Hi everyone, it's Autumn Clark from SewPaperPaint with you today, and I'm here to share with you a cascading chipboard mini book that started out to be just a fun little artsy book of houses, but ended up as tribute to where I grew up. The more I thought about the concept of home as I worked, my little art book turned into much more. I've filled it with historic photos of my very quaint hometown in rural South Carolina.
I chose to work with chipboard and my gel printing plate because I knew it would be loads of fun to have a big printing session and I always love working with upcycled materials. My coworkers save chipboard for me and I try to use it as much as possible! My specific idea for a cascading book was inspired directly from PaperArtsy Hot Picks stamp set 1601 (HP1601) and my wanting to showcase the row of houses individually across the pages.
The first part of my process was choosing a size for my chipboard. One day I came across a Bind It All machine at a second hand store for $4! Imagine my surprise and giddy smile! I ended up cutting my chipboard pages to be 3.5" tall and 8.5" long. This made it easy for me, as a beginner to the Bind It All machine, so that I could simply punch each page one time without having to repeat punches on each page.
Leandra can attest to my love for choosing a color palette with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics. Not only do I relish the chance to pick a new combo, I also really enjoy photographing them all together! Ha ha! They serve as a great reference point for me to remember how I got the different effects when using my gel plate, as the layers sometimes muddy change the color in the process. I was really in the mood for some rich colors, so this time I chose Midnight, Brown Shed, Chocolate Pudding and Space Cadet. Later I decided to introduce Jade Fresco as well.
I started printing using my 8x10" gel plate, which was great because I could print two panels at a time. I made sure to lift all of the excess paint around the sides for a layered look. I wanted to try using my stamps on the wet paint on my plate. So I picked up PaperArtsy Hot Picks stamp set 1602 (HP1602). I love the ledger text and cool circles in this set for background work. I found it really helpful to have a soaking wet terrycloth towel in a dish beside me so I could clean my stamps with each print. I also found that the stamping worked best when the paint wasn't too thick on the plate. And the best part, was that whatever mark I made into my wet paint gave me a nice painted stamp that I could use to stamp onto the pieces I had already printed. A two for one effort - yeah!
Here's an example of how I blended my colors on the plate. When working with multiple colors I like to add a dollop of every color all on the plate first. Then I brayer from lightest to darkest, rolling the brayer off onto paper between colors so they don't get muddy.
I had all of my chipboard pages printed. Next, I needed to make my colored houses. I stamped them onto thin tissue paper and heat set to dry. Then I gel printed their backs because I thought it would be a lot easier than printing them with a brush, which can be very delicate. If I left a corner free of paint, I could easily pull the tissue without it tearing. Here you can see some fronts and backs of the stamped & printed tissue. In hindsight, I wish I had stamped onto the painted side because the tissue would have been a richer color when adhered, but you live and learn...
I adhered my cut apart houses on to my pages with matte Mod Podge. I started with the last page and used it as a guide to cut the next smallest page, so that the house would be perfectly visible. I tinted some of the houses with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics in Claret and Pumpkin Soup since they were a little too subdued against the very dark backgrounds. I bound the book with the metal wire so I could really get the feel of the finished project.
I wanted even more contrast throughout the pages, so first I splashed the pages with Cloud 9 Fresco, then decided to add in some stencil work with Grunge Paste for even more contrast. I used PaperArtsy stencil PS021 and Sara Naumann's PS219. The alphanumeric stencil was one of those freebies that PaperArtsy puts in with an order. They are always a fun surprise!
To add a bit more pattern, I adhered some torn elements from the new PaperArtsy Printed Tissue throughout my book. There are so many designs in the Printed Tissue, giving us such a broad range of uses. I also added some stamping throughout my book with PaperArtsy Ink & The Dog Mini Stamp 18 (MN18).
At this point I loved my book, but wished it could be more somehow, like a real treasure for me. So I decided to add a personal touch and filled my mini book with historic photos of my hometown. I really love the black and white pics against the abstract, richly colored background.
I was finally satisfied with my work and finished everything by adding a little journaling.
I know I say this in almost every post, but I find great satisfaction in turning something that would be discarded into art. This chipboard now has color, life and a story and now will be something I treasure as a result.
Needless to say, you'll be seeing me use my "new" Bind it All a lot in the future! If you already own one of these, I really hope this post encourages you to get out your PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics and have a print-making/book-binding session of your own. Also, why not take some time to ponder on the concept of home for our Up My Street topic and see how you can use your stamps and photos to create your own tribute to home.
If you get one thing from this post, I hope it's the encouragement to keep going with your projects. If we press ourselves forward with each phase of creation, we are often very happily surprised by creating some of our favorite work. That was the case for me this time. It's been a joy, Autumn.
