February 2004 -- Janis G.
"Stamped Hanging Tapestry"

janisg@orientalstampart.com

(Click on picture for instructions)

How long have you been stamping?
Since late summer of 1996 when I helped a friend of mine make paper
shades for her condo windows out of white butcher paper, which we
decorated with foam stamps and acrylic paint.

What is your favorite technique?
Oh, boy that’s a tough one! I love variety so repeating one technique over and over is not my style. However, I really love Radiant Pearls and now the new Twinkling H2Os.

Favorite stamp company?
Another tough question! I love Acey Deucy’s Imperial Cargo line – I also really love Stamp Zia’s line . . . and Penny Black’s new brush stamps. I guess I’d say all in all, it would be Stamp Zia. I never miss her classes out here (or at StampAway) if I can get there.

Favorite Asian stamps?
“Lotus” from Acey Deucy, Bamboo from PSX, and Gingko, koi -- most
everything from Stamp Zia.

Favorite stamping accessory? (i.e. EP, UTEE, Pearl-Ex, punch)
I guess for all round favorite stamping accessory, it would be EP. These also add to the variety I love in stamping. The smallest accessory can add so much and can make something sort of plain really cross the line to exquisitely executed.

Favorite colors?
Royal blue, purples, dark greens, and teals - I prefer intense colors or very, very subtle colors.

Your favorite embellishment to finish a card?
I love fibers and charms – also clay embellishments. I also love die cut cards – it’s like part of the work is already done for you.

What is the one tool you couldn’t live without? (i.e. X-acto knife, heat gun, glue stick, sponge)
Heat gun, although I don’t know what I’d do without double stick tape,
scissors, or my craft knife either.

Any helpful tips for the group?
Keep learning and stretching yourself as a stamp artist. Also, allow yourself the luxury of not having to do everything right or perfectly the first time. When I first started stamping, I was using foam stamps with acrylic paints. When I messed up half a piece of 25-cent cardstock and felt I had to stop because I was wasting paper, I realized I had to overcome some early childhood programming. My sister went through this same perfection stage, as did a number of other stampers I know. When I graduated to rubber stamps and regular ink pads, etc., I started taking classes and learned lots of new techniques, which then intrigued me enough to take yet more classes in different things. I get ribbed by my stamping friends that I take a lot of classes, but it’s like getting a card from someone that has something on it that you’ve never done before - you learn something new or just enough different that you grow. I’ve heard from a number of new stampers that they
are afraid they don’t know enough, but the only way I know to get past that is to try new things, allow yourself the freedom to make a mistake so you can keep learning. It will never get stale for you that way.

As a member of the Oriental Stamp Art group on yahoo, why do you like stamping in the Oriental theme?
I don’t have any idea why I’m so taken with Oriental theme stamping, but I’m totally engrossed in it. I was into Asian before it got so popular and that love hasn’t waned in the slightest. I don’t like all Asian art, but I love Sumi type work and even took Chinese Brush Painting lessons for a year. I stamp better than I paint!

Is there any one place or city you’d like to visit to find rubberstamps,
supplies, or Asian art elements?
I’d love to go to Bali, Thailand, Japan or China and maybe one day I will get to at least one of these countries. I’ve been to Egypt and I loved it. I’d also love to visit every stamp, scrapbooking, bead, and yarn store across thiscountry.

What other stamping lists or clubs do you belong to?
Domino Arts, SSReflections, TagArt Ideas, ACE 4, Iris Folding, and a small local stamp group that meets about once a month.

What favorite Stamping magazines would you recommend?
Somerset to inspire one beyond cards, Stamper’s Sampler, Rubber Stamper, and SSReflections (on-line zine).

Published in any magazines? If yes, please list.
Only SSReflections just this month. I’ve never submitted anything to a
magazine – just don’t seem to have the time.

Any other hobbies, talents or craft interests?
I love beading and jewelry making, altering and making books,
scrapbooking, and gardening. I used to love sewing and still love fabrics (I have a fabric collection, too).

What inspires you to be creative? i.e. do you listen to music while you
stamp or watch TV, keep an art journal?
While I watch TV, I stamp or bead – I normally can’t just sit and watch TV without doing something else at the same time. There was one time I tried to listen to a book on tape, but felt I should be doing something besides that, so I tried to read another book at the same time – that didn’t work very well, and I think I’ve forever gotten the 2 books intertwined, but crafting does work well with listening to music or watching TV, and I don’t feel I’m wasting time in front of the “Idiot Box” as my dad used to call it.

Any art background ?
Just sewing, home ec, one art class in high school, and a class in
photography in college.

Have you used any unusual item in your stamping that wasn’t necessarily meant for stamping? (i.e. found item or household item )
Wallpaper and rubber drawer liner paper. I have also used Starbuck’s coffee holders upon occasion.

Any favorite books on stamping or art techniques that you would
recommend? Any on Asian arts & crafts?
Not really – I have Sandra McCall’s books because I like her creative bent and she’s such a sweetie.

