Eniko's Playhouse

Learning to Love White Space

Whatever happened to white paper? I must admit that as soon as I got seriously involved in scrapbooking, I lost interest in white. I remember purchasing my first pack of patterned paper and feeling like I discovered a new world! The patterns of the paper became my inspiration...often becoming the basis for my layouts. Many years and oodles of patterned paper stacks later, I am ready to revisit white.

As I was preparing for a recent post about different scrapbooking styles, Discovering Your Scrapbooking Style and Trying on a New One, I realized that the only one of the seven styles I was missing in my reperatoire was Artsy. In my research, I found that the Artsy scrapbooker often starts with white paper and manipulates it with mixed media techniques. Unique looks are accomplished with the addition of paint, or by misting ink over stencils and masks. Interesting layers of patterned paper, embellishments,stitching, washi tape, chipboard and fabric add artistic flare. Photos are usually limited to a few...or just one, and are often manipulated in some way for added interest.

The piece above, entitled "Always", was my first layout with a distinctly Artsy spin to it. I must say it was fun starting with a white textured cardstock...essentially, watercolor paper. The white 12x12 paper presented itself as a blank canvas...it didn't inspire or drive the process in the way that patterned scrapbooking paper does...it was there to receive more than to give.

As I misted and painted and stamped and added layer upon layer, the page took on an organic process that felt more like painting than scrapbooking. -And I loved it! I loved it so much that I wanted to repeat process and share it with you.

I created a mixed media piece entitled "Motherhood" for the annual Mother's Day Flower Show at Featherstone Center for the Arts, and selected a beautiful and touching vintage image of a mother caressing her baby. I played around with it in Photoshop Elements until I got the color and intensity just the way I wanted, then ripped it and inked it after printing...and out came the white paper. Masking is the process of covering the area where you don't want the ink to spray, thereby leaving an imprint of the shape you used for masking. I love these gorgeous paper ferns by Martha Stewart...the perfect background for a piece like this.
I wanted to give the alpha stickers that I was intending to use for the title a little more dimension, so I inked them with Tom Holtz's blending tool and Tea Dye Distress Ink.
Next, I inked paper ferns and began layering them.
Since it was to be for an art show that celebrates flowers, there had to be an abundance. I also added some interest with some very cool papr tape.
Next came the metal flourishes and some soft bling for the flower centers.
Some of the paper flowers and leaves were inked or otherwise manipulated to give them a more natural or interesting look. And then there it was...the finished piece.

...And somehow it doesn't look white at all!

I hope you let me know what you think about this process (have you rediscovered white?) in the comments section below.

Hugs, Enikö

Deck the Halls with Paper-Collage Angels!

I've been playing around with mixed media for a while, now...using scrapbooking papers and scrapbooking techniques, but just in a different way. I was originally inspired by Christy Tomlinson's She Art on-line workshop, and have since taken my artwork in a new direction. I designed these two pieces for Featherstone's Holiday Gift Show, but fell in love with them instantly and decided to use them to make Christmas cards with.

The paper artwork is applied to 8"x10" Gessoed canvas, layer-by-layer, then painted, inked, and altered. So the first step was to adhere pretty background scrapbooking paper. I chose a sky-blue paper with dots of "snow" and a deep purplish paper with a plethora of stars: I decided that one of my Christmas Angels would be a "Snow Angel" and the other would be simply called "Noel Angel", and I went about to find the right papers for the angels' dresses and used a punch to cut out circles for halos the word "Noel" from a very pretty Christmas-themed scrapbook paper. The heads and arms of the angels were cut out from old Dictionary pages. I knew I had some lovely dried leaves and velum leaf stickers that would make perfect wings. I used sparkly white paper to create the ground-snow on one, and a pretty Christmas-y paper for the ground of the other. After sealing everything with Mod Podge, I painted on the hair and colored in the faces and the arms, and added dimension to the dresses with acrylic paint. I happened to have the perfect Jolee's paper evergreen stickers for the Snow Angel, but of course, needed to add some snow with Snow Stickles. I also added some glittery Stickles to random flakes of snow:
In case you're not familiar with Stickles, basically, they are a line of designer glitter glue by Ranger Ink and are loved by the scrapbooking community for ease of use and consistantly superior quality.

I used some scrapbooking and mixed media techniques to apply ink with a variety of rubber stamps, painted the edges of the canvas with metallic paints, and even added  cabochons at the necklines for 3-D embellishments. I absolutely love the way they turned out!

I'm finding it impossible to pick a favorite, but I may be partial to the Snow Angel because of the trees. They are great as seasonal Home Decor pieces, but I'll be turning them into Christmas cards in my next post... So which is your favorite?

(I hope you let me know in your comment below.)

Wishing you Christmas Joy, Enikö

Stamping Enhances Summer Scrapbook Layouts: Part 2

Summers on Martha's Vineyard are filled with beautiful photo opportunities and the rich memories that accompany them. This layout captured our joy as Jim and I shared lobster and a glorious sunset on the beach at Menemsha on Labor Day.

In my last post (Stamping Enhances Summer Scrapbook Layouts: Part 1) I illustrated how stamping flourish designs with acrylic stamps over pretty wave-patterned paper can enhance a summer-themed layout. Here is another example of the same technique, using the same paper, but achieving a slightly different result. On this page, the title was stamped at the top of the layout, and the waves and flourishes act as a backdrop and also set the tone for the beach-themed photos.
Blue ink was used for the title and orange ink for the flourishes, to pick-up some of the colors in the polkadots of the paper. I paired the wave paper with a solid orange paper this time to represent the sunset, and I added a whimsical blue wave pattern (cut out with a punch) to ground the bottom of the page.
I stamped some flourishes on this side of the double-page layout as well, to tie it in with the opposing page.

I love seeing these two layouts side-by-side as testament to how the same paper can be enhanced and manipulated with similar stamping techniques, yet end up with interestingly different results.

Both layouts capture special summer memories, both layouts utilize similar techniques, yet the tone of each is quite different. Each layout is defined by the placement of different emphases on the various elements of design.

 

If you've been afraid of stamping, start with baby steps. Practice on scrap paper and learn how the ink responds to your touch. I find I am more successful when I tap my inkpad onto the stamp, instead of pressing the stamp into the inkpad, which tends to cause accessive pooling of the ink on the stamp and creates messier, less sharp images.

Stamping is not meant to be overly precise. Part of its charm is its imperfection, so throw caution to the wind and give it a try -you may just find a new passion.

Preserve those precious summer memories! -Enikö

Stamping Enhances Summer Scrapbook Layouts: Part 1

I like my summer-themed layouts to reflect the joyous spirit of the great outdoors, so I was thrilled to find some blue scrapbooking paper that not only had great graphics of waves, but also had a cheerful polka-dot element that introduced the sun-dappled colors of the season. It was perfect for capturing this fun summer day spent on one of Martha's Vineyard's most spectacular beaches.

I wanted the waves to be a little more predominant, so I stamped some beautiful flourishes over the wave graphics with copper-colored ink and stamped the title and date over the waves as well, attracting the eye to the upper right-hand corner of the page.

I used acrylic stamps, which work best when they are pressed onto acrylic blocks prior to inking. The advantage over wood-block stamps is that acrylic blocks allow for more precise placement since the pattern of the paper can be seen underneath while stamping.

Here's a close-up of the stamped title page:

I love that I was able to play off of the colors in the polka-dots with my embellishments and journaling blocks. The pop of oranges, greens and blues go a long way in pulling the look of this scrapbook layout together. -But my favorite element is the stamping...such a nice touch to a wonderful summer layout!

Preserve your summer memories! -Enikö