2023 Topic 9 : Lynne Perrella - Designer Focus {by Jennie Atkinson}

Hi everyone, Jennie (Live the Dream) here with you today sharing my love of Lynne Perrella images, stamping and scrapbooking.

I love having some pre-made pieces to work alongside journals and mini books, but specifically for journalling or scrapbooking about my family. Making a few pieces with matching supplies and stamps work well together within a journal or mini book and means you can focus on sharing the photographs or text. 

Lynne Perrella's images are just perfect for vintage scrapbooking, the larger images being ideal for large tags and journalling spots. However, my personal favourites are the tiny little images within the larger images which make fabulous tiny tags or pieces to layer.

As our overall theme this quarter is transparency I have made my pockets from vellum and also added vellum to soften some of the images. I love the way the images on the journal tags "peep" through giving a glimpse of what lies underneath.

As usual I like to gather some textile pieces which I might use. I haven't used many of these items but ..... they give me a starting point in terms of colour and textures.

There are two stamps sets designed by Lynne which are my absolute favourites. I can use them in anything from mixed media work to scrapbooking or cards. The details are fantastic and and there are so many tiny elements within them ..... and of course one of them is from the lace collection which suits my particular vintage style!

LPC043

LPC056

All that's left is to add some vintage colours of ink and we are ready to go!

I am using transparent elements as my base. I love the way this softens images underneath but also adds a delicateness (if that's a word!) to the overall pieces which fits the vintage style. I have cut some of my base pieces from vellum but wax paper would also work. I also like to work with these small stamp collectors bags - they are very cheap to buy online and are really handy for lots of projects or for storing bits and pieces in.

As a scrapbooker/journaller for many years I have a good collection of dies which cut envelopes and little packets. I have found these to be some of the most useful dies I own. Even the Thinlits dies cut the vellum crisply which makes it easier to crease the folds. I use red tape for glueing them together as glue tends to show through.

 

I have made five pieces for this post, and each is made from a selection of stamped and die cut images and layers of papers, lace and vellum. 

This first piece uses the large stamp from LPC056 and is a huge favourite of mine, but as you can see I have not used the whole stamp, just placed my image over the area of the cardstock which has been sized to work on the front of the vellum bag.

Similar elements have been used for this next piece using the doily as the base. I love stamping onto tea stained papers and a couple of pieces of layered papers take machine stitching well. Using a die to cut tags allows elements of the larger stamp to be isolated. Again as a long time scrapbooker I have a good selection of dies for cutting tags and so I can always find one to fit the area I want to isolate.

Although the stamps are very detailed they still stamp well onto old text paper.

This is a favourite tiny envelope which I have cut from the tea stained paper and then stamped before glueing together. I have used the top of the large stamp for an edge at the bottom of the envelope and the bottom as a small highlight for the flap. 

The final vellum envelope is quite plainly decorated as I wanted the tag to show through. Again I have used a couple of tag dies to isolate small elements of the larger stamped image.

For the tags I have used elements of LPC043 to make five individual tags which can be used for journalling. 

I do love adding little "pull" tags to journalling cards as it makes them easier to get out of the envelope! But look quite cute.

Machine stitching around the layers always adds interest and the tag is finished off with a small pearl button. Again all adding to the vintage vibe.

For this journalling card I have used one of the small tags from LPC056 to create a little tab, again it makes it easier to pull out of the envelope.

Sometimes it only needs the addition of the smallest amount of lace - I never throw any away!

Using vellum on the top of the layers tones everything down but still allows everything to peep through. Machine stitching made it easier to adhere the elements and there is still room to tuck a journalling tag in behind the doily.

This was a fun project which used a small number of supplies. Although I have used dies to create my envelopes and tags you can always find templates online or use the stamp collecting bags. A morning stamping and collecting bits of pieces turns into an afternoon of pulling it all together. A very relaxing time! and I now have five lovely pieces to use in a vintage family scrapbook album. However they would also make lovely toppers for birthday or special occasion cards.

I hope my post shows you how these wonderful Lynne Perrella stamps can be used for scrapbooking and journalling and how many of the larger stamps can be used creatively for smaller pieces.

In signing off I will be saying goodbye to you all. This will be my last post as part of the creative team here at PaperArtsy. I have had eight wonderful years creating with so many of the fabulous designers here and their wonderful stamp collections. Thank you to you all and also to Leandra and Mark for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to join the team.

And thank you to all the wonderful PaperArtsy followers who have supported me and commented on my journey over the years. I have always appreciated the time taken to comment on my projects.

I will be continuing to create with PaperArtsy products (I couldn't imagine not doing so!) which I will share on Instagram and YouTube so do keep in touch!

