Spray 'N Paste

Yesterday, Lori (list mom of Everything Wendy Vecchi) shared a link that really inspired me.  Britta Swiderski did a video of her technique of applying Wendy's metallic embossing paste over a background of Dylusions spray inks.  There is an interesting reaction between the two, and the results are just gorgeous.  Just click on Britta's name to see what I'm talking about.

Anyway, Lori decided that the new challenge at EWV would be to use that technique on a project.  First I pulled out my great big, nearly untouched Dyan Reaveley journal, and decided that this would be where I'd do my experimenting from now on.  With no worries about the finished product.  So far, it's working for me.

Here are a few of my experiments.  First, a background with some of the green Dylusions and a Michelle Ward Stencil Girl stencil with gold embossing paste.  Then, another part of the same background, same stencil, but this time I used the silver paste.

 

 

Next, I used Wendy's stripes stencil.  First I applied the gold paste holding the stencil so the stripes are vertical.  After it totally dried I repositioned the stencil right over the vertical stripes, this time holding it horizontally,  and applied the silver paste.  Before removing the stencil I very lightly pounced over the paste with a paper towel for a little extra texture.  This isn't the greatest photo; it's really striking in person.

 

 

 

Then I decided I should try the technique with different colored backgrounds.  Again, these do look way better in person.  First, some deep purples/blues with gold paste, followed by pinks/reds with silver paste.  And the stencils I used are Wendy's layered flowers. 

 

 

 

Before leaving the experimental phase and actually using this technique in a project, I started to wonder how it would work with a different spray.....namely Ranger's Color Wash.  Now, generally, the Color Wash sprays are darker and earthier than the Dylusions, so I just used the brightest that I had.....butterscotch, terra cotta, and red pepper.  And I didn't bother with a stencil.  I just scraped some gold paste over the dried ink with an old credit card.

 

 

 

I think the Color Washes work well, at least the shades I chose.  The next time I decide to play mad scientist I'll try this with some of the other colors.  And while I'm at it, I'll see what happens when the paste is applied over other sprays, ink pads, crayons, chalks......

 

Here is the journal page I did for the challenge.

 

 

 

The gold paste was applied over Wendy's lovely leaves stencil.  When the paste was nearly dry but still a bit soft I pressed a stamp onto the leaves (any old stamp; I wasn't trying for an image, just some texture).  I also used a stylus to make some dots. 

 

By the way, I keep a few sheets of deli paper on my table, and use it to blot off excess inks, paints, sprays, etc. After a day or two of blotting action, the paper is full of colorful goodness.  The two butterflies (Wendy stamps) were stamped onto one of those sheets, cut out, and then glued onto the page.  The page also has some random stamping, doodling, and little dots of paint.

 

**CAUTION**  If you're experienced in such things, this warning may seem as obvious as a take-out coffee cup announcing that the content is hot, but if you're new to all this, you'll be thankful.  WASH THE EMBOSSING PASTE OFF YOUR STENCILS AND STAMPS BEFORE IT DRIES!  I'm just sayin'.











Let The Good Times Roll

One of my favorite collaborative art journal groups is the Artistic Evolution.  That's the one in which our pages are supposed to evolve in some way from the pages that came before.  If you'd like to know more, click HERE.  It's been a while since I've received a book to work on, so I was thrilled to get Gina's from Elena last week. 

Gina's colors (the ones she'd like to be predominant in her book) are purple, emerald green and deep blue.  So, I immediately thought of Mardi Gras.  The pages that came right before mine had lots of gold, and the text mentioned silk and gold dust.  That just reinforced the Mardi Gras theme in my mind.  So, I used some of my favorite phrenology head images (including Wendy Vecchi's art chick stamp, an Invoke Arts stamp, and some from an Alpha Stamps sheet), and dressed them up in Mardi Gras finery.

Here are my two side by side pages:



The backgrounds were done with Color Wash sprays, distress stains, Inktense pencils, stencils and both glaze and gel pens.  The revelers were colored with Portfolio water soluble oil pastels, metallic craft paint, and lots of glaze pens.  They all wear collars made from bits of left over ribbon that I shredded into tiny pieces.

