on the market today that can be used to create Chinoiserie-inspired layouts. By using rubber stamps, preprinted patterned paper and clip art images, you can transform an otherwise plain layout into one that is Chino-chic!
Chinoiserie by Heather Taylor
This card by Heather uses traditional Chinese motifs of butterflies, peonies and chrysanthemums to create a Chinoiserie-themed card. The use of the motifs, combined with the traditional Chinese color blue, is evocative of the wallpapers that epitomized the Chinoiserie style in the royal courts of Europe.
Supply Credits Cardstock; Stamps: About Art Accents; Inks: Ancient Page indigo dye ink
Outdoors by Kristy Harris
Scenes comprised of large peony bushes, flowering trees and birds were common on Chinoiserie-style wall coverings throughout the eighteenth century. In the homes of the European elite, wall panels were hand painted and therefore differed one from the other. These hand-painted patterns were then copied to create mass-produced wallpapers to be sold to the general public. The rub-ons used in this project are a replica of a wallpaper panel that would have been used in a Chinese-inspired home décor during the peak of Chinoiserie style. I distressed the rub-ons for this layout by adding StāzOn ink to make them appear more “antique.”
Supply Credits Patterned paper: Target/Kay, “Marcella,” K&Company/Amy Butler; Cardstock: WorldWin; Rub-ons: Daisy D’s; Flocked stickers: K&Company/Amy Butler; Word sticker: 7gypsies; Journaling spots: Jenni Bowlin Studio; Chipboard letters: Heidi Swapp; Ink: StāzOn (brown), Ranger (distress inks: Milk Can, Vintage Photo); Ink pens: Tsukineko/Impress (green, brown, blue, fuchsia, pink); Cloth-covered brads: K&Company/Amy Butler
Lazy Afternoon
by Jennie Yeo
Trees, branches and other botanical images have long been combined in the mystical lands associated with Chinoiserie. In this project, by hand cutting the trees, flowers and bird elements from the BasicGrey paper, Jennie mimicked a classic example of the use of botanical elements and birds common in the Chinoiserie wallpapers of the 1700s.
Supply Credits Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: BasicGrey, My Mind’s Eye/Magnolia; Letter stickers: Arctic Frog (red), Junkitz (cream); Tag: Sassafras Lass; Sticker: 7Gypsies; Ink: StāzOn; Other: Inkssentials (crackle accents, sepia accents)
The Bronze Elephant
by Julie Kosolofski-Kuo Julie’s layout uses patterned paper with a bamboo print, which sets the tone for a Chinese-inspired layout. In this layout, Julie’s daughter is riding an elephant, which, according to Chinese folklore, will bring good luck. The bamboo in Chinese culture, when used in art, means strength, perseverance and longevity. As a design element, while using a traditional Asian pattern, Julie was still able to coordinate the colors of the paper and her daughter’s glasses.
Supply Credits Cardstock; Patterned paper: EK Success/ Over the Moon Press; Other: Handmade paper, brads, letter stickers
TIP Jennie used crackle accent on the branches to give the “trees” a more barklike appearance and more depth on the page.
Chahut by Odile Germaneau
Daisy D’s used the Chinoiserie-style tree with flowers as inspiration for the design of this contemporary patterned paper. Though this paper is clearly an interpretation of the motif, the basic style and layout—including the tree and the shape of the flowers—give the strong impression of the Chinese style.
Supply Credits Patterned paper: Daisy D’s; Other: Rubber stamps, brads, ribbon
Source It!
Anumber of museums around the world have art works and decorative art objects in their collections that showcase the Chinoiserie style. Visits to permanent exhibits in the Freer-Sackler Museum at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Philadelphia Museum of Art all have regular exhibits of Chinese art and styles. In Europe, the Victoria and Albert Museum in England has one of the world’s largest collections of Chinoiserie items as well as an online guide to the style. And, of course in Asia, the Sackler Museum at Beijing University, the National Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, and the National Museum in Bejing are excellent sources of inspiration! See the Resource Guide (pages 184–85) for links to online Web sites with chinese motifs.
Samurai, Sakura and the Royal Chrysanthemum
Design Elements from Japanese Family Crests
You know, scrapbooking is a pretty neat hobby by itself, but the interconnectedness of scrapbooking with other hobbies is, well, just kind of cool. My sister Trish and I are the genealogists for our family, and I love that I can take the family data and combine it with pictures to create our own unique personal history books. While researching my family ancestry, one of the great discoveries was that my family is descended from the British aristocracy. Okay, so the link is distant and my family has fallen, just a little, off the social register; but eighteen generations ago my ancestors had a family crest, and my children are able to see and appreciate the crest that belonged to their distant relatives some four hundred years ago.
Mon Card
by Brenda Marks
The sakura mon, or crest, is one of the most commonly identified of the Japanese mon and has become a national symbol in Japan. The sakura, or cherry blossom, is a national treasure in Japan, and the mon itself has been used to brand everything from pens to fish food.
Supply Credits Patterned paper: Target/Paper Reflections; Punches: Carl Craft (Sakura punch, 1/2-inch (12.5-mm) circle, 1 inch (2.5 cm) circle); Other: Cardstock, ink
2 Get Her by Claudia Lim
Notice how these SEI papers use a chrysanthemum mon and have modernized it by using bright colors of orange, blues and pinks. The mon in this paper looks very different from those used in the layout called This Is How U Do It (page 43). Claudia was able to create a harmonious layout by using only papers from SEI, so she did not have to worry about finding colors that would work together. In this layout, the use of the black scalloped cardstock does a nice job of balancing out and grounding the patterned paper. Supply Credits Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: SEI; Lettering: American Crafts; Ghost flower: Heidi Swapp; Photo anchor: 7gypsies; Brad: Making Memories; Arrow sticker: EK Success; Ribbon: made with love
This Is How U Do It by Claudia Lim
Claudia’s layout features paper using the chrysanthemum mon designed by Sassafras Lass. Contrasted
