Shrain

 

Hi everyone

Etsuko here with you today.

It may be a little late, but it's still January, so I hope everyone has a happy and wonderful year in 2023. 

The first topic of the PaperArtsy blog is 'Shrine'.

Japanese shrines enshrine natural objects, phenomena, and mythological deities—what we call Yaoyorozu no kami (all things have a spirit). Therefore there are no idols like Buddha statues in the shrine, and it is almost empty. That’s like a white paper that we first get in hand, and on which people draw each image in them minds. At New Year's and seasonal festivals they pray for the good health and peace of their families and friends at the shrine. 

And the current theme for the first quarter is 'Tracks'. 

I likened the footprints of the wonderful designer Lin Brown's works and the introduction from the door to the inside as the theme Tracks. This is my project that fused these two topic and theme.

The triptych with spread material I made here was one of the first goods I ordered from PaperArtsy through a friend's introduction about 10 years ago. At that time, Linda Brown used her stamps, stencils and dies to showcase her wonderful techniques and art. The footprints are revived every time when I use her stamp. This time, I wanted to make a shrine that looks like a spirit dwelling in it that I used her stamps and stencils to begin by decorating the gate with flowers and placing to the shrine the birds which commonly found in the gardens of Japanese shrines.

Before I started this project, I worked out an ideas about how to represent the shrine, whether it was a physical shadowbox, a matchbox, a tin can with a lid, or an abstract flat surface. Afterwards some searching in my stash, I found this wooden triptych that had been lying in a cardboard box for years, and the problem was quickly solved. Since the container was decided, I chose the product for creation. Stamps are Lin Brown stamp set 17 and 26 (ELB17 and ELB26), stencils are PaperArtsy Stencil by Lin Brown (PS005) and PaperArtsy Stencil by Sara Naumann (PS092), colours are PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic - Purple Raine, Bubble Gum, Prown and Snowflake. I often used green and orange-based pink, so this time I used blue-based purple and pink, and white was added to increase the brightness.

The triptych with spread I used for this topic was a good size as shown in the picture and the thickness of the board is 1.5cm(0.6inch).

First, I applied two coats of gesso to prepare the base so that the work could proceed smoothly.

I realized halfway through that I had to remove the hinges first.

I print from my gel plate on the shrine interior, using PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic - Purple Raine, Caramel and Snowflake. Unlike when painting with a brush, the wood grain appeared clearly in the mono-print.

I used PaperArtsy stencil with Lin Brown (PS005), put it on the background and applied PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic - Snowflake using the sponge.

Then I stamped the Lin Brown stamp set (ELB 26) leaves with mixed Purple Rain and little Snowflake so that the first layer pushed back. And I applied splatter with Snowflake to the background.

I put stencil (PS005) on the shrine's each panel and applied the mixture of the PaperArtsy Grunge Paste and Purple Raine using painting knife.

First, PurpleRain and Caramel were spread on a gel plate, and then PaperArtsy stencil by Sara Naumann (PS092) was applied with Snowflake to the reverse-stenciling technique she introduced and I lifted a print it on the A4 paper.

reverse-stenciling-simply brayer paint onto the stencil, mist with water and press it onto your surface. This gives wonderful surface coverage and a more ghostly pattern design.--From PaperArtsy Blog by Sara Naumann. https://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2022/01/new-paperartsy-products-eclectica-sara.html

It was cut into an oval shape and embossed with a bronze color around it.

The gate and back were also finished in the same shade using Sara's reverse-stenciling technique, in this case using brayer to the shrine to apply the colour directly onto the surface and brayer paint Snowflake onto the stencil, mist with water and press it onto the surface.

Once the surface is dry, stamp the sentiment from the Lin Brown stamp set 26 (ELB26) with Tsukineko - Clair (Nocturne) all over and push the layer back.

The color still stands out too much so i washed with Snowflake and splattered with same Snowflake.

Now I was wondering how to decorate the door with flowers,

I painted PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic - Purple Rain, Prawn and Bubble Gum on A4 paper, stamped with daisies and I thought it would look like a hinge if placed on the side. 

And I thought it would be nice to have something like a doorknob, so I decided to make the same daisy flower with clay I had on hand and paint it.

It's been a bit long road, but the spirits are finally entering the interior. First of all Lin Brown stamp set 17 (WLB17) was printed on A4 paper using Tsukineko - Nocturne and Ranger Industries - Clear embossing powder. Embossing powder helps to define edges and prevent color smudging. I colored these birds using colored pencils.

The assumption is that there will be messengers to listen to my creative wishes, and there will be kings and queens to bring my ideas to life.

Apply masking tape to all edges before attaching the hinges to prevent smudging of the panel surface and paint each side.

There was a glass ball that was just right for the final finish, so I decorated it.

I just closed the door of the daisies and saw it.

My project at the beginning of the year was done with all the tools I had on hand without any difficult techniques. Therefore, I was able to concentrate on the production and fully enjoyed the fun of making it. At first, I wasn't sure how much I could develop with two sets of stamps and two stencils, but when I started making them, I realized that there were plenty of possibilities, and I think I could create many different designs depending on my ideas. Why don't you all make a work with a goal such as this topic and theme? I also think it's fun to take advantage of sleeping inventory and leftovers.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Etsuko xxx

PaperArtsy blog topic#15 Paper, Seeds, Twigs

 

Hi everyone, I'm here to share with you winter land project using a selection of stamps designed by Gwen Lafleur. My project this time was cards and tags for the winter season, but I also made a shadowbox using all of the themes Paper, Seeds and Twigs. 