Here are some closer looks.





The Loves of Marie Antoinette

So reads the title of my friend Inge's Marie journal, the last Marie book I have to work in.  It took me a while to decide which of Marie's loves to use....fashion, family, Versailles, cake?  In the end, I chose jewelry, and I did have an ulterior motive.

Over a year ago, when I was still on the PID design team, I did several projects using their Marie images.  One was a bracelet, and as I was making it, it was in my mind that I would use it in one of the Marie journals.  I think we had just recently started that group.  For one reason or another, it never felt quite right in the other books, but I had a feeling it would find its way into Inge's book.  And so it did.

First, here is the bracelet.  The band is fabric, decorated with beads and other baubles and some funky fibers.  The Ranger memory frame holds a small picture of Marie which was covered with Crackle Accents.

So, my concept is, Marie loves beautiful jewelry.....especially when it contains her own image.  And here are my two pages:

I used Distress Stains, Colorwash, and Perfect Pearls mists to get the colors in the backgrounds.  On page one, I added stamping to create my own patterned paper.  The image of Marie was an internet find.....found, I think by Val.....and she is colored with markers and embellished with Liquid Pearls and glaze pens.

Both pages have a gold embossed leafy border (Wendy Vecchi stamp).  I didn't further decorate the second page because I wanted the bracelet to be the focal point.  I attached it with easily untied gauze so if Inge actually wants to wear it, she can.

So, for me at least, no more Marie journals to work in.  The queen is finished, long live the queen!

Marty's Masterpiece - A Sketch Challenge

Here is Marty's August sketch:

I interpreted this quite literally because I wanted to give it to a friend who won a monthly lottery in one of my groups.  The theme she selected was summer, so this sketch was perfect.  I made this wall hanging:

It was done on watercolor paper attached to chipboard and is pretty sturdy.  Here are the details:

• background:  denim Adirondack color wash.  That's all!  It formed the variations all by itself.
• fence:  cut from wood sheet using Tim's on the fence die, then dabbed with picket fence paint to create a worn out look.
• palm tree:  Sideshow stamp, colored with markers, and extra leaves hand cut and added for dimension.  Coconuts cut from a specialty paper I have that looks like.....the outside of a coconut, LOL!
• parrot:  also from Sideshow, colored with markers and attached with pop dot.
• beach sign:  cardstock inked with a few shades of distress ink in the brown family, then stamped with archival ink, then covered with rock candy crackle paint.
• sand:  the real deal, from last year's trip to the Dominican Republic.
• shells:  also real, origin unknown.
• shack:  pieced together from a variety of handmade papers and fibers found in my stash.

Check out my friend Heidi's blog to see what the rest of the Gotham City Stampers did with Marty's sketch.

Singin' In The Rain

Last night mother nature treated us to some light show in the sky....thunder, lightening, powerful winds.  I was glad to be inside, and the storm probably influenced this morning's piece.

Early today I was happy to see that the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge was to use any Tim technique, because obviously that would work with Grungy Monday.  I had to wait until 8am my time to see just what that one would be, and was well rewarded, because it's one of the coolest to come out of The 12 Tags of Christmas, 2010.  Click here to be taken to Tim's blog to see what I'm talking about.

I've always thought that Tim's "Rays" embossing folder looked like rain fallling, and I used it to that end, embossing on some scrap plastic.  With Umbrella Man underneath, can there be any doubt?

I think it took longer for me to figure out how to minimize the glare and take a decent photo than it took to make the tag.  It really is a fast and easy no-fuss technique.

I misted my tag with:  Adirondack color wash in denim, sailboat blue and purple twilight, then added a spray of Perfect Pearls turquoise mist.  All were blended together by pouncing with a balled up paper towel.  Of course I didn't throw the towel away....it will show up in some future project for sure.  Oh, I almost forgot.....the tag looked a tiny bit too dark, and though I liked it I wanted Umbrella Man to show up, so after drying the tag I dabbed some of the new picket fence distress stain over top and blended it in with a rag.  I lightened the tag up just enough.

