Travel Journal with NEW Mattints {by Jenny Marples}

Hi everyone, Jenny (Pushing The Right Buttons) here with you today; nice to be back with you again.

This year on the blog, we have free reign to do a deep dive into a PaperArtsy product range of our choosing. For this post I have been exploring PaperArtsy's own products, in particular the 'Backgrounds' Printed Tissue and some NEW Mattints colours.

For this post I made a journal, filling the pages with the results of my Mattints experiments, and I'm looking forward to sharing these with you.

The basic supplies used throughout this journal include the new Mattint colours - 'Foxglove', 'Bellflower' and 'Shadow' - and a sheet of PaperArtsy 'Backgrounds' Printed Tissue. I'll show you the other PA Mini Stamps and Masks that were chosen to compliment them as we go.

When playing with a new product I usually go on the hunt for helpful tutorials that will guide and inspire me. So first stop was to a video tutorial from Alison Bomber who showed how she used a brayer, gel plate and Mattints to create beautiful, graduated backgrounds.

Here you can see how 'Foxglove' and 'Bellflower' Mattints combined with 'Ladybug' Mattint on white paper. The 'waste' off-white paper I used to clean off my brayer after each pass also proved invaluable.

Adding the 'Backgrounds' PaperArtsy Printed Tissue over the top of the gel printed paper gives you colourful and interesting backgrounds for journal pages.

Here you can see how more of the tissue over the waste paper creates a focal point. 

Yet more tissue and some stamping with PaperArtsy Minis MN45, MN94 and MN114 starts to tell a story of travels through France.

Keeping things simple on this page I combined some of the images with stamping using PaperArtsy Mini MN29.

I loved the slightly vintage look the off-white waste paper had produced so used more of it for the next experiment. After applying 'Cloud 9' Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint through PaperArtsy Mini Mask PM023 I brushed and blended the 'Foxglove' and 'Bellflower' Mattints over the paper. The paint acts as a resist.

Adding more PaperArtsy 'Backgrounds' Printed Tissue over the top you can see how another journal page was created.

Here I decided to use 'Bellflower' Mattint to apply more Printed Tissue direct to a journal page. The base colour on the page came from an old gel printed background created with 'Scottish Salmon' Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint; see how the colour shifts as the Mattint is applied.

Here the same technique has been used with less 'Bellflower' Mattint and more stamping/ephemera. This includes a postage stamp shape from PaperArtsy Mini MN129; these have been added throughout the journal and have been made less stark with smudges of 'Shadow' Mattint.

For me it's always good to include a variety of pages in a journal, providing a visual 'break' between some of the colourful pages. So I kept it simple with this one, using only a small splodge of 'Foxglove' Mattint and a delicate touch of stamping to help elevate a focal point. The stamped car comes from PaperArtsy Mini MN85 and continues the travel theme.

Don't be afraid to partially obscure your colourful backgrounds either, again adding that visual contrast.

With the pages developing I searched for more ideas and found this clever video tutorial from Mags Woodcock who uses recycled cardboard to create grungy layers. Mine are less grungy and I used more of the 'Cloud 9' Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint to dry brush the surface.

I slightly flattened the cardboard before layering it up with some of the stamped images and Infusions dyed muslin.

Feeling more confident with how these new Mattints colours worked I did some experimenting of my own, introducing the 'Shadow' PaperArtsy Mattint into the mix a lot more.

These small image transfers from photos I'd taken on a trip to France needed finishing. Adding PaperArtsy Grunge Paste around the edges helped to blend them onto the background surface. I then extended the lines on the original photos with a pencil before using delicate touches of 'Nutty' and 'Shadow Mattints to match in the colours, adding shade and depth.

To finish them I stamped over the edges with PaperArtsy Mini MN62 (originally in a pale grey ink as a shadow and then with black ink).

This script stamp also came in handy for another page; the 'Bellflower' Mattint was again used to apply tissue to the background.

Now it was time to try something new with a couple of my favourite architectural PaperArtsy Mini Masks PM017 and PM020. I started by spreading Grunge Paste through the stencils and when dry brushed over with 'Nutty' Mattint, avoiding the central window portions. Those parts needed a blend of the 'Foxglove' and 'Bellflower' Mattints applied over them.

I painted over the window frames with 'Shadow' Mattint and when dry sand over the raised areas to reveal the Grunge Paste surface again, this time with added shadows and extra definition.

To finish, I drew in some basic brick shapes and coloured with the 'Nutty' and 'Shadow' Mattints, re-painting the raised Grunge Paste with the 'Nutty' to help it blend in with the background.

These could then be mounted onto some of those colourful backgrounds created earlier, in this case slightly obscured again with more sheer muslin fabric.

I used what was left from my experiments to decorate the front cover, providing a nod to the overall theme and a suggestion of what lies inside.

So let's take a walk through the finished pages;

I've really enjoyed testing out how these new Mattints work with some of the other colours and with other PaperArtsy products. It's been fun to test out techniques from other designers and try a couple of my own, creating a mix of colourful backgrounds and focal points along the way.  

