New Year Inspiration

I'm hosting a tag swap over at Paper Traders this month and the theme is to use an inspirational quote for the new year.  After reading my latest issue of Somerset Studio, I loved the technique used by Cat Kerr on her mini canvas necklace (page 52) so I decided to try applying this method to my paper tags.

I started with a plain manila tag to which I added a light coat of gesso.  Then I used gel medium to adhere different textured items to my tags - some tulle, a piece of woven straw ribbon, some extra chunky mulberry paper, and a few paper flower cutouts.  I covered everything with a layer of green acrylic paint and let it dry.  At this point I was thinking the green was way too ugly and I didn't know if the textures were pronounced enough, but I added a coat of Mod Podge and braved on with the next step...

I adhered my chipboard quotes and then, following Cat's instructions in the magazine, I watered down some dark acrylic paint (I used navy blue) and spread it over the top of everything.  I crossed my fingers, waited a few minutes, and started wiping the dark paint off again.  Cat recommended using a baby wipe but I found this took too much of the paint off (probably because I was working on paper with very thin textures) so I just rubbed with my fingers, cleaning them often so I could pick up more paint as I went.

Once everything was dry again, I used some colored buffing wax to highlight the textured areas.  Cat recommends Rub 'n Buff but I used my Metallic Rub-Ons by Craf-T in brass.  I added some random bright blue accents using my oil pastels and then spattered everything with some off-white acrylic paint.  Lastly, I added white accents with my Sharpie paint pen.

As a final touch, I added the brass butterflies and some glitter accents on my drawn flowers.  Finally, I used a little extra colored buffing wax (in golden white) to lighten the edges of my tags for more dimension.  I sprayed everything with a coat of fixative when I was done.  I also mounted printed cardstock to the back of my tags to reinforce them.

About half-way through this project, I thought I was going to have to scrap the whole thing because it looked u-g-l-y ("you ain't got no alibi!")... but I am so grateful I followed all the steps all the way through because I think the end results are phenomenal - there's so much color and texture and I really learned a lot about how to combine different mediums for a beautiful finale.

Lost Poetry

Occasionally things don't always turn out in my studio.  This week's epic Fail came while working on my Found Poetry canvas for an upcoming swap at Paper Traders.

I have seen this technique gaining popularity and was anxious to try it myself.  I had read online that another artist used MasquePen to block out her words so she could paint over the rest of the page and then remove the masque when she was done.  Sounded perfect!

The paper I was using was quite old so I tested the MasquePen in several methods: straight paper, over clear gesso, over clear acrylic sealant, and over clear gesso covered with clear sealant.  The last seemed to work wonderfully so I prepped my pages and went to work.

Below is what happened to me when I tried to remove the masque...  Two section of masque pulled the paper right off the page and my words with it.  So sad!

I decided I will salvage this piece by reprinting my poem and gluing new words over the top.  But will have to start from scratch on a new piece for this particular swap.  Live and learn.  (For my next piece, I'm going to try using Post-It Notes to cover my words...  I'll let you know how it turns out.)

mourning

love,

thrown aside,

and

Haunted forever by

all

which is not to be

Beachy Love

Cathy is hosting a paper mache heart swap over at Paper Traders this month.  Once I got over the initial messy gross-ness of the paper mache process, I found it to be a relaxing task to do while watching movies.  It took me about a week to make these hearts because I had to let it dry in between the many layers.  I learned a few things doing this project which I'll share...