Umbrella man was cut from plain black cardstock and glued onto the dried tag.  After embossing the plastic it was cut to the size of the tag.  Before attaching it (with four small black brads) I printed out the sentiment with my label maker.  I found it with a google search of rain quotes, and it is attributed to singer/songwriter Roger Miller.  Kind of a humorous twist on the sadly overused weather the storm vrs. dance in the rain saying.  And I like it.

A Tag, A Pendant, and A Question

I've been pretty much MIA in the Wendy Vecchi group, but this weekend I did manage to complete a piece for the current challenge over there.  If you're not yet a member, now would be a GREAT time to join, because Wendy is giving away NEW stuff from the latest CHA, both to folks who commented on her blog, and to some random members of the yahoo group.    Anyway, this week's inspiration comes from page 38 of Wendy's second book, and the directions from Lori, our fearless leader, are to include at least one of Wendy's stamps, and a bird.

I came up with this tag:

The background is some old text and a crumpled up piece of Tim's glasseine paper. The text was colored with two of the new distress stains, mustard seed and shabby shutters.  A stencil was laid on top and the whole piece was sprayed with Adirondack Color Wash, in lettuce and sunset orange.  On the glasseine side, one of Wendy's leaf stamps was done in olive archival ink.

As for the bird, it (and the leaves) are from a Stampin' Up! punch, and I punched them from some of the scrap paper that lines my spray booth.  Now doesn't that sound professional?  It's actually just a cardboard carton from a UPS delivery, but it does contain the sprays.  And by always having an assortment of scraps on the bottom, there is a never ending and always changing supply of sprayed paper in very cool (sometimes) color combinations.

After I finished, I decided that the deep pink of the bird was a bit overwhelming, but I liked the color.  My solution this time was not to alter it, but to add some more of it elsewhere on the tag.  Hence the three pink stones on the bottom.  That's an old decorating trick, sprinkling a bold color in more than one area of a room.  It works on tags too.

The next bit of art I played with this weekend is a pendant.  I used one of Tim's facets.



Can you guess what that black and white patterned paper is?  OK, I won't make you guess.  It's from the inside of a security envelope.  Are we green, or what?  The black and white dots were done with Ranger's Enamel Accents.  The dangly thingies on the top are just some baubles I made with some of the many beads in my stash of discarded, unwanted, unloved costume jewelry.  Friends, relatives and neighbors all contribute regularly to that stash and I welcome and appreciate all donations.

And now for a question:   Do you queue?  I'm in several art journal groups, I participate in many swaps and try to make something for favorite challenges every week.  There are also other things like birthday cards, presents, etc.  Often when someone in one of my groups receives a journal to work on, they mention that it has been added to the queue.  In other words, they work on things in the order in which they are received.  Others have calendars and work on projects in the order of their due dates.

I have trouble with that.  For example, there are some things that are due by the end of August.  But I've been working on the ATCs I'm making to swap on the Tim cruise in late September.  Why?  Because I got an idea and just had to go with it. 

So, I was wondering.....do you work on projects in some orderly fashion, either by date received or date due?  Or do you work on what you're inspired to work on regardless?  Do you queue?

Having said that.....I am pretty obsessive about never being late for anything, so even though I may not do things in any logical order, I do get them all done before the due date.  Just thought I should mention that, because inspiration or not, being late for something you signed up for is not a good thing.



Got Inky.....Finally!

I had the chance to get a little inky yesterday and it sure does feel good.  Until I get my family stuff squared away it will be hit and miss, but I'm determined to steal some creative moments when and where I can.

I've been in a background technique swap, and did this easy and (I think) interesting one for my friend Inge in Belgium.  I'm calling it Dryer Sheet Delight, because we're supposed to give our creations a name and that one, though admittedly kind of dorky, at least gives you a hint as to what's involved.

Glue used dryer sheets to a light colored piece of cardstock, overlapping and leaving some wrinkles in for texture.  You should be able to cover an 8 1/2 x 11" piece with 2 or 3 sheets.  Use a white glue that dries clear, and cover the dryer sheets with another coat of it.

