2021: PaperArtsy - A Year in Review {Topics 13 to 15}

  

Hello again from PaperArtsy HQ,

Here we are at our final post for the year. I hope you have enjoyed taking a look back at some of the blog highlights with us. It's amazing the variety of ideas that we have shared over the past year, and of course, we will be back with many more next year too!

As we round off the year, I would just like to offer a heartfelt thanks to all our bloggers, past and present, (and future) ! The projects they create for us, and of course for you, are always absolutely superb, we cannot thank them enough for their attention to detail and willingness to share their tricks, tips and creative secrets with you all.

To our designers who go from strength to strength, you are such a fun team, all so supportive of each other, and an absolute joy to work with! I know you all have your individual quirks, and work differently and that is why you are all so unique! We have missed seeing you all face to face at the trade shows, and look forward to spending time again hopefully in the not too distant future!

 

To our retailers around the world who have pulled out all the stops to offer classes, both online and face to face and who regularly order so that you have access to our brand in all your corners of the world... thank you for your friendship, support, feedback and encouragement, and especially your patience as we have adjusted to life in France and all the new systems we are still coming to grips with!

 

And to the lovely staff here at PA HQ, we thank you too for always picking orders accurately and shipping fast so that people don't have to wait too long for anything! I love how you are always thinking on your feet and make suggestions on how we can all improve and be more efficient. You guys have been so patient as we continue to try to get things set up in the new PAHQ spaces. Oh and also for the fun Friday after-work gin tastings!

To those of you who follow the blog, thank you for all your comments, we appreciate them all, it is so nice to know that there are people out there reading and following along, and that you find this blog a valuable tool and source of crafty inspiration!

So lets talk about today's topics we are remembering! We have picks from Topics 13: Tiny (News) Print, Topic 14:Mash Up (with LPC, EGL, EEV and EAB) and last of all Topic 15: Journaling Gratitude. These have all been beautifully written,and joyful ideas as we have come to the end of the year! Lets take a look back.

Leandra 

Topic 13 : Tiny (News) Print

Text and letters play a crucial part in creation, from titles and describing, to expressing what images cannot, or perhaps to play a role as the visual texture of a piece. Topics linked to writing, typography and letters are recurrent on the PaperArtsy Blog. This time we wanted to put a big focus on tiny letters. Newsprint is the obvious example but encyclopedias, telephone books (now a vintage memory), medication spec sheets or travel guides are also good candidates, as well as lots of stamps! Our bloggers run with the idea, sneaking snippets of text in their backgrounds, putting emotion in their sentiments, or creating embellishments out of printed pages. 

My first pick is this amazing vintage spool book by Jennie Atkinson. As she explains in her original blog post, this was not her initial plan but sometimes you have to go where your muse takes you. Tiny text is everywhere, from quotes to subtle stamping on the fabric. Yes, that text on the fabric looks part of the design but she actually added it to the pre-printed design! I love how all the elements are pulled together by the repeated use of limited colours.

And I hope you didn't miss Lynn Good's bright bouquet, a riot of colour in her art journal.The tiny letters are obvious here, busy filling the background. As Helen also shares in her original blog post, mixing different dictionaries, with a range of fonts, sizes and colours, is a fantastic idea to create easy and interesting backgrounds.The contrast between the subdued text and the vibrant flowers, aided by subtle shadowing, makes for a truly striking piece.

I adored how Jenny Marples took Seth Apter's rather abstract stamps, saw their architectural inspiration and translated it into a completely representative scene, full of texture and depth. The tiny print is quite discrete here, but her original blog post shows in detail how she transformed a text stamp into the stone wall. Genius! A real lesson in how to look at stamps differently and discover the other images hidden within.

