Stampin' Up!'s Impressionist Art Gallery

Stampin' Up!'s Impressionist Art Gallery

I love that Stampin' Up! has produced almost a museum of floral paintings in their recent collections of Designer Series Paper. Last Winter/Spring during Sale-A-Bration many remarked on the likeness of Monet's waterlilies in paper designs, the DSP was titled Lily Impressions.  And in the year's Annual Catalog was a DSP pack titled Perennial Essence ~ more soft Monet and Renoir-like images. I, along with other demonstrators I suspect, framed individual sheets of 12 x 12 DSP and have them hanging in our craft spaces ~ instant art.

The Fine Art Floral Suite in the current January - June Mini Catalog this season was at the top of my shopping list because of the Designer Series Paper. It took me back to Amsterdam/Netherlands and my first visit to the magnificent Keukenhof Gardens tulip display. Can you imagine approximately 64 acres of 7 million flower bulbs?! 

Keurkenhof Gardens  Lisse, Netherlands

I am going to be hard pressed to cut into this DSP; I will need a pack to save, because you know that's what paper addicts do. Oooh, I even see a glimpse of Van Gogh - like dark blue and yellow. Oh, and  something like the American Impressionist Childe Hassam's paintings of Celia Thaxter's Garden on Appledore Island in Maine, east of Portsmouth, NH

The Fine Art Floral Suite graces the cover of the Mini Catalog.

 

How does SU create such artisitic papers? 

We had a Stampin' Up! artist hand-paint canvases with beautiful florals and textures in classic Stampin' Up! colors. We then took those canvases, photographed them, and made them into this unique designer series paper.

And now it is our turn to don a beret and smock and release our inner artist ~ seriously it is so easy when the paper does all the work. But along the way, let's play. The suite calls for 2 and 3 step stamping and even gold leafing.

Try various color combinations like Flirty Flamingo and Poppy Red, Poppy Red and Merry Merlot, Purple Posey and Highland Heather. Mix up reds, add yellows.  Try blues. Stamp the lighter color first, then the darker, then some gold!

Oh, but be careful with the Gilded Leafing! Don't sneeze ~ don't breath and DO NOT turn on the ceiling fan! The leafing is very light and is packed tightly in small, irregular pieces. It is truly easy to work with and produces quite the effect.

 

I did not use leafing on this card, but stamped twice and embossed ~ the embossing folder is appropriately named Painted Texture and is part of the Fine Art Floral Suite. 

For me, this suite is akin to wandering through an art gallery, any art gallery   ~ civilization at its best. I consider myself truly blessed to have spent countless Sundays in art museums with my mother and to have found kindred spirits to continue seeking out these special spaces and exhibits. 

Sister Wendy (Wendy Beckett, British nun and art historian 1930 -2018) offered:

    

     A country that has few museums is both materially poor and spiritually poor ... museums, like theatres and libraries, are a means to freedom.

Give yourself the excuse to pick up this stamp suite, or pieces of it, and play. The sentiments are simple, but cover a variety of occasions. And if all else fails, frame a sheet or two of the dsp for your own art gallery. 

Find the 'Gallery Map" on pages 32 - 34 in the Mini Catalog. You may order directly from this website, or contact me to help you place an order. 

I would love to see what you create!

Let's stamp!

 

Everyone Is An Artist

I have never been terribly artistic, at least with paint and brush or pen and  ink, but I always enjoyed my coloring books and my school art classes. Even as we only went to art class one day a week in elementary school, we always had various art projects in our classrooms.

Oddly, I distinctly remember drawing assignments in Miss Phipp's fourth grade Virginia History class. I am old enough to have been in school when ONLY Virginia History was taught in fourth grade history class. On an oversized piece of manila construction paper I meticulously drew the Capitol Building in Williamsburg, brick by brick. I was pretty talented at shading those bricks ~  smell the Crayolas.

One reason I enjoy Stampin' Up! so is because I can't draw or paint, but I feel like I can when I use stamps to create a pleasing picture or design.

Artist's Palette is one of the first stamp sets I bought from the new catalog -  it was available during the pre-order season for demonstrators (another great reason for joining SU!). The Playful Palette Suite is on pages 118 - 119 in the new catalog. Aside from loving the washi tape and the cool sentiment 'your idea to have a birthday was simply a stroke of genius!' the catalog's props

remind me of The Color Kittens! Please tell me you remember The Color Kittens!!

I played with several card designs and then searched Pinterest. I discovered many pinned and posted designs in which the easel held a framed picture, not just the clever sentiments provided in the set. Somewhere along the way I met Stephanie Fischer (www.thecraftythinker.com.au) and a design that I wanted to try. Not identical, but ...

I have not yet received my set of the new Layering Square Framelits, so I had to experiment a bit to come up with my measurements, and it worked. I did not use as  many layers as I easily could have with the new framelits, but this is good - I like it.

In her instructions, Stephanie even provided a bit of artistic advice for shadowing - a little Soft Suede marker shadowing on the easel stamped in Soft Suede and the use of a white gel pen on the green leaves. All of which I conveyed to my art students in our class yesterday!

It is difficult to detect from my photo (never really had photography lessons), but the small 2 x 2 canvas of flowers ( Number of Years stamp set) is matted on 2 1/8 x 2 1/8 Watermelon Wonder, and that is layered onto the easel with a slightly smaller piece of fun foam for dimension. It is a great finished look.

Watermelon Wonder is one of the predominant colors in the new Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper. I chose the same pattern Stephanie featured in her design, yet, the reverse side of that paper also complements the painting. In class, the students chose their favorite look.

Look through the catalog for small images, or larger ones which can be cropped,  for the subject of your next masterpiece. Think how you can personalize this idea for all of your friends and loved ones: a sailor in your life, a bird lover, a fairy princess ...

Let's stamp!