Thank you for joining me

Jenny

Blog: https://pushingtherightbuttons.blogspot.com/

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A journal using NEW Alison Bomber stamps {by Mags Woodcock}

Hi everyone

Mags here with you today.

This year on the blog, we are being given free reign to do a deep dive into one of the PaperArtsy product ranges, and for this post I have been exploring Alison Bomber products. I love everything that Alison designs for PaperArtsy. With this project I decided to create a small journal focusing on her most recent release of three stamp sets and three stencils.

Spring is definitely just around the corner here in the UK and it was lovely to celebrate it with this project.

Creating this small journal was great fun, I particularly enjoyed including texture and different papers for the pages.

Alison's recent release is fabulous and has lovely words, phrases and ephemera to combine with the botanicals.I decided to use a range of Mattints to colour the stamp images. I started by using Jam (MT05), Glow (MT01), Nutty (MT02) and Fern (MT03), but soon added and mixed in more colours. They are so easy to use and can be layered up for a more intense depth of colour.

I began to create the cover to my journal by adding Grunge Paste (GP190), through one of the stencils (PS452 ,available from a PaperArtsy Stockist) onto a panel of Cotton Rag paper. When it was dry I sprayed diluted Just Walnut Infusions(CS25)  and left to dry. I love the vintage feel this adds.

To add some more texture to the front cover, I attached a small strip of distressed corrugated cardboard to one side. To highlight the texture on the cardboard, I dry brushed with some white gesso. The next step was to stamp onto the Grunge Paste using a stamp from the Apple Blossom stamp set (EAB46, (available from a PaperArtsy Stockist)The Crocus image was ideal to add to the cover, I coloured it with Glow and Fern Mattints.

It was now time to start on the back cover. Again I used one of the fabulous stencils, but this time I used Archival ink and a sponge and then stamped through the gaps in the stencil with another of the text stamps.

I decided at this point that I wanted a bit more definition on my stencilled leaves, so I added some pencil lines, along with a touch of green ink. The back cover was finished by adding a strip of corrugated cardboard to tie in with the front cover and some more random stamping.

I was ready to start playing with a bit more colour now and decided to try mixing two of the Mattints, The Pink (MT08) and Dragonfly (MT07). Using equal amounts of each gave me the perfect Lavender colour. I would encourage you to try mixing your own colours of Mattints, there are some lovely combos.

I'd made a great start on my journal and was happy with the covers. The next steps were to add images and texture to the inside pages. Maybe some tags would be nice too ?

 

As I mentioned before I used several of the Mattints (Fern, Jam and Nutty) to colour the beautiful Crocus images from the stamp sets. When they were dry I added a few spritzes of Just Walnut Infusions to add a vintage feel similar to the covers.

I find fussy cutting quite relaxing , so spent a lovely evening colouring and cutting out the botanicals, words and ephemera images. Combining more cardboard with the tags made a nice background.

I love to combine inky stencilled images along with Grunge Paste applied through the same stencil, I think it adds depth. For this page I used Just Walnut Infusions coloured cotton rag paper and stencil PS450 (available from a PaperArtsy Stockist)

Adding a little Fern Mattint to the Grunge Paste branches brought them to life and tied in with the stamped Rosemary images. The stamp sets have lots of text stamps for adding more interest to the leaves and background.

I continued to work on the inside pages, using a selection of the botanical and text stamps. I fell in love with the larger Apple Blossom and couldn't wait to use it as a fussy cut element.

The Crocus was also a firm favourite combined with some of the words, phrases and ephemera.

It was now time to bind my journal. I am lucky enough to have a book binding cradle, but if you don't, just align your pages and use a large needle to make the holes in the correct places on each set of  pages. I hope you can see the three holes clearly in this picture.

I came up with an ingenious way of concealing the pamphlet binding in the centre of the journal. For the middle pages I used a full page and a smaller page, to which I attached some of the fussy cut Apple Blossom. When the binding was complete I glued the small page to the larger, enclosing the binding in the centre.

 I wanted to add some lightness to the front cover so stamped and cut out separate letters from the Crocus Stamp set (EAB45,available from a PaperArtsy Stockist) to spell Spring Forth, gluing in a quirky uneven fashion.

Lots of texture and details on the front cover.

Adding Infusion dyed fabric to the layers and tuck spots for interest.

I used one of the text stamps from the sets (EAB46) to create a background for a Crocus image.

Layering up elements to create tuck spots for tags and journaling cards.

The stamped ephemera look lovely coloured with matching Mattints.

A look at the tags which are included in the journal, one including words stamped onto fabric.

There are so many ways to use these fabulous stamp sets and stencils. I can imagine many more projects using them. A fun idea could be a set of note cards or a book cover.

I hope you have enjoyed exploring this journal with me and try some of the techniques I used whilst creating it 

Happy Crafting

Mags

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