With best wishes

Jennie x

From Leandra & team PaperArtsy - we simply cannot thank you enough Jennie for  the many years of beautiful inspiration you have shared with us all here through this blog. Your projects are always a delight, your subtle use of ink and colour is true to your vintage preference, and we know we can rely on your for those elegant touches with well placed stitches and lace! I love that this post reflects all those things perfectly, and we are so very sad to see you go. However, we do know that retirement keeps you busy, from sailing to acting and personal hobbies galore! I know we will still see you online sharing your wide range of skills: spinning, sewing, knitting, papercrafts and even vegetable entries into your local farm show! You are always one busy lady, and we truly appreciate the time you have given to us to showcase so many different PaperArtsy lines perfectly in your gorgeous vintage paper-crafty style! Best wishes and thankyou for sharing your many talents with us all!

Blog: Live The Dream

YouTube: Jennie Atkinson

Instagram: atkinsonjennie

2023 Topic 7 : Art Dolls {by Jennie Atkinson} with Lynne Perrella stamps

Hi everyone

Jennie (Live the Dream) here with you today being creative with our current theme of Art Dolls.

My granddaughter and I love to create articulated dolls from scraps and stamps and we always have a lot of fun creating a little art doll with (as Caitlyn says) attitude!  Although my Lynne Perrella doll is quite arty I hope the basic steps will provide you with some ideas and fun which can be shared with younger crafters.

I love her transparent butterfly wings and thought she looked lovely fluttering in the greenhouse! By using eyelets instead of brads I was still able to articulate her arms but this allowed me to add some wire for a hanging so the transparent wings can be seen.

Our theme this quarter is Transparency and so my use of plastic packaging and lace fits the theme. She has also been made from scraps of previously printed gel plate papers and odd little bits of lace that I seem to have lurking in my lace jar, so a sustainable project too.

My starting point for this project was the stamps as I needed a nice looking "face" to be able to isolate from the stamp design and was easy to cut out.  I chose LPM03 as my main character stamp and added MN109 to be able to isolate a word or two and also MN115 for the wings. Being PaperArtsy Minis they were all in scale with each other.

The next job was to find "body parts" ! It is possible to find a number of free templates online and these are usually my go to as I am not that confident at hand drawing them. They can be printed out at different scales to fit your chosen "head" and if I am creating with Caitlyn I often print them directly onto patterned paper so she only has to cut out one set.

Given the vintage look of my lady I knew that lace would be involved and I find these little pearl gems are good for adding little details around the neck and sleeves.

And finally some scraps of paper. When making these small art dolls I try to keep patterns small so that they are in scale with overall doll.  I keep all my little scraps of gel plate prints in a folder as they are generally useful for some smaller projects. I decided on this pink piece which I had created for a PaperArtsy project some time ago. It had some lovey imprints from some stencils and I had thankfully written on the back the paint colours! PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Professor Plum FF109 and Sour Grapes FF115.

The first step was to ensure the head was in scale with the body and I found that a print scale of 75% worked well. I traced my body pieces onto heavyweight cardstock after my attempts at printing them directly ended in a massive printer jam!

I had decided against legs as I wanted to use the stencilled patterns on my papers for a long dress. It was easy enough to hand draw a template for a long skirt.

I now had my basic doll with everything at the right scale.

And now to the fun part! Once all the parts had been covered with the papers I marked the areas where I needed to punch holes to make the arms articulate. I would normally use brads but decided on eyelets instead as this then allowed me to attach some wire so the doll could hang. They make the arms slightly stiffer but they are still able to move.

I decided not to articulate the head, but glued that directly instead so I could get the angle I wanted and the ruff just showing above the neckline.

Before adding the head I had used some inks to add a little colour to her hair and lips and also added a hat band from the left over gel plate papers.

The wings probably caused me the most problems ...... I had a few pieces of plastic packaging in my stash and thought they would be perfect for the transparent element of the project. But .... I struggled to find an ink that would dry on it. There must have been a film of something on the packaging that wouldn't allow the ink to dry. In the end I experimented with different ink pads and then reversed the plastic. Game changer! the ink dried...... eventually !

I now had all my main elements completed and then on to another fun part - adding the final details.

I am a huge hoarder of lace - even the tiniest little scraps! however these are just perfect for a little project like this. The little pearl gems just finish off the sleeves.

The sentiment came from isolating one word from MN109. There were a number of possibilities from this stamp but "thankful" seems to fit nicely.

I did stamp two sets of wings so they could be cut with a small edge to make attaching them a little easier and so they extended wider. They sit just below the wire hanger.

This was such a fun project as at various times the character of my doll peeked through - the tilt of the head, the placement of the arms, the way she turned when hung. And the butterfly wings give her an ethereal feel. My granddaughter is already in love with her.

I hope my project gives you some ideas of how you might be able to create something similar with your own children or grandchildren with just a few scraps or papers and lace. There is so much fun in choosing the face to create different characters and even when finished more fun in placing the arms and legs to create even more character - or attitude!

As always thank you for joining me.

Jennie x

Blog: Live the Dream

YouTube: Jennie Atkinson

Instagram: atkinsonjennie