2023 Topic 12: Designer Focus: JoFY {by Victoria Wilding}

Hi everyone

Victoria here with you today.

Before I get into my Christmas makes and as I start to wrap up another creative year, I'm already making plans for next years creative journey and boy am I dreaming of good things. A recent move to a new home, in a new area, means there's lots of good things to dream up with a new craft space being pretty much, top of the list! So as I dream up a bigger creative space to house all the stamps, stencils and colours, the big loopy handwritten sentiment in JOFY93 was just screaming at me to be the star of the show. And what a perfect fit it is for this quarters theme of typography, as the PaperArtsy team unravel an important aspect of mixed media projects and so many ways with letters. 

I'm partial to a bit of fabric in my work and I've been loving the work of Emily Notman popping up in my Instagram feed recently. Her pretty, pastel, landscape inspired layers catch my eye every time and I wanted to capture a stripped back version of the texture she so skilfully creates. The flowers from JOFY95 provided my favourite floral focal point and I love the mix of different textures in the finished piece and even removed the glass from the frame, so that the fabric stands proud.

My supplies list for this project is quite limited really. The two JoFY stamp sets, a range of neutral fabrics, a small photo frame , ink and scissors. I decided to use only a splash of colour as I wanted the neutral colours of the fabric and threads to really show through. I selected PaperArtsy Infusions in Lemoncello and Rocky Road to colour the linen strip and StazOn ink in grey and brown for stamping the gorgeous JOFY imagery.  

At this early stage, it is helpful to talk about the selected of PaperArtsy products. This colour combination for example is quite unusual. A gorgeous subdued, rustic pink and orange. You can point out concepts such as vintage meets bright, contrast and colour wheel theory tying into previous colour topics. How and why you land here really interests people, and can give cohesion to a project.

A riffle through my fabric stash turned out a real variety of fibres from cotton, linen, wool, netting and lace to name just a few. I cut out a selection of 8 inch strips so that I would have a little ice of fibres to choose from when building the background. 

From my fabric stash I selected a slightly ruffled cuff cut from an old linen shirt, which I thought would make a perfect layer at the base of the piece. I sprinkled this really lightly with the PaperArtsy Infusions and spritzed with water before setting aside to dry.

Next I stamped out the images I wanted to use. I started off by stamping out the 'dream of good things' sentiment from JOFY93 in brown ink.

And then stamped out some flowers in brown and grey ink and cut them out with fabric scissors, which was a bit tricky as the fabric was flopping around. Slow perseverance did the job eventually!

With all the fabric elements prepped, it was time to start building the project. 

 

I cut a piece of base card that I could glue my fabric to. I quickly realised I had too many fabric strips for the piece. So I started to reduce these down, trying to select a mix of different textures and colours.

I glued these in strips to the card, placing the ruffled piece at the bottom and the sentiment to the top.

Once the main fabric strips were glued in place, I added some more texture on top with some threads and these cute lace flowers. This helps to blend out the harsher edges of some of the thicker fabrics. 

Next I glued the fabric flowers in place, scattering them across the piece to lead the eye around all the different elements. 

 

I wanted to add a touch of metallic sparkle to the neutral colour palette and decided to add some stitching to the centre of the smaller JoFY flowers. I started off hand stitching these but soon realised the detail was soo tiny it wasn't going to have much impact. As I punched more holes in the background card with the needle, it was getting bumpy so I decided to revert to plan B. 

This consisted of rolling the thread into a ball and sticking it in the centre of the flower with fabric glue! I created much more texture and was really time saving, win-win!

I few more loose fibres glued in place, for a final bit of detail and the project was finished!

I placed the piece in a frame and removed the glass to cut the glare and allow the texture of the fabric to escape the frame slightly. 

 

I'll definitely be playing with fabric layers more in the future. They create a great backdrop and I'd really like to try this out with more colourful layers and perhaps some more stitching too. I hope you feel inspired to dig into your fabrics and stamp stash and play with some different combinations. 

Wishing you a happy, creative week!

Victoria

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2022 Topic 13 : Fabric {by Jenny Marples} with Alison Bomber stamps

Hi everyone, it's Jenny Marples (Pushing The Right Buttons) with you today, and I'm here to share with you a method for creating book with fabric using a selection of stamps designed by Alison Bomber.

I'm often asked how the journals and books I draw in are created. Usually they are made with paper but increasingly that's changed to include fabric because it's easier to bind, more forgiving and stronger (since fabric doesn't tear). So for this project I'll show you how to make a simple book and include ideas for decorating the pages using Alison Bomber's latest stamp releases.

Start by selecting your pages; they can be of any size as long as they are all roughly equal and in multiples of four. Mine were cut from a cartridge paper (A2 in size, 220gsm/110lb) though you could use postcards, old envelopes, even those sheets of patterned paper you may have left over.

Having some colour/pattern on the paper is helpful because it will show through the layers of translucent paint you will then apply using tools of your choice. I started with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints in 'Autumn Fire', 'Scottish Salmon', 'Terracotta' and finally 'Peachy Keen'. Apply unevenly and with decreasing amounts of paint to allow the lower layers to peek through.

