2020 A Year in Review {Topics 6-10}

PaperArtsy Blog 2020 Year in Review - Part 2/4

Hello from PaperArtsy HQ,

Well, 2020 is the year that just keeps on giving us more curve balls than we ever thought possible! Here we are on the cusp of Christmas and it still feels like every day this week has had another humdinger of an incident to adjust to. Many nations in Europe have had Christmas cancelled as far as travel and seeing family go at the last minute. Tricky but I guess to be expected where the new British strain of Covid is adding pressure to an already difficult situation. 

Every year there are many people who spend Christmas alone. This year, there are many people who are having to do that, not by their choice, but due to governmental guidelines, restrictions and so on. We all expect to be able to make our own personal and family choices regarding how we meet up and when, and we are very used to getting together with those we love. If this is not possible for you this year, then we are thinking of you, and we hope that in the coming weeks or months, once things start to ease, that you will find a new window to see those people close to you. Lets get together online this season. We can do watch parties, zooms, Facetime, Skype and all those tools allow us to support each other where possible.

As a possible short distraction, tonight I'm sharing my picks from Topics 6-10: Jungle Vibes, Under the Sea, Popping Pink, Collage it and Recycled Packaging.

Please, do try to take tome out and relax over the Christmas break, don't drink too much, make some art, and continue to stay safe!

 

Topic 6: Jungle Vibes

The jungle topic was a huge hit, and as we had just released some new Hot Picks, we had quite a few new stamps to play with on this one!  Miriam Grazier's (link) giraffe seemed happy to munch on the foliage while escorting us around his jungle zone.

Leandra got involved too with this topic, and the Zinski Efilumps were happy to pose for this picture, in among the Kay Carley trees and those crazy Zinski flowers (link)

I adored how Autumn Clark (link) pulled out the Lynne Perrella stamps with a great colour combination. What a fabulous terrarium hat dahhhling!

 

 

We can always rely on Keren for a slightly unique interpretation of any topic, and within the striped rugby jumpers she saw Zebras! Keren Baker (link)

Topic 7: Under the Sea

Blub, Blub, Blub and we're down in the deep blue seas. My first pick is this amazing framed beauty by Helen. Her Darcy chappie is enjoying his day out fishing, and he's caught some fabulous Hot Pick stamps! We have Helen Chilton (link) to thank for this creation!

Lovely Lucy Edmondson (link) gave us a window into her reverse-canvas fish tank with all the texture and painterly layers - they do look very happy there !

And I hope you didn't miss Nikki Acton (link) who created a range of gel prints to tear up for her watery waves. Love the colours and textures she created within this.

I enjoyed how Jennie Atkinson (link) used this gorgeous stamp by France Papillon in her serene tag.

Topic 8 : Popping Pink

Time to kick up the colour vibes and some hot pinks and I loved these handy birthday cards by Claire Snowdon (link to original blog post).

 

And it was interesting to watch Lynn Good (link) pull this journal page together with Tracy Scott stamps. She was using the 'block' technique to isolate the images stamped onto a very stunning background. This is a super-fun technique to try if you haven't before.

Jenny Marples (link) managed to inject some bright vibes into kay's stamps with this stripey book cover.

 

And it was lovely to see the bright infusions on show with Sara's stamps by Miriam Grazier (link).

 

Topic 9 : Collage It

My first pick is Autumn Clark (link), who always seems to totally rock the collaged layer effect so perfectly! Not one, but two cards with Lynne Perrella stamps. I love them!

 

Jennie Atkinson (link) Like her lace, flowers and Vintage Stamps. If you are looking for a soft delicate way of pulling layers together, then Jennie is the guru!

 

Helen Chilton (link) surprised me with this interpretation. She is all about the full on colour, lots and lots of colour!! And lots of layers, and she went all minimal on us! Well, very minimal for her!

I adored how Dounia Large (link), managed to recycle some magazine papers to create clever and interesting layers in her cards with Kim Dellow's stamps for this post.

