Cards made with Hot Picks Products {by Katy Norgate}

 Hi everyone, Katy Norgate here with you; so nice to be back again.

This year on the blog, we have free rein to do a deep dive into a PaperArtsy product range of our choosing. For this post I have been exploring PaperArtsy's own Hot Picks designs. 

Today I'm looking forward to sharing with you the cards i've made and my process. Here is a closer look at the finished cards

 

Making cards is my go-to creative activity. Once on the production line I can create a batch of them, using the same style and products, but varying the colours. My last blog post used very neutral colours, so it was lovely to be back using some of Tracy Scott's pastel shades. While I didn't  experiment with colour charts this time, you can see some of the variations made by slight blending of colour on the page. 

I have enjoyed creating layers and dimension. 

The Hot Picks range has so many designs to choose from, it took me some time to decide which sets I was keen to play with, as i loved so many!. I finally opted for these floral designs above HP1505 and HP1602 I like the range of mark making stamps to complement the main featured flowers. 

I worked on PaperArtsy smoothy card stock (SCA4) since it copes so well with all types of wet media, and since I wasn't exactly sure what I might throw at it! I used the PaperArtsy grunge paste (GP190) for added texture. 

I have incorporated elements of these mini stamps MN28 and MN114 from the PaperArtsy collection, for additional mark making and textural elements.

I always prefer to use some stencils when making the background elements. I have used PS456 and PS457 from their release back in March this year, and are available from PaperArtsy Stockists, in addition to these minis from earlier collections PM024 and PM025

Here  are the colours I chose from the Tracy Scott range of Fresco Finish chalk acrylics Sunshine (FF223), Shutters (FF207), Aqua Duck Egg (FF199) and Flamingo (FF226) I used my trusty brayer (PABRAY1) to apply the paint. 

Add to this mix some bits and bobs of old medical gauze and cotton thread, inks and embossing powders, that is about everything I have used

Sticking to 2 of the 4 colours at a time, I brayered paint onto a craft mat then gently applied it to the smoothy cardstock, which I had first cut to size, for the card blanks i was using. Rolling back and forth until I has happy with the coverage. You can see this simple process in the photos below. I repeated this on several pieces until the paint was used up.

Not wanting to waste any leftover paint i applied paint through stencils PS456 and PS45 using a sponge. You can see below how these colours made a lovely orange too.

I had a go at using all 4 colours together with a much larger brayer, with mixed results. What do you think? I might use them to stamp some of the flower heads or butterflies on, rather than as a background.

Here is a selection of backgrounds with different  2 colour combos. I tried the flamingo and shutters together but it was not my favourite so didn't include them.

Next I stamped out the images with versafine ink, again onto smoothy card stock and heat embossed with black or white embossing powder. I also stamped and embossed the butterflies onto Dura-Lar matte film.

I added some embossing to some of the background pieces using the stencils. If you apply the embossing ink, using a sponge, through the stencil it works well.

So now to bring the elements together to finish my cards. Firstly I used some of the mark making stamps in the set PS1602 using archival black ink and analogous distress inks.

I used the same distress inks to colour some of the cut out images, and started to build the elements with the gauze and thread.

I added grunge paste through the smaller stencil PM025 onto some of the backgrounds.

Below I have stamped the floral image directly onto the background, and used the cut out embossed piece to superimpose over it, but slightly off set. 

More mark making with the addition of MN28 and MN114.

Here's another card in progress, using one of the stencilled backgrounds. I've painted the poppy using my watercolour paints. 

More stamped elements using an unmounted stamp from the PaperArtsy ink and dog range  Frames Plate 4 (FR4)

I distressed the edges of this background.

And here is another colour combo, maybe my favourite, Aqua duck egg  and sunshine, along with grunge paste elements and mark making with inks

There are so many possibilities with this collection of stamps. For this one I have stamped and heat embossed the poppy head onto a spare background, cut it out and then superimposed it onto another background with the same un-embossed stamped image.

So here you have several cards made using the same techniques described above, with these very versatile stamp sets, fresco finish paints and some texture elements. So many possibilities, it was a very absorbing and enjoyable crafting session. I hope you will give them a go yourself.

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July 2025 - With 3 Things - Tactile Journal Page with Sara Naumann Products {by Katy Norgate}

Hello everyone, it's Katy Norgate with you for another 'With 3 Things' challenge post.

