2023 Topic 9 : Lynne Perrella - Designer Focus {by Mags Woodcock}

Hi everyone

Mags here with you today.

I've been having fun with the topics and theme for this quarter's blog posts. As usual I couldn't decide which to go for, so incorporated them all. I love creating art dolls and Lynne Perrella's stamps are ideal for this. With tons of gorgeous detail and beautiful faces, it was a difficult to choose which stamps to use. In the end I decided to create a 3D doll with wings, so Lynne Perrella Stamp sets (LPC042) and (LPC041) were the obvious choice. I also wanted to use the colours Leandra had chosen for the master wheel, there was a pretty Aqua and the other two colours created a flesh tone and pale rust, ideal for my idea. The over-arching theme for this quarter is transparency and I had a few ideas for incorporating this, the main one being recycling a used plastic bottle and creating acrylic skins. More of that later.

I love how my art doll turned out, I call her Rusty Rosa as she reminds me of a Spanish princess with her terrarium crown and layered, textured skirt. I had so much fun creating her wings using Paperartsy Fresco Finish Pearl Glaze (FF53) and Crunchy Waxed Kraft Paper (WKPA5), it's an easy technique and uses up those leftover baby wipes from cleaning the rusty tray. If you follow me on YouTube you will know all about my rusty trays!

My initial idea for creating Rosa's skirt was to use wire or chicken wire , unfortunately this idea didn't work. As with a lot of creative ideas, we rethink and adapt and I think that my second idea of using a plastic juice bottle turned out better. I may create a second art doll using the other stamp in the set along with a different shape bottle, but for now, lets concentrate on Rosa.

I love using texture and rust in my projects and was keen to combine fabric with both, so Rusting Powder (RP45) and Grunge Paste (GP190) were going to play a role here. I also liked the idea of film-transparent look to her wings, so Pearl Glaze might work to create an acrylic skin to combine with or sit over the stamped wings.

The starting point was to create my colour wheel. There is a downloadable colour wheel in the PaperArtsy People Facebook Group files. I printed it on a sheet of A5 heavy copy paper. I fell in love with all the gorgeous colours it created with just 3 Fresco Finish paints.

Next I chose a split complimentary colour scheme, this being the PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic-Aqua Duck egg (FF199) as my Primary colour with the 'split' of the two tertiary colours at either side of the orange directly opposite. These shades are created from Butter (FF129) and Candy Floss (FF70). Its much easier to see this explained in the photo below. 

It was now time to create the doll and her skirt. I usually start with a prototype for projects such as this, it makes it easier to plan and change direction if needed. So I stamped out the images from  Lynne Perrella stamp set (LPC042) and (LPC041) that I wanted to use on medium weight cardstock. As you can see, there are lots of fabulous details in the stamp which were going to be useful later.

Creating the skirt base for my doll was fairly straight forward, I measured and cut the clear plastic bottle to the correct height. It was at this point that I realised some adjustment to the arms of my stamped figure would be necessary as the skirt wouldn't fit at the waist with the arms so close to the body. So I removed the arms from my prototype and fashioned extras to see how they would work as movable limbs. This was an added bonus, created out of necessity.

It was at this point that I could see the potential for creating added details on the doll as well as creating some fabulous textures on fabric to contrast with the clear plastic of the skirt base. I still wasn't sure how I would bridge the gap around her waist, but that would become clear later.

 

Now that I had a firm idea how the basic structure of my doll would work it was time to create some of the more exciting parts of the project. I had always had a firm idea of how I wanted the skirt and wings to look. As it turned out, my original idea for the wings would need to change slightly, but we'll come to that later.

To create my doll's body I stamped onto heavy weight water colour card using Ranger Archival ink  (Jet black) and a stamping platform. At this point it is important not to remove the stamps from the platform. I then coloured the face, legs and arms of the image with the flesh coloured paint.

Once completely dry, you can place the painted card back into the platform and repeat the stamping to add any lost details back onto the image. Fresco paints being so chalky accept ink beautifully, and it dries fast on the paint too!

