2015-09-10

Hi Everyone,

Leandra here to introduce the lovely new stamps from the Eclectica³ {Sara Naumann} Collection...

Here's a video introduction and some samples using these new stamps for you to check out!

So lets take a closer look at Sara's new stamps...





As ever, we always have some super talented crafts who volunteer to help us work with our newest stamps. Tonight we start with Keren Baker. Keren is a clean-and-simple style crafter who is gradually exploring more mixed media and loving the experimentation!

Reflection Tag {using ESN18 by Keren Baker}



The quote is a thoughtful one and so I wanted to create a simple subtle tag with a little pop of colour using seam binding ribbon. Giving the branches depth with a lighter colour meant the tag wasn't simply flat and pairing an unusual base colour and top coat meant it had dimension without looking too cluttered.

Holiness and Beauty {using ESN18 by Keren Baker}

The solid stamped bird means you've lots of options in adding technique with the stamping. I've created a sample using kiss stamping with paint but I added some different coloured inks to give depth and because it's a stamp without every detail picked out, you can add your own, like I did with some stitching on the branches.

Postcard {using ESN17 by Keren Baker}

This is to be used as a real postcard so I've not filled up all the space. I love the movement that the leaves bring and so have added them to help lead your eye through the piece. They work brilliantly with watercolour and can be a subtle background or the main thing, as in my next sample!

Winter Wreath {using ESN17 by Keren Baker}

Sara's designs are so elegant and work fantastically for multi-layering, but being me, I couldn't wait to treat one of the stamps very cleanly and create this fun wreath. Granted, there's quite a bit of fussy cutting, but I think the end result is well worth it and shows these stamps off! After all, if you can't go a little over the top at Christmas, when can you?!

Next up we have Lucy Edmondson. Lucy is a mixed media crafter. She loves to make three-dimensional items, and things that are grungy or a little bit different. But today she has even made me a ‘clean and simple’ sample!

Bird and Flowers{using ESN17 and ESN18 by Lucy Edmondson}

It was fun using the ‘snowflakes’ as quirky flowers, and just adding individual leaves from the leaf spray, which I think will be a much used stamp, to make this colourful canvas board.

Reflection, Celebration Canvas {using ESN17 and ESN18 by Lucy Edmondson}

Yes, I used a bit of everything here! I snipped pieces off the leaf spray so that each ‘tree’ was different. I love how you get such a lot of versatile script and phrases in Sara’s stamp sets, which is great when you want to build up layers as I did here.

Haunted Bird {using ESN17 and ESN18 by Lucy Edmondson}

I think the bird is my favourite – or is it the leaf sprig?! There’s also a branch on the ESN18 plate so you can add extra bits to your tree. This time I used one of the ‘buttons’ with the snowflake as a decoration instead of as a flower – so adaptable! I’ve got lots of card ideas for these stamp sets – it would be fun to use the leaves around the edges as a border, or to isolate the ‘31’ or ‘25’ from the numbers stamp, which is a particular favourite of mine, for a Christmas or Halloween card.

Honor Christmas {using ESN17 by Lucy Edmondson}

This time the versatile ‘snowflakes’ worked great as an all over design on another canvas board. I used sections of the leaf sprig to make a Christmas wreath, with London Bus resin roses. I think it really frames the quote.

Our third contributor tonight is Alison Hall. Alison is a mixed-media artist who loves to use collage, colour and texture on cards, tags and art journal pages.

Joy {using EN17 by Alison Hall}

I love how the dotty circles stamps adds some unexpected berry detail to the foliage frond.

Christmas {using ESN17 by Alison Hall}

Its so enjoyable to make mixed media painty backgrounds, then start to build detail specific to the theme you are working with. This background could have been summer, but ended up perfect for a fresh Christmas style with lots of stamped layers adding depth and interest.

Silent Night {using ESN18 by Alison Hall}

What's not to like about a bird! And on top of the music, it seems to make you feel he's happiest when singing! The patches of white softens some of the background nicely to push the focus towards the happy chappie.

Winter Chill {using ESN18 by Alison Hall}

Stamping the bird off the edge suddenly gives him a flock of buddies nearby! Found the '25' from the newer PaperArtsy stencil 021, and did similar with a Crafter's Workshop stencil too!

And the tail end charlie tonight is Wanda Hentges. Wanda loves playing with stamps, inks, and paints, enjoying the huge variety of things that can be done with them.

Fine Seasoning for joy {using ESN17 by Wanda Hentges}

I love the new leaves branch. I even created a solid stamp of them by stamping onto fun foam, cutting it out, and attaching it to plastic packaging.

Christmas in my Hearty {using ESN17 by Wanda Hentges}

The foam stamp I made from Sara’s stamp is done with green paint, then over-stamped with black ink.

Reflection {using ESN18 by Wanda Hentges}

I love those leaves for removing paint on the Gelli Plate before taking the print and there great images on these sets for building up your backgrounds.

Reflection Resist {using ESN18 by Wanda Hentges}

The bird, embossed in clear, resists the watery London Bus Fresco Finish Paint, creating a great setting for this quote.

Now lets see what Sara has been up to with her stamps. As you know Sara quite likes to mix things up while keeping a quite minimalist look so I'll leave you in her capable hands and you can see what she’s been working on!

Hi everyone, Sara here,

I'm very pleased to show you my newest stamps for the Christmas season ahead. I wanted to keep things simple because if you’re like me, you always want to have a few quick and easy design ideas in mind….but you also want the fun of working with several different stamps and mediums.

I've made a couple of things for you tonight with a few step outs so you can see the process.

Project One: A Merry Christmas to You { using ESN17 by Sara Naumann}

I love the idea of blue and green together for Christmas cards—while it still feels festive, it’s a nice twist on the traditional red and green. That said, I did use a pop of London Bus for accents.

