Showing posts with label Envelope Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Envelope Art. Show all posts

Monday, 10 April 2023

2023 Topic 4 : Mail Art {by Floss Nicholls} with Ink & the Dog stamps



Hi everyone it's Floss from flossworkshopart with you today.

I whooped out loud with joy when this latest PaperArtsy mail art topic opportunity landed in my email box! It instantly got me thinking about the amount I used to use 'snail' mail and how I loved to decorate envelopes, or parcels and the crazy things I used to send through the post, (more of that later...) and so because of this I decided to go straight for the obvious for this blog and decorate some envelopes.  I wanted to keep things fairly straight forward but keeping my use of gesso, a few layers, a little stitching and some embossing...as that wouldn't be me without those things...and they all tie in nicely with this quarter's theme: textures. 


I hope that at least one of these envelopes will inspire you to join in with this topic and consider sending an art envelope to brighten someone's day...I think art should be shared with all, so why not also bring some joy to the posties whilst your 'snail' mail is on the way to its destination?! Decorating envelopes is something I've totally enjoyed doing for many many years...maybe I should tell you about one of the funniest things I sent through the post...


I wanted to make the art mail envelopes more individual and I knew that by using PaperArtsy infusions on a good cartridge paper, it would give me interesting results that would be totally uncontrolled and random to start with. I did a colour swatch for Sunset Beach and Olive Tree because I think they suited the stamps I was going to use.


Here you can see, not only did I colour swatch the infusions but I started to look at how different colour inks would work over them instead of just going straight for black.. I think that using different coloured ink pads can enhance the overall appearance of an art piece and it can compliment the different tones within the infusion dye stains as they are rarely a solid colour. You will also see that I have labelled bleach on the swatch too.


Some people like to sprinkle infusions on wet paper, some prefer to sprinkle infusions onto dry paper and then spray them to activate. I personally like to dry sprinkle then spray, I then use a large flat brush to swirl the colours and liquid into some very pleasing designs. It really does depend on how much you like to leave or dissolve the little specks within the infusions, and how much water you use to hydrate the powders. I mostly like to dissolve mine or leave heavy areas that almost create a crust when left.





Using a hairdryer or heat gun can speed up the drying process and give some interesting outcomes too depending on the length of time you hold it in the same spot.  Here you can see how very different each page was...


I wanted the envelopes to be  220 x 110 mm (standard DL size) and so I needed the paper to be 251mm x 251mm to start with. I used my trusty paper cutter and made sure that each page was square.

 
Some dyed pages were not big enough so I sewed some together to make the correct size required. The stitching which would add further interest and texture to the envelope. 

I found an amazing website that was extremely helpful with envelope making sizes. www.imjustlovinit.co.uk This link will allow you to choose metric/imperial and put in your own envelope measurements...it's fabulous if you make bespoke cards etc which need something different from standard sizes given.


I scored the first line at 164mm, then rotated the paper CLOCKWISE and lined the score line I had just made with the horizontal cream plastic triangle inline with the 1cm marking measurement.  I kept rotating right and scoring until I'd done all 4 lines.


I punched the little triangles out where the score lines crossed...you can also use scissors to do this. I then folded them into envelopes ready to have some creative fun with...


The folded envelope on the left shows an example of what I mentioned earlier about the 'crust' texture where the infusions remain less activated but heat set onto the surface.


Having tested how bleach works on infusions, I knew that my first 'texture' layer was going to be stamping bleach.  THIS IS AN ADULT ONLY part of the project. Please wear gloves and open your windows if you are going to try this element of the project or get an adult to help you if you are a young artist.  It is safe to use bleach with the rubber stamps, as long as you wipe the stamp straight after with a damp cloth or a wet wipe and then use running water to thoroughly clean them after you've finished this stage. I used thin bleach poured onto 4 layers of folded kitchen towel to make a stamp pad. you don't want the paper towel to be soggy...but I found just enough to make a slight sound when releasing the stamp. Do try test pieces first. 

In my testing I found that the more closed the image was the less defined it would be using bleach. I liked the results using the background (BG3EZ) stamp best. 


Having done a fair amount of testing the process I went ahead with adding bleached layers to the envelopes.  I used BG2EZ with bleach and then stamped MN23 using Ranger Archival Ink ground espresso in small areas without using a stamping block so I could limit the area stamped. I stamped the top and bottom flaps upside down to accommodate the folding upwards leaving the numbers to be the right way up when it was assembled and glued together.


I then spread gesso onto some fine calico using an old store card...notice that it was spread uneven to enhance the feel of the texture.  Once it had dried I used another stamp from the same BG2EZ set onto this using Ranger Archival Hickory Smoke Ink pad. i did not refesh the ink each time so that it would give me more 'broken' tones.