You may be happy to stop there but I wanted it to be more muted so dry-brushed 'Snowflake' PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint over the top.

 

Finally scrape on 'Chalk' Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint in patches.

In case you are wondering why those lighter layers have been added here's one of the pages simply stamped with the first of Alison's stamp sets EAB26 - you can still see the colours but it also allows the stamped words to stand out.

Time to start filling some of your pages with images from Alison's beautiful stamp sets EAB24, EAB25 and EAB26. With a decorative background already done you can afford to keep the stamping simple too.

To compliment the autumnal background use the PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints previously mentioned with further brown, yellow and orange shades to add colour to the fruits and leaves. I went with 'Chocolate Pudding', 'Zesty Zing' and 'Tango'.

And here's where we start to get stitchy; think of your paper pages as pieces of fabric, sticking on scraps of gel printed tissue, Infusions dyed teabag paper, and bits of card before 'fixing them in place' with simple running stitches. I would recommend using embroidery thread (floss), Sashiko thread or others of a similar weight to make the stitches stand out.

With your remaining pages you may want to draw a few favourite buildings. Alternatively use gel printing to apply printed images or simply stick in some photos. Mine all have links to some of Shakespeare's plays set in Italy to fit with Alison's stamps.

Now you have your pages finished, time to turn them into a book.

 

Sort your stack of painted pages into the order you want them to be in your book. You will need two painted page on the front and back of each 'signature' so in total you will need four for the covers, followed by a further four for each signature.

With my 16 pages assembled, and taking away those selected for the covers, I had enough for three signatures (ie. 12 painted pages). Cut some cheap cotton calico fabric to fit the width of two of these pages leaving a border roughly ½ cm (¼ inch) around each painted page. You'll need further fabric signatures for each group of remaining pages, leaving the cover pieces to one side for now.

 

Sort through your fabric scraps to find bits that will compliment your painted pages. Cut them into small strips/blocks and use glue/gel medium to stick them around the outer edges of each page on the signature, leaving a small gap where the signature will be folded in half. Repeat on the reverse, adding offcut trims and lace for extra texture. I would recommend adding some extra fabric into the centres to support the painted pages which will be mounted on top.

 

Glue your painted pages onto the fabric signatures - you should have a little of the patchwork and lace beneath showing and the painted pages should roughly line up with each other in front and behind. Run some machine stitching around the edges to secure them in place and create a visual border to each page.

 

With all your signatures assembled and folded in half cut more cotton calico fabric long enough to wrap around it all from front to back. Be generous and remember, you'll be adding more fabric and painted pages to the inside of the covers so leave enough for them to fit. Fold the cover fabric in half and create a centre crease line.

 

Starting with your middle signature open secure it onto the cover fabric along the creased line using strong thread and a simple running stitch (as shown below).

 

Once your centre signature is in place you can repeat the process, working outwards to attach the remaining signatures. As the pages have some depth to them you'll need to allow a gap in between each line of stitching so they can lay flat when the finished book is closed.

 

With the pages now in place it's time to finish the covers, and the book.

Decorate the inside of the front and back covers using the same method used for the signatures, securing the painted pages with more machine stitching.

Everything is complete inside so now it's time to tackle the outside of the covers. Wrap lace (or old net curtain offcuts!) around the spine to disguise the stitching. Mount the final two painted pages onto cardboard before layering onto more fabric. The cardboard will add rigidity and strength to your covers whilst the fabric will echo the look of the pages inside. 

 

You'll see on the finished book I added some filigree metal trims to the front and back covers to imitate the look of clasps. You could also add a ribbon tie beneath your painted covers, attach charms to your spine and further embellish your pages at this stage. All of these additions would add to the tactile feel of the completed book.

So here is a flip through of my finished pages, with the first spread celebrating Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice' and the iconic view of the Bridge of Sighs. Quite by chance the stitched page could represent one of the famous canals!

Keeping with the autumnal feel the rosehips have been transformed into physalis.

An Italian balcony was the obvious choice for Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'.

More autumnal fruit, this time with the blackberries becoming golden raspberries. The 'Persimmon Flower' pattern created with the stitching replicates a design seen on the Doge's Palace in Venice.

A view of Arsenale in Venice has been used for Shakespeare's 'Othello' - as a member of the Venetian militia this could have been his home port.

Acorns are traditionally a sign of Autumn and Nature's bounty. And can you spot any extra Shakespeare quotes in the Alison Bomber stamp sets you may already have that could fit?

For the final pages I chose a typical Italian street scene for Shakespeare's 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' - something about that tower...

So now you have a jumping off point from which to create your own books using fabric with paper, your own collection of PaperArtsy Paints and of course Alison's beautiful stamps. Whilst you can make these any size you want I would recommend starting small with a maximum of three signatures so as not to feel overwhelmed by the number of pages you will need to decorate. And make sure to share your creations with us all in the PaperArtsy People FB group!

Jenny

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