Step One: First I painted white card with a solid two coats of London Bus, then covered my card front with it. Yes, you can just paint the front panel of your card but I find this method keeps the card blank from getting painty inside or on the back.

Step Two: Next I brayered a piece of sheet music with Mermaid. Just squeeze a dab from the bottle onto your sheet music, then roll the brayer through it to spread the paint. When dry, stamp the numbers along the side.

Step Three: The focal is the leaf stamped with Guacamole, then sprinkled with gold embossing powder. Heat-set it, then use a fine paintbrush to paint inside the leaves with a watery mixture of Mermaid and Guacamole. Use a stipple brush to spatter the piece with the watery mix.

Step Four: Stamp “merry Christmas” with Jet Black Archival, then edge with London Bus. Add a few copper brads, a strip of black card and pop the elements together. A bit of red gingham ribbon balances out the stamped sentiment and adds to the red accents.

And here is my second project ....

Project Two: Joy {using ESN17 by Sara Naumann}

Fresco Finish paint looks great brayered onto white card and you can still stamp on top and get a crisp look. Even better, it’s a quick and easy way to add colour to your background—a great technique for making lots of Christmas cards in one go.

Step One: Squeeze a bit of Mermaid straight from the bottle onto white card, then spread it out with the brayer. Let it dry, then stamp the sentiment and trio of “snowflakes” at the bottom with Jet Black Archival ink.

Step Two: Crumple, then smooth a piece of kraft packing paper (I pulled this one out of my latest Amazon order). Use a brush to paint white card with London Bus. While it’s wet, press it with the kraft paper to get a slightly textured background.

Step Three: Cover the card front with the red background paper, then mount the blue sentiment on black and glue. There’s a little strip of excess red texture painted paper going across the bottom of the card front. Ribbon and brads add even more texture.

Project Three: Peace {using ESN18 by Sara Naumann}

Not strictly a Christmas card, but I thought it was fun to show the versatility of this set beyond Christmas. Plus, I am madly in love with this bird (made from a photo I took!) and it just makes me happy to stamp him.

Step One: Brayer white cardstock with Guacamole and let it dry.

Step Two: Use a foam applicator (the one from Ranger works well) to apply Mermaid through a piece of punchinella. Let dry.

Step Three: Spatter with watery London Bus.

Step Four: Stamp the script, music notes, and “holiness” images with Jet Black Archival. Glue it to the card base, then use your finger to edge the card with London Bus. Glue a black strip of cardstock across the centre and wrap with twine, securing the ends to the front of the card where they’ll be hidden by the focal.

Step Five: Brayer white card with Mermaid, then stamp the bird and “peace” with Jet Black Archival. Use foam tape to attach it to the card front. Tie a bow in twine and glue.

Project Four: Reflection {using ESN18 by Sara Naumann}

Here’s another design that can work for lots of different themes. I like the quote for art journaling, too.

Step One: Brayer white cardstock with Guacamole as before.

Step Two: Let it dry, then stamp the branch and script with Mermaid and emboss with gold. (Actually, you can stamp with whatever you have—paint just happens to work well for embossing.)

Step Three: Mat the piece on black and glue to the card front. Spatter with watery Mermaid.

Step Four: Brayer Guacamole on white card, stamp the sentiment and mount on black before gluing to the card front with foam tape. Add a red bow and copper brads and you’re all set!

Another great release from Sarah tonight, I think her stamps are so thoughtfully designed. I love that they are not overtly Christmas, and can really see that many of the elements are going to make great additions to my journalling pages. But of course, as tonight's designers have shown, perfect for fast cards too....or mixed media styley!

Please, take a moment to visit the blogs of tonight's contributors. Links to their blogs are there if you hover over their name (the bit in bold), and of course, they take the time to put more detailed information about how they made their samples so well worth a visit if you can!

All these stamps are available now from your favourite PaperArtsy stockist, as you know, we urge you to support your local independent retailer!

Australia:
Crafter's Cupboard Pty Ltd, Berwick, Melbourne, Australia

Canada/USA:
Frantic Stamper Inc, Eagle Point, Oregon, Canada
Simon Says Stamp, Columbus, Ohio, USA

France:
Kerudoc Creation, Kerudoc, France
Scrapatouille, Brignoles, France

Germany:
Stempelmuehle, Gardelegen, Germany
Stempelfee, Hilden, Germany

Netherlands
Bianca's Toko, Nieuw Weerdinge, Netherlands
Creafine, Pependrecht, Netherlands
Leuke Stempels, Nijverdal, Netherlands
Papillon Hobby, Hendrik Ido Ambacht, Netherlands

South Africa:
Stencil Art, Johannesburg, South Africa

United Kingdom:
Aldridge Crafts, Attleborough, Norfolk, England
Artist Trading Post, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England
Blade Rubber Stamps, Bloomsbury, London, England.
Birds in the Barn, Marks Tey, Essex, England
Colemans Craft Warehouse, Rushden, Northamptonshire, England
Country View Crafts, Nr Sandy, Bedfordshire, England
Craftylicious, Mildenhall, Suffolk, England
Daisy's Jewels and Crafts, Coventry, West midlands, England
Imagine That, Upminster, Essex, England
It's Crafting Time, Harston, Cambridgeshire, England
Loobi Crafts, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England
Pink Tulip Creations, Studley, Warwickshire, England
Stampers Grove, Edinburgh, Scotland
Swanstitch, Deal, Kent, England
That Craft Place Ltd, Westham, East Sussex, England
That's Crafty, Harold Wood, Essex, England
The Artistic Stamper, Faversham, Kent, England
The Craft Barn, South Nutfield, Surrey, England
The Forget me not Kraft Kabin, Rochford, Essex, England

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