I loosely based my technique on Crafy Cupid's tutorial here: http://www.craftycupid.com/index.php/cc/entry/mache-mixed-media-heart-tutorial/

For working with the messy paste, I employed this Martha Stewart tip using a rubber band to create a scraper which easily removed the excess paste from my paper strips:

http://www.marthastewart.com/272867/paint-can-tip

When they were completely dry, I applied a layer of gesso and then a coat of acrylic paint to each heart.  Both of my hearts were crackled using Ranger's Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.  Here's something interesting that I discovered...  The gold heart was painted with a glossy metallic acrylic paint underneath the crackle.  When dry, the crackle still appeared very shiny and crystal clear.  The blue heart, however, was painted with a matte acrylic paint under the crackle.  This one ended up looking much more opaque (sort of like sea glass) as the crackle coat seemed to take on some of the aspects of the underlying paint.  Both results looked terrific but were notably different.  For this project, I topped off the blue heart with an extra coat of glossy glazing medium to bring back that high shine finish I had anticipated.

The "sand" for my beach scene came from a pre-packaged bead mix and I just love the way this looks!  I used Glossy Accents to adhere the beads, shells, and charms.

So here are my finished results... I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them:

I also made an extra heart which I covered with distress doilies and pretty printed napkins layered over a bronze crackle finish:

Take Flight

Well, it's time for another blog challenge over at Paper Traders and this one is featuring hot air balloons.  I had a lot of fun making this collage.  I printed the large balloon image onto vintage text and layered it with scrapbooking paper for the background then added gesso and crackle paint for texture, using water and alcohol inks to make it look more distressed.  After layering my other collage pieces on, I added some scribbles with my Pitt pen then a little more gesso and some charcoal pencil for shading.  The title was done with a brown Sharpie marker and white touches with my fabulous Sharpie paint pen.  It turned out much more distressed than I had originally imagined but I'm happy with the end result.

This was such a fun challenge!  Join in the fun by heading on over the Paper Traders blog and you just might win recognition as this month's Trader Treasure!

Blog Challenge: Hello Spring

I watch these online videos of mixed media artists just throwing stuff onto their paper and coming up with these fabulous creations.  Come on... who really does that?  It's certainly not me as I am way too much of a control freak to just toss things about willy-nilly.  Then, recently, after watching one of those annoying yet wonderfully amazing videos and feeling completely lost as to what to make for the upcoming blog challenge over at Paper Traders, I decided to give it a go.  What could it hurt?  It wasn't in a precious journal that I was afraid to ruin or for a specific swap that I would have to send to another artist to judge.  No, it was just for me and if I truly hated it, I could toss it in the trash and try something different.

When we were discussing what the theme for the March blog challenge should be, I was leaning toward "luck" since St Patty's Day falls right in the middle of the mix; but the other moderators were really itching for Spring to get here and so the theme this month is "Hello Spring!"  I decided to take my "lucky" idea and incorporate it into the Spring theme with some purple flowering clover - fresh greens and pretty lavenders and a touch of shiny gold.  I started by layering torn vintage text over my cardboard canvas and then I smeared the paints around... ... ...Did you know that purple and green when mixed together make a kind of ugly brown?  Well, they do and it was icky and I already hated it and ALMOST threw it in the trash secure now in my knowledge that all this creative slinging was a bunch of hooey!  But I grabbed my paper towel and blotted and wiped most of the brown gunk away, then slowly and CAREFULLY placed more greens and purples on my page, gently sponging them on instead of smearing them around.  Ooh, now this was kind of pretty... maybe a little more of this, a little more of that, some white paint touches, some black stamped text... yes, yes, I can see this might not be a totally wasted effort.

Once it was all dry, i almost chopped it up into ATC backgrounds.  But, in digging through my stash, I found a few coordinating treasures and the following canvas was born:

(One of my favorite little secrets about this canvas is that the green lined journaling paper with the distress inking on it came from Suzi Blu's garage sale - actual paper that one of my favorite artists inked and chopped herself.  I feel somehow connected to her by using this little treasured scrap in my work  =)

Now, my next adventure in messiness will be a test to see if this was just a fluke... or maybe a whole new creative approach for me!  Stay tuned...

...oh, and don't forget to join in the blog challenge at Paper Traders.  It's easy, lots of fun, and you might win recognition for being the month's Trader Treasure!

