Blank Page Muse Blog: Geisha Collage

Friday, April 26, 2024

Asian Flair

A little Asian Flair

Good day, fellow crafters. It's me, Tamara, and today, I'm excited to unveil a captivating new design on the Blank Page Muse blog, inspired by my deep appreciation for the Far East and its vibrant cultural traditions. This project reflects the colorful ceremonies and rich history that have always intrigued me. Dive into this artistic exploration and discover how Eastern aesthetics can enrich your crafting. Don’t miss out—visit the Blank Page Muse blog and let your creativity take flight with this unique design!

To get started, you will need the following:

Blank Page Muse Japanese Characters Background
Blank Page Muse Geisha Collage
High quality watercolor paper
Coffee
Black, brown and red ink pads
Clear embossing powder
Masking tape
Watercolor pigments
Cardstock
liquid glue

Begin by immersing the watercolor paper in coffee for a full twenty-four hours to achieve a deeply weathered and aged appearance. As the paper dries, it adopts the warm, sepia-toned hues and slightly textured surface reminiscent of vintage posters you might find tucked away in an antique shop. This intentional aging process gave the paper a beautifully distressed look that perfectly complements the historical theme of my design.

Following the aging process of the paper, move on to create the background. I used the Japanese Characters Background stamp with brown ink to introduce an element of subtle depth and texture. To ensure the characters appeared subtly, first ink the stamp and press onto a scrap piece of paper—a technique known as 'stamping off. ' This step removes excess ink so that when it is stamped onto the background panel, the characters will be faint and contribute to the card's aged appearance.

This method was effective in giving the design a more authentic, worn look, as if the characters had been part of the paper for decades.

The next step in creating the background panel was the addition of the Geisha Collage stamp. To begin, mask off the large character on the left side of the stamp with some masking tape to keep it ink-free. Then apply black ink to the remaining parts of the stamp. After removing the masking tape, I inked the previously covered character in red before applying the entire stamp on my background panel.

Next, while the stamped image is still wet, sprinkle clear embossing powder over the ink and heat set it in preparation for the next step which was to water color the image.

(I personally like to add this step when I use watercolor pigments because the melted embossing powder provides a bit of a well to apply your pigments too which assists in reducing bleed through of colors.) Once the embossing is set, secure the panel to your work surface and water colored the image.

While the image dries, choose some cardstock colors that fit together with your theme, in this case red and black, them trim them to their final dimensions to act as mats for the background panel. Then adhere them together with the image onto a white card base.

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Friday, January 15, 2021

Rice Paper Collage Card

Happy New Year! Betty here starting 2021 with an Asian-inspired card. Today I am using rice paper as the background for my card. The rice paper being used today for arts and crafts is not made out of rice. It is made from bark fibers of a mulberry tree. This rice paper is very thin, but strong since it is fibrous and makes a beautiful background. Add a stamp from Blank Page Muse and you have this gorgeous card! This red rubber stamp is called Geisha Collage and when stamped with black ink, it just makes it pop! This card will fit in an A7 size envelope.

This month's challenge theme is Vintage/Classic. This card is easy to make and can be done in less than an hour, but it looks like you spent hours making it. Try making one and entering it into the challenge to win a prize!

Supplies:

Blank Page Muse Stamp: Geisha Collage
Rice paper: Stamperia, Branch & Writings

Kraft cardstock (base card): 6"H x 4-5/8"W
White cardstock (card front): 5-3/4"H x 4-1/4"W
White cardstock (lining inside card): 5-3/4"H x 4-1/4"W
Black cardstock (card mat): 4-3/8"H x 5-7/8"W
Black ink pad (dye or hybrid)
Glue stick - ensure it drys clear (do not use liquid glue on rice paper)
Scissors
Distress ink - Vintage Photo
Distress ink applicator
Your favorite adhesive
Embellishments (optional)

D-ring picture hanger - I used Stampin' Up's Hodgepodge Hardware that has been retired. You can buy picture hangers at the hardware store that come in brass. Color it with a brown alcohol marker to make it look vintage.
Brad
Chinese coin - Purchased from my local craft store. You can find coins on Etsy.
Brown twine - 6 inches
3 Black plastic rhinestones or enamel dots

Instructions:

First determine what part of the rice paper you want as the background. Place the white card stock underneath the rice paper to assist placement. Fold the rice paper over the cardstock to mark it or use a pencil. Do not cut yet!

Put an even layer of glue with the glue stick onto the white cardstock (card front). Cover the entire cardstock.

Adhere the cardstock onto the backside of the rice paper where you marked it.

Trim the rice paper leaving 1/2" all the way around.
Miter the corners by gluing them down (use glue stick) as shown below.

Glue (use glue stick) the edges down

Press down gently on the rice paper with your fingers to make sure the paper is adhered.
Stamp your image onto the rice paper. I used a stamp positioner to ensure the image is very dark.

Distress ink the edges of the rice paper.

Using a paper piercer, poke a hole into the card to add the picture hanger. Secure the picture hanger with the brad.

Using the twine, tie the coin to the picture hanger

Using your favorite adhesive, adhere the card front to the black cardstock then adhere onto the base card. Adhere the white cardstock to the inside of the card, add the rhinestones, and you are finished!