresco Finish Acrylic to the gel plate and put the stencil on top. I then pulled a print on a piece of Smoothy White Card (SCA4).

Next I added a layer of Chalk Fresco Finish Acrylic and pulled the print on an envelope.

I repeated this with another two envelopes, using a different combination of coloured Fresco Finish Acrylic (Haze then Powder Pink) and Chalk Fresco Finish Acrylic.

To finish the enveloped and create the tag appearance, I opened out the top of each one and punched a small hole, before adding a reinforcer for extra strength.

The next step was creating the ephemera to go into the envelope pocket tags. Using the card prints from the gel plate, I die cut several tags and labels in different shapes and sizes. I chose sizes which would extend out of the pocket and add extra visual interest in the finished piece.

I then used the ephemera stamps for the sets to create some labels, simply stamping the images in Archival Ink.

Next I added some of the text stamps to the tags. The quotes added larger visual details, but I also wanted some smaller background text, so I picked out stamp Mini 61 (MN61) from my stash.

I then added the bird images from ESN34 to the rounded tags and the leaves from the same set to the rectangular tags.

This is the ephemera stash complete.

Now I wanted to add some final decorative details to the envelope pocket tags. I decided to add a main focal point to the bottom of each one, stamping the images first in Archival Ink. I then used Distress Watercolor Pencils to colour the images on the stamps and print again on white card. This technique creates stamping with a watercolour effect. Once dry I fussy cut these and glued them over the top of that part of the stamped image.

I then selected some blue and green fibres and threaded these into the holes at the top of each envelope tag, and added a selection of the ephemera to the pocket.

For one final little detail I added some silver foiling to the outside edges of the envelopes.

I love how all these tiny little details transform a simple envelope into something different.

The finished envelope pocket tags are a great showcase for Sara’s designs. They invite you to look more carefully to discover new details and whilst each one is similar, they are all unique. Here are some close ups of each envelope pocket tag.

I hope you are inspired to have a go at creating your own envelope pocket tags. I’d love to see what you make, so find and tag me on socials (links below).

Until next time, wishing you a happy, creative week.

Victoria

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2021 Topic 4 Free to Fly Buzzing with ESN stamps {by Claire Snowdon}

  2021 Topic 4: Free to Fly

Taking such a humble product and lifting it to new heights is Claire tonight with her wonderfully textured card. With processes a-plenty and lots of vintage loveliness, there's much to love.
~ Keren.

Hi everyone, it's Claire Snowdon with you today, and I'd like to share with you a very textural card that I created.

It had been a while since I played with corrugated cardboard so I felt like it was about time to play with it again as I do love the sense of texture and the tactile quality it adds to a project!

I love stamping into Grunge Paste to create even more texture, this also creates lovely indentations for paint or Infusions to puddle into.

So the first stage was to peel back some pieces off the top layer on a piece of cardboard to reveal the internal texture.  I then added some Grunge Paste, smoothing it over with a damp finger before stamping into it using the large collage stamp from HP1501.

Once the Grunge Paste was mostly dry I started adding the painty layers - first of all some Sage and Peppermint Fresco Finish paints.  Then I sprinkled on some Infusions - Olive Tree and Rocky Road.  I love how the Rocky Road had some pink/purple tones within in as I feel like it adds even more interest to the background.

 

I carried on adding more infusions, intermittently drying so the cardboard didn't become too wet, until I was happy with the effect.  I didn't want the background to be too dark so I scraped on a little Fresco Finish paint in Chalk.  Then added some black splatter for contrast using Fresco Finish Little Black Dress.

Next for the focal image.

I stamped the bee image from ESN21, masking off the word 'bumblebee' before inking my stamp.  I coloured this with a little Fresco Finish in Tangerine Twist and then added a tiny drop of Glass Blue Fresco Finish into some of the Fresco Finish Metallic Glaze for the wings - so they do have a subtle twinkle in the light.

I tore around the bee image and vintage-d it up a little using Distress Inks in Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain.  Then I layered this on top of a piece of hessian, tea stained cotton, a piece of vintage lace and some pieces of black cotton threads - all secured together with a Tim Holtz tiny attacher. 

Once everything was dry I added the bee ensemble to the corrugated card piece.  I distressed the edges of the cardboard and added black archival ink around the edges and a tiny bit on the top in places.

 

I cut a piece of black cardstock and a piece of PaperArtsy Crunchy Wax Kraft Paper to the correct size for my card blank, then attached everything together using the tiny staples again.

Finally I added a Tim Holtz Quote Chip using Glossy Accents to ensure it adhered properly to the hessian underneath.

This is a great topic to get involved with as there are so many options - bees, birds, butterflies, dragonflies the list goes on and on.  I'm sure everyone has something in their stash that they could use to play along with!  I've made this card in a very vintage vibe however just by changing the colours up a bit and the materials layered underneath the focal image could turn it into a totally different project; bright and colourful, but still full of wonderful textures.

Thanks for joining me today on the blog,

Claire x

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2020 #10 Postcards with ESN {by Carol Fox}

2020 Topic 10: Recycled Packaging

Intro
There is something super appealing about white, black and a splash of blue on kraft card. The white space is less 'white' when you work with kraft (duh) and somehow that adds a warm balance which I find super-appealing! Carol works her magic utilising many of Sara Naumann's stamps, and there are always a load of interesting elements within them to suit the painted layers perfectly!
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Carol with you today, and I'd like to share with you some postcards made with my favorite packaging to recycle those lovely Amazon Kraft Coloured envelopes.

I have made some 6 x 4 postcards to send in the place of Cards, either for birthdays or just a random "miss you card". I do usually send these naked through the post so I make them flat. Here I have simply stenciled and then added stamping over the top with paints and inks. I used a combination of paints and inks as this adds more layers and I was also introduced to my new must have background stamp, and yes I do admit to being a little bit in love with it.

My finished postcards. I usually send them naked through the post like this, but due to the present circumstances I have added an envelope and this is shown in the last photo.

Background stencil with PS046 and Chalk fresco Paint. I went for a softer white as I thought this looked nicer against the Kraft coloured card.

My new favourite background stamp set ESN09 stamped using Marbles Fresco Paint. I pounced my paint gently onto the stamp with a bit of cut and dry to avoid to much paint and a smudgy image.

  

The words from ESN05 stamped in black archival in. 

Using sets ESN21 and ESN28 I stamped an image on each card using black archival ink.

I added the same splatter image I used before from ESN09 but this time I stamped it in black archival ink. I like how the same image stamped in different mediums adds depth to my postcard.

I didn't like the way the quote had covered my 'Carte Postal' on one of my cards, so I decided to colour in the words on each card and this helped to lift the words in front of the circle stamp. I also ran my ink pad around the edge of the cards to frame them a little bit.

On my envelope I simply repeated what I did for the cards, but I masked off a bit in the middle with a post it note to give a space for the address.

These are very quick to make and are handy for a last minute Birthday card and I like them in preference to a proper card as they remind me of when I was little and we always seemed to get loads of postcards in the summer from Holidays, a bit of the lost past now with all the social media sites and everything being so instant...grief showing my age here!! But I suppose they appeal to the retro chick in me and I love writing my message on the back. My family did think I was either weird or to mean to give them an envelope at first but I think they get it now. Also if anyone still reads proper books they make great bookmarks. 

Have a lovely Day and I can be found at the following places.

Carol x

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