This And That

In between classes I've managed to do a few artsy things on my own.  Without further ado, here are some of them:

Michele of Little Bird Creations hosts ATC swaps, and I've enjoyed participating in them.  The current one has a circus theme, and did I ever have fun with that!

I started with this image.

 

And a sheet of circus acrobat images I found on the internet.  A lot of coloring and fussy cutting later.....

 

 

 

Doing multiples for a swap can be boring, so I like to keep to the same design but change things up enough to keep my interest.....in this case, coloring each clown individually and differently, and using different acrobat images.

 

Over at the Everything Wendy Vecchi group, the monthly challenge is to use Wendy's embossing paste, but mix it with something else.  Since I belong to a birthday card club that sends 4x4 cards, I did my challenge piece in that format.

 

 

 

 

 



 

I mixed gold embossing paste with some green paint for the flowers (one of Wendy's stencils).  It didn't do much to change the paste, so I went a bit bolder on the swirls and dots (a Crafter's Workshop stencil) and star (a Tim Holtz stencil).  For those I mixed white embossing paste with a little Silks acrylic glaze in pomegranate.  The Wendy stamp I used is the small weed from her Botanical Art set.

 

 

 

I saw some absolutely gorgeous roll up brush holders at that Jane LaFazio watercolor class I wrote about recently.  They were made of fabric printed with Jane's gorgeous designs, and sewn together by a professional.  Like I said (twice), gorgeous.  I didn't buy one, because what I really wanted to do was see if I could make one myself.  Also, Jane's were sized for the water brushes she uses, and I wanted one large enough to accomodate some of my taller brushes as well.

 

I stamped some plain fabric with my own carved stamps, using archival inks (mainly the new colors under Wendy's name), because they are permanent.  I wouldn't want a still wet brush to muck up the stamping. 

 

 

 The outside:

 

 

The inside:

 

 

 

Rolled up, ready for travel:

 

 

 

I'm not saying mine is anywhere as beautiful as Jane's, but it is mine, and that makes me proud. I was happy enough to make another, this one for Teri's birthday.

 

 

 

Last of all, I recently received my friend Jen's field journal.  She calls it the Sisterhood of the Traveling Beaches, and everyone is to do a beach themed spread.  I've spent many a vacation in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and that's what I recall here:

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my little potpourri of projects.

















My Newest Toy

I preordered this little gadget back in February, and the company had delays in getting it out to vendors, but it finally arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I love it!  I've made plenty of envelopes with my score board, but this is so much easier, and the end result is perfect and professional looking.
I got mine at Marcos Paper, and I believe they still have it in stock.  (And no, I have no affiliation with We R Memory Keepers or Marcos Paper; I just love a good gadget).

One of my online groups is having a mail art swap, and judging from the sign up page, it looks like I'll have at least 20 pieces of mail art to get out.  This is where the envelope punch board comes in.  Like most of you, I suspect, I have piles of unused backgrounds I've made.....experiments, extras, even some journal pages I don't mind giving up.  I've been busy turning them into envelopes, and with very few additions (some stenciling or stamping or bits of washi tape) they are ready to go postal as mail art.

Here are just a few.  What do you think?

I used some of my favorite Wendy Vecchi stencils on these next few.  I dabbed Ranger's Embossing Dabber right through the stencil, lifted it off, then sprinkled embossing powder over the image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were made from gelli plate prints on deli wrap or old music paper (reinforced by pasting the prints on cardstock), and more Wendy stencils:

 

 

 This one, done on an old piece of sheet music needed reinforcing on the folds, so I used tape for that:

 



 

 

Wendy's Mail Art stamp set is perfect for this project, and I'll be using elements from it on all my envelopes.   Here's an example.  (I also used the dandelion from her Botanical Art set.)



 

 

This one features a great stencil designed by Ronda Palazzari for The Crafters Workshop:

 

 

 

I love the stencil of people holding hands; I've had it for ages and use it a lot.  It's from Retro Cafe Art.

 

 

 

If you happen to use paper that has art on both sides, you wind up with an envelope that is decorated inside and out:

 

 

 

 

I have a few more to go, and will probably add to some of these, but I've made a good start.

Oh, and by the way, the Envelope Punch Board makes MANY sizes, from the smallest gift card size to one that will hold a 6x8 1/2" card.













Spray (and paint and stamp and draw) AND Paste

The Mad Scientist, Part II

I just couldn't stop....wondering how Wendy's metallic embossing pastes would look over some more of my favorite coloring media.  And of course the wondering led to the experimenting, which led to a whole lot of colorful sample pages.

Row 1:  Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels, applied dry.
Row 2:  Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels, applied wet.
Row 3:  Ranger Distress Markers.
Row 4:  Ranger Distress Ink (applied with ink pad direct to the paper).
Row 5:  Ranger Distress Stains.

Stencil:  Michelle Ward for Stencil Girl.

 

 

Then I decided to use Ranger's Color Wash sprays again, but this time stick to some deeper, darker colors.  I didn't expect to be wowed by the results, but I was.

 

 

Stencil:  Circle Explosion, The Crafter's Workshop

 

 

I had a few misters full of homemade sprays.  These were made with Distress Reinkers and Perfect Pearls.  Don't ask me which colors, because I didn't label them and made them ages ago.

 

 

Stencil:  Stencil Girl (one of the the March stencils from the Stencil Girl monthly club)

 

Before hanging up my lab coat I decided to see how the pastes would react when applied over paint.  And I do have an awful lot of paint.  I narrowed my sampling down to the ones I tend to use the most.

 

 

 

Rows 1 and 2:  Ranger Distress Paints

Row 3:  Ranger Claudine Hellmuth Acrylics

Rows 4 and 5:  Golden Fluid Acrylics

Row 6:  Your garden variety store brand acrylic, the kind you find under the Dick Blick, Utrecht, or Cheap Joe's brand, to name a few.

 

 

Stencils:  I have no clue.  They are very pretty border stencils, but the manufacturer is not printed on them and the original packaging is long gone.

I thought I was finished, but went back and filled a page with Derwent's Inktense Color Blocks.  These are highly pigmented inks in stick form, and when water is added they produce intense yet translucent colors.  And when they dry, the color is permanent.

 

Stencil:  Daisy Cluster, The Crafter's Workshop

 

I just had to try the pastes over alcohol inks.  First I coated the page in my journal with Ranger's glossy glue n seal to create the nonporous surface the inks work best on.  Then I applied a variety of inks the usual way, pouncing them on with the felt covered tool.

 

 

 

Stencil:  Diamonds by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer for The Crafter's Workshop







Have I come to any conclusions?  Well, in my opinion, these metallic pastes look great over everything I've applied them to.  My personal preference is the gold....most of the time.  I just think the underlying color comes through a little better with it than the silver.  Also, a lighter coat of paste (usually) reveals more color than a thicker coat.  I've noticed exceptions to all these observations, so bottom line:  just go for it, have fun playing, and honestly, I doubt you'll be disappointed in any of your results.