2015 Round up: Fragile Papers, Shiny Stuff, Paint {curated by Lynne Moncrieff}

Good Evening from PaperArtsy HQ, Leandra here to introduce you to an exciting few days in the week ahead here on the PaperArtsy blog.

I do hope your Christmas was an enjoyable one spent with friends and family. Now we enter a relaxing wind-down after the hustle and bustle of December, and a great time to think about the year to come ... and I find it is often a chance for some stress-free crafting.

We have appointed a handful of curators to each prepare a celebratory post each highlighting their choice of PaperArtsy blog posts of 2015. Lots of eye candy to reminisce over! 

I constantly pinch myself how incredibly fortunate to have such breadth and depth of talent who create for our blog. This information is so valuable for retailers of our brand who look here first and foremost for ideas with our varied stamp collections. We work with well over 40 regular contributors who bring our stamps and products to life in such a wealth of imaginative ways.

In the week to come, each post will reflect on 3 topics, bringing to your attention some of the highlights and perhaps even some of the challenge responses that you, our blog followers, posted on your on blogs.

Each curator has a tricky task to select just a few highlights from 6 weeks of stunning content, but I am sure they will take us back down memory lane to weave a tale of creativity, learning, enjoyment and encouragement.

It is so important to me personally that we all make time, and develop the confidence to express ourselves creatively in some form. To share in your experiments, happy accidents and wide-ranging creative styles makes every week of the year a pleasurable one for me when you blog.

I leave you this evening in the hands of Lynne Moncrieff, she is recounting the first 3 topics of the year: Fragile Papers, Shiny Stuff and Acrylic Paints.

Enjoy, Leandra

Hello Bloggers, Lynne Moncrieff here.  This past year had new creative opportunities presented to me which at the time found me inhaling deeply but in retrospect, moments that became some of my more memorable creative moments of the past 12 months. 

At the beginning of the year, such an opportunity found me working with new Fresco colours. As someone who favours pale and interesting (!) it was a personal challenge to embrace colour entering my life and also a turning point regarding a broadening of stamp style selection.  This all coincided with a question I had been grappling with... "Is it more authentic to stay true to a recognised style even though a wee voice inside is urging you to dip your toe into new waters or are we being more true to ourselves by listening to that guiding voice?"   Why was this voice whispering to me? Is it possible my creative life has been on automatic, working with stamps/paints/materials which were the equivalent of a comfy pair of slippers. It isn't about me wishing to turn my back on the style I favour, more a recognition and desire to sample beyond old favourites. Maybe it just speaks of me being a Gemini, now finding myself split in the middle moving between muted vintage and something with a bit more colour to its cheeks!

Comfy slippers may be a life essential but that does not mean there are times when donning a pair of something less comfortable will pay the dividend by bringing colour and excitement to life!

A trio of Journals created for the PaperArtsy Words challenge was an opportunity for me to freely apply colour and incorporating some of my most favourite stamps.  What makes this personally special for me, this trio was published in the Winter issue of Somerset Studio Gallery.

Topic 1: Fragile Papers

Fragile papers are close to my creative heart but I have to share that this first topic of 2015 opened my eyes to new possibilities when incorporating fragile papers into my artwork and I will be looking towards variety in my choice of fragile papers instead of automatically reaching for my beloved vintage book text or other "go to" papers.

I really loved Clare Lloyd's post for her journal tag has the most infectious injection of colour achieved by adhering torn coloured tissue paper to a tag which she then continued to stencil and stamp onto.  

Later in the week, Helen Chilton shared a fabulous post highlighting techniques for working with Portfolio crayons on wax paper, creating that incredible background and also displaying how to stamp with a Portfolio crayon.  If you own Portfolios and happen to be apprehensive about working with them on what can be a tricky surface, then I advise you to visit this post!

Let's not forget the talented Darcy who created stunning fabric paper postcards.  This postcard began life as a multitude of fragile papers all layered onto a nappy liner! Most times fabric paper is created in large sheets and what stood out for me is how Darcy's technique makes creating fabric paper easily achievable if space is an issue.  I might not have nappy liners to hand but I have already noted Darcy's technique on my 2016 To Do List!

When we have a broad topic like this we get such diverse challenge entries. I hope you saw this post by Patty Szymkowicz.  Created in her art journal where she incorporated 1930's book text, Patty captured a beautiful, dreamy quality, as though stepping into the past.