Topic 14 : Mash Up with LPC, EGL, EEV and EAB

The end of the year comes near and with it the third and final of our Mash-Up topics. This time the participants are: Lynne Perrella, the original queen of collage, with her intricate characters, Gwen Lafleur, with her intricate and ethnical patterns, Ellen Vargo, with geometrics bold and delicate, and Alison Bomber, with inspiring words. As somewhat expected with this selection, the Lynne Perrella stamps often provided the focal people but it is always amazing to see how differently our bloggers are able to interpret the same stamps. Be it with colour, technique or composition, they beautifully merge together each with their own style.

First up is Alison Bomber with this magnificent wintery piece. I love how she looked past the first most obvious use for Gwen's and Ellen's stamps and translates them into crystals and snowflakes for a very atmospheric set-up. The Ice Queen  and King obviously come forward as the focal point but they are still perfectly integrated. Alison's original blog post explains all her process and is a wealth of inspiration and tricks for subtle texture and details.

Even with an LPC lady as the main image, Etsuko Noguchi truly showcased Ellen's stamps in this wall hanging. I love the association of the ghostly vintage character and the modern colourful background. I feel it really portrays the idea of an old soul lost in the current world. In her original blog post, Etsuko shares her technical inspiration for this piece and details her creation of the masterboard that becomes her background, quite the transformation!

Nikki Acton experimented with vellum and a royal colour palette, gold and purple! How she has used only parts of the stamps is so interesting, revealing new details and creating new combinations. I also love the text peaking through the face: is it a hint of their thoughts? Her original blog post is a fascinating look at how inspiration flows, how sometimes only one little idea drives a project, which then seems to advance almost by itself.

Topic 15 : Journaling Gratitude

The end of the year is approaching fast... This is our last topic! As tradition dictates, it is the time to reflect back on another strange year. Lots of crafters explain how creating helps them express, process and share their feelings, and provides a bit of balance in their life, making things more manageable. In these isolated and anxiety-inducing times, we should not forget the good things and be grateful for the small rays of sunshine or unanticipated joyful moments. We hoped this topic to be an occasion for the community to share tips for journaling, memories of the year and inspiration for positivity.

Autumn Clark made her journal from junk materials and leftovers from the year's projects, a great way of doing her year in review and expressing her hopes for the future. I love her use of the hands and rope, so clever and innovative! In her original blog post, she shares all her inspiration and tricks for this journal, as well as two other finished spreads. Her gel printed backgrounds are full of interest, making the pages easier to fill, battling blank-page anxiety. 

She might not be a regular journaler but Helen Chilton still wanted to celebrate positivity and did so in a heartwarming riot of colours and texture. The mix of Infusions and paints create so much variation and surprise combinations. I love how the colours swirl and mix within the images, revealing details and creating depth. Helen's techniques and process, detailed in her original blog post, are very intuitive and playful and could absolutely used in a journal.

Keren Baker focused on future gratitude and made this journal to practice thinking positively in the new year. What a great idea! She also ventured out of her comfort zone to try and paint a marble effect. Her experiment is wonderfully documented in her original blog post and the result is incredibly accurate! I love how it contrasts with the main colour of pinkish-red, which also makes an appearance on the inside pages for a soft cohesive look.

Thank you for joining us again today.

In 2022 we are adding a handful of newbies to the team, something we have not done for a few years, so we are very excited to be sharing with you who they are over the next week or so on our instagram @paperartsy . Wishing you a restful holiday season, and here's to 2022 being a key turning point for us all. Warm wishes to you all

 Leandra and the team at PaperArtsy 

2021: PaperArtsy - A Year in Review {Topics 7 to 9}

Hello again from PaperArtsy HQ,

We hope you are enjoying your daily walk down memory lane to see highlights from the PaperArtsy blog of 2021.

Dounia has selected another series of stunning ideas to share with you today, so sit back, relax and enjoy this review

Today we're sharing picks from Topics 7:Mash Up {with JoFY, Emma Godfrey, Sara Naumann and Ink & the Dog Minis}, Topic 8: Nature's Treasure and Topic 9:Baubles and Bling.