I did not measure the fabric as it was just a random piece that I pulled out of my stash but did feel a bit jammy with how I snipped the edge and ripped it into three strips, then folded those strips into three to snip the edges allowing me to rip again making 9 labels. I prefer to rip rather than cut fabric as it leaves a lovely frayed edge which adds to the natural textural quality.  The fabric piece was approximately 330mm x 180mm making the labels approx 110mm x 60mm.


I then punched some circles out of left over pieces of dyed paper, cut oblongs of scrap chiffon fabric, which I folded into three, assembled, punched and secured with an eyelet. I added a string for decoration purposes. I did worry about the string maybe getting caught up or ripped off so I made sure that part would be stitched or heavily glued in place.


I did edge finish the coloured circle using the ground espresso to allow it to 'pop'.


I started to think about what I would decorate the envelopes with and have to admit that I could not resist using some of the tissue paper that PaperArtsy wrap their goods in when they arrive through the post! I painted along the parts of the tissue paper I wanted to use with water to remove, this gave a more natural rustic tear in the tissue paper which would help it to blend into the background once applied to the envelope...I also used this method to remove a couple of the stamps and the car too. I was after textures rather than images to add subtle interest to the envelopes.


I started assembling which stamps I thought would work well with which envelope...and which tissue paper textures would enhance each one.  The different envelopes really allowed for so much choice and fun.


The tin lid on the left is what I used to contain my 'bleach ink pad'. If you are going to use text for your envelope textures then remember that the top and bottom flaps will fold over so remember to do those the opposite way (upside down) to the fronts and sides of the envelope.


I thought the little dolls were just so cute popping out of the inside of the envelopes. 


I glued the labels on and sewed extra chiffon along the edges or slightly tucked chiffon under the labels and stitched them into place.  


I then embossed little details over where I had used the tissue papers or stamped.


I painted PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Snowflake Chalk acrylic on the reverse of the torn tissue paper car and stamps so it would be more defined and embossed the measurements from the G3EZ stamp using Wow opaque vanilla embossing powder.


I then used double sided tape to secure the sides under the bottom folded over flap. I will use double sided tape or a glue stick to secure the envelope closed once I am ready to enclose something inside and post it on its merry little way into the world...




I particularly liked adding the script stamp both horizontally and vertically creating a grid pattern with the bleach.



Is there one you'd love to have fall through your letter box? 


I made four finished envelopes for this blog but I now have several more envelopes dyed and ready to play with. I found it easier to batch dye papers. I will definitely doing more and perhaps extend the series.

I found stamping and embossing onto tissue paper easier to place over cloth and glue into place using matte medium rather than embossing straight onto the fabric.  It may be because the fabric had quite an open weave.  The embossing ink pad soaked through into the cloth making the embossing powders difficult to show/stay on top of the cloth.  I found that when I was embossing onto tissue, I had to keep the heat gun moving and not hold it down too long as the embossing powder tried to stick it to the paper beneath it as the tissue paper was very thin.

I enjoyed how the whole thing came together at the end and because I used the stamp sets across all envelopes they automatically became connected to one another.  Maybe I should've only used one type of infusion powder, but I wanted to give myself choices. 

I'd love to hear your comments especially if you give this project a whirl and which stamps you chose to use on yours.

Enjoy your creative time,

Floss x


I have made my first YouTube video...it's a quick tutorial of how to measure, score and make envelopes using the score board and notch punch...I hope it is useful to those of you who have not made envelopes before...or for those who need reminding how to make envelopes.


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Monday, 3 April 2023

2023 Topic 4 : Mail Art {by Jenny Marples} with Lynne Perrella stamps



Hi everyone Jenny Marples (Pushing The Right Buttons) here with you today.

I've been enjoying some creative time lately. The topic mail art had me thinking about how to use postcards and envelopes when building art books. So I decided to use them both as pages and decorative elements, incorporating as many textures as possible to fit with the over-arching theme this quarter. I'm looking forward to sharing with you today what I figured out about using mail items in books and developed a theme celebrating the masked costume balls held during the Carnevale di Venezia.


It just so happens that Eileen Hull has recently released a couple of die sets that create postage stamps shapes in different sizes, and most excitingly I discovered that these work really well with Lynne Perrella's collage style stamp designs. 


My starting point was Lynne Perrella stamp sets filled with flamboyantly dressed ladies and the Venezia stamp image. It conjured up thoughts of postcards from Venice during carnival time, rich colours, damasks, fabric and lace.


I pulled out a couple of stencils which I already have (a Scrapcosy set of damask designs and a diamond harlequin pattern on a Sara Naumann one) and also introduced a recent mini stencil from PaperArtsy's own collection which replicates the geometric patterns made by the perforations on sheets of postage stamps. 


To begin with I needed to work out how best to incorporate some blank postcards and envelopes into the construction of a book. I started by working on a large piece of heavyweight paper for use as pages, adding gesso with a brayer and stamping the postcard images from the PaperArtsy Ink & The Dog 'Words 4' stamp set in a pale coloured permanent ink. 


