NEW PaperArtsy Products: Eclectica³ Gwen Lafleur {November 2021}

 Eclectica³ Collection {Gwen Lafleur}
Nov 2021 New Product Announcement

A note from Leandra:

 

Another fantastic series of stamps from Gwen, and wow has she been thinking about making sure these chime with other stamps, like her previous ticket release. There is a little bit of everything in this release: Indian patterns and shapes, some geometrics, and the florals give a nice soft touch too. I can't wait for you to see what Gwen has done with them!

 

Gwen will be sharing these stamps live in PaperArtsy People shortly after this post publishes. I hope you can catch the live, but if not the replay will be there. you will want to see how she is planning on using these, there are lots of ways you can go with them! I know she has some outside of the box ideas to share!

 

Remember, these stamps are available EXCLUSIVELY from our approved stockists for the next few months. With freight prices soaring due to fewer flights worldwide, it makes sense to buy local within your country, see the list and links at the bottom of this blog post. 

 

Hi everyone, Gwen here!

I'm thrilled to share my latest release for PaperArtsy which includes three new stamp collections.

As per usual, the stamps in this release have a wide range of influences - everything from Indian block printing patterns to grids that work as part of what I call my "Gwenified Basics" to a new nature-themed Build-a-Collage set. I love how each of these sets can be used on its own to create lots of looks and at the same time, they work beautifully both with each other and with my previous sets.  

  New Stamps

Price: RRP €21.92 +VAT
Size:5" x 6" (13 x16.5cm)
All stamps are individually trimmed onto cling foam, presented in a clear hanging bag
with a laminated storage/index sheet.
  

Eclectica³ Gwen Lafleur Set 22 (EGL22)

 

As with all of my stamps, EGL22 is entirely hand-drawn and this particular set is based on a very specific type of Indian block printing patterns called Ajrakh. I have several pieces of Ajrakh printed fabric in my stash and I love the intricate designs. I took inspiration from some of my favorite patterns to create a set of highly detailed stamps that can each be used individually or which can be combined to create cool repeating patterns - great for backgrounds!

Since Ajrakh patterns are typically found in textiles and clothing, I was inspired to make something a bit fun and quirky where I could use the stamps to add pattern to painted clothing on a figurative bud vase that I made with chipboard, paper clay, and PaperArtsy Fresco Acrylic Paint. (I'm lucky enough to have a view pieces by CeramiConnoisseur and this piece was inspired by those.)

 

Of course, having gone so far out of the box with the bud vase, I wanted to show a bit of a more traditional application for these stamps and used them to make this mixed media piece.

 

I love how the same set of stamps worked to give me two different repeating backgrounds as well as both focal and accent images. I also really like how versatile they are - even though the designs were inspired by Indian patterns, they work perfectly in all different kinds of projects. Repeating the designs creates backgrounds for art journals, scrapbook layouts, handmade cards, and even mixed media canvases while just using them on their own turns them into great focal points. Gotta love a multi-use stamp!

To show some of the possibilities with this set, I put together some sample boards with different ideas for combining and repeating the designs.

I don't know about you, but seeing the different ways you can repeat and combine them makes my fingers itch to go stamp with them!

Eclectica³ Gwen Lafleur Set 23 (EGL23)

EGL23 is the second in my Build-A-Collage series with the idea being that you have all of the elements you need in a single set to stamp patterns, ephemera and collage papers, and focal images. When I was designing these I had recently learned about the concept of Ullassa, which is a Sanskrit term describing the feelings of pleasantness you get from being in nature. I love to walk outside early in the morning in the woods near my house so it's a concept that resonates with me and I carried both the word and the idea of nature into the other elements of this set.

 

With this set I really wanted to convey how easy it is to create a collage with nothing but a substrate, stamps and ink, and maybe something to color with (I used colored pencils for these.) I love how beautifully the images layer and work together on top of these antique postcards.

 

The pattern I included with this set was inspired by a woodblock in my collection originally made for printing African mud cloth. The text was taken from a page in an antique Buddhist prayer book that I happened across several years ago. And the postage stamp was inspired by a combination of images and ideas from different stamps I collected in China during one of my visits a few years ago.

 

 

Stamps, ink, a bit of masking... et voila! Fun little collages ready to frame, add to my art journal, or even send off in the mail.

Eclectica³ Gwen Lafleur Set 24 (EGL24)

  

 

I call this set Grids Gone Wild - Squares... I really wanted to start to add some more textural patterning stamps into my line. I feel like this fits perfectly with my "basics" (including my labels, tickets, alphabet, and frames.) You can mix and match the stamps in this set to get backgrounds, borders, and embellishments - it's so fun to play with and I just adore the grid of squares filled with images inspired by vintage Spanish bus tickets and Zentangle patterns.