And personally, I was transfixed by this post by Diana Taylor where she used a vintage book as a substrate and creating lacy papers from Tyvek.  I feel inspired to explore Tyvek further than I have to date, especially to mimic the beautiful lacy results. 

Topic 2: Shiny Stuff 

As artists, it seems fair to say that many of us are attracted to Shiny Stuff. This challenge theme made me take stock and look at products I own in quite a different light, a bright and shiny light! Out of the three challenge themes mentioned within this post, this theme is the one which I have embraced the most, especially in recent months for festive/winter creations  where I have explored metallics for canvas, with paperclay and I adore the effect on deli paper.  There continues to be much I want to explore along this theme. 

Trish Latimer's  post has much I want to explore. Isn't her treehouse just so charming! Be amazed as she shares how Grungepaste applied to a heart mould is transformed into a shiny, mouthwatering heart!

Later in the week Lin Brown's post featured her own stamp designs used in conjunction with black polymer clay and mica powders, producing the most exquisite results, bringing to mind a piece of ceramic. Previously I have only worked with white paperclay but I am certainly enthused to try Lin's technique for myself. I could envisage this technique to create jewellery. 

Let's not forget the talented Lou Collins who went to great lengths to display a Faux Patina Metal technique on a clock.  I loved that this technique required only a handful of Frescos, eliminating the need to purchase patina solutions.

The challenge entries were fantastic, I hope you saw this post by Hazel Agnew where with the aid of paints and gilding wax, she breathed elegant life into found natural elements, grouping them together to create an exquisite home decor piece.

And personally I loved this post by Gini Cagle. Gini clearly enjoyed creating this shiny, faux aged metal effect heart as the focal on her assemblage. Visit the link to study Gini's video as she takes you through the steps on how to create such a heart.  Paperclay is a favourite of mine but I have never worked with it in such a way.  

Topic 3: Acrylic Paint

Paint is a constant as I personally have always found it more successful to work with compared to inks.  During my early days of stamping, I began about 8 or so years ago, I would purchase sample jars of chalk finish emulsions from a well known D.I.Y. store.  So paints have been a constant however the rainbow of colours I now have would have been unimaginable even this time last year and I am learning about Frescos all the time, how perfect they are for a multitude of surfaces, perfect for custom colours and whether you opt for dreamy, grungy or vibrant, Frescos will work for you.

I really loved Liz Borer's post where with a limited Fresco palette Liz expertly demonstrates how to paint faces and flowers with the most exquisitely elegant results.  Visit this tutorial to also learn how Liz extended her Fresco library, creating custom colours. A  tutorial which is a must if you want to explore painting stamped faces and flowers.

And later in the week Wanda Hentges showed us how to up-cycle a glass jar into a vibrant vase, complete with a bouquet of Eclectica {Lin Brown} flowers.  Wanda expertly showcases the perfect coverage achieved with Frescos when painted onto glass and how an empty bottle, which we all have around the house, can be transformed into a bright and joy filled piece of home decor.

Let's not forget the talented Alison Hall who went to great lengths to show the versatility of Frescos for her fabulously grungy mixed media wall plaque.  Alison creates custom washi tape with Frescos and masking tape and watered down Frescos create this fabulous splattered effect.  I have a weakness for paint flicks/splatters so this definitely caught my eye!

The challenge entries were fabulous too, I hope you saw this post by Gabrielle where her use of colour happens to be both lively yet at the same time, achieving a gorgeous dreamy quality which enhances the theme of romance prevalent throughout this art journal spread. By adding Fresco Chalk to the Lin Brown Frescos, Gabrielle's art perfectly displays how she customised the Frescos in her stash to suit her artful requirements.

And personally, I loved this post by PavlaH. This caught my eye because the colours look as though they are glowing against the black background, truly capturing the colour of leaves on an Autumnal tree. I also selected this as the artwork perfectly shows how due to their high pigmentation, Frescos retain their depth of colour even when painted onto a black surface.

And Finally from me....

How about an item that links all 3 of these topics? It's fun when you are given a specific brief. It seems to reduces that 'blank canvas' stumbling block. I wanted to bring all three themes together to create a sense of a countryside walk on a frosty, winter morning.  A bird perched on a branch is a peaceful companion during this time for reflection when silence prevails, aside from the crisp noise underfoot as ice crystals crunch.  Dappled sunlight announces break of day, the emerging low winter sun catching the hard frost, causing the light to dance. 