Leandra 

Topic 7 : Mash Up with JoFY, EEG, ESN and I&D Minis

Already half a year had gone by and it was time for our second Mash Up topic! Again we tried to propose a mix of designers/ collections that would bring both focal and background stamps, big and small patterns, open and detailed textures. This time our bloggers combined JoFY's bold florals, Emma Godfrey's funky geometrics, Sara Naumann's layered collages and Ink & the Dog Minis' vintage imagery. They approached this challenge each in their own way and it is so interesting to compare which aspect of the collections each of them focused on, for quite varied, wonderful and, sometimes, unexpected results.

My first pick is this beautiful journal cover by Ellie Knol. I love the contrast she was able to create with a very limited colour palette and no black or any truly dark colour. Her original blog post details her extensive use of stencils and Grunge Paste to achieve the gorgeous background texture. The patterns overlap and meld together to really unify the piece and highlight the focal JoFY butterfly (not a flower!).

Lynn Good went for bright and bold, and JoFY flowers. The stenciled background brings a vibrant jungle vibe, perfect to showcase the warm blooms. How great are the bird focals? They are starkly different from the rest of the piece, both in colour and style, but Lynn cleverly integrated them using the black border stamping. Her original blog post details the twists and turns of this project, a good example of how to adapt when your crafting does what it wants!

Thinking out of the box and going out of her comfort zone, Keren Baker was inspired by Sara's seashells to make this vintage art doll. I love how she diverted lots of the elements from their obvious use. The lovely textures of the dress and the wings really gives a 3D effect and makes the doll stand out. Be sure to go to Keren's original blog post to appreciate all the small details, like the cog heart in the frame or the stamping on the face.

Topic 8 : Nature's Treasure

In the middle of summer, this topic aimed to celebrate nature, her beauty and all the materials and inspiration she offers in crafting. The PaperArtsy collections are certainly full of leaves, seeds, flowers and other natural curiosities and our bloggers did not hesitate in showcasing their favorites. It was also an occasion to reflect on how those organic patterns we have internalized from contact with nature can emerge when crafting, or meld with more 'man-made' imagery. Finally, nature also offers us more physical gifts like leaves, twigs or barks, gorgeous and unique, that we can integrate in our art or use as tools.

Blue might not be the first colour that comes to mind in a topic about nature but Nikki Acton really pulled off the monochrome look in this gorgeous card. The tiled format allows her to display lots of Lin Brown's 'printed leaves', sparing her having to choose, as she explains in her original blog post. Using a different hue of blue for the quote and main leaf is a genius idea: it makes them pop from the background, while the subtle stamped dots anchor them.

Amanda Pink proved that natural textures and patterns can bloom even from abstract stamps like Seth Apter's. I am impressed how well she married grungy, industrial elements and vegetation inspiration. Her original blog post details how she achieved the fantastic texture of the background, reminiscent of bark. Watching the piece transform along the multiple steps of the process is mesmerizing! 

In her project, Dounia Large chose to use Nature's Treasures as tools and materials rather than images. Her not-a-book is lined and decorated with dyed cork. For the cover, she experimented with pressing leaves into the paper and revealing the patterns with Infusions. A delicate look with easily obtained materials! Go to her original blog post to discover the process and see all the details!

Topic 9 : Baubles and Bling

It's Christmas in August! This year, we tried to be good and propose inspiration well in advance of the Holiday season. Our bloggers ended spending the summer in tinsel, I am sure they are thanking us... This topic is a fun one, sure to appeal of the magpie inside all of us! Time to bring the glitter, tinsel and foil out of hiding place and indulge in all things shiny. We thought these elements would pair great with baubles: tiny versatile canvas where sparkles are not only acceptable but expected! Our bloggers did not hesitate to play with size, shape and texture for a wide range of cheerful atmospheres.

