June 2025 - With 3 Things - Hoop wall hanging {by Robin Riley}

Hi everyone!

This is Robin Riley (Robin Riley) with you tonight. I was invited as a guest blogger by the PaperArtsy team and I am so very excited to take the “With 3 Things” challenge. This is my very first time doing this and I had such a good time creating this project!

For this feature on the PaperArtsy Blog, 3 identical items are sent to 3 members of the PaperArtsy blogging team. Typically, we receive a stamp, a stencil and some paint. We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send. The whole idea of this challenge is to do something crafty in our personal style with these 3 items.

Let me share with you what I received. The stamp set is  Allison Bomber’s EAB 30. Wish you could have heard my happy squeal when I first saw this! I also received a package of printed tissue, Backgrounds PT07 and to top this off I received the brand new Mattint color Bellflower. Again, there was a little squeal!

Three were also a few freebies in my package (this was the third squeal!) from other Alison Bomber and JoFY sets, that I decided to include in my project.

 

I really wanted to create something different than my usual cards. I hope you find this unique. So, looking through my craft closet (which would probably make you squeal), I came upon an embroidery hoop and that got my wheels turning! I decided to use it as the base for a framed and layered piece.

To prepare the main piece of paper that would fill the hoop, I first used the hoop to lightly trace a circle onto a piece of watercolor paper. I then used my water brush to apply water around the circle to softened it. I carefully tore the paper along the waterline, trying to keep close to the drawn outline. I always teared towards me, not away.

I first applied a coat of Mattint Foxglove to the circle. OH no ….too pink for me. I decided the tissue paper was going to rescue me. Quickly I applied a piece from PT07 while the Mattint was still wet.

Oh geez, it's still too pink for me! So one more try to save this! I decided to add a layer of Fresco Finish acrylic paint in Chalk, which is opaque to knock down the colour. Finally, a result I was happy with! I let this dry naturally before I moved on to the next step.

Time to begin the stamping with Alison Bomber's set EAB30. I wanted a lighter color for this, something similar to a watercolor effect so the next step was to stamp the beautiful image of the violets onto the smooth side of the watercolor paper in VersaFine Morning Mist. Then another tear around this image. I love doing this to watercolor paper. The results are imperfect, yet so perfect for me!

Using a small scrap piece of watercolor paper, I also used the round ephemera stamp from the set. This time I stamped in VersaFine Clair Morning Mist. I wanted a more detailed image and I wanted to eventually be able to paint over it so I needed an ink that resist water. I made sure to use the smoothest side of the paper for stamping.

I just love the Shakespeare quote from this set (EAB30). To stamp it, I used a combination of inks, VersaFine Clair Nocturne and Morning Mist. I really did not want a full on black, so I thought the Morning Mist would tone it down. I cut around this quote, instead of tearing, to give it a more finished look.

Slowly things started to come together. I laid out the pieces….hmmm this didn’t feel right yet!

Another Alison Bomber set to the rescue! This time EAB40. I stamped some solid images of the grass on the background using VersaFine Morning Mist. I also added some splatters of the Distress Oxide Hickory Smoke over all of the pieces. This is now starting to feel right to me!

Now it was time for some real fun. I love using the Mattints to add subtle color. Here I used my water brush to add Bellflower and Fern. Using a dotting tool, I added Acid Mattint dots to the centers of the violets.

The pieces needed to pop more. Using the Distress Oxide Hickory Smoke, I edged the violet piece. I ran a black Sharpie around the edge of the quote. I happened to find a piece of gray scrap to back the quote too. That’s what was needed! Now everything was coming together for me and it was time to assemble.

First I decided to paint the wooden embroidery hoop with the Mattint Shadow. I applied 3 coats, drying in between each coat. To decorate it more, I used a piece of the tissue paper again (Printed Tissue Backgrounds PT07). I took some gray washi tape and adhered it to the back of the tissue to be my guide.

I cut the washi tape from the tissue and glued it to the outer ring of the embroidery hoop.

I really wanted to add another element to this design and I wanted some type of texture, a different material. I felt like the picture needed to be grounded. So what to use? Oh, guess what, recently I made a unique element using cheese cloth and some Fern colored stencil butter from The Crafter’s Workshop. I had also put some PaperArtsy Rusting Powder into the mix.

My go to adhesive for fabrics and heavier elements is Beacon’s 3 in 1 glue. It has never failed me! I used this to attach the cheese cloth along with the hoop. I placed a heavy book on the top and let everything dry. This is exactly what I was hoping for!

I thought another element to finish this project was needed. With the extra stamps I received, I created 3 tags. A little Bellflower Mattint and tissue created the perfect little trio! Finally a little bit of scrap yarn tied around the top of the hoop just seemed to finish this project perfectly.

I really hope you enjoyed seeing me create this fun wall hanging from an embroidery hoop. The products I received sure did make this easier and fun! Thank you PA HQ for giving me this opportunity!

Robin X

Instagram: robin.riley.77

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2023 Topic 11: Monochrome {by Etsuko Noguchi} with Yellow & France Papillon Stamps

Hi everyone, It's Etsuko (My favorite things) with you today, and I'm here to share with you ATCs and Holder using a selection stamps and stencils designed by favorite artist France Papillon.

