World Of Color

No, I haven't been sick, on vacation, depressed, or abducted by aliens.  I've just been more or less uninterested in all things techno.  Which includes going online and blogging.  And while I do appreciate that staying off the computer has given me more time to do other things, I have missed my little blog, and so, here I am again, ready to share my artsy adventures.  I'm so far behind, I will be posting with no regard to chronology, so as not to put any pressure on myself.  Today I feel like blogging about the World of Colors collaborative journals I've been working in.  So, here they are.

First up, the page I did for Gloria.  Her chosen colors are teal,  cream, and a touch of black.

 

 

 

Carol chose blue and purple for her book.

 

 

Lynn's colors were the very bold and dramatic red and black.



What's Black and Sepia and......

.....gorgeous all over?  Sox's World of Color journal (from the Kindred Souls group), that's what.  It arrived from Stephen's talented hands just two days ago, and I've already finished my page.  I was inspired by the journal itself (lace and fabric and paper and bling), as well as the pages already done.  I think that black and sepia is one of the most elegant color palettes, and I just dove right in.

First I filled my work table with everything (well, that's an exaggeration, so let's just say a lot) in my stash that supported Sox's colors, and gradually came up with a plan.  It began by covering both the front and back with different 7Gypsies tissue paper, because the patterns are printed in black on sepia paper.  Or so I thought.  It became clear that the sepia was really more like a gold, and that annoyed me.  I solved that problem by concocting a mixture of glaze medium and tan paint which toned down the gold and brought the background to a more sepia-ish look.  After that it was just a matter of layering papers, sewing them down, and adding some stenciling, stamping, and a tag as the focal point.

 

 

The tag itself is made of kraft cardstock.  The background was done by first layering on some tan, cream, and beige paints, letting that dry, then stamping (a Hero Arts background stamp) with black archival ink.  When that was good and dry a very thin layer of rock candy clear stickles was applied with a fingertip, which is what gives it a subtle sparkle.

 

The dress form was cut with Tim Holtz's Sewing Room die.  The phrase is a Wendy Vecchi stamp, and the dress form is covered with Claudine Hellmuth's sticky back canvas.

 

 

 

The buttons were sewn onto fabric that had been stamped with a tape measure stamp.  As for the thimble and scissors charms.....they dangle from Tim's memo pin.  They began life as a very cheap and garish looking gold, which was toned down by tapping them with a black archival ink pad.

 

The back of the page is much simpler, but there was just too much good stuff left on my table, so it was decorated a bit more than I had to.

 

 

 

Again, the tissue paper was treated with that glaze/paint mixture.  On top of that, archival ink (black and coffee) through two different Prima stencils.  Then I sewed on the fabric and paper that would hold a little tag.

 

 

 

The tag was created from some Graphic 45 embellishments, and on it, my information.

 

While searching for items to use, I came upon some Heidi Swapp designs printed on acrylic.  They must have been in my stash for years; she called them "clear extras".  I used a few of them.  I love it when something I bought and never used finally gets its chance.

 

 

 

I look forward to the next journal arriving at my door.















Party Like It's Mardi Gras

Stephen's World of Colors book (from the Kindred Souls group) landed in my mailbox last week, and seeing his color choices (purple and gold) just made me think of the jewel tones of mardi gras.  I began by painting my page black, knowing that would make his colors pop.  Then came the search for images.  I'm sure many of you get Somerset Studios magazine.  You know those free art papers that they put inside for our use?  Well, I usually pull them out and save them in a folder, and that's where I found the two partiers.  Don't know which issue they were in, but the page is called Bohemian Souls.  I printed it in black and white and colored the characters with pastel crayons, inks, markers, stains, paint, etc. And altered the costumes a bit more with stencils and sparkly bits.   Here they are, dancing the night away with great abandon.

 

 

Before glueing them down, I decorated the black page with stencils and doodling, in various shades of gold and purple.  Then I found some sari ribbon for the "curtain" above.  The ribbons photographed kind of blue and brown, but they are purple and gold. 

 

The quote is a rubber stamp I've had for about six years or so....I purchased it at the first stamp expo I ever attended (along with a few MANY others), and sadly have no idea who manufactured it.  It was one of those unmounted inexpensive stamps you often find at those shows, piled together in a shoebox.  I've used it before, and have always appreciated the sentiment.

 

A closer look at the dancing duo:

 



 

The backs of the pages in this round robin are kept fairly simple, just containing our information.

 

 

 

Gold paper, and the rays are a Julie Fei-Fan Balzer stencil, with Wendy Vecchi's gold embossing paste applied over it.  More doodling with glaze pens, souffle pens and gel pens, a little bling in the center, and that's it.