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Scrapping with Asian Motifs

Lions, Dragons and Stars — Oh my!

Living and working in Asia over the past decade has given me an appreciation for indirect methods of communication. I have learned that a subtle nod from a vendor, or the way that he says “This is my best price,” means that our negotiation still has room for movement. I have also noticed that indirect communication, while very common in daily life in Asia, also extends to the art world. Asian cultures often use traditional design elements, motifs and symbols to impart meanings beyond just the simple beauty of the object. Looking closely at Asian artwork, the trained eye recognizes the similarity between Chinese, Korean and Japanese artistic patterns; and over time I have learned that the symbols used in the three cultures often have the same meanings. For example, a picture of a crane with a pine tree, both symbols of longevity by themselves, combine to mean determination, perseverance and power. So, after living in Asia I have started to recognize these symbols and realize that there is much being said through art.

Thinking about motifs and their meanings from the scrapbooking perspective, wouldn’t it be cool to create beautiful layouts that also hold significant meanings based on the design itself? Art in Asia has used symbols—either animals, plants or combinations of them as well as geometric designs—to act as both a visual stimulation and a medium of communication. In this chapter I will introduce you to a number of types of motifs and designs as well as explain the meanings behind them in Asian culture. I will also show how to incorporate these elements into your projects in order to add symbolic meanings to your projects and add a new dimension to your scrapbook pages.

Good Fortune and Luck

Chinese Motifs for Wealth, Health and Love

Let me tell you about Cathay, a fantastic land in China that existed during the eighteenth century. Filled with mystical forests, parks, poets, intellectuals and artists, Cathay caught the attention of the Europeans. In this land, Chinese intellectuals, known as mandarins, lounged or painted in bamboo pavilions and walked in gardens filled with dragons, phoenixes and other mythical beasts. Cathay was overflowing with beautiful women and intelligent men with nothing better to do than create wondrous art and literature. Of course, Cathay was a figment of the imagination, nothing more than the interpretation of stories told by Marco Polo and other adventurers who traveled to the exotic East. But the magical land of Cathay did create Chinoiserie—a revolution in design and style starting as early as the late 1600s and continuing on through the early 1800s in cultured Europe and its colonies.

The term Chinoiserie, meaning “the Chinese style,” was coined by the French royalty in the seventeenth century to describe this new design style. As with many other trends, the court’s adoption of the style and its fascination with the Eastern aesthetic lead to its popularity throughout the rest of Europe. Chinoiserie was so universally accepted from the late 1600s through the end of the 1700s that elements of the style could be found in homes as grand as Louis XV’s Versailles as well as in the average home in colonial America. The Chinoiserie style is generally identified by the use of certain patterns and motifs, including stylized trees with birds and flowers, pavilions, dragons and phoenixes. And of course the use of bamboo as a background is a classic Chinoiserie technique. When these motifs are paired with traditional Chinese colors—combinations such as yellow and blue or yellow and red—the effect becomes even more striking. There are a number of products 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 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

Nidhi by Sasha Farina

The brown patterned paper features floral and paisley motifs that are common elements in Indo-Persian design. The paisley pattern, while originating in India, became a common design element in the rest of the world after being featured in women’s shawls manufactured in the 1800s in England.

Supply Credits Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned papers: Flair Designs (brown), BasicGrey; Brads: Making Memories; Rubons: Urban Lily; Flowers: Prima; Overlay: Daisy D’s; Letters: American Crafts/Thickers; Bling

Warhammer by Lynita Chin

The double-sided patterned paper from imaginisce has a light arabesque pattern on one side and a simple repeated pattern on the other. Lynita used both sides of this paper and combined it with a striped patterned paper in complementary colors. I find that patterned papers with natural elements, such as the vine in an arabesque pattern, combine well with geometric patterns. Notice how Lynita used brads to lead into the title of the layout, taking the design element from the patterned paper.

Supply Credits Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned papers: DMD, imaginisce; Chipboard alphabet: Heidi Swapp; Other: Brads

The Baoli by Wendy Steward