PaperArtsy

Triple Layered Textures with TS {by Keren Baker}

2026-05-29T18:00:00.000+00:00

Hello everyone, Keren here with you today for a textural piece using the gorgeous new sets from Tracy Scott. It turned out to be one of those projects where you plan the first step but see where the mood takes you afterwards!

My main idea was using the beautiful PS520 stencil, which I wanted to cut in half and have as a 'gate'way to the rest of the project. I also wanted to use lots of the new images, so needed my outer layer to be as bold as possible so it hid the subsequent layers. Instead of the background I began with my foreground!

As I wanted the 'gate' to be split into two and knew that once I'd used Grunge Paste, it would be hard to cut precisely, I trimmed the acetate in two, then attached the pieces back together with washi tape.

I separated the pieces shortly after stencilling and used my finger to soften the Grunge Paste edges, left to dry and then painted in Mustard Pickle. I also used PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic in White Fire over the top to give a metallic lustre.

I knew there'd be a lot of painting. As Tracy's stamp are so detailed and artistic, I used a stamp positioning tool so I could over-stamp and neaten any lines that I'd overpainted.

When it came to the main focus, I used this face image. I didn't want it to be exactly as the image so decided to change it. I meant no disrespect to the original image and inspired origins.

You can see some of the many layers that I put on. It felt like I was trying to do contouring on a face at one point! I won't show all of the layers, but you can see how I was building them.

I had more painting to do, but next decided to create the base layer that the face was going to go upon.

For the background, I wanted to use my brayer. Truth be told, I used to find brayering pretty scary and I have to admit I don't always feel like I know what I'm doing! I'd recommend just having a go, as it's so satisfying adding layers of paints. Start off with a couple of colours and just lightly brayer over your substrate.

Use different directions and add in an extra colour. If it feels too bright, just go back in with a lighter colour (I used Eggshell) which will knock the colour back. Being 'light-handed' with the paint will reap real rewards. You can see below how once I was happy with the background, I traced around the image which would help the face to 'pop' away from the brayering.

For extra texture, I used the circles stamp from TS109 which I brayered paint onto the stamp and then just stamped randomly onto the substrate. I sneaked in the text from the Ink and the Dog Xmas Plate 1.

The layers just needed bringing together and so I needed to get painting again. The large florals really are so stunning.

After trimming them all out, I just needed to arrange them and decide how I was going to attach the layers to the base. I still can't resist transparency, so used acetate.

I added the florals in the correct position onto a plain layer of acetate and lined up the front layer on top.

So I didn't have any elements moving, I secured the layers with washi tape and then punched holes through them. I added some eyelets and tied the layers together.

I loved the stencils, in fact PS518 would make a beautiful 'gate' too. You could make a long tall book using halves of the stencilled images. You can see the acetate wings that I stamped with Stazon, but these would look beautiful with transparent glitter added

I did want to add metallic flakes on top of the Grunge Paste, and will have a go at that next time.

I hope you love playing with Tracy's stamps- they're so inspiring.

See you again,

Keren x

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Paper Ticket Fun with EMW {by Victoria Wilding}

2026-05-27T18:00:00.000+00:00

Hello everyone, Victoria here with you today for some paper ticket fun using the brand new designs by Mags Woodcock. The beauty of Mags’ designs is the variety of text and smaller images which makes them perfect for creating your own paper ephemera, and it’s always so handy to have a selection of tickets ready and waiting for your next project!

Mags’ new release has a love and music theme running through the designs, with some vintage text, numbers and pretty florals too, so there are limitless options for creative fun. And it is the playfulness of these sets, which help you create without pressure whilst enjoying your products.

There are so many stamps on EMW004, EMW005, and EMW006 and as if you didn’t already have enough options, it’s so easy to pick out elements from the large mixed media focal points too. The stencils PS515, PS516, and PS517 are lovely bold designs which give lots of flexibility for using different techniques.

I also picked out four PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics in Eggshell (FF138) Seaglass (FF139) Wisteria (FF103) and Sherbet (FF28) to provide the base colour to my project. Infusions in Sleight Blue (CS13) was also selected for some additional colour.

So let’s get to my craft desk and see what I made!

I started off by preparing my ticket strips. I cut a piece of PaperArtsy Smoothy 240gsm Card (SCA4) into different sized strips (3/4”, 1”, 1 1/4”, 1 1/2” 2”) and divided each strip into sections to create the tickets.

Next I lightly blended some additional card with Distress Ink, to provide a pale base colour to stamp on top. I backgrounds using Speckled Egg, Tattered Rose and Milled Lavender, adding a little Pumice Stone and Frayed Burlap to the edges to create a more distressed effect.

I stamped images from all three stamp sets using Distress Archival Ink in a variety of colours on each of the backgrounds and leaving enough space for them to be cut out afterwards.

Once dry I cut out all the images to provide mini ticket details, and put these aside ready for layering on the main tickets later.

Creating the base colour for the ticket strips was a really fun part of the project. I used a brayer and a really small amount of each paint, using a flicking motion to hit random sections of the card. Applying the paint one at a time really helps you build layers of distinct colour. If you haven’t seen this done before, Leandra has an excellent technique video of this on the PaperArtsy YouTube channel. I left quite a bit of white space as I didn’t want the background colour to be overpowering, allowing future layers to stand out.