When the glue dries, spray with 2 to 4 colors of your favorite spray.  On this one I used Adirondack Color Wash in lettuce and sunset orange, and Perfect Pearls Mists in blue smoke.

As a final touch, I loaded a paintbrush with Golden Fluid Acrylics in raw umber, smacked it against my hand to create the splatters and dots.

I also had a chance to work on Jacquie's Marie Antoinette journal.  Jacquie challenged us with her theme.....Sex And The City.....so we were free to place Marie in more modern times.  I think that Marie Antoinette and Carrie Bradshaw share a shoe obsession, so I went with that.  Oh, the other challenge, is that Jacquie's entire journal is made of canvas.  (By the way, Ranger's Glue N Seal worked perfectly on this material).  We each had two facing pages to do, and here are mine:

I found the image of Sarah Jessica Parker (AKA Carrie Bradshaw) on google, and those red heels called to me.  To make the very trendy Ms. B more Marie-like I plunked a bunch of flowers in her hair.  On the second page I created some special shoes from some very pretty Prima paper, and paraphrased a quote from the TV show.  The actual quote was about it being hard to walk in a SINGLE WOMAN'S shoes, so I just changed it to a QUEEN'S shoes.





Memory Sealed in Wax

Since doing a beeswax collage workshop with the lovely Claudine Hellmuth a few months ago (click HERE for those details) I've been meaning to try another one at home.  But you know how that goes.  Other projects, deadlines, and that pesky thing called life got in the way.  The other day I glanced at the calendar and thought, "holy crap, it's almost Mother's Day!"

What to send to mom this year?  It was just her birthday a while ago and the big box of Godiva dark chocolates were a hit, but too soon to send another.  How about making something?  What a radical idea.  I make things almost every day.  Why don't I send something to her that came from my hands as well as my heart?  DUH!  Well, that thought collided with the beeswax thought, and this little 5x7 canvas was the result:

The photo is of my parents, taken shortly after they married.  The gorgeous frame was cut with a nestabilities die from Tim's new glasseine paper.  The canvas itself was first sprayed with colorwash and perfect pearls mists, then I just started adding stenciling with paints, bits of paper, including color saturated paper towels, and more layers of spraying.

It was at that point that I began adding the beeswax, which is all I used to attach the photo, the frame, the papers, the flower, ticket and butterfly.   And I was happy to discover that even rub-ons can be adhered to a waxy surface and then covered with more wax without any damage to the rub-on.

Maybe not quite as good as a box of Godiva, but I think mom will like it.

In The Pink

In the world of collaborative art journals we're sometimes called upon to work with colors or themes that we don't necessarily love.  I really don't mind stepping outside my comfort zone, but a challenge it is.

Enter Jen's Artistic Evolution journal......gorgeous to be sure, but an explosion of pinks and purples.  I don't have a bit of either color in my home and almost none in my wardrobe.  I can admire those hues on others but am rarely attracted to them.

BTW, this is a fascinating journal, with pages of varying sizes so that the previous artist's work peeks out from behind your own.  Click here to learn more about it.

In this journal, our pages are to evolve from those that came before.  Elena's pages had to do with transformation and there were a few butterflies, so I ran with that.  Here are my two pages, side by side, followed by individual shots.

The backgrounds consist of a whole lot of spraying.....glimmer mist, homemade mist, perfect pearls mist, colorwash.....if it even resembled pink, I used it.  There was also a lot of masking, some stamping, rub-ons, gesso dabbed through sequin waste, and every butterfly die I owned worked overtime.

I'm not sure if it shows up, but the lavendar flower that Elena used and that I can see behind my left hand page inspired me to add lavendar to my pink pages.  I think of this concept like the art version of the old telephone game.  Who knows what the last pages will look like?  Maybe there won't be any pink left at all!

What will peek through to the other side, and what the next artist will have to work with, is the edge on the right hand page.  I cut it with Tim's on the edge scallop die and tied yarn and ribbon through the holes.



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.