Do you have a day job when you’re not stamping?
Yes, I work at Jet Propulsion Laboratory full time.

Tell us about your family and where you live.
I live in Monrovia, CA, which is in Southern CA a bit East of Pasadena
(think Rose Bowl or Rose Parade). I am divorced, live with my 3 feline
children: Cyan-Eyed Nemesis (long haired white male with blue eyes and all of his hearing – he came to me as a nearly year old kitten named Nemesis, and his eyes are cyan colored, hence the name), Abracatabra (Abby, for short – she’s a long-haired tortoise shell), and Star-Eyed (Abby’s sister and a Russian Blue Manx).

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR "Stamped Hanging Tapestry"

First, let me say that I am not affiliated with Stamp Zia in any way, other than I take her classes when I get the chance. I just took this Stamped Bamboo Hanging Tapestry class with her the third weekend in January, 2004.

Stamps Used:
Right & left stamps of Day Heron by Stamp Zia (these 2 images are the reverse of the other)
Large cattails by Stamp Zia
Large pine branch right and left by Stamp Zia
Monkey (sitting in the upper left branch) from Widget’s

Supplies Needed:
Mat board ~11” x 14”
Wax (to coat the edge of the mat board)
Liquid soap
Detail, wash, and medium size watercolor brushes
Watercolor inks, both in spray bottles and jars
Radiant Pearls – China Blue and Blue Moon
Twinkling H20s - Forest Green, Green Tea, Burnt Umber, and Ruby Red
Colored pencils
Black gel pen (for detailing legs, beak, and eyes)
Colorbox pigment catseye pads in Burnt Copper, Green, and Brown
Lightning Black Brilliance ink (for the small monkey in the pine tree)
Masking fluid (I used Stamp Zia’s)
Paper towel (for dabbing excess paint and creating designs)
Document ink or other permanent black ink (Staz-on, Ancient Page, etc.)
1” bias tape in the main color of your color scheme
Self-adhesive Velcro 5/8” diameter circle loop and pile
Various decorative fibers, ribbons, and strips of fabric in coordinating colors
Decorative bamboo hanger (sold on Stamp Zia website – they are pricey at $25 each)
Heat embossing tool
Hot glue gun

Directions:
Protect your work surface with plastic so you are free to move paint off the mat board if you so desire. Wax the edges of the mat board and the first 1/8 in of the back if you want to make sure the mat board doesn’t delaminate when you put watercolor on it. If you get the wax on the top of the mat board, it will act as a resist and you will get uneven coloring all around the edge (or at least where the wax sits on top of the mat board).

Figure out placement of the right and left facing herons. Stamp them in document ink and heat set. This will prevent the ink from running when you later add water and watercolor.

Work a small amount of liquid soap into the brush you are going to use for painting on the masking fluid. The soap will keep the masking fluid from drying in the brush. Paint herons with masking fluid, making sure not to cover the image completely, so there will be coordinating color and interest in the heron once the masking fluid is removed.
Heat set if you are in a hurry; however, the masking fluid will bubble if you get it too hot, so keep the heat gun moving. You can also put some of the masking fluid on a paintbrush and make streaks or squiggles on the mat board. Wherever the masking fluid is, the mat board won’t accept color.

Put on watercolor wash in the colors you plan to use. Spritz watercolors on with a spray bottle. It’s interesting to use wadded up paper towel to dab color off and then dab on other, more concentrated color(s). That’s the effect you see on the borders. Stamp in permanent ink the bottom and sides of the mat board with plants and grasses.
Color in greenery, etc., with appropriate Twinkling H20 colors. With a detail brush and one of the accent colors of Twinkling H2Os, add thin wavy lines among the cattails.

Once you are pleased with your result, rub off the masking to expose your white heron. Paint eye, legs, and beak, if you so choose.
Make sure you ground the herons, so they don’t appear to be levitating. You can put them in shallow water or on rocks, etc. I used Blue Moon and China Blue Radiant Pearls and colored pencils to ground mine with water.

Cut 2 identical strips of bias tape long enough to easily go around the bottom bar of the bamboo hanger. Use a hot glue gun to adhere one end of the bias tape on each side of the top to the back of the mat board. These should be even with each other, else it will hang
lopsided. Add self-adhesive Velcro circles to both ends of the bias tape so they will hold the bias tape hangers on the rod.

Cut double lengths of fibers, ribbons, and fabric strips. These should be twice the length of the mat board plus about 2 inches to allow for attaching them to the bamboo hanger. You will need one set for each side. (I’m a fan of symmetry, but you can play with lack of symmetry if that is your personal taste.) Fold the fibers in half and, from the front, put the loop over the top of the bottom bar of the hanger. Pull the rest of the yarn through the loop, thereby attaching the fibers to the bar. Complete to taste.

Hang it up and enjoy the sight.

Stamp Zia web site for anyone interested:
http://www.stampzia.com/

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