I then sprinkled a small amount of the Infusions powder onto a mini palette and added some water.

With a paint brush I applied a light top coat to all of the card strips, going over the paint I’d already applied. This light wash of colour softens the white space, preventing it from being too stark. If you work quickly before the walnut dissolves, you can pick up some of the different pigments in the powder to create slightly different wash effects. You can see in the photo below a strip with pink, one with more of a blue tinge and one with light brown.

Once dry I added some background interest stamping using the number and text stamps from the sets, stamping in columns using Archival Ink.

The final step for creating these base tickets was to cut the strips apart into individual tickets. I then used a corner punch to create a distinct ticket effect.

With the base elements all complete, I started putting everything together by layering the stamped elements with the base tickets, ensuring that there were a variety of compositions across the different tickets. I also added some extra stamping and fabric scraps to some of them for extra interest.

Next I stamped the flower images in grey Archival ink and coloured with watercolours, before fussy cutting them.

I added the flowers to the layered tickets and also selected some butterfly die cuts from my stash to fill some empty spots on the tickets and add some dimension.

Finally I added some zig-zag stitching to some sections of the tickets to provide additional texture and visual variety to the finished project.

The final step in my project was to create a ticket holder. I took a rectangle of kraft card and added some floral stencilling to the back side of the card, applying Fresco Finish Acrylics in Eggshell with a sponge. I also used a Sizzix ticket holder die from my stash to create a front piece with slots to hold the tickets. I glued these two pieces together.

Next I picked out some details on the stencilling using watercolour pencils. I used a damp paintbrush to lightly activate and blend the pigment. Once dry I placed a selection of tickets in the front of the ticket holder and glued the ticket with the sentiment ‘Dream’ to the bottom front section.

I love the contrast of the muted background with the brighter florals and sentiments on the finished project. The ticket holder looks so pretty with a selection of tickets poking out.

The variety in the finished designs is so pleasing, while the shared colour palette keeps everything feeling cohesive. And I made so many tickets there are plenty of extras which I will be able to use in future makes, so keep an eye on my socials over the next few weeks to see where these tickets end up next.

I really enjoyed using Mags’ latest designs and whilst I used almost all the stamps, I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of the creative possibilities.

The little flowers really pull the project together, providing a great floral focal point to all the background details. I hope you enjoyed my paper ticket fun and are tempted to give it a go for yourselves. This is one of those projects that is easy to put together without any pressure, as everything is done in layers and can be changed up with ease.

Until next time, wishing you a happy creative week!

Victoria

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Tag book with KC {by Martine Dubé}

2026-05-26T18:00:00.000+00:00

Hello everyone, Martine here! Today I bring you a fun little tag book project made using the new may release from Kate Crane. I love making these little books with matching tags, this one is made of watercolor paper.

Here are the stamp sets KC021-KC022-KC023 and the stencils PS509-PS510-PS511 from the may release. For this mini tag book I only used 2 stamp sets: KC021 and KC023.

I have to admit that I love bright colors, so I chose these 6 fresco finish chalk paints: Baltic blue, Captain Peacock, Hey Pesto, Mustard Pickle, Autumn Fire, Red Lipstick. Plus, I used Little Black Dress for some contrast.

The book and the tags are made with 30cm x30cm (12x12 inches)90lb watercolor paper sheets.

It's always fun to make something from scratch. For the book,I started with 2 sheets of watercolor paper taped together measuring 30 cm x 30 cm (12 x 12 inches).This will become the accordion part.

You can make the accordion part in advance and put it under a heavy book to flatten it.

The cover part can be made with a patterned paper, watercolor paper or any paper thick enough. It's your choice same thing goes for the tags.

To create the pocket in my book, I overlapped the top and bottom of my paper when I folded them. Then folded the corners on a diagonal.

I made the cover by measuring the accordion parts width and height then adding about 1cm (1/2 inch ) for the spine. I cut a small piece on the 4 corners to make it easy to insert it in the accordion part.

The book is ready to be painted.

Using a large flat paint brush, I painted stripes in a rainbow effect repeating on the full lenght of the paper.

With the black paint, I made some wavy lines between each color and repeated the pattern on the accordion part of the book.

Once all the tags and the cover are painted and dried. I wanted to add texture so I did some random sewing marks with a black thread.

No need to be precise just go back and forth... no skills needed!!!

I added some paint splatters and white marks with a paint pen to create more texture.

I died some seam binding with black distress spray stain.

I also did some splatters and some white marks on the accordion part of the book. Then, I made 2 slits in the first folds of the cover to insert a ribbon that will be used close the book.

Put some double sided adhesive on the back in between the folds to create the pages of the book.

Insert the cover in the accordion part. Next, making the tags.

I stamped all the images I wanted on watercolor paper using black ink on a stamping platform. leaving them on the platform makes the next few steps easier.

I colored all my images with distress oxide. After I was done I stamped my images a second time in black.That makes the stamped images sharper.

Since my background are busy, I had to make some frames so that my images would stand out.To create the frames I made some splatters with black paint on a white piece of paper and frame it with a tiny line of black.

I prepare some sentiments using versamark ink and some embossing powder.

Next step, I put my tags together. I used a piece of black paper to ground them as well. Then I glued my images on the tags using foam tape.

And Here is my finish tag book.

Here are some close ups of the tags.

Thanks for stopping by hope you enjoy.

Martine

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