Expressions of Gratitude with France Papillon stamps {by Ann Barnes}

Hello everyone

Ann here with you today and I'll be sharing a few different ways that I like to express gratitude.

Autumn is in full swing where I live, and I am always so inspired by the beautiful colors this season brings. Pairing these colors with the gorgeous leaves from PaperArtsy France Papillon Stamp Set 029 (FP029) was perfection. I achieved my color by using PaperArtsy Infusions Dye Stains in Slime (CS13), Lemoncello (CS04), Just Walnut (CS25), and Terracotta (CS21). Then I used the Stamp Set 028 (FP028) to add sentiments to my pieces.

Every autumn, the beauty of nature that surrounds me instils a sense of gratitude for how fortunate I am to be alive and surrounded by those who love and support me. These feelings usually result in me setting aside time to make a few "expressions of gratitude" cards to send out.

While I was creating my cards, I thought it would be wonderful to also create a journal where I could take a moment each day to reflect on something I am grateful for. I will be sharing the process for creating this Daily Gratitude Journal as well.

To create a blend of gorgeous fall colors, I spritz a piece of PaperArtsy Smoothy (SCA4) with water and sprinkle Infusions onto the page randomly, letting the different dye colors spread into each other.

If there are areas that are too bold, add more water, and conversely, in the areas that need more color you can sprinkle more of the infusions. You can also use a brush to move the color.

Once the papers are dry you get a glimpse of the beautiful, bold colors.  

I had so much fun working with the Infusions, and ended up with a lot of papers! I even grabbed a few additional Infusions, Rusty Car (CS17), Golden Sands (CS05) and Orange County (CS06) for more interest.  The best part of creating with the Infusions is that every result is unique.

This beautiful Infusions dyed paper was the perfect background for an overall patterned paper. Using embossing ink, I stamped the various leaf designs from PaperArtsy France Papillon Stamp Set 029 (FP029) and sprinkled with fine detail gold embossing powder then heat set.

 

I also wanted a patterned paper where the leaf designs themselves were colorful. Using the various leaf designs and Distress Inks by Ranger, I inked up each stamp with multiple colors then stamped onto paper. I love how the same random stamping with different mediums can create totally different looks!

I cut up one of the sheets of embossed leaves into individual pieces.

With all the different pieces ready to assemble my cards, it's time to make the pages for my gratitude journal. I begin by stamping the branch design along the edge of piece of drawing paper. The paper is long enough to fold and only as tall as the stamp design. I use a stamping platform to ensure the correct placement, since there will be 30 pages in my journal.

Each edge is cut to mimic the outside edge of the design and then the pages are stacked together.

The journal uses an Australian reverse piano hinge binding. It sounds intimidating but is not difficult, and it does not require any stitching. The best part is that it allows pages to be removed and replaced easily. My binding is essentially a strip of PaperArtsy Crunchy waxed paper (WXPA5) accordion folded.

 

Each of the folded pages has a slit in the fold that the accordion slips into, then a strip of paper secures the page into place. There are many tutorials online for specific directions on how to create this binding.

My pages were folded to allow the branch design to extend beyond the front flap. I cut the book covers to those same dimensions (shorter front cover and shaped edge for the back cover) and then covered them with pieces of the Infusions dyed paper. Using PaperArtsy France Papillon Stamp Set 028 (FP028) I stamped and embossed the words "daily gratitude" onto the front cover. I also added a couple individual leaves.

The inside cover papers are old French papers with the leaves stamped on top of the original script in archival ink. 

I stamped the first journal page with the title "daily gratitude journal". 

I created three "thankful cards" to send out as well as a daily gratitude journal.

 

I love the way each of the three cards is unique yet shares similar elements.

I am looking forward to using this gratitude journal each day in November.

Lifting the cover to reveal the beautiful inside.

Coloring the branches and adding touches of gold.

Multi-colored inking of the various leaf stamps.

The contrast between the gold and the rich background color.

 

Any day a good day to express gratitude, I hope to make even more of an effort to acknowledge this gratitude and I think the daily gratitude journal will be a wonderful start! I hope that I have inspired you to create something. 

Thanks for stopping by, Ann   xx

Blog: aksbarchitect CREATES

Facebook: Ann Sullivan Barnes

Instagram: aksbarchitect

2024 Topic 2 : Mattints {by Floss Nicholls} on the PaperArtsy Blog

Hi everyone

It's Floss from flossWORKSHOPart here with you today.  

I have been having some fun experimenting with the new Mattint products that PaperArtsy have introduced to their wonderful range of colours.  I wanted to see, other than using them as a glaze over fresco acrylics, or a tint to tissue paper, how else I could use them within my style of mixed media.  I spent quite some time filming the methods I tried so that I could share this with you in a way that you could see just what I got up to and my thinking behind it as well as showing you with still photos and a description. I got googley eyes editing all the clips!

I ended up with quite a lot of 'collage fodder' through playing and experimenting and so rather than present you with a pile of bits and pieces, I used the sample pieces to create a greetings card and (mismatching) tag...to be honest I couldn't resist playing with the pile of yumminess! 

I love greens and teals and so when PaperArtsy announced they were bringing out a green (Fern), blue (shark) and turquoise (dragonfly) Mattint I jumped at the chance to use them. I wanted to see how they would work with PaperArtsy grunge paste, the PaperArtsy Just Walnut and Slime infusions and how they look on fabric.