 

You can see here how just changing the colors of the stamp inside the grid can completely change the look of the design.

I love the patterned squares peeking through the center as part of the focal point - adding some color gives yet another totally different look to the same design that's used in multiple places on this canvas.

I decided to go a bit out of the box again with this stamp to showcase how fun it can be to create decoupaged elements using different combinations of stamps from this set with pops of red. I made this little trinket dish from chipboard and I love how the transparent layers of stamped tissue paper worked to turn it into a cool little piece. Below you can see how it looks laid flat and hosting my funky little bud vase:

I put together another sample board for this set to demonstrate how the stamps can work individually, together, and repeated. (Pro tip: stamp the grid first and then center the filler pattern over the stamped grid design - it gets them aligned really well without a lot of fuss.)

Project

For my project combining all three stamp sets, I was inspired by a trend that I've been seeing in the bullet journaling world - register tape collage! It's such a fun and easy way to use your stamps (with or without additional products) to create your own collage fodder.

First, start with your register tape. (If you don't have any, you can just use long strips of copy paper and tape them together if you want a really long piece.) I pulled out some lighter colors of Archival Ink and stamped the two open grid designs from EGL24 randomly across the whole length of paper.

Next I pulled out some slightly darker inks and stamped the grid filler patterns (putting some inside the grids) as well as some of the more background-type elements from EGL22 and EGL23.

Then I started to get some darker inks and more focal type images from EGL22 and EGL23 and randomly added those on top. One of my favorite things about working this way and going light to dark as I add layers is that you can get distinct images that play beautifully together without having to do any masking.

I used a few other colors of ink to fill in with more stamped shapes and kissed over top with the Sansrkit text stamps, then called it good. You can really go as short or as long as you want with these collage strips - it's such a versatile way to work! When you're done, you can just roll them up and store until you need them (I use a paper clip to keep it from unraveling.)

Once the register tape collage is done, you can store it away to use as needed or jump right into a project. Just unroll and cut off the length that you need and then put the rest away again for another project.

Here I just cut off a piece 3-1/2" long to use on an ATC. I adhered it to a piece of 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" cardstock, added some washi tape and stickers, and in about 5 minutes I had a finished ATC! (Not to mention a pretty good-sized strip of stamped register tape collage left over for later.)

Whew! That's it for now... I'm absolutely loving working with these new sets and mixing them in with my other stamps. I hope you're just as excited to use them! 

Thanks for joining me in my excitement for this release... I can't wait to see how you all use these as they get out into stores and your studios. 

Socials...

Website: https://www.gwenlafleur.com

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/GwenLafleur

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gwenythlafleur

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwenaval

Teaching Schedule:

Just announced! I'm joining for the 7th year in a row as a teacher in Creative JumpStart 2022 - registration opens on November 29th, but you can head over now for details.

March 15, 2022, Art & Soul Retreat, "Paper Prayer Flags"

March 16, 2022, Art & Soul Retreat, "Flip Art Folio"

March 18, 2022, Art & Soul Retreat, "Stitches + Glue: Mixed Media with Fabric & Paper"

I also have several online workshops available on demand. Those and future workshops are all listed on my website.

Below is a list of the retailers who have already got these new releases in stock ready for you to buy NOW! 

PaperArtsy Blog Summary of Topics 20-22 {Curated by Leandra Franich)

Blog Summary: Grids, Alcohol Inks, Bleach, Mail Art. 

Well here we are, the final day of the year, and the final summary post what our bloggers did for us all in 2016 here on the PaperArtsy Blog.

One of the biggest blog challenges this year was to 'spot the word' within Gabby's creation above. See this blog post for more

2016 seems to have been a year of international tragedy, unrest, and confusion, we have experiened a year of unexpected turmoil and change. We also seem to have observed an  unprecedented level of celebrity deaths, many way too soon. In among the chaos that was 2016, I feel our little blog has hopefully offered a haven of positivity and encouragement.

The year ahead will no doubt hold as many surprises at that which has just passed. We may not be able to control the outside world, but we do have some significant choices we can make about our own lives, how we choose to use our time, who we choose to spend quality time with, and what we do for our own pleasure. Crafting is often a welcome escape from the realities of the rest of the world, but it is also a wonderful way to express deeply-felt emotions on any scale or topic.

I hereby challenge us all to make more art, find our happy place, take time for yourself, absorb, marinate and pickle yourself in the process of learning or doing something new. Somehow it always seems to give you some perspective, and joy.

Here's to the year ahead!
Happy New Year! 