Topic 10 : Recycled Packaging

Etsuko Noguchi (link) is really good at making boxes, and in this post she used book-parcel carton packaging to make this fun box with Gwen's stamps.

 

Miriam Grazier (link) is a big fan of not only Sara Naumann stamps, but also Urban Snapshots. In this post she pulls out the 'Nature' themed stamps to create a serene journal spread.

I really enjoyed how Amanda Pink (link) used the inside of a box of chocolates for the texture on this piece with Gwen's new stamps! How fun is this!

Nikki Acton (link) made this fun concertina journal using gel prints and an array of Fresco paints with lots of fabulous carved stamp designs. You wouldn't realise recycled cardboard was the substrate!

Yes, it is really nice to sit back and appreciate the lovely creations of our bloggers! I'm sure they will continue to inspire you in 2021! They are a dream team to work with too! Thank you to them all for their fabulous inspiration throughout the year!

Leandra

2020 #8 Popping Pink: Bloom like a Rose with EEB {by Jennie Atkinson}

2020 Topic 8: Popping Pink

Subtle doesn't mean that there is no complexity. A detailed look at Jennie's beautiful pages shows intricate details thanks to stencils and gel plates. It's also a good study in white space for those of us that sometimes struggle with 'less is more'.
~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live The Dream) with you today, and I'd like to share with you a journal page pulled together using some of my favourite pink Frescos and a paper piecing technique using a lovely stamp design from Elizabeth Borer.

I have been sharing a few crafting techniques with my grandchildren through linkups over the internet in the last few weeks and got them started on layered paper piecing with paper dolls (most of us will remember that from days gone by!). This got me thinking that this would be a lovely way of showcasing these lovely stamps as I really am not a great painter! Whilst I love pink sometimes it does need the addition of a crisp clear contrasting colour and I think the use of parts of the stamp using white paper achieves a less cluttered look but still suits my vintage style.

I have used this lovely stamp set from Elizabeth Borer and combined it with a stencil from Scrapcosy for the background papers.

EEB10

PS133

But first a little about my background paper. I have used three great pink Fresco colours Taro Milk Tea, Byzantium and Vintage Lace.

Combining these on the gelli plate gave me three pieces of coloured card stock to create with which should be complementary. I made one dark sheet, one lighter and one which has been patterned with stencils.

Unfortunately these colours look a little different having been taken in my craft room on a darkish day, but at least you can see what I was trying to achieve.

Pushing the stencils into the paints here and there gives a lovely ghostly feel .........

...... and flipping the stencil ensures the text is printed on the paper the right way!

The blooms were then stamped onto the darker printed cardstock and again on white cardstock. These blooms really lend themselves to isolating smaller layers. I chose not to layer them with foam pads as I felt it lost the dynamic contrast.

I also stamped the image onto the journal pages in order not to lose some of the smaller details.

As I really loved the background I kept the decoration to a minimum and completed the page with this lovely sentiment from Alison's 'Magic and Wonder' set.

EAB16

I really love how all these colours work together and using the Gelli Plate has allowed me to have three different colours of paper to work with. Either of these panels would make an occasion card and would be flat for posting too. The paper piecing technique using a good contrast colour, in this case white, has really popped these blooms and it is worth looking at PaperArtsy stamps within your collection which might really benefit from being used in such a way as it is a technique which can be used with all genres.

My grandchildren (aged six and nine) have already found a few of their larger stamps to cut and layer now that they understand the paper layering technique (what crafting Nana would not give them stamps for birthdays and Christmas !) and I am looking forward to seeing their creations sometime soon. And you don't need gelli plate papers - I have encouraged them to look at their patterned paper to see what they can stamp on.

What could be better than a paper technique which can be enjoyed across all ages and abilities and a means of using up some of our stash! 