The three challenge themes at times overlap on this assemblage. Fragile Papers appear in the form of deli and delicate handmade paper with a piece of tree bark which I delaminated to produce a paper, of sorts. A scrap of lace and PaperArtsy white/greyboard panel were transformed into Shiny Stuff with the aid of Fresco Pewter, Old Gold and Snowflake (also a hint of Distress Stain Spray).  Shine was enhanced by wisps of silver mesh material, glitter fabric ribbon, Mother Of Pearl button and a beautiful pearly silver vintage button transformed into an embellishment with the aid of a glass bead dangling beneath. Pewter, dry brushed onto a piece of driftwood mimics a tree branch, with a dusting of Snowflake Paste enhancing the overall sense of winter.  Featured throughout are Sara Naumann designed stamps.

If any of the challenge themes, either in this summary post or others during this week are areas you have not explored previously with your art then I urge you to dip your toes in.  We all have nothing to lose and absolutely everything to gain as even with our less than successful experiments and explorations we will discover a new lesson to be learnt about our art and even about ourselves. I genuinely am so excited at the prospect of a new year of discoveries with PaperArtsy and where it might lead us all.  

Here's to spreading our wings as we soar into 2016!

Lynne Moncrieff
Blog - Adorn

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2015 #3 Ledger Book Portrait {by Clare Lloyd PA Signature Designer}

2015 Theme 3: Fresco Paints

Hi Clare Lloyd here tonight with a portrait I painted using the brand new limited addition paints by JOFY. I am going to share a few ideas about how to using translucent paint in your art work to add depth both of colour and texture.

Step One:
Working in an old ledger book which had a page already covered in black gesso, I was brave and brayered a rough face shape using Buff Fresco paint and then used some Jade over the background using a Mini Brayer. I did my favourite baby wipe technique to rub away some of the colour through a Crafters Workshop stencil called Mini Susanas Arrows, plus also scraped through with an old comb to get a scratch effect.

Step Two:
After sketching in some detail I added some more colour; Prawn for the hair, another layer of Buff on the face and some Jade for the eyes.

Step Three:

Now some ideas on how to use translucent colour over your art work...

Lips after a layer of Prawn and then a Snowflake highlight I added a layer of Cherry Red and did some simple sgriffito (scraped into wet paint with wooden end of a paintbrush). You will see the same effect using Limelight over Jade on the eyes and also with Tango on the hair.

Step Four:
To add some contrast shading to the face I used Southern Skies (a bright translucent), I applied this with my finger to be able to blend it really well. I did two layers of this shading in the end and used the left over paint on the background. 

Step Five:
The face needed to 'pop out' from the background a little more. So around the edge of the face, on the background, I added some Snowflake with a baby wipe and then rubbed through with a Crafters Workshop Mini Stones Divided stencil to wipe away some of the snowflake, leaving the stepping stones impression. 

And Finally: 
Of course there had to be some stamping and I used some of the fab new quotes, chevron elements from EEG02/EEG03 in black ink. 

I hope this project has helped to see how translucent paints can be used to enhance colour and texture in any project using Fresco Paints. Why not try that Sgriffito technique this week! 

Find my blog HERE and I am also on Instagram HERE.

Clare

What a great array of helpful tips Clare. I can only encourage people to have a go at faces, its so true, the more you do, the better you get, and often kooky faces have an unexpected quirky personality. It's probably better to try to restrain any expectation of what a face *should* look like. I've only recently realised, if you paint the skin in non-traditional skin tone face colours, like Clare has used the blues here, that there is less pressure for the face to conform to some kind of unrealistic perfection. I am really loving those faces that are painted in really bright lime greens, blues, purples, pinks etc rather than skin tones perfection we have seen lots of over recent years. So come on people, lets do kooky bright faces and throw caution to the wind, are you IN ??? Then show us what you can do in the challenge. ~Leandra

We would love you to join in with Challenge #3:Paint. If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over these 2 weeks, then please join in and show us your painterly exploits HERE.

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Paint link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday Feb 21st, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2015 #3 Art Plaque {by Alison Hall}

2015 Theme 3: Fresco Paints

Hi everyone, Alison here, joining you this evening with a little art plaque featuring Sara Naumann's new stamp set ESN14, and using some of the new blue and purple Fresco Finish paints. I've used a splatter technique with watered down paints on my background, as I love the random effect this gives.