She might have chosen an usual colour palette, but Helen Chilton surely brought the baubles and the bling! She certainly understood the assignment! I love how the warm colours pop against the silver. In her original blog post, you can see all the little touches she added for cohesion and maximum sparkle! She also shares her foiling technique. I particularly like how it highlights the texture of her Grunge Paste stenciling, so interesting. 

PaperArtsy designer Tracy Scott came out to play, not surprising as this topic seemed to be made for her! She certainly loves a bit of bling. Her original blog post details all the layers that went into this gorgeous piece. I love her bokeh lights effect, both simple and effective, it is such a great idea. It creating a wonderful depth in the background and helps the baubles stand out and shine (figuratively and literally)!

In New Zealand, it was actually winter for Tracy Springer, which did not stop her project from being bright and warm, but with a fur coat touch!  Her baubles are fuzzy and her doggies are cheeky in this lovely series of cards and their holder. I love her colour palette, not classic but still close enough to 'feel' Christmassy. Go to her original blog post to meet all these cute critters in all their bling out glory. Get your sparkle out indeed!

 

Hang in there, as the review continues for another couple of days more, see you same time tomorrow!

Leandra  

2021: PaperArtsy - A Year in Review {Topics 4 to 6}

 

Hello from PaperArtsy HQ,

We hope you have enjoyed a wonderful holiday period with friends, family, old movies and some good food over the past few days! This is the week of the year where we remind you of how amazing our bloggers have been over this past year, and share with you some of the many highlights.

Usually at the start of the year we are tripping around the world to the USA, Germany, UK for the annual crafting trade shows, so early 2021 for us meant we did not get to do those face-to-face events. Instead we stayed in touch with our shops and customers online to share our new product offering. 

 

Many of our designers switched up their classes to be virtual instead of in-person, and we also kept in touch with all our stores monthly too. Sad not to see people in real life, but here at PA HQ, after having undertaken a big move mid-pandemic from the UK to France, we were quite content to be homebodies and crack on with all the projects that needed urgent attention in our new location. For us, 2021 has been a steep learning curve both administratively, physically, and practically as we adjust to new systems, a new climate, new service providers and new suppliers.

Today Dounia has curated a stunning selection from 2021 Topic 4:Free to Fly, Topic 5:Find your Vibe and Topic 6:Mandala Mix.

 

Feet up for 5 minutes, and enjoy!

Leandra 

Topic 4 : Free to Fly

This topic was about all things winged and fluttering. Bees, Birds and Butterflies! Quite a few of our designers had releases with birds and other winged creatures this year and this topic proved quite popular. Indeed, flying invokes dreams of the open skies, freedom of movement and the joy of being outside. I think we were all yearning for those feelings after an often difficult year cooped up inside. Waiting for better times, our bloggers instead escaped to their craftrooms, or their corner of worktable, to let their creativity take flight and take us on beautiful journeys of the mind.

My first pick is this beautiful card by Claire Snowdon, a true mixed-media piece with corrugated cardboard, textured fabrics and clean stamping. Her original blog post describes how she achieved the fabulous texture on the background, playing with grunge paste, paints and Infusions. A study in contrasts: the flowing threads against the graphic staples; the grungy layers against the sharp focal points; the distressed edges highlighting the vibrant bee.

I hope you didn't miss Etsuko Noguchi's amazing fairy booklet. An ode to Lynne Perella's stamps, it is also a real mash-up project seamlessly involving stamps and stencils by 5 other designers. Her original blog post is not only a feast for the eyes, full of whimsical colours and clever details, but also a very thorough exploration of her creative process (with diagrams!) that let you grasp the amount of work and love that went into this project.

I adored how Jennie Atkinson incorporated the topic in both the substrate and its decorations. With its hint of a nest, this could absolutely be a bird house, but instead it is full of butterflies! You might not have realised it but this project does not actually involved anything made of wood! It is only clever use of basic and recycled cardboard elements and Infusions. Be sure to check her original blog post to see how she achieved this bluffing wood effect!