Jennie x

Blog: Live The Dream

2020 #8 Popping Pink: You are Unique with JOFY {by Lynn Good}

2020 Topic 8: Popping Pink

I've seen a few people using the reductive painting technique recently, and it's wonderfully effective and simple. Lynn has embellished the white further with gorgeous almost neon splatters of pink to create a piece as unique as the sentiment suggests.
~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Lynn Good (Memories on the Page) with you today, and I'd like to share with you an art journal page that I have created for this challenge - Popping Pink!

I absolutely love bright colours and pinks and purples are to me like chocolate is to others!! Combine this with JOFY stamps and we have the perfect combination.  I had planned on using another stamp set and technique but with the corona virus affecting our mail system and being in Australia they didn't arrive in time so I have used this wonderful stamp set JOFY90 and a technique that I love and learned - after attending a Tracy Scott class here in Australia.

I find this technique is very rewarding - you start by painting the whole page putting colour where ever you want on the page - and by the end of it you think " oh no this is not good!"  Then you stamp directly onto the page and using Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Chalk Paint - Snowflake, white out the areas around the stamps - it is like watching a creation bloom!  Unfortunately the first photos I took did not save to my phone so I can only tell you that I painted the entire background of the art journal page in a myriad of colours, and then stamped the JOFY90 stamp around the page in black ink.

This is the stage that I would call "blooming".  You can see where you are going but know all the small details you are about to add are going to make it shine!

Here I have added some background stamping using JOFY89 stamp as well as stamping the centre piece of the flowers on Paper Artsy Smoothy Cardstock that I had painted with Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Chalk Paint - Bubblegum.

I have used the phrase from the JOFY72 stamp on the same paper that I had prepared for the centre of the flowers. Final touches include colouring some of the finer details on the flowers with paint pens and colouring the black of the flowers as I wanted them to stand out more.

I would definitely say to have a go this technique, it is so addictive once you start!!  

I cant wait to see what you create :)

Lynn Good
http://memoriesonthepage.blogspot.com/

2020 #8 Popping Pink: Trio of Cards with EKD {by Claire Snowdon}

2020 Topic 8: Popping Pink

It's easy to assume that you need lots of colours to make impactful art but here, using a plethora of pinks in this beautiful trio of cards, Claire has woven them together to create a gorgeous masterboard. The gold splatters are the perfect finishing touch!
~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Claire Snowdon with you today, and I'd like to share with you a trio of Popping Pink birthday cards I made.  Of course these cards could be used for any occasion - but it's always handy to have a few birthday cards prepped and ready to go!

I chose to create some masterboards as the basis for my cards - masterboards are great as I have loads remaining to create more cards or to use in collages or art journalling.....the options are endless.

I started by creating some backgrounds on a couple of pieces of white A4.  I did this by blending lots of Fresco Finish paints in various shades of pink with a paintbrush until I was happy with how they looked.  I probably spent more time playing at this stage of the project, adding and covering sections,  more and more paint layers than I did on the rest of the cards put together! 

These are all the shades of pink I had in my Fresco Finish collection.....and I used every single one somewhere in these cards!  :)

The next stage of the masterboards was to add stamping and stenciling.  I used some of the lighter pink shades to do the stenciling with a The Crafters Workshop stencil and PS015.  Then used elements from EKD01, EKD03, EKD05 and EKD06 to add background stamping with a few different pink inks I found in my stash - Distress Oxide (Picked Raspberry), Archival (Pink Peony) and Archival (Cactus Flower).

 

Once I was happy with the masterboards I cut them up and added stamping using Black Versafine ink and stamps from EKD05 and EKD06.

I tried to play around with the placement of the stamps and also varied the stamps for each card so that each of them are unique.  Then I added some paint splatters in white and gold....I love the combo of pink and gold together. 

I layered up the stamped pieces onto kraft card, added to a card blank and added the happy birthday sentiment from JOFY14 - it's an oldie but a goodie!!

These cards are pretty easy to make - the fun part is creating the masterboards.  There are no rules to creating masterboards so just have a go and let your imagination run wild!!

Thanks for joining me here today,
Claire x

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