Oddly, when tea staining the paper it turned a shade of pale yellow (very similar to 'Vanilla' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint - a helpful observation for later in the process). I replicated the colour by using a diluted wash of 'Lemoncello' PaperArtsy Infusions on three postcards and envelopes.




Books are usually created with a set of signatures; to begin the process of building these I cut out three folded pages from the stamped paper. You'll have seen in previous posts how I tend to use a pale colour to create highlighted areas.


This was achieved by using 'Cloud 9' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint, a spatula and PaperArtsy Mini Mask PM023.


Next for the envelopes; as well as folding them in half for use as pocket pages you can gently pull them apart and re-assemble in a smaller form, cutting pieces off as needed.


In this way you can use smaller ones to decorate pages as seen below. I also added elements from one of the collage images in PaperArtsy stamp set LPC060 by Lynne Perrella - you can cut out the script tag and dream labels.



The folded envelope can be cut down at an angle to create a slip pocket on one side of the signature. On this side the pocket is decorated with some stencilling, lace and a stamped glove image.


On the opposite side the decoration is much simpler, including lots of textural lace.


The final envelope has also been used as a page embellishment, this time with the stamp image from PaperArtsy stamp set LPC060 by Lynne Perrella.


You will already have seen splashes of colour added to some of the pages; it's time to look at how to add these to your basic pages, envelopes and postcards.
 

When deciding on a colour scheme for the finished book I knew it had to reflect the opulence of Carnevale costumes and of course we already know the 'Vanilla' colour was a given following the tea staining. Working with colour wheel opposites I chose 'Pumpkin Soup', 'Lilac', 'Amethyst', and 'Blood Orange' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints, using a gel plate to pull prints with layers of these colours. 



If you are a member of the PaperArtsy People Facebook Group you may have seen that I've been experimenting with using PaperArtsy Infusions and boiled water to stain pieces of fabric. You can also use them to stain regular tissues, allowing them all to air dry before use. 


The gel plate prints and fabric can be used to decorate or even back the postcards before they are inserted into the book. In this case the fabric extended the size of one of the postcards, whilst another was folded in half to create a smaller page and a third used to create a pocket.


As mentioned earlier I used the diamond pattern in the PaperArtsy Stencil PS090 by Sara Naumann and Grunge Paste to replicate the look of a harlequin design (seen on the costume of one of the main images) on the folded postcard.


Below you can see how the finished page is backed with fabric and how the stencilling softens the look of the gel plate printed block of colour.


There is more stencilling and fabric on this page, used in part to extend the size of the postcard.
 

Layers of fabric can also be used on their own to create pages, with hand stitching adding some extra detail and texture.
 

Below you can see how that stitched page has been wrapped around a larger paper page in one of the signatures, acting as a calming contrast opposite a highly patterned and decorated page. The fabric layers used here are teabag paper, stained with those PaperArtsy Infusions.


In this next spread the stitching provides the detail opposite a simpler collage page.


You may have already noticed that after adding pieces of gel plate print or stained tissue to the pages they have been blended at the edges with some of the 'Vanilla' and 'Cloud 9' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint. The stencilling from the main page has then been replicated over the coloured area.


If you need an end of section comment, this is the place for that


The colour added to the page helps to accentuate the stencilling when (as in this case) it done with paint.


All of the designs on the PaperArtsy stencil PS293 by Scrapcosy has been used on the pages throughout the book.


The same design has been used on the next page, this time in combination with more Grunge Paste to create a different look.


Here you can see the same page once completed with some of the stained teabag paper and some stamping.


When the colour on another page became too intense behind the stencilling I used a layer of lace to help reduce it, helping the stamped image on top to stand out even more.


You will have seen stamped images throughout the pages so far; they provide the finishing focal points on many of them and can be used in different ways.

When painting into detailed images with opaque paints I find a stamping platform is a really helpful tool.


By stamping with a pale permanent ink, painting over with your PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints and re-stamping with a darker permanent ink you can help to bring out the fine details Lynne Perrella includes in her stamp designs.


Here I used PaperArtsy stamp set LPC061 by Lynne Perrella.


And here you can see how it sits in the completed book.


Here is another of the finished pages given the same treatment.


Here you can see how the postcard pocket sits nicely opposite another painted lady.


Throughout this post you will have seen a number of postage stamp shaped die cuts used as page tabs and collage elements. I also found another use for them really helped by the way Lynne Perrella designs her stamps.


Since she chooses to use a mix of images to build her characters you can use those to your advantage by stamping small sections onto your die cuts. In this way you can create multiple focal points from the same stamps as can be seen below.


Using different colours of inks can give the same images a different look.


It doesn't need much to finish a page and these elements can coordinate with the pages underneath to draw your eye through the book.



Throughout this project I've enjoyed building the layers on each page and seeing how the different signatures have come together, but my favourite part has been using small sections of the stamps with the die cuts to create new focal points. It has effectively extended the use of each set which has to be a bonus! I hope that like me you will look at using your stamp sets in a different way.

Jenny

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