The number six is one amazing number. Consider the mathematical combinations: its sum is the product of its factors (excluding itself) one times two times three. Moreover, one-sixth of it, the number one, plus one-third of it, the number two, equals one-half of it, the number three. If you draw six dots and pile them up, with one on top, two dots centered under that, and the final three under that, you get a triangle (which happens to be one of my least favorite shapes but doesn’t reflect negatively on the number).
I prefer to see it as a far more fun and interesting shape – the hexagon. Unfortunately, there’s no fascinating history behind this shape, although it does appear in nature in various places, including the bee’s honeycomb and the Giant’s Causeway, a natural rock formation found on the coast of Northern Ireland:
In the ever-expanding art world, the hexagon has become quite popular. Paper Pals is, of course, no exception to this. On a recent field trip through the store I found over two dozen examples of product and samples of creations that contain hexagons, and I would like to share some of it with you.
First we’ll start with stamps. As you can see, there are several options, and they offer some great options for different areas of paper crafting. On the far left is a great set for greeting cards and journal spots in scrapbook layouts, called Hero Arts Clear Hexagons. Next to it is another Hero Arts stamp, called Hexagon Background, that makes really fun backgrounds for cards, as well as mixed media projects like canvases and art journals. I think it would be fun to just stamp it and color all of the hexagons in with some of the Copic Sketch Markers (also conveniently available at Paper Pals). That would make a unique and colorful little wall hanging or greeting card front!
The two BoBunny stamp sets are Distressed Textures (left) and Geometric Patterns (right). Each has one hexagon stamp, along with several other fun options for backgrounds and borders. Another great feature of all of these sets is the size – the largest one is the Hexagon Background, which I believe is about 5” x 7”.
The set in the middle is called Mixed Media by Stampers Anonymous (Tim Holtz), which includes four options. The top one features the hexagon in a popular chicken wire pattern. These are another great choice for backgrounds in mixed media projects, such as these canvases for sale (handmade by Karen):
Actually, the one on the right uses a different hexagon pattern (inside the heart), probably a stencil with the chicken wire pattern being the positive, the hexagon the negative (meaning the hexagon is the missing part, the chicken wire the stencil material). There are other hexagon stencils available at Paper Pals as well:
Here you can see examples of some negative hexagons in various sizes. The one on the far left, The Crafter’s Workshop Honeycomb takes the shape to a whole other level with the smaller (yet still six-sided) shapes connecting the hexagons. I’ll be using it, along with some other fun products, for posts on my personal blog this week, Random Rambles. I’ve decided hexagons will be my “technique of the week”, so I have some fun projects planned to share with you (mostly in my art journal).
One more stencil available at Paper Pals, The Crafter’s Workshop Hexagons, I already used on an art journal page. Here’s the page and the stencil:
As you can see, I only used the smallest of the five sizes for my background, but it would also be very interesting to do one with all of the sizes.
A few other products with the hexagon shape include (from left to right below): stickers, washi tape, embossing folders, and die cuts. Below those are the various pieces of paper found all over the store (see a list of names at the end of this post). This versatile six-sided shape is obviously great for more than just decorating like honeybees!
Now it’s your turn friends! Head over to Paper Pals for some of this great paper, pick up a few stencils and stamps (and get your Passport punched!), and see what inspiration brings! Oh, and be sure to post your projects and experiments in the Comments section here, and send a copy to Karen to share on the Paper Pals blog and Facebook page. Happy crafting!
Paper (from top, left to right): BoBunny Prairie Chic “Laundry”, Authentique Genuine “Friendship”, Crate Paper The Pier “Heatwave”, Glitz Cashmere Dame “Honeycomb” (two pictures, both sides of paper), Authentique Carefree “Jovial”, Seasons “August Cut Apart”, My Mind’s Eye Boy Crazy “Mechanical” (two pictures, both sides of paper), Studio Calico Snippets Collection “Me Oh My”, and from the new Project Life Designer Paper “Honey” edition.