Step One:
My base is a 6x6 inch Grey/White Board, on which I applied Grunge Paste through PaperArtsy Stencil ELB001. Once the Grunge Paste was fully dry, I painted the whole board with Chalk Fresco Finish Paint, a gorgeous creamy white, which is now part of the main Fresco range.

Step Two: 

I wanted to make some custom washi tape, so I laid a couple of strips of masking tape on my craft mat, then randomly brayered them with some of the new Smurf and Lavender Fresco Paint. I then used Versafine Onyx Black Ink to stamp the numbers image from ESN07 and the floral names from ESN14.

ESN07

Step Three:

On the background of the board, I partially stamped the script from ESN14 in a few random places, then used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue down some torn pieces of dictionary page and my wash tape. 

I then used a medium round paintbrush to flick some spots of watered down Glass Blue and Blueberry Fresco Paint all over my background. Looking lovely and messy now, isn't it?! Lol!

Step Four: 

Now to make the flowers. I used black Versafine Ink to stamp the flowers from ESN14 on a piece of white Smoothy Card, 8 small flowers and 3 large flowers. I painted the large flowers with watered down Lavender and Blueberry Frescos, 4 of the small flowers with watered down Smurf and Glass Blue, and the remaining 4 flowers with watered down Hey Pesto. The Hey Pesto flowers are going to be leaves. I didn't bother colouring the flower centres, as they'll be hidden.

ESN14

Step Five:

I cut out and layered up the flowers and 'leaves', using Glossy Accents to glue them together, then added some Prima Junkyard Snap Heads to the centres.

Step Six:

I sponged some Lavender Fresco onto a piece of White Smoothy Card, then stamped the Benjamin Disraeli quote from ESN14 with black Versafine Ink. I cut out each line and edged them with black ink, ready to be attached to my plaque.

Step Seven:

Now to put it all together. As you can see, I highlighted the Grunge Paste embossing, the flowers, Prima Snap Heads, and the edges of the plaque with Spanish Topaz Treasure Gold. The small two layer flower on the right has been raised up with a couple of foam pads, to give some more dimension. Here is an angled photo of my plaque which hopefully gives you an idea of the dimension of it.

I really enjoyed working with Sara's new stamps, the script flowers are just perfect for colouring and layering. I also love the new bright blues and purples in the Fresco Paint range, you can never have too many shades of blue in my opinion! I hope I have inspired you to get your Fresco Paints out for a play, and to join in with the challenge.

Alison xox
Inky Adventures

Thanks Alison, what a fabulous use of paint. Firstly the Chalk gives a beautiful base for all those awesome splatters, and we just love the faux washi tape. Full strength or watered down there are so many possibilities with paint. Those new blues and purples are just stunning used together. 

We would love you to join in with challenge #3: Paint. If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Paint link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Feb 22nd, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2015 #3 Repurposed Vase {by Wanda Hentges}

2015 Theme 3:  Paint

Hi everyone!!  Wanda here this evening with a post using the new Eclectica³ Limited Edition Set 3 paints.  I love these colors!!!  I'm using the Fresco Finish paints for the first time on glass to repurpose an empty flower jar into a vase with flowers to brighten these winter days. 

I started with an empty Prima Flowers Jar like the one below that still has some flowers in it. I removed the label (it wasn't hard to peel off) and lid from the jar and cleaned it very well.  I mixed caribbean sea with satin glaze and sponged it all over the outside of the jar.  After that was dry, I stamped with budding branch from ELB15 with Archival Ink aquamarine randomly around the jar drying each stamping as I went otherwise I know I would have smeared them. Next I stamped part of the dandelion head (ELB15) with bougainvillea paint around the bottom and finally I stamped the little group of 3 dotted circles (ELB15) with snowflake paint.  

I painted a scrap of copy paper with banana, dried it, stamped the quote (ELB06) with Archival Ink jet black, dried it and cut the words out.  They are glued to the jar with matte glaze.  Finally I decided to gloss things up by giving the jar 2 coats of gloss glaze allowing the glaze to dry between coats.  The twine wrapped around the top was white and I colored it using banana paint and water.  

For the flowers, to keep the stamping crisp I painted (banana, tangerine, bougainvillea) the smoothy card first and then stamped the flowers.  I created them in groups of 2 for stacking and I wanted 3 flowers. Using small finger dabbers made painting in circles easy starting with the center and working out changing the line-up of colors for each flower.  After drying the paint I stamped the flower (ELB16) with Archival Ink jet black and dried it.  I lightly stenciled with paint (banana, snowflake, bougainvillea) through sequin waste to get the circles pattern.  Finally I cut out each flower.

