Triple Layered Textures with TS {by Keren Baker}

Hello everyone, Keren here with you today for a textural piece using the gorgeous new sets from Tracy Scott. It turned out to be one of those projects where you plan the first step but see where the mood takes you afterwards!

My main idea was using the beautiful PS520 stencil, which I wanted to cut in half and have as a 'gate'way to the rest of the project. I also wanted to use lots of the new images, so needed my outer layer to be as bold as possible so it hid the subsequent layers. Instead of the background I began with my foreground!

As I wanted the 'gate' to be split into two and knew that once I'd used Grunge Paste, it would be hard to cut precisely, I trimmed the acetate in two, then attached the pieces back together with washi tape.

I separated the pieces shortly after stencilling and used my finger to soften the Grunge Paste edges, left to dry and then painted in Mustard Pickle. I also used PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic in White Fire over the top to give a metallic lustre.

I knew there'd be a lot of painting. As Tracy's stamp are so detailed and artistic, I used a stamp positioning tool so I could over-stamp and neaten any lines that I'd overpainted.

When it came to the main focus, I used this face image. I didn't want it to be exactly as the image so decided to change it. I meant no disrespect to the original image and inspired origins.

You can see some of the many layers that I put on. It felt like I was trying to do contouring on a face at one point! I won't show all of the layers, but you can see how I was building them.

I had more painting to do, but next decided to create the base layer that the face was going to go upon.

For the background, I wanted to use my brayer. Truth be told, I used to find brayering pretty scary and I have to admit I don't always feel like I know what I'm doing! I'd recommend just having a go, as it's so satisfying adding layers of paints. Start off with a couple of colours and just lightly brayer over your substrate.

Use different directions and add in an extra colour. If it feels too bright, just go back in with a lighter colour (I used Eggshell) which will knock the colour back. Being 'light-handed' with the paint will reap real rewards. You can see below how once I was happy with the background, I traced around the image which would help the face to 'pop' away from the brayering.

For extra texture, I used the circles stamp from TS109 which I brayered paint onto the stamp and then just stamped randomly onto the substrate. I sneaked in the text from the Ink and the Dog Xmas Plate 1.

The layers just needed bringing together and so I needed to get painting again. The large florals really are so stunning.

After trimming them all out, I just needed to arrange them and decide how I was going to attach the layers to the base. I still can't resist transparency, so used acetate.

I added the florals in the correct position onto a plain layer of acetate and lined up the front layer on top.

So I didn't have any elements moving, I secured the layers with washi tape and then punched holes through them. I added some eyelets and tied the layers together.

I loved the stencils, in fact PS518 would make a beautiful 'gate' too. You could make a long tall book using halves of the stencilled images. You can see the acetate wings that I stamped with Stazon, but these would look beautiful with transparent glitter added

I did want to add metallic flakes on top of the Grunge Paste, and will have a go at that next time. 

I hope you love playing with Tracy's stamps- they're so inspiring.

See you again,

Keren x

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Layered Tissue Tags with EGL {by Keren Baker}

Hello everyone, Keren here with you today for a closer look at Gwen Lafleur’s exciting new release. We all know Gwen for her gorgeously detailed stamps that bring a little slice of another part of the world. I wanted to do some lovely layering with them. 

I also used some of the PaperArtsy Printed Tissue in Frames PT2 and the new Paris Map tissue paper. I used Green Patina, Firebird, Yellow Submarine, London Bus & Cerulean PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics.

I'm not really one for multi-layered projects, and yet Gwen's designs drew me down that path. Years ago my Dad asked if I could give him a box of some of my card designs so he could use of them if he needed one, and I thought I'd create a simple tag holder that would make an equally useful present for someone.

This is the simple design using an A4 sized piece of brown graph-design card. Just fold, glue and then add glue at either edge of the pocket.

I didn't want to cover all the background with stamping and tissue paper; just enough to give a little extra texture.

The next part was deciding how to use the stamps in a way that didn't overwhelm the design, so I wanted to stamp them and build up transparent layers. Acetate was the go-to for this.

To create the pocket tags, I added the tissue paper. A little tip, is to use PVA style glue and immediately spread it thinly over the surface with your finger. It helps avoid as many wrinkles. You can also layer up different pieces like the link on the bird's beak.

The next part of layering was to add Grunge Paste but in a pared back way. I used the Sara Naumann stencil PS219.

I've already talked about some of the simple techniques that I've used, but one that really gives dimension to images is paper piecing. You just need to stamp images multiple times in different colours, trim them out and add them to the base image.

Another really easy technique is to layer up multiple transparencies just like I did on the smaller tag. It doesn't clutter, it just adds a little extra.

Now I just needed to add layer upon layer and create a set of tags. Here's the finished line-up. I trimmed out the boy's hand so he was holding onto the flower like an umbrella.

Even the miniature stamps in set EGL49 are fabulous for adding details to the punched circles.

Add a little colour to the stencilled Grunge Paste and you can paint on the opposite side of the stamped acetate to give pops of colour.

The frame stamps work beautifully when you trim out the outer parts of the frames or even the centres.

You might be able to tell that one of my favourite stamps was the crosses image. Super useful for adding detail and texture. Using some of the smaller stamps to use to pull the inner tag is a fun detail.

On the reverse of this tag, I used tissue paper, stamped directly on it, used trimmed out acetate stamped frames and stamped over painted strips onto the tag.

I loved creating a design by playing around with smaller tag elements. This idea could be  extended by creating a multi-paged booklet with one or two tags per page. It would also be a nice record to see your artistry develop over time. Why not try layering tags in a journaling spread? See them as the main event rather than an decorative extra. 

Thanks for joining us on the PaperArtsy blog tonight. If you're relatively new here, this blog contains so much inspiration. If you've ever wanted to see how one of the blogging team or designers used a product, just type in the details in the search box on the right, and you'll have a plethora of inspiration right there!

See you again soon,

Keren x

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