Naturally, not having used the Mattint product before, the very first thing I did was to use it on good old plain white tissue paper.  This gave me the base line in understanding it's properties and most importantly (for me) knowing the colour pigment strength. I used a sponge to apply the Mattint through the PaperArtsy Stencil by Sara Naumann (PS092) and found that it was a very delicate sage like tint...it got me wondering if all the Mattints were this subtle...or if I needed to shake the bottle a little longer to get the full colour density.

I often work with materials and fabrics in my mixed media and so I wanted to see how Mattints would work applying it straight onto the fabric surface versus onto a gesso prepared fabric.

What I found was that, just like a paper substrate, the Mattint absorbed into the fabric with a deeper colour than the area where the gesso was.  I tried using a spatula with the stencil first but I had much more control and accurate success applying it with a sponge.

I wanted to see how it would mix with grunge paste and how it would apply to fabric and I absolutely was not disappointed!

Firstly, I used grunge paste on its own (top left) so that I could again make a comparison.  The grunge paste mixed with FERN Mattint (top right) was slightly less brittle and took a fraction longer to dry.   I then strengthened the colour using a tiny drop of slimed fresco finish acrylic paint (bottom right) into the grunge paste mixed with fern Mattint; this took the longest time to dry. 

What I really liked was how the Mattint made the grunge paste more pliable; having not used it for a while, the grunge paste had become a little stiff.  Although yes, mixing it with a few drops of the Mattint naturally 'thinned' the grunge paste, it gave it a more creamy workable consistency and was easy to apply through the PaperArtsy Stencil by Sara Naumann (PS272) with a spatula.

Having liked how the PaperArtsy Fern Mattint mixed with the grunge paste, I sprinkled some Just Walnut infusions onto that to try. 

I wanted to keep the dye granules more concentrated in places and liked how the consistency worked onto the fabric tissue paper.

Having liked how the infusions worked with this mix and how the Mattints are transparent I looked at how they would layer up and definitely can see how they could be used with adding detail over specific areas.

Sometimes it can be hard knowing where to start with a project, or or what the focal point of your art will be.  I often find by playing with colour or fiddling with products naturally flows into something more specific as I get lost in the process.  Having tested these things, my inquisitive nature had me all fired up and wanting to find out more...

 

Knowing how much I love using infusions I wanted to explore how the infusions would work with the Mattints on their own...so rather than spritzing the infusions with water I sprinkled a little of the walnut stain infusions onto the fern Mattint.

Again I wanted to keep the dye pigment as separated as possible to give me the maximum colour differentiation and so I dabbed the mixture carefully with a sponge to lift the colour. I love how the brown walnut crystals are slower to dissolve allowing this to work so well...you can see it on the sponge here.

Carefully dabbing this through the PaperArtsy diamond Stencil by Sara Naumann (PS272) onto fabric left some glorious colour. Again I found that the gesso area reacted like a resist making the absorbency less and the colour more subtle. 

The diamonds on the left was where I was mopping up the last of the mixture and the walnut stain crystals had dissolved into the fern mattint making it more of a solid colour.

I got so engrossed with what I was doing that I missed taking a photo of my next test! I spread the grunge paste mixed with shark matt tint over the fabric tissue and impressed stencil (PS202) also by Sara Naumann from PaperArtsy into the mixture which squeezed some through the openings giving me a relief image.  Whilst the stencil was still in place I used DRAGONFLY Mattint over the grunge paste.  It was interesting how the dragonfly was stronger in colour than the shark or fern Mattint.  When I lifted the stencil it pulled some of the surface cover away leaving me with a very distressed outcome.  

I liked the way the turquoise (dragonfly) was not a solid colour throughout and think that had something to do with how the grunge paste was drying as well as the mix of where it sat on/off the grunge paste.  I'd definitely recommend trying this on different substrates...you'll end up with some fabulous pieces to use in your collages.

I was excited with how I thought the test pieces might work together and even though I hadn't planned this part...I started gluing the tissue papers over old sheet music paper which was pasted onto 300gsm card.  

I wanted to see how the mattint would be under the presser foot on my sewing machine as some glazes and finishes do not run as smoothly as their tackiness can get stuck a little.  I was so pleased to find this was not the case and that everything ran smoothly. That is no doubt because the Mattints are matte tints, and so the surface is not going to have a sticky glossy type finish, it is smooth and almost toothy.

Smearing the mixed grunge paste and fern Mattint onto some black tissue paper and impressing the PS202 stencil and then pulling it off whilst still wet gave me the little flower detail. I especially liked how the image is not solid and parts of the flower are line only. I used slimed fresco finish acrylic to pick out some definition in the centres of the flower. 

To complete the collaged card I free motion stitched the flower stems on the sewing machine.

I added an eyelet and some strong black variegated thread to the smaller piece to make it into a 'mismatching' tag.

I really liked how the mattint extended the life of my grunge paste, not only with a subtle colour change and becoming a really nice working consistency but the way it allowed me to press a stencil into it giving me a more distressed finish. 

Blog: https://www.flossworkshopart.com/blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/floss.workshop.art

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floss_workshop.art/

website:https://www.flossworkshopart.com/

I have plenty of workshops going on in East Sussex UK. Details and booking can be found on my website 

I am also in The Enterprise Centre, Eastbourne 23rd March in the morning teaching mixed media coneflowers...tickets available now on Eventbrite