I've been wanting to share some of my Eco Printing work on the here for a while, and since the theme this time was Paper, Seeds and Twigs, I thought it would be a good opportunity. It's the season of fallen leaves, so I started by collecting various leaves and nuts that have fallen in the nearby park and my small garden. I did Crafty Patti's eco-printing as a reference.

I started the project based on these materials.

Now let's take a quick look at the general Eco Printing way. I have prepared these goods, this binder is not always necessary but I made  with a board and a bolt to sandwich paper and leaves. And watercolour papers.

Next I have prepared 1/3 cup of Alum mixed with 1 cup hot water added cold water to fill the two each 1.5 liters bottles. And rust water which made with Rustypowder.

Brush each piece of paper with the Alum water. Alum is also used medicinally as an astringent so it can be drying to your hands.

Continue to layer paper and the greenery and flowers. The cardboard paper layer the top and bottom of the watercolour papers.

Then put it in the binder and tighten the screw and place it on a cooking vat with net. In this case, if you have a large pot, that's fine.

A brick is placed on top of the binder as a weight. Add the rust water and onion skin to the remaining alum water before heating. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, turn off heat and 1/2 cup white vinegar to help set colour. Let it sit overnight.

These are the results of this Eco Print. There were some that worked well and some that didn't, but each of them seemed to be useful for something. In addition to watercolor paper, I also used thin washi paper, but since it was placed at the top of the layer, the color was dyed, but I couldn't print it in a clear shape. I think it would be nice if I could print well on washi, so I'm thinking of trying it at another opportunity.

I made three tags, card and shadow box used the Eco Prints. Now I will show you three tags.

I made the first tag using geranium leaf eco-print paper as a background. Print the EGL32 motif on piece of the eco-print paper with Tsukineko-Versa Fine Clair (Nocturne) to make it a focal point, printed the EGL31 script on the washi with Tsukineko-Versa Fine Clair (Acorn) then it tore off and hung it behind and also I painted with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic- Slate on the A4 white card, and the Cyrillic stamp of Gwen Lafleur stamp set 31 (EGL31) was embossed with white powder, cut and layered..

The second Tag.

The tag is decorated with 3 small tags against a fern eco-print paper background. The tag is decorated with 3 small tags using EGL30 and 31 stamps. The eco-print paper has the color of rust water and onion skin, so I don't need to add much skill, so I used snowflake here to make the motif stand out. The quote from Alison Bomber stamp set 21 (EAB21).

The third Tag.

The background of this tag was the eco-printed paper where the shape of the leaves could not be clearly seen, so I added PaperArtsy Fresco Finish ChalkAcrylic - Brown Shed and Toffee to create a natural color. Also I used EGL31 Islamic pattern with Tukineko Versa Fine Clair (Acorn) and (Morning Mist) print on it.

A small leaf part of eco-print was cut into a circle in the focal point, and an EGL32 Cell stamp was attached behind it.

Small EGL31circle stamps and EAB21 quote stamps were attached.

I used this eco-print paper for the card. I still don't know what this leaf is. 😅 But I decided on this because the flow of leaves little resembled a fir tree. 

I wanted to add some variation, so I painted Brown Shed, Toffee and Little Black Dress and used Snow Flake around them to keep the color down for the paper. On top of that, I wanted a little more variation, so I added the Cyrillic stamp of EGL31 with white and gold embossing powder, and randomly stamped the same stamp with Tsukineko-Versa Fine Clair (Morning Mist). I cut a circle out of 3 small leaf eco-print paper and used Ranger Distress Oxide-Vintage Photo and Distress Ink-Black Soot around it. As you can see in this picture, I originally planned to arrange the quote stamps like this, but the relationship between the circles was unclear, so I abandoned this plan.

Enlarged photo of part.

I used the EAB21 quote stamp to bridge the two circles.

Finally, I made a shadow box using all of this theme Paper, Seeds and Twigs.

I made a small circle with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic - Caribbean Sea and Sea Glass, stamped EGL32 cell patterns using a stamp positioner, colored it with a color pencil, and stamped it again.

I cut out the cell patterns and drew highlights with a white gel pen and cut out each one.

After arranging the motifs, I found that the colors and shapes were OK, so I glued them onto black cardstock.

I measured the inside dimensions of the box, shaped the paper, cut it, and pasted it on the box.

For the outside, I painted PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic - Caramel, Toffee and Brown Shed onto the smoothy regular A4 white-card and stenciled PA234 and PA322 with Vintage lace then I stamped EGL31 stamp with Tsukineko-Versa Fine Clair (Acorn ).

Once the paper was dry, I embossed the EGL32 cell pattern with Ranger embossing powder Gold, Silver, White and Liquid Platinum and cut to the outside dimensions and pasted.

Now I have created a world inside this using the material of the theme. For the leaves, I cut the eco-print using rose leaves into a shape and colored it a little.

I then laid out collected maple leaves, acorns, rose hips, twigs and small pine cones in this box and splattered Snowflake.

The great thing about this project was that my husband and I enjoyed walking around a few parks looking for leaves and nuts and enjoying the wonderful autumn season. The second pleasure was the joy of opening the eco-prints, not knowing how the collected leaves would turn out, and the joy of working on the organic base. This time I thought to myself that the way to create something is to go into nature and feel in the smells of the air, the sounds and  colours that change with the four seasons without thinking about anything. Thank you for giving me this opportunity of the Topic. 

Thank you so much stopping by.

Etsuko xxx