The monthly theme of Typography was selected from two France's stamp set sentiments, when I look at her stamps, I can see that she pays close attention to the words and quotes and it's very abstract. So I decided to create layers and embellishments from them and spread them on the cards. Topic 11 my theme of Monochrome with Yellow was in addition to the colour wheel paint colour, I added the actual rust colour and stamp colour to bring variety to the project to keep it from looking monotony.

I really enjoyed my project I tried some objects and technics here and hope it inspires you too!

I tried to collect materials for the project. I used two type for the ATCs and holder, fabric  for the rusty colour, plain tissue paper, I wanted paper base colours to be rough so I used the brayer, and PaperArtsy' products. The above is shown in the diagram below.

I made Monotone with Yellow colour wheel that used PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic - Tangerine Twist, Snow Flake and Little Black Dress.

First I made the master board for the ATCs. Paste the book pages with random, roughly mix the main ingredients Tangerine Twist and Snow Flake, use the brayer to apply it on top of the Smoothy heavyweight A4 white stamping card. When it dries, select the PaperArtsy stencil by France Papillon ( PS400, PS379 and PS378 ) there are marks of different sizes with the mark add irregularities using Grunge Paste.

Cut the master board into several ATCs ( 3.5" x 2.5" ) sizes. Here I created images and embellishments that will become layers. I made first layer the image of France Papillon stamp set 035 and 036 ( FP035 and FP036 ) on tissue paper with Ranger Archival Ink stamped it. I then tore it up and stuck it on top the card using gel medium. If the base is uneven, it is convenient to use tissue paper.

Using PS400, PS379 and PS378 stencils, apply VersaMark on the fabric with a sponge, remove the stencil, sprinkle rusting powder on the fabric, spray with vinegar and leave on a warm day for 4 to 5 hours, When the colour changes, wash with water and dry. I tried double gauze and calico for the fabric. I mainly used double gauze here.

If you leave it on for 4 to 5 hours on a warm day, the colour will look like this.

This is the resulting colour after washing several times with water to remove rust powder and drying.

I tried to figure out how use this fabric.

I made paint papers with brayer using colour wheel.

I printed stamps FP035 and FP036 on each piece of paint papers using a stamp ink and a embossing powder, then cut them to the desired size and laid them out. 

Here this is where the layout was decided and each item was installed.

I wasn't sure whether to distress the edges in the dark brown or card stock from the reverse, but decided the latter was better to make the card stand out.

These are all ATCs I made.

I wanted a little change for these ATCs, so I added 3D embellishments. The leftmost card in the bezel has a round image of  FP035 cut out and a clear pebble inserted from above, the pebble stuck out quite a bit, so I was worried about putting it in the holder, but I'm glad I came up with an interesting idea, which I'll write about later. The card in the center, I attached a chain to a rectangular glass and added France's favorite heart from the back. The rightmost card I fitted painted punk studs.  

The following five cards were laid out on rust fabrics and papers made for the layers.

From here, I made the holder and each ATC's bags that goes in it. And this is the bag drafting.

First I made two dark and light shades of coloured paper using Tangerine Twist, Snow Flake and Little Black Dress. I stamped the FP036 stamp on dark paper with even darker paint, also I stamped the quote of FP035 with Tsukineko VersaFine Clair - Acorn. On the light yellow paper, I stamped the image of FP035 with  Snow Flake, and stamped the quote and small round pattern of FP036 with the same Tsukineko VersaFine Clair - Acorn. This meaning is because I want to arrange dark colour bags and light colour bags alternately.

The top of the bags was cut with 1.5 inches round punch.

The bags were made so that the cards could fit easily into them.

Attach all the bags to the back with double-side tape in the middle as shown in the photo below, and attach all the bags to the holder by attaching the tape to three side of the last bag backside and attaching it to HERE part of the holder shown below. There is a tutorial on how to attach this bag on Youtube below.

The figure below is a drawing of the holder.

The shape of the holder was cut from a lid of a pastry box as shown in the preceding diagram, and the entire surface was made with two coats of Chocolate Pudding. The ATC's bezel and pebble became unexpectedly thick, so a round hole was drilled in the holder to allow it to exit and round lid was made.

When the bag mentioned above is set in the holder, the shape of the holder is wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, and trapezoidal when viewed from the side because some ATCs have embellishments and is thick.

I then attached a round child's face lid to the cover of the holder.

As shown in the photo, if opened the round lid that the bezel could be seen.

I will complete my last of this year by putting all the ATCs in the holder.

This time's Topic #11 Monotone Yellow was really fun and playful especially as I love yellow. Also, the theme of colour wheel, which spans four seasons, renewed my awareness of color and at the same time, I learned its depth.

I enjoyed adding variations to the card by adding items other than paint to the card, such as chains, wire, studs, gold thread, buttons, and other items that belong to the color yellow. I would like to take this opportunity to play with red, blue, green, and other Monotones, and if you'd like, I'd like to see how you like them too.

Thank you for stopping by today. I look forward to seeing you again.

Etsuko xxx

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