Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Spraying and Distressing

I managed another twofer this week, which was easy as they are related.  Over at Linda's blog, Grungy Monday is all about Adirondack's color washes, and the challenge at Simon Says is to stamp and show some distressing.

I've been collecting and using the color washes for about three years now, and wanted to try something different.  It's a bit dark, but here is my project, a pin:


Both the heart and the hand are from Wendy Vecchi's art parts collections.  Here's where the color wash and distressing come in:

The heart was sprayed with lettuce color wash.  After watching a video in which Tim used distress stains to stamp, I figured I'd try the same with the color wash.  I sprayed a little (cranberry) on my craft mat, rubbed Wendy's polka dot background stamp over it, and applied it right over the lettuce.  Of course, unlike ink, it doesn't result in a perfect image, but it does have a distressed look.  (Get it, that's where the distress comes in).
I wanted even more distress, so I then coated the whole thing with some rock candy distress crackle paint.

For the hand, I first coated it with some white pigment ink, and when that was dry, sprayed it with denim color wash.  I'm not sure if it shows up, but I edged both pieces with a silver paint pen.

Then I somehow managed to make a hole in the thumb without ripping the whole thing apart, and dangled a heart charm from it.

24 comments:

Deborah Mahnken said...

Very nice! I love the colors you used.

Unknown said...
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Art By Wanda said...

Fabulous!!! I Love this!!!!

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Wow, that's really cool.

france papillon said...

lovely! dark, but that's what i like most ;)

Helen said...

Wonderful, love the heart hanging from the thumb.

Marjie Kemper said...

Nice idea to make wearable art! Love the charm hanging from the thumb.

Suzanne Bouchard said...

What a lovely pin!

fairy thoughts said...

great pin wear it with pride
thanks for sharing
janet

Anonymous said...

Oh your pin is SO cool!!!!!!

Nancy Lynn said...

Great job Eileen. I love it.

Candy C said...

Hi Eileen! Very cool pin!

Dan said...

Great piece - love the colours you've used! :) The Design Team are really pleased that you joined us for the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week - Thank you!

Bearcrazyman said...

I love the green you used. I used green on my piece too. Great minds you know, :)

jane said...

I find your art inspiring.

Lori said...

Cool idea! Love the crackled, distressed heart, and fab idea to use that hand with a charm!

Nancy said...

Very cool, Eileen!!

Patzee said...

What a great combo of colors and texture. And the pierced thumb gets my thumbs up! Love the wearable art--best way to brag on yourself.

donna said...

Your pin is fantastic!...Donna

Jenny said...

Awesome Eileen... how original... fabulous...

Hugs
Jenny x

JulieD said...

This is a gorgeous project. Lovely to see the techniques being used in something you can wear - most of my pieces end up in a drawer!

Jane said...

I love it. I have some art parts that I just added to my collection. You used them in both your pieces this week and have inspired me.

email: Steph@SimonSaysStamp.com said...

This is a really neat piece! I like the charm and the hand holding the heart too : )

Thanks so much for sharing your work with us at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge!!!

-Sarah

Linda Ledbetter said...

Eileen, I'd wear this every day! What a great way to approach the Color Wash challenge. This pin ROCKS! The design is totally cool, and the colors and texture give it that perfect shabby chic-ness. I seriously love this!