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 #7 Under the Sea: Mermaid Blues with France Papillon {by Jennie Atkinson}

2020 Topic 7: Under The Sea

Intro
In this post, Jennie has looked hard at her stamps to find elements that work with dual purpose. For example, paint can be splatted, brushed or washed for different effects, but by using the same colour, you create different hues without over complicating it. I love how masking the face makes it 'pop', and on a tag, she has not used the whole face just some of it. Some condidered thinking, and what a result!
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live The Dream) sharing an Under the Sea creation using France Papillon's fabulous new stamps. 

Although the two sets of stamps I have used have no real link to the sea, or anything underneath it, it is ALWAYS possible to look further and find parts of stamps which lend themselves to a totally different subject.

I have combined elements of the two stamp sets with Scrapcosy's Stencil PS093 but as I decided to create a tag I couldn't get as much on it as I had hoped! I definately thought she was a curious sea creature!

FP002

FP003

PS093

Masking the stamped face image allowed me to create most of my tag. Initially using texture paste through the stencil .........

....... and adding colour by way of splattering very watery Fresco Acrylic Paint (Turquoise) and stamping "bubbles" with Hydrangea Archival Ink. The watery turquoise does not sink into the tag as I had first primed the tag with two coats of Cloud 9 Fresco Paint.

For the Mermaid's earrings I turned to this unusual image which has frondy type elements which I stamped on brayered paint. It is always amazing what you can find in detailed stamps!

I have used Turquoise Fresco Paint throughout the project both for painting and for colouring the single flower. By using different methods - paintbrush, splattering and a brayer - it is possible to get different hues of the same colour.

Adding shells and small golden seed beads has hopefully added to the under the water feel!

So the moral of this story is to look deep into your stamps, see what you can find that is not necessarily obvious and allow yourself to really stretch them to create themes you might not have associated initially with the stamps.

As always thank you for joining me.

Jennie x

Blog: Live The Dream

2020 #7 Under the Sea: Blowing Bubbles with Scrapcosy {by Nikki Acton}

2020 Topic 7: Under The Sea

Intro

All the detail is in the cleverly constructed background. A great excuse to play with some gel printing techniques and a watery paint-colour palette.  I love how the stencilled spots link all the backgrounds together, and the white, torn-edge waves also link to the fish stamped in black on white.
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, Nikki from Addicted to Art with you today sharing a card using stamps by Raquel aka Scrapcosy. 

This is a really simple design and could be adapted utilising any background papers - I created mine using my gel plate.

The basis for the background is lots of torn strips of papers (creating wave effects hopefully) - so this really could work with anything, although I made mine in sea toned colours and used Scrapcosy's stencil (PA095) to creates the bubble effects.

So first of all it was just play time! Add paint to my gelli plate - lay down the stencil - remove some paint - take a print. Ooooh I like what is on the back of the stencil - print that too. Start again - different colour of paint - bring in the stencil - add colour this time - take a print - and so I keep playing using both the positive and negative of the stencil and also any paint left on the stencil.

I tore my prints into strips - around 1-2 inches wide and layered them on my card - making sure they overlapped.

Finally of course, I stamped the wonderful fish images from Scrapcosy stamp set ESC10 and added a quote from Alison Bomber EAB16. 

The detail on the fish is amazing and I just left them stamped in black and cut them out.

Like many of us I do just love playing with paint and making backgrounds, whether with a brush, a brayer or my gelli plate. Mixing them up like this - tearing and collaging together is very forgiving - as you just pick the bits you like! Add your favourite image(s) and maybe some words or a sentiment and your done.

Thanks for joining me today, I hope you have a creative week.

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

Instagram: @Nikki_Act

Pinterest: nikacton

YouTube

2020 #7 Under the Sea: Fossilized Fish Bones with Ink & The Dog Minis {by Autumn Clark}

2020 Topic 7: Under The Sea

'Deep sea' explorations can unearth beauties like these tonight. Autumn has managed to create experimental pieces that look fossilised. The shine looks like they're deep under the ocean too. Plenty of techniques to get your teeth into!
~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Autumn Clark from SewPaperPaint with you today, and I'd like to share with you a couple of tags inspired by deep sea fossils with an unmistakable underwater vibe.

There are only two Ink & The Dog Mini Stamps of fish and I really wanted to create a project that would showcase them and for their incredible design.  Sometimes the best way to do that is with a bit of texture...

This process was filled with discovery.  First, I learned that if you add two layers of clear embossing and a third layer of a mixed media powder, (here our own Seth Apter's Deep Sea Baked Texture powder,) you get a really beautiful transparent embossed finish that actually looks like tinted glass.  Secondly, I discovered that you can stain Art Stones with Infusions to make your own colored embellishments.  Here I used In the Navy Infusions.  My final tidbit of discovery was in adding Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics with a baby wipe through a stencil for a very soft and faded stencilled effect.  So grab yourself a cuppa...

I had in mind to use clear UTEE for my fossils and paint them, but after two layers (adhered with the Ranger embossing ink dauber onto torn edged watercolor card) it occurred to me that I could end with Seth's powder.  The result was much more transparent than if I had used three layers of his powder only (and much less wasteful I might add!)  

I kept my Mini stamps 100 and 101 at hand, inked with Versafine and when that last layer was just melted I impressed the stamp into the molten embossing powder.

Because my top layer of embossing was quite dark I didn't get the contrast I had hoped for.

First I turned to Distress Crayons in Rusty Hinge to try to bring back the contrast.  It didn't work as well on the fish as it did on the edges of my torn card and the pitted sections of the embossing.  But I am so glad I added it first!

So I applied PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic in Concrete to a piece of cut and dry foam and "inked" my stamp with it, carefully aligning with my first impression.  

I was instantly smitten!  

I then went onto do some gel printing with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics in Inky Pool with a little Concrete.   I used Kraft card for my prints, which I am loving doing with shades of blue these days.  I cut my prints into tag shapes, then to add a bit more detail I used PaperArtsy Stencil {by Scrapcosy} PS095 and carefully smoothed more Concreate through the circles using a baby wipe.  I'm not sure if I have seen this done before, but I instantly loved the technique!  The paint globs just a little along the edge of the stencil, to create somewhat of a shadow effect.  Brilliant!  Finally I added some stamping with Distress Oxides in Rusty Hinge using Mini Stamp 23.

 

I didn't want to go overboard using too many stamps, but needed a proper sentiment.  I used a portion of PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Scrapcosy} Collection ESC12 on a scrap of my printed paper.  The creatures on this stamp set would be equally lovely embedded into UTEE, don't you think?  

As a final touch I layered my "fossils with some vintage crochet for faux fish netting.  I stained my Art Stones with In the Navy Infusions and adhered them with matte Mod Podge.  

I can't stress enough the importance of free play, experimenting with your supplies.  You truly never know what you will discover!  These tags remind me to dive deep and remain curious.   

Then again, your play may be with beautiful impressions of a flower or face, embedded into your chosen embossing powders.  Think of the many ways you can apply these techniques and run wild my friends!  It's all in the journey!

Stay safe, stay well and big hugs, Autumn

Blog: SewPaperPaint
Facebook: Autumn Clark
YouTube: Autumn Clark - SewPaperPaint
Instagram: @sewpaperpaint
Pinterest: Autumn S Clark