It was now time to move on to adding some interest and texture to the fabric from which the skirt would be made. I gathered a selection of cotton and natural fabrics.

The first strip of muslin had some stencilled letters and numbers added using Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black ) and a sponge. Lynne doesn't have any stencils in her PaperArtsy designs, so I used a  PaperArtsy Stencil by Sara Naumann (PS271) which tied in with the numbers and letters on Lynn's stamp designs.

I had some tea-stained cotton in my selection, I taped the stencil to the fabric to mask off any area where I didn't want Grunge Paste, but also to make it easier. The paste was easily applied with a palette knife.

Whilst the Grunge Paste was still wet, and with the stencil and tape removed, I placed the fabric in a plastic tray and sprinkled over a generous amount of Rusting powder (RP45) onto the wet paste. Once the paste was dry it was easy to brush off any excess powder and return it to the pot. The fabric was given a generous sprinkling of white vinegar to activate the Rusting Powder and left to develop overnight in a well ventilated room.

I was in love with the end results. The texture and rust was wonderful.

I had an idea for creating the wings for my doll using baby wipes. To continue the rusty vibe, but at the same time clean the plastic tray used for the rusted fabric, I cleaned the tray out with a couple of wipes and set them aside.

 Once completely dry I tore them into small pieces ready to use on the wings.

The next stage was to create the base for the wings. I had run out of acetate sheets, so had to improvise, thankfully I had a huge amount of laminating pouches sitting unused in a box. I stamped the Butterfly image from stamp set LPC041 on the inside of the pouch using  Ranger Archival ink (Sepia) whilst it was still wet I used a cotton bud to smudge the edges of the wings outwards slightly for a softer look. Once passed through the laminating machine the image was indelible.

Once I had cut the butterfly wings out with sharp scissors, it was time to add the texture, rust colour and transparent elements. I laid the wings face down on a sheet of PaperArtsy Crunchy Waxed Kraft Paper (WKPA5)  I laid several torn pieces of rusty baby wipes onto the wings and used Paperartsy Fresco Finish  Pearl Glaze (FF53) as an adhesive to attach them. Gradually building up the layer and leaving the frayed edges overlapping the edge of the wings. Brushing the Pearl glaze well past the edges of the wings and baby wipe, onto the Crunchy Waxed Kraft Paper  creates an acrylic skin. I made sure to repeat this several times, drying between layers. The rusted wipe layers took quite a long time to dry, so I suggest to leave it overnight at least.

Once all the layers were completely dry, I gently and gradually pulled the wings from the Waxed Kraft Paper. I started in the middle between the two wings and this seemed to work well. Once removed from the paper, I pulled tiny bits from the Pearl Glaze acrylic skin at the edges if it was too uniform. I love the way it gave the wings a ragged look at the edges with wispy fibres running through. They were almost done but needed a bit of detailing to tie them into the rest of the project colour wise. A few dots of coordinating paint added the finishing touches.

Crunchy - Waxed Kraft Paper

Looking at my selection of rusted fabrics I wanted a softer coloured piece but with texture too.

I remembered I had brayered some leftover paint from the project onto a section of muslin, this was ideal surface to add texture to.

I love to add burn holes to paper and wanted to try this idea with fabric, so here was my chance ! It worked a treat. I used a incense stick and made sure I worked on my glass mat with a very wet cloth next to me, just in case.

I now had all my elements completed, it was time to bring them all together.

There were quite a few twists and turns with this project, some through necessity, some through artistic choice, but in the end they all added to the finished look of my art doll.

My original idea for the skirt was to have a full skirt which covered the plastic bottle, but as I worked on the layered skirt I realised I liked the transparent underskirt showing. The arms on my doll had to be adapted, this added an extra element. As you will see from the following photos, the wings also had to be adapted from my original idea. All these things could be seen as problems to overcome, but I like to see them as the project evolving and improving.