Here they are cut out and just laying stacked. 

For the stems I used 24 gauge craft wire.  I took enough to fold the wire in half and twist it. After twisting the wire, I wrapped tissue tape around it and then painted it.  I mixed caribbean sea and banana to get a really pretty bright green.  

I painted the back of each flower with banana and also three 1 1/4" punched circles of smoothy card.  I put each set of flowers together with a brad that I had painted with banana. The prongs were too long so I just cut them off, used a small hammer to get the prongs nice and flat and glued on the stem and painted circle with matte gel medium.

I bent each stem to create a leaf as shown.  I thought the 24 gauge wire would be heavy enough since I was twisting it but I was wrong, the flowers wanted to flop.  I took a piece of 20 gauge gold wire and wrapped it around the stem which also held the stem and leaf together.  I was actually glad they weren't heavy enough and needed the extra wire because I really like how it looks!!!  

I decided to added some Treasure Gold brass to the top of the brads to give a little more metallic to go with the gold wire.  I put some dried beans (I thought I had some glass pebbles but couldn't find them) in the jar along with the flowers to help keep them in place.

Here is a picture from the back. 

If you haven't painted on glass yet, you should give it a try, it worked really well.  If I wasn't careful (I have long, hard finger nails) the paint could be scratched off the glass but after the coats of gloss glaze it's very strong.  

Thanks for following along!!!!  


Wanda Hentges
Blog - Art By Wanda
Twitter - @WandaHentges

What a neat idea. Doesn't the paint go onto glass so well! Honestly, its sticks to anything that stuff!! Beautiful so bright, fun and cheery! Thanks Wanda for sharing another of your wonderful ideas!

We would love you to join in with Challenge #3:Paint. If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over these 2 weeks, then please join in and show us your painterly exploits HERE.

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Paint link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday Feb 21st, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2015 #3 Bright Upcycling {by Jo Myhill}

2015 Theme 3:  Paint

Hi everyone Jo here again joining you this evening with a post about using PaperArtsy Fresco Paints.Today I'm showing you a quick idea for up-cycling old tins and demonstrate how well PaperArtsy Paints go on any surface.

Step One: My husband has tinned Grapefruit every morning for breakfast, they are quite large tins and were begging to be "altered". First I gave them quite a few coats of white gesso to give a "tooth" for the paint to stick too.

StepTwo: Then it was deciding on colour schemes. This time moving away from my all time favourite neutrals I decided to go bright!  For the green tin I went all over with Cheesecake and a little bit of Limelight for highlights. I then flicked a mixture of Guacamole and Hey Pesto all over for some contrast splats.

Step Three: For the bottom of the green tin I added in a border of Guacamole and Chartreuse. Finally I added some splats of Prawn from the new JOFY Ltd edition Paints as a constrast and stuck on some pink buttons and wrapped a length of spotty pink ribbon around the middle of the can.

Step Four: For the orange tin I started the same with white gesso and then covered the whole tin in Yellow Submarine and wiped over Zesty Zing for some highlights. 

Step Five:  For the bottom of the tin I used Tango and the contrasting splats were in Blood Orange. This time I added some Prima flowers in yellow (cut in half and stuck with Matt Glaze) and some some yellow and orange check ribbon.

I have to say using these brights was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I'm really pleased with how they came out, the question is now what to put in them, I'm thinking my Treasure Golds, but it could be more buttons, embellishments, small posies real of fake.  I was also thinking of putting a whole through the back and hanging from a rail using butcher 'S' hooks.  You can never have enough storage!   

They were really simple to do and really quick and the new PaperArtsy colour families means you can easily pick out your favourite range of lights and darks and give it a go.  Old jam jars would look great as would baked bean tins or any other old container and what about tissue paper stamping instead of buttons, flowers and ribbon?

Now I have more Grapefruit tins and a whole stack of blue buttons, now where's that Smurf....?

Jo
Twitter: @jomyhill
Instagram: jomyhill

Thanks Jo for these fab quirky pots of inspiration, these would be useful in so many areas around the home and garden as Fresco Paints are ideal for all surfaces. Would like to give this project a go using the new "bright paints". Thanks for coming out of your comfort zone too :))


We would love you to join in with Challenge #3:Paint. If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over these 2 weeks, then please join in and show us your painterly exploits HERE.

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Paint link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday Feb 21st, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.