So it's me again today (Leandra),  remembering with you the final days of our blogging year. And boy has it flown by! Today we look at the final topics of 2016, and the great ideas expressed within! Let's take a look!

Topic 20: Squares and Grids

One of the first stamping techniques I learned was the 'grid technique' ...using Post it notes to mask off a grid line, then apply colour direct to paper with Adirondack Inks by Ranger... and that whole method of working with structure has always continued to appeal to me. I like the structure a grid offers, and working with squares is such a great way to isolate focal points too.

My first pick is This flower 'grid' by Helen Chilton. Helen always seems to turn an idea on its head with ease! Her bright colurs and pops of white really make this grid so cheerful.

Jennie Atkinson seems to have morphed into an infusions guru this year. Her natural Vintage crafting style is perfectly suited to Infusions. I love how our first ever stamp collection released in 2004 (Ink and the Dog), works perfectly with our newest 2016 product release: Infusions!  (something old, something new). See here for more.

A typical Emma Godfrey masterboard turned from this...

...into this. Framed it looks amazing!  I love how Emma seems to strip back and make things look simple, when actually there is a lot more to it than meets the eye!

And finally, Ingrid stamped into texture to highlight patterns for this topic perfectly. Lovely rusty layers and textures within!

 

Topic 21 : Typography, Fonts, Quotes

I do find that words and numbers are such useful elements when building up backgrounds. For example, a script stamp is utterly indispensible, but so are number and alphabets stamps, no matter what font or size, they are very handy to have in your stash! In fact I'll let you into a little secret... one of our first releases of 2017 fits this category PERFECTLY... I wish I could share more!!! Guess what!? You will find out more tomorrow! I promise!

Claire Snowdon created this dreamy background using words and quotes with gesso to soften. The layers of paints and inks in pinks and blues is highlighted by infusions on top. I loved this, so simple and effective!

In a similar vein, Tricia started with Newsprint under her typographical imagery, and made her Tracy Scott stamps pop in the process!

Sanda showed us the entire process of her journal page with words and numbers in her background, it is always amazing to see other people's method of creating up close like this!

One to remember for next year! Keren's Christmas wreath made from a numbers mini stamp!

 

Topic 22: Alcohol Inks and Pens

I might be handy when it comes to gin recommendations, (here is my latest find, Nordes). I'm certainly not as competent when it come to alcohol INKS! Particularly pens. So I am fascinated by the posts for this topic! Very useful info! No I won't be tinting my gin!

My first pick is Kay Carley showing her wonderful skill with Alcohol ink markers. Just the daintiest touch of colour hits the spot!

Lauren shared the mind-blowing blending solution on a flannel for texture tip in this post! (I did not know that) She's another closet copic guru. See here for more... 

Jennie did a simple technique here, but oh my how cool does it look!!

Topic 23:  Bleach
 

The end results from some bleach techniques, can be very similar to alcohol inks (resists in particular), but as ever, the bloggers come out with a load more crazy-good ideas with a household available (craft) ingredient!!

For example, Corrie bleached out denim with a bold flower stamp so effectively! Details here.

Hazel had a blast using infusions with bleach! Oh and she got some numbers in there too!. bold stamps seem to be the stamps of choice here!

 

Nikki used bleach splats and more in this post. It's very elegant!

 Topic 24: Mail Art

Our final topic of the year, Mail Art, which was appropriate considering the postal service was somewhat overloaded at the time! Sadly we could only fit in 1 week of this topic, but we still saw a lot of loveliness! As Christmas was imminent I expect many of you missed out seeing these posts.

 

Roxanne (by Bun) enjoyed exploring her new love for Fresco Paints! Lots of awesome tips within her post too!

One of the HUGE reasons we put so much effort into our blog content year after year, is so that you are inspired to play along. Even though the mail art challenge came at the worst time of year as far as people's busy lives go, I was blown away with the challenge entries. This is what is is all about, sharing with us what you create in response to the blog. We LOVE to see that. Let me share a few with you...

For example in response to Mail Art, look at this from Pavla!!

 

Helen who is one of our most ardent blog followers, and she really should be called the most senior on high PAtwit (haha), killed 2 birds with one stone, and made some Christmas gift envelopes for her niece and nephew! I think she must have entered every challenge this year!

Claire used her EEA stamps for this gorgeous idea

 

Well there you have it people the final 4 topics of the year and only a smattering of the gorgeous posts highlighted. It's been an utter pleasure!

We hope you continue to follow us in 2017, and be aware, we have sneaky peeks starting TOMORROW of our imminent new releases.

Our sale ends today too, so be quick for that!

All the best for a safe and happy New year Celebrations

Leandra