It was time to create the layered fabric skirt. Remember those rusty baby wipes from earlier ? I teased the edges of two a little to create a wavy edge and ran a gathering thread along the top edge. I repeated this with all the strips of fabric I had prepared.

Once I had all my layers gathered it was time to glue them to the bottle. As I said previously, I had planned on a full skirt, but I liked the idea of the underskirt showing. This tied in with the theme and added another visible transparent element. I tried various adhesives and discovered that Fabri-tac worked the best, it gave a strong bond with a shorter drying time than others. I started at the bottom of the skirt and worked my way to the top, finishing with a full circle of the painted, burnt muslin. I also added some scrunched up Crunchy Waxed Kraft Paper between the layers for more texture and contrast.

Now back to the art doll, who needed some arms. I backed my doll with PaperArtsy Grey board (GB03) for strength and created some arms from card which I had painted with  leftover paint from colouring the stamped image. As you can see I made the arms long enough to overlap the shoulders.

I used a Cropadile to punch through the shoulders of the doll and added rusty brads to allow the arms to move.

My doll was now ready to be dressed. She fitted into her skirt easily and I started to add some fussy-cut elements to her arms and legs. These had been stamped onto leftover painted paper.

The next step was to add her wings. This is were I encountered a problem. Her wings were too big to fit easily on her back. I tussled with this problem for quite a while before deciding to bite the bullet and cut her wings in half.  It was the best decision !

Once I had decided to make the cut everything just fell into place. I glued the top half of her wings to the back of her body and the bottom half onto her skirt at the waist. Strangely enough they still look connected, even though they aren't.

I was very happy with how Rosa was coming along, the transparent elements fitted with the theme and I loved all the rust and texture. It was time to move on to the finishing touches, so my Spanish Princess was ready for her coronation.

I wanted to add some little details to Rosa's underskirt, so tiny fussy cut numbers from the stamped images were just the thing. I used gel medium to make sure they stuck well to the plastic.

A few extra fussy-cut elements were needed, I added shading to the edges with a soft pencil, smudging it out with a cotton bud.

The last  two elements to add were her crown and butterfly belt. I stamped the girl with the  terrarium from stamp set LPC041 onto acetate using StazOn Ink (Black), I adjusted and cut the acetate to fit Rosa like a crown and attached at the back of her head. The stamped and painted  butterfly belt bridged the gap between the body and skirt.

I really loved creating Rosa and who knows I may create a sister for her using the second image in the stamp set. I had fun playing with the Pearl Glaze to create the acrylic skins on her wings and I've found a new use for those unused laminating pouches that I have so many of.

I will definitely be using my Grunge Paste and Rusting Powder combined on fabric again, I love the effect and texture. Rosa will be taking centre stage at Christmas in our house, atop one of our many decorated trees. I may just create some matching Christmas decorations too. I can imagine a rosette of fabric with a face in the centre. I would love to see any projects inspired by Rosa, so please share them in the PaperArtsy People FaceBook Group.

Have fun and happy crafting

Mags

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2021 Topic 13: Tiny (News) Print with LPC and ESN {by Leandra Franich}

    2021 Topic 13: Tiny (News) Print

Hi everyone, it's Leandra with you today, and I'm here to share with you some tiny print ideas with Lynne Perrella and Sara Naumann stamps. These cards were planned to be simple,it was the 'Absorbent Ground' (a Golden product) I was digging into testing for this post. If you are looking for fast Christmas cards, then these are definitely that. Even the process I have used can be simplified further without difficulty. 

 

When working directly onto vintage papers, or onto book pages, I like to knock back how bold the printed words look to make the substrate more usable. Generally I use paint thinned with Fresco Matte Glaze. This allows the image I stamp on top to be seen a bit more clearly. However, for this topic, Tiny Print, I really wanted the print to still be seen through all the layers, and with that in mind, and to stay true to the intention of the product I was testing, I opted for watercolours on top for a gentle tint.  Yes, I could have used Frescos, and those and infusions will be future experiments to explore over the 'ground' product.

