Paper Arts Bulletin

Hello to all! Today's menu focuses on easy ways to explore printmaking.     If, like me, you’ve been itching to try your hand at using a Gelli Arts printing plate, but cannot afford to purchase one, I’ve rounded up some inexpensive alternatives using tools and art supplies you probably already have on hand.    Mixed media superstar Traci Bautista has many ideas on how to create different types of prints, including using puffy paints to make prints.       Alisa Burke shows how to make monotype prints with a plastic bag .    Jenny Doh, formerly of Stampington & Company, now of Crescendoh.com , shows how to make stamps from craft foam marshmallows .  Another method for making stamps from craft foam is here .   My first foray into paper crafts as an adult was making leaf prints on fancy papers and card stock.  Cindy from Skip to My Lou has a great tutorial about leaf prints.     Although leaf printing is...

This year's harsh winter may be keeping you indoors, but here are a few items for your enjoyment, starting first with some upcoming paper arts events: Creating Keepsakes has begun its annual CKC scrapbooking conventions at sites all over the United States.  Registration is open for upcoming events in St. Louis, Portland, Manchester, NH, and Buffalo.  Registration for the Phoenix event will open on February 12, 2014.  Go here  for the list of upcoming cities and registration details.  The CKC events start in April.  Perhaps the weather will have warmed up by then.   Art Journal Every Day is an online group Julie Fei-Fan Balzer started on her blog a few years ago. This is not an e-course so much as a group of papercrafters dedicated to working in their art journals every day.  Balzer has an Art Journal Every Day post on her blog every Friday.  There is no cost to join the group, and you can choose to upload your journal pages to the Art Jo...

Ranger has just introduced a new line of products named for Dina Wakley, a star in the mixed-media art world and a new Signature Designer for the company.  Ms. Wakley's new line includes 12 vibrant colors of heavy-body acrylic tube paints, both white and black gesso, a matte gel medium, brushes, plastic palette knives, stamps, and stencils.  There is no black paint yet, but Wakley says that it will probably come out in the next release.  In the meantime, she suggests using either the black gesso or the Night acrylic tube paint.   Ranger will also carry multi-medium in both the matte and gloss versions under its own brand, rather than under the Claudine Hellmuth Studio line, which the company has discontinued.  You may be able to find some of the Studio products that are still available from various online stores and craft stores that carry them.    Here is a video of Wakley demonstrating her products at the most recent Craft and Hobby Association tr...

I'm still looking for jobs and trying to do some freelance work, so new posts are likely to be few and far between for the coming weeks.   I spent this morning making bread and will be scoring and cutting card stock and making leaf prints this afternoon.   I took some time to not exactly scour the Internet to get information on upcoming workshops. Hurry, Hurry! Sign up for these while you can.  They start very soon.  Alisa Burke is holding her Larger than Life one-day class at her Oregon studio on Saturday, October 13, 2012.  Because the class involves working with lots of paint on large canvas substrates, class size is limited to six people.  As of last week, there were two spots open.  Since this class is small and is coming up so, soon, I suggest you contact Alisa immediately to see if you can still get in. Michelle Ward's Synchronicity workshop will be held at Valley Ridge Art Studi...

While this blog is rather low on photos and tutorials, I thought I would include a picture of some tags I made with Dylusions spray inks and black paint.  I've added some distressed dots to the middle tag since the picture was taken.  I had sprayed the tags with Vibrant turquoise Dylusions spray and had used the ghost stenciling and printing technique on them.  Ghost stenciling involves spraying water through a stencil onto a surface that already has some water-reactive ink—such as Dylusions—on it.  After ten seconds or so, you blot up the water, which leaves behind a stenciled image that is lighter than the surrounding inked surface.  You can then take the wet stencil, turn it over onto a surface that also has been covered with some water-reactive ink and use the wet stencil to make a ghost "print."  Just press with your hands or a brayer to make sure the stencil makes good contact with your surface. Blot up excess water with a so...

Hi All: I received notice this morning that registration for Archiver's ScrapFest workshops has been postponed.  Due to server issues, registration will begin on Friday, August 3, 2012 at 7:00 a.m. CDT. Edited to Add:  Archiver's has shut the registration site down until Friday, August 3rd.  Othewise, I would provide a direct link to registration.  You can access the main ScrapFest page here .   ScrapFest is scheduled for September 14-16, 2012 at the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Just a quick post about upcoming workshops: The San Francisco Studio School will hold a weekend mixed media workshop, "The Art of Collage," July 28-29, 2012.  Go here for details. The 10th anniversary of ScrapFest from Archiver's  is scheduled for the weekend of September 14-16, 2012 at the Mall of America in Minnesota.  Sign up for crops begins on July 25th.  Registration for workshops begins August 1st.  Create-It workshops will be from October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup, Fancy Pants Designs, and other well-know scrapbooking companies.  Like the mall itself, this event will be huge.  Over 50 popular scrapbooking and stamping companies will be represented at ScrapFest, including Hampton Art, Basic Grey, and 7 Gypsies.  Go here for details.  Fiber artist Wen Redmond will offer three workshops for the York Art Association in York, Maine.  The workshops are scheduled for August 20-22, 2012. Register online here .  The workshop...