Topic 5: Find your Vibe

Here is another very open blog topic. The vibe is sometimes elusive, often surprising and always ever-changing. This was an occasion for our bloggers to showcase their style and their quirks but also to explore the eternal question: 'how to be YOU in your art?'. At first that question may seem a bit trite but I think we all have struggled at some point between emulating those we look up to, wanting to make something beautiful or impressive, and truly expressing our own personality and sensibilities. As everybody's vibe is indeed different, we had a wide and varied range of projects in this topic, so I have chosen 4 projects instead of 3.

First up is this gorgeous journal layout by Jenny Marples. Everything, from minimal and striking use of colour, to to the multiple layers of texture, is balanced. I am always amazed by her masterful use of white space, full of delicate and subtle variations and contrasting sharply with the focal points. Even if you do not feel up to hand-drawing yourself, in her original blog post, Jenny shares a few of her tricks to overcome our creative roadblocks, this one is really worth a read!

In her blog post, Tracy Springer shares how she finds inspiration in the stamps themselves and takes us on a creative adventure as she builds her characters and their story. Not afraid to mix and match and modify designs, she also reminds us that no image is static and that no one is safe from being chopped up and reassembled (on paper, of course!). This bright and colourful composition is only part of her project, a box hiding a surprise!

 

Despite the complex layered look of the cover, Autumn Clark's card-folder started with very simple gel printing, a great way to find your spark when maybe lacking inspiration. Don't be intimidated as she shares how she makes the most of her prints and achieves easily an intricate look. Her original blog post is also full of tips and tricks to create that vintage look, full of soft colours and detailed layers.

When trying to find your vibe, you might not think of scrapbooking, but Kate Yetter proved the two are totally compatible! She used this mini album of family photos as an occasion to create lots of yummy mix media backgrounds and just have fun mix and matching. Recycled papers, paints, infusions, textures, stamping, her original blog post has a bit of everything and encourages you to play: each page is an experiment and lets you decide what is you. 

Topic 6 : Mandala Mix

At the intersection of art and spirituality, Mandalas are more popular than ever, both for the meditative process and the stunning result. While the more traditional mandalas, based on circles, symmetry and repeating patterns certainly make for gorgeous pieces, we added 'Mix' to the topic title so that our bloggers would feel free to wander outside the geometric box, and they certainly did not disappoint! While some took full advantage of the mandala-ish stamps and stencils of our designers, some brave souls unearthed their compasses and protractors for a bit of maths and craft!

In the PaperArtsy family, I think it is fair to say that Tracy Scott is our Mandala Queen! Lynn Good certainly thinks so. She chose her stamps to create this vibrant and striking journal page using the Blackout Technique. She shares her process in her original blog post and watching this page's evolution is truly mesmerizing. By adding doodling to the stamping, she even preserved the meditative aspect of mandalas.

Moving out of her comfort zone, Nikki Acton went for a carefully constructed piece playing with contrasts. The circles against the squares, the geometric structure against the natural focal elements, the daring colour combo... Check her original blog post for close up pictures, as each zone is delicately patterned, the different pieces pulled together by symmetry and subtle touches of pen work.

Do not limit yourself, any stamp can be the base for a mandala! Jo Firth-Young masterfully illustrated this with her own stamps, here in a gorgeous subdued palette on kraft card. I love the mix of strict geometry and free doodling. At first look, you are struck by the repetition but a closer look reveals each stalk is unique and slightly different. Her original blog post offers step by step pictures of her process and details two other projects, each with its own vibe.

I'm sure you have found some wonderful ideas to add to your Pinterest boards within this selection of posts. We are so fortunate to have bloggers who push themselves to try new ideas, experiment and share their strengths so willingly with us all.

