Collage Cards

Hi everyone it's Jenny here with a final post for 2020 here at MarteLAB. I'm sharing a tutorial for a set of collage cards created using a fabulous stencil design by Rebekah Meier that's available in the Marte store. Here are the first two cards in the set of six.

It feels like we all need as much love as we can get right now so these cards all feature the hearts that are a part of Rebekah's stencil design. Here's how they came together, starting with a 'masterboard' background on watercolour paper that includes some watercolour ink patches, white gesso, tea staining and texture paste through the 'lattice' part of Rebekah's stencil.

A mix of PaperArtsy 'Infusions' diluted with water was spread over teabag paper and dried with a heat tool before being torn into strips.

Below you can see where part of the 'masterboard' was cut into pieces large enough to cover white card blanks and the dyed teabag paper was torn into small strips.

To create the hearts I mixed some texture paste with a combination of PaperArtsy 'Infusions' storing the mix in  a small pot so it could be covered to prevent it from drying out too fast. You'll see where I checked how the colour would change as it dried.

The coloured paste was spread through the two heart shapes on the stencil onto kraft card. Once dry I cut around the paste shapes to remove the excess card. The paste can be heated with a heat tool to speed up the process.

To add more colour to each card I tore strips from tissue which had been painted with PaperArtsy chalk paint. The tissue was added to each background using a soft matte gel medium.

After adding some hand stitching I stamped the dot pattern from Seth Apter's PaperArtsy stamp set ESA02 onto the area where the hearts would go using black permanent ink. The hearts were then glued in place and each background added to a card blank.

Here are the final four cards in the set made in this way;

I hope you've enjoyed seeing today's cards and the tutorial has given you some ideas for creating your own projects. Thank you so much Marcella and Fabio for giving me the opportunity be a part of the Marte family this year. And to end I wish you all a peaceful, positive and safe 2021.

Jenny (Pushing The Right Buttons)

Embroidered Flowers Notebook by Jenny

Hi everyone and welcome. It's Jenny here, back to share more ideas for using your PaperArtsy Infusions and the beautiful stamp designs of Kay Carley. Today's project is a fabric covered notebook with embroidered flowers on it. Here's the finished hand bound notebook (front and back);

Here's a short tutorial showing how this came together;

I started by cutting a piece of plain cotton fabric slightly larger than my Eileen Hull Designs Notebook cover. After spraying it with water on both sides I sprinkled a mix of Raspberry, Rusty Car and Golden Sands PaperArtsy Infusions over it, allowing them to react with the water. After leaving them for a little while I rinsed the fabric under cold water to remove any excess ink and then left it to air dry. The longer you leave your ink to react with the fabric initially the darker the final colours will be.

After ironing flat the dry fabric I stamped over it with chalk paints using designs from the wonderful Seth Apter ESA02 stamp set. It is important to clean your stamps immediately after using them with chalk paints to keep them clean for future use.

Some of the smaller flower stems and leaves from Kay Carley's EKC06 and EKC07 stamp sets were stamped onto the fabric using Archival ink and scraps of pink crocheted lace were also glued onto it using Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte.

I then used embroidery thread and different sizes of beads to stitch over the stamped flowers and leaves. Torn strips of tissue coloured with the Golden Sands Infusions Powders were stuck over the top of the lace, again with the Distress Collage Medium Matte before small yellow buttons were stitched in place.

Once the stitching was complete I used dry adhesive tape to stick the fabric onto the notebook cover. To finish the book I stamped a phrase from Alison Bomber's EAB01 stamp set with Archival black ink onto the top corner, twisted a matching tassel for the side and bound some aged paper signatures inside.

Here are some close ups of the finished notebook starting with the front cover;

And now the back cover;

I hope you've enjoyed seeing today's projects and feel inspired to try using Infusions with your fabrics. The Kay Carley stamp sets, Seth Apter stamp set and Infusions are available in the Marte store along with lots more PaperArtsy goodies so make sure to check them out.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny (Pushing The Right Buttons)