OK so I am heading into a deep dive on how I found this tub of 'Absorbent Ground (white)', seen in the centre of the picture below. When I took this photo I didn't know realise where I was heading, but I adore gels, mediums etc so this was a chance to explore! The plan was to  find out if the 'ground' made it easier to create watercolour backgrounds on vintage papers. Answer: well, it kind of helps, but it still isn't anything like working directly on good watercolour paper...however, it served my purpose pretty well in the end as you will discover as i walk you through the process. I ended up very happy, but not for the reasons I originally expected. 

As an aside, both Absorbent Ground and Fibre Paste are Golden products that are supposed to help your paper behave more like watercolour paper. (they also have Qor branded versions of the same product) Qor are Golden's watercolours, a fairly new product for them that seems to be getting good reviews. They really do 'suck in' the colour into the paper, and the colours seem to dry quite nicely on top of it, but they actually don't let your 'wet in wet' watercolour techniques 'travel' anything like they do when you get those magical effects on watercolour paper, so don't get too excited....

However.... *drumroll*.... it creates a gorgeous 'toothy' surface to stamp onto, and that WAS AMAZING! Let me attempt to describe how this product feels: when you rub your fingers over the dry ground it's more gritty-chalky and much more finely textured than fresco paints, which feel silky-chalky by comparison. As a product it really seems to 'pull into' itself the product you apply on top. So, for example, take a look at just how black the inked images are in the samples I made. Usually you would expect a bit of texture, a bit of the image to be paler in some areas, but I must say, every print I made with archival ink directly onto the absorbent ground was perfect! So for that feature alone, it was a really good experiment to do! I LOVED how the rubber stamps with archival ink perform over the ground.

So let me back up a bit. It is good practice, when testing out theories, to use the same brand where possible in the layers, this was also the recommendation on the tub of ground. My vintage paper (a very old handwritten record of each French plot of land within an property purchase agreement) was particularly fragile, so I started by sealing it with matte medium to secure it to smoothy card and then applied gesso. I used a catalyst tool to get extremely thin layers. Matte medium (Golden) in the tall bottle, is a pourable, runny product, much thinner that a gel medium (see the videos below for info on these products).

 

 

Next I applied 2 coats of the Absorbent Ground. It doesn't say how much to apply, how thick, or how many coats on the tub instructions. For all of these layers (matte medium, gesso, ground) I really, really liked using the catalyst tool. It kept the layers thin and even while spreading only a small blob of product and I didn't get any bubbling or buckling, despite the paper being thin and fragile. The vintage paper certainly felt stronger/ fortified after these layers had been applied.

By the way, (another digression...) if you want to know more about gels, mediums, and so on, we did this as a blog topic in August 2015 (here is the link to the 'masterclass' blog post which is a really good resource - picture heavy with plenty of examples, a handy one to pin or save)

 

I filmed 2 videos at the same time explaining the basics, and looking at a few different brands and price points. If you don't understand what mediums or gels are for, what the differences are, and would like to have some ideas regarding use with paints and other colour products, or if you are not sure what to buy and why, then this is a good starting point to get your head around what is out there. (I love all texture products, so I collect and use loads! But it does require discernment. Note the difference between fine artist-grade and craft-grade products. Even within a brand, there can be artist grade and student grade. If the price is similar of an artist brand to a craft brand, then you may end up paying over the top for a product with no track record! eg a shiny, plastic gesso is really not what a gesso should be)

 

The first video is about Acrylic Mediums (in other words thicker viscosity products that we can use in mixed media for adding texture and much more)

 

 

This one is about Acrylic Pouring Mediums, in other words runny products. Golden still make glazing liquid (2 of the tinted glazing mediums I show are no longer available), but of course you can use the still available clear glazing liquid in matte, satin or gloss to make your own custom tint in the finish you prefer.

 

OK back to the topic at hand: Tiny Print. Here is how my paper looked after 2 coats of Absorbent Ground. I really wanted to be able to see the writing on the paper (that was the whole point), and that is why I chose to use watercolour on top, being translucent, I hoped even darker colours would not obliterate the writing.