Leandra

2021 Topic 13: Tiny (News) Print with EKC {by Lynn Good}

 2021 Topic 13: Tiny (News) Print

It's not always obvious how people have created their art, so I love to read the process behind adding colour and texture. Lynn uses different text (both size, fonts and colour of book pages) and it really draws your eye into the vibrant piece and is a great technique to tuck away in your memory.
~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Lynn with you today, and I'm here to share my interpretation of the topic Tiny (News) Print.

This is one of my favourite ways to create a background whether it be on canvas, in my art journal or even making cards. Each time it comes out a little different depending on the paper you use.

I first start by ripping up dictionary paper (this is my tiny (news) print!) I adhered it to the page using matte medium, covering the entire art journal page with the papers.

I then randomly painted the following colours onto a 12x12 Paper Artsy Super Smooth Heavy cardstock : Tangerine Twist, Zesty Zing, Bubble Gum, Dirty Lime and Red Lipstick.  Once dry I placed it into the misti so I could stamp the flowers.

 

   

I used Stamp EKC48 by Kay Carley.  I like to stamp in the Misti stamping platform as you can re-stamp the image if it isn't clear enough.

I then fussy cut them all out!

At this stage I wanted to make the colours pop and used Prismacolour pencils over the top.

I then adhered them to the page using matte medium

I used a Stabillo All pencil to highlight and add a textured look to some of the paper joins as well as a shadow around the flowers.  I stamped some twigs coming up from the pot and round the layout.  I have added some white paint pen to the twigs.  I used a quote from stamp set EKC44 - "Its your time to bloom".  

                                                       

Once everything was dry I added some gel pens and glitter glue to the flowers - everything looks better with a bit of bling!!!

Here are some close up photos.

 

I hope you have been able to follow the process of making this page and give it a go yourself. I love the texture this page has with the dictionary pages, cut out flowers and glitter.

Lynn xx 

2021 Topic 11: Twinkle Twinkle with JoFY {by Lynn Good}

  2021 Topic 11: Twinkle Twinkle

I Absolutely love how Lynn's little stars in these photos are totally loving their time playing together and how perfectly she has created a background for those photos to chime with so well! Fabulous layout full of energy and happiness.
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Lynn (Memories on the page) with you today, and I'm here to share with you a scrapbook layout that I have created.

Twinkle Twinkle - just up my alley - colour and bling comes straight to mind.  Combine that with JOFY’s new stamp and stencil and what is there not to love!!!!!

I am using the 12x12 340 gsm smoothly heavy cardstock.  I love this cardstock when using paint or wet medium.  I began by covering the page with gesso.  I did this because when using the reduction paint technique you get a much whiter “wipe off” image. It also allows a little more time before the paint dries.

I have used the following Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints - Red Lipstick, Firebird, Caribbean Sea, Southern Skies, Tangerine Twist and Zesty Zing,

   

I have painted on colours and before they dry, placed on top a Stencil JOFY PS275 and removed the colour through the stencil.  I have continued doing this along the bottom of the page.

I have used Little Black Dress Paint in areas of the layout - the contrast this gives really makes the page pop.

I have stamped the heart image from JOFY106 across the top of the page. and the circles on the bottom of the page on top of the paint.

Now that the black paint has dried I have colours the areas with a white Posca pen in circles to highlight the contrast even more.

Now that everything is dry I am able to put my layout together.  I have backed the main photo is black cardstock and then red glitter cardstock and adhered it to the page with the second photo which I fussy cut out.

I have coloured the stamped circles on the painted area  with Posca pens.

I have coloured the hearts with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints - Red Lipstick, and Zesty Zing - and applied some glitter around the layout (on the dots!)

I have stamped the words from the JOGY106 Set “Peace Love Joy” onto yellow cardstock and fussy cut around it.

A touch of stardust and yellow glitter and my layout is complete !!!

I love the bright colours and get such a happy feeling when I create with them - if you don’t normally use these colours, give it a go and see how you feel :) 

Thanks for stopping by…..

Lynn