For this feature on the PaperArtsy Blog 3 identical items are sent to 3 members of the PaperArtsy Blogging team. Typically we will receive a stamp, a stencil and a couple of Fresco Paints.

We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send, the whole idea of this challenge is to do something crafty in our personal style with these 3 items. We can incorporate other PA products into the mix if we feel it is necessary.

So let's take a look at what I received from PA HQ ...

So lovely to see products from one of PaperArtsy's Eclectica Designers, Sara Naumann in the post! We have stamp set ESN52, stencil PS090, Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Nougat FF39, and Infusions Dye Stain Black Knight CS12.

Those of you that have seen my recent blog posts, and other social media posts, will know rainbow is my favourite colour, so this for me, was a challenge in more ways than one! I was determined to work as truly as possible to the items provided, rather than adding too many other supplies. You will see below, as I played and explored the possibilities of the items, I didn't have an end result in mind, I just really enjoyed playing. Once the various collage fodder was brought together, I decided to make a journal page ... let's take a closer look at the finished result. I'm loving all the yummy texture and grungy nature of the page.

So let's take a look at how I created the collage fodder ....

I began by laying the stencil onto PaperArtsy smoothie regular cardstock (SCA4), sprinkling black knight infusion crystals over the top, then spritzing with water.

How beautiful and magical is that? I love how the colours in the crystals reveal themselves.

 

Adding a bit more water ...

Yumminess right there!!

I then lifted the stencil, turned it over and laid it onto another piece of card stock, to get the reverse image and not waste the crystals on the stencil.

Here is the result. I left this to dry.

Next I used the Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Nougat (FF39) and mixed it with increasing amounts of the infusions, to make a colour palette. Lovely warm greys.

Then I tried out the infusions with a matt gel medium.

You will see from my written notes, the different ways I applied the infusion crystals to the gel medium.

It was at this point I was still thinking about what to do with these pieces. After having had a good play exploring these mediums, a journal page seemed a natural option. I love making journal pages when exploring new things, since you can safely play without fear of making mistakes or having to share your finished pieces with others .... oooh, minor detail, I'm creating a blog post!!

I don't profess to be any kind of expert, I have lots to learn. I'm sure that will be apparent here to many of you, but what I do enjoy is the process, often much more than the finished results. I value the time I can spend to just play with collage fodder, using up odds and ends that I'm loathe to throw away ... I'm sure we are all the same.

I was naturally drawn to the large bird on the stamp set, to be the main feature of the page but didn't fancy a black image, so I decided to hunt out some old embossing enamel I had stashed away, that features white, cream and gold powders. I therefore inked the stamp with clear embossing ink, stamping onto black card stock, and heat set the embossing enamel.

I started to gather more of my neutral vintage like fodder, old stamps, hessian, tea bags and buttons. Not totally satisfied that I had enough fodder, I made another grungy page using old book paper, smooshing it with the fresco acrylic nougat and adding infusions. Once dry I applied some PaperArtsy grunge paste (GP190), through the stencil.

Now to put it all together. I sometimes prefer to work outside the journal and add it once finished, so I am using a gel medium to apply pieces of the papers I've made.

I applied more nougat over the whole page in a lovely scruffy way, with a palette knife.

I like to make sprays with my infusions, so a few squirts came next to highlight the texture on the page. I don't feel I'm being very arty unless I make a mess!!

I just love the effects in close up.

Once dry I added some stamping to the page.

 ...and a touch of gold, with the Fresco Finish Metallic Acrylic (FF20).

Time to arrange the ephemera. I decided to cut out the bird from the black card, using the leftover pieces in the collage too. I rearranged things a few time, adding pieces and then taking them out. I was delighted to find these New Zealand stamps from my old philatelic days.

I decided to add buttons ..... 

And hey presto I am calling this page finished!

It is fair to say that I enjoyed the process of making the various collage pieces, by playing with the infusions and paint, and sifting through old fodder stashes, far more than I am content with the finished page. Art is like that sometimes. Some will see a hot jumble of stuff stuck together, and some will see beyond this and appreciate the process far more.

Thank you so much for visiting and sticking with me to the end!! Here a few more close ups.

Bye for now,

Katy Norgate

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