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 with the SEI paper, you can see the similar design, but these papers in light-colored pastels are cute and fun and I think represent the kawaii (cute) side of Japanese-inspired design.
Supply Credits Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Sassafras Lass; Lettering: Heidi Swapp; Photo anchor: 7gypsies; Stars: American Crafts
While family crests were important throughout many parts of Asia, the kamon was especially important in Japanese culture and history (ka means “family” and mon means “crest” or “emblem” in Japanese). Originally, kamon(s) were used as family crests or emblems of different samurai clan. But, with the registration of the kamon(s) starting in the late 1600s, families began to use their mon to identify their own businesses, and the mon became known as trademarks for companies, goods and services.
Modern designers have a renewed interest in the traditional stylized designs of the crests, finding applications for them in modern interior, fabric and stationery design. In fact, these mon designs have found their way into a few major scrapbooking paper lines. I have noticed that at least three traditional mon patterns—the chrysanthemum, the sakura and the ume—are frequently used in today’s scrapbooking designs. One of the most famous mon is a graphic interpretation of the chrysanthemum. The chrysanthemum mon design was originally used exclusively by the Japanese royal family. Over time the mon was modified and is now seen all over Japan—it is even featured on the front of the Japanese passport! Walking the aisles of the scrapbooking store, I have noticed that several scrapbook paper companies use a chrysanthemum mon design on lines of patterned paper. Once you start to recognize the mon, you will notice it appears everywhere. All of the projects in this section incorporate different mon, either via preprinted images or rubber stamps.
Arabesques, Vines, Flowers and Jewels
Indo-Persian Motifs
India is a big country, much bigger than people imagine. India has artistic traditions that are thousands of years old, a population of more than a billion people and more than four hundred known languages. The country is filled with a multitude of different peoples and cultures, and of course the artistic influences of the country are huge. One of the most recognizable artistic/design movements to come from India is the Indo-Persian, or Mughal, style. William Morris, the father of the arts and crafts movement in England, was strongly influenced by Mughal design. Its graceful floral motifs and the arabesques common in the Indian style became common themes in Morris’s tapestries and carpet designs and even in his stained glass work.
Play Date by Kristy Harris
The Chester line of scrapbook paper, which was licensed from the fashion accessory company by My Mind’s Eye, takes a great deal of inspiration from Japanese floral mon designs. The floral ume designs (the plum blossom symbolizes long life in Chinese culture) is a perfect accent to a layout honoring the memory of my fun-loving, long-lived dog.
Supply Credits Cardstock: Bazzill, WorldWin; Patterned paper: me & my BIG Ideas/Chester, BasicGrey; Letter stickers: American Crafts/Thickers; Ink: ColorBox (violet); Other: Glossy accents
Om by Kristy Harris
Mon can be inspired by flora, botany, geometry or nature. This project, shown on page 44, uses botanical-inspired mon to represent the connection between the outdoors and the statue of the Buddha. This picture, taken in a Japanese temple, is representative of the Japanese connection between earth and religion. While the mon used in this layout do not have specific symbolic meanings, all represent specific Japanese plants. Kamon, when used as a family crest of a specific clan, would often represent an element that connected the family, either by place or by item. Therefore, you will see common kamon as interpretations of plants native to certain locations or representations of certain elements of nature. Supply Credits Bamboo photo frame: Daisy D’s; Patterned paper: Provo Craft; Handmade paper: FancyPaper.ca; Washi paper: Grimm Hobby/Ginburi Momigami; Rubber stamps: Art Neko (mon), Hero Arts (om) Stampendous (bamboo), and other; Ink: StāzOn (black), VersaColor (evergreen), Ranger (distress ink: Vintage Photo, Milk Can, light green); Other: Punches, glue dots