Decayed Paper Technique

We had an ATC background swap in our Paper Traders group and my background was made based on Jill Geraghty-Groves’ “Decaying Background” technique as described in the March/April 2011 issue of Somerset Studio magazine.

SUPPLIES:
canvas or chipboard base
gesso
vintage text & images
sponge brushes
gel medium (I prefer matte)
baby wipes
scissors
sanding block
acrylic paint
crackle paint
alcohol inks
spray bottle filled with water

1) Use something sturdy such as canvas or chipboard for your base.  This is a very wet technique so regular paper or cardstock will not hold up to the process (I've done this with success on watercolor paper; this time I used a piece of tablet backing).  Prime with gesso.

2) Tear vintage text and images to desired shapes & sizes.  Apply with gel medium.

3) Once dry, I trim off the excess paper with scissors and then carefully smooth the edges with my sanding block.

4) Mix some gel medium with acrylic paint of your choice.  I usually use a neutral buff color.  You can use baby wipes to wipe the paint off of images that you want to show through.

5) Goop on crackle paint around the edges and let dry.  I used Ranger Distress Crackle Paint in “Picket Fence” and “Antique Linen”.  (Because I am using this piece to make into ATCs, I marked off the sizes for each card and put the crackle paint around those areas so that each ATC would have a crackled edge.)

6) Let your paint dry thoroughly.  It will crack as it dries.  The thicker the paint, the bigger the cracks.

7) After your paint has cracked, you can drip alcohol inks along the edge then spritz with water and it will run down the paper and into all the cracks.  I like to tip my background up on its edge with a paper towel underneath; then I run the bottle of ink along the top edge, spraying with lots of water, and tipping the piece to help the inks run and blend.  For this project, I used Adirondack’s “Eggplant” first, followed by “Latte”.  This step takes quite a bit of water and is very wet and messy.  Let your background dry thoroughly.

8) Now you can use your background as you want.

In the Spirit of Crayola

Liz is hosting a token/charm swap in our Paper Traders group.  Her theme is the 16 colors that come in a box of Crayola crayons: red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, red-violet, carnation pink, brown, white, and black.

I gave mine a common theme by using various asian papers for each one.  I got the idea from vintagepix' button charms that I saw on Flickr.  It took a little trial and error but I finally figured out the secret for doing these without too much mess...

I adhered the paper behind the clear buttons (which I got from Stampin'Up!) using crystal lacquer (diamond glaze, papier glass finish, etc.) but I had trouble with it oozing out through the buttonholes when I pressed them together.  My solution was to cut the ends off of some cheap cotton swabs that had plastic stems (like tiny straws) - they fit perfectly in the holes and the excess glaze oozed up inside the straws instead of all over the front of the buttons... then I placed my finger over the top of the straw when I removed each one, creating a tiny vacuum that sucked out the excess goo!

All I need to do now to finish this project is to make a cute little storage/display box...

More Funky Art

I decided to try making more art in the style of Teesha Moore's tutorials. These are both ATC's which I found much more challenging due to their small dimensions (about the size of a playing card). Still it was a fun project, even if the results are a bit odd =)

Water Journal

This is the spread I did for Joanie's "Water" themed round robin journal on Paper Traders. The scan really doesn't show how sparkly this page is... it has received a generous shot of Starburst Stains spray as well as some turquoise art glitter.

Birthday Box

I waited a little while to write about this because I made it as a birthday gift for a friend and I wanted her to receive it before I showed it to everyone. This is just a simple little cardboard box that I decorated and filled with lots of goodies. This puzzle angel is another piece from that larger puzzle I broke up earlier this year (you can see what else I've done with that on my previous post). On this box, the ribbon looks so dark but it's really a soft green, like the paper quote... but it has a sheen to it that turned black in the camera flash.