I decided the next step was to apply the watercolour to the edges of my papers that had been pre-torn to match the size of the stamps I was going to use on top, while still leaving room for the LPC images to be added later.

 

What I found was that to get an even coverage, and no domineering 'tide' marks I needed a fair bit of of water, so a water mister was good to shift the colour around and still allow some contrast.

 

 

Next, while the papers were still wet, I also dropped in a few concentrated drops of colour in 2 different shades of colour. As soon as these hit the watery surface they did soften out a bit, but nowhere near as much as they would if I was working on good quality watercolour paper. However, I quite liked how they settled, so I left them to dry off naturally.

 

 

I was interested to see notice they certainly dried 'into' the ground, and the effect was almost soft and blurry - which I really liked!

 

You can  see how soft the background looks once dry. I did wonder if the ground actually hinders watercolours looking as vibrant compared to how they might if they were used the same way on watercolour paper. Anyhow, lucky I am not a watercolour expert, as I might be disappointed with this 'ground' product, however, for me, there were other exciting things about the Absorbent Ground that I was just about to discover....

 

Look at how beautifully it stamps up!! I could NOT believe this, the archival ink looked blacker and way less purple than it usually does, and the sharpness was spot on superb. I just LOVED how I had to really peel the paper off the stamp, it was like it sucked right onto the rubber and the stamp surrendered all its ink to the absorbent ground, with the paper piggy in the middle  - I guess they named the product perfectly, it absolutely IS absorbent!

 

These are the Sara Naumann Christmas themed stamp sets I used, we released these last year, and I really love them for making cards and tags for Christmas.

ESN38


ESN39

 

ESN40

This was my second sheet stamped with Lynne Perrella 'head' images. I partially inked up some of the larger stamps as the intention was only to use the heads. There are so many LPC stamps to choose from. We all know how detailed these stamps are, and wow does Absorbent Ground pull out those intricacies beautifully! I was very tempted to start using the watercolours again to add shading to these stamps, even a touch of sepia on the faces would look good right ?? But my plan was for minimalist cards on this particular occasion, so I resisted the urge. I know I will do this again, I've barely started playing with this product. I will certainly run more tests, and create some collage elements. Then in future projects I can then add colour if required. I think it would be very handy to have some of these ready for immediate use in my 'bits and bobs' stash!

 

So the composition is pretty simple. The coloured Sara Naumann stamped layer gets stapled to another layer of lightly gessoed vintage paper. The LPC head gets stuck on with foam tape, and then I used the popular Sara Naumann stencil (those tiny dots) with Grunge Paste for a bit more interest. 

 

PS219

 

All of the layers sit atop Kraft card that has also been stamped in black (softly) with a Seth Apter eroded print stamp for texture.

 

 

These are the LPC stamps I used:

LPC041

 

LPC042

LPC043

 

I occasionally added a bit more intense colour to the BG, (like on those postmarks)

 

 

And one sample was made from all the left over scraps, and some vintage tape ruler I found in my stash, that tied in perfectly with the Kraft paper background. 

 

 

I just love how you can still see the Tiny Print of the Vintage paper peeking through. Who was that person who hand wrote all that information out at the land office all those years ago!! Can you imagine !!!

 

 

I felt black stitching was needed as the final touch to frame each layout, and occasionally to secure embellishments. This is where you need to do your worst sewn wonky lines possible - almost impossible for me after quilting meticulous 1/4" seams for years!

 

A couple more close ups of the detail ....

You know, I think I could get away adding some sepia shading to those LPC faces...I might go and do a bit of subtle faffing/ tweaking!

 

I have inadvertently stretched a fast-card post out into a gels and mediums play-fest, but that is what floats my boat, I just LOVE experiments, and to find a product that improves your stamping - well that is VERY exciting for me!

 

 Let me know if you have played with that Golden product and what you have done with it!! 

 

Take care

 

Leandra

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