I really haven't had much time for art lately - long, busy days at the office have sent me home feeling drained for the past several weeks. I did manage to get my studio MOSTLY cleaned up and the remnants of many previous projects sorted, if not all put away. Sometimes it's easier to find inspiration when all your goodies are spread out around you, however my art space is tiny so there isn't a lot of room for clutter - it takes over my work table until I just have a small spot to work in and it piles up on the floor around me so that it's a maze to get in and out of the room. For the most part, I manage to keep it confined to that one room... otherwise it might take over the whole house!

Barn Swallows

It is Spring here in Colorado and the birds have arrived! They're up very early every morning, singing their songs and making sure no one oversleeps. They tend to congregate on my patio, shuffling and fighting over the best spot on the ledge over my sliding glass door. Needless to say, the subsequent mess on the concrete below is a pain to clean up!

I have been contemplating what to do to keep them from assembling there... until today. It seems that a pair has taken over the space and chased off all the other interlopers. I believe they are barn swallows - very colorful with bright red (male) and bright yellowish-orange (female) bellies with black wings and long split tails... they're really quite beautiful. I hope they honor me with a nest of chicks to make up for the inevitable mess they'll leave behind.

They're very LOUD! If you want to hear what they sound like, I found a clip here:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Swallow/sounds

Soul Journaling Under Wraps

Today's exercise was to follow the prompt "I forgot to tell you..." and then continue the thought process from there. As you can tell from my first picture here, I had a lot to say! This photo is small and a little blurry to protect the privacy of my personal thoughts (not that there's anything here that I wouldn't tell to a friend one-on-one).
Next, I covered it all up with different kinds of tape. This was a challenge for me because I didn't have much variety in the house.
Lastly, I used acrylic paint (denim blue and then burnt umber) over the tape to give it an aged and distressed look. The red/blue striped tape was a shiny cellophane so it resisted the paint... I kind of like it though.
I'm not sure if this is finished or not. I think it makes a better background than a complete piece of art. Maybe we'll be adding more over it later... or, if not, I can always do my own thing!

Soul Journal Inchies

Continuing on with Sarah Whitmire's Soul Journaling prompts... Going back to yesterday's page, I trimmed out my soul armor with a gold foiling pen - it's a lot of bling, but I'm worth it =)

The next exercise was to search magazines for specific images... some were generic items, like "a bird" or "a flower" whereas others were more personal, such as "eyes the same color as yours" or "something you want (which is NOT the picture of money - LOL)"
Actually, one of the prompts was "something comfortable" which I couldn't really find any picture for... so I picked the money as "something I need to be comfortable" because, well, don't we all?

First, I made a wash of some dark purple acrylic paint (which turned out pretty light once I watered it down), then I spread it around and blotted with paper towels. When that was dry, I pasted on the inchies and applied another wash of a lighter colored paint (ochre). Lastly, Sarah had us add some words and draw around some of the inchies.

A few personal things here? Well, the "40 September" was my last birthday, the beautiful mountain scene is from right here in Colorado where I live now, the snowy branches are my "something you have" since I really appreciate having winter seasons again after living in California for twenty years. The banana bread is one of my favorites and reminds me of my grandmother; the hand represents my current round robin journal which is still winging it's way around the world; the aspen leaves are another Colorado specialty; and the purple swirl represents my favorite color (hence the purple background, too!)

Neat Freak

Awhile back, we were discussing our working spaces on Paper Traders and this is the photo I posted showing my craft room in the neatest state it has ever been in... I cleaned and organized for hours before bringing out the camera:


Several people wanted to see what my room looks like in the midst of a creative effort, so I took this picture tonight... if you look closely, you'll see a sneak peak of my Birdie Birdie chipboards:

(This is what my room looks like more often than not! That's why I have the fold-away screen tucked in the corner - so I can hide the mess if someone comes by =)

Making a Mess

I am really working on being more messy with my art. Almost everything I do is too neat and orderly, which is a reflection of my natural personality. Still, I can visually appreciate messy art - I just can't seem to CREATE it! This weekend, I tried creating some messy backgrounds... and then very neatly worked over the top of them - LOL!