Something Good is about to Happen

Hello friends,

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.  Ours was peaceful and even included a drive up the coast because the weather was so beautiful and the hills were so green from all the rain last week.  One thing about the mountains and the ocean, you can still enjoy the beauty just driving by.

I didn't have a specific idea for a project to work on so I chose to prep a few different substrates and see if any ideas flowed from there.  I ended up painting a Vignette Tray, two flat canvas panels and one thick canvas panel, which is the one I used for today project.   I had all the substrates in my art room, which made them not only easily accessible, but also a fun way to challenge myself.

I didn't take many step-out photos since this is more of a "gut instinct" project (meaning you work quickly without thinking too much) but I have a few just so you can get the basic progression.  Follow along and I'll show you what I did...

The wood frame stretched canvas is 8 x 10 x 1 3/8".  I used Collage Medium to adhere vintage paper to the surface and then added coat over the top to seal.  You can see that there are a few bubbles and creases but you will never see them in the end so don't worry about that.  Vintage paper is usually thin and can be very unforgiving compared to using todays patterned paper, but it's absolutely worth it to create the perfect base.

I added a postcard from the Layers Remnants pack.  I picked this one because I thought it looked so peaceful and I love the color green against the vintage paper.

So here is a big jump!  Let me explain what I did:
1.  I cut random sized strips of patterned paper with my rotary cutter then used Collage Medium to adhere them to the surface, criss-crossing on the left side.
2. I cut out the girl from a Photobooth picture and glued her into place.  The small flower is from the Layers Botanical pack.
3. One everything was dry, I scribbled Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the surface and rubbed it in with a damp finger, making sure I built it up at seam lines and corners.
4. With a 1/2" paint brush I brushed on some Tumbled Glass Distress Paint.  The Distress Paint is thin compared to acrylic, so it lets the vintage paper shows through.  Don't think about the paint too much.  Just paint it on to balance the surface space and let the paint dry.
5. I wanted to add black circles but I was not sure what to use...I had just thrown away an empty jar of Collage Medium so I dug it out of the garbage and used the lid as a stamp tool.  I just spread the black paint on my glass mat and pressed the lid into the paint and onto the canvas.
6. A few phrases from the new Clipping Sticker book (seriously where would I be without it?) we're chosen.  I found enough to go together that I decided to separate them into two word blocks.  Remember to adhere the strips close together so they read like poetry.  I painted Collage Medium over the stickers to secure to the canvas.

When I was painting with the Tumbled Glass Distress paint I had some leftover on the small brush.  This allowed me to paint around the girl and make her stand away from the surface of the postcard.  Almost like her shadow behind her.  I did use a Detailer Water Brush to tint the girl with Distress Crayons.
Cheeks: Aged Mahogany (remember...tap, tap, tap for cheeks)
Scarf: Mustard Seed and Aged Mahogany
Coat: Walnut Stain

Now to balance out some of the empty spaces...I added the butterfly and the flower dictionary cutout, both from the same Field Notes Ephemera pack.  A layer of Collage Medium was added over the top of each so I could use Crayon to color (as in the case of the dictionary flower).
Large numbers from Typeset Collage Paper were added.  I used the Detailer Water brush to cut away numbers from the roll then used Collage Medium to add them to the surface.  You will see in the final piece that I ended up adding more numbers at the top and to the right.  I love that with the right application, Collage Paper becomes translucent over the printed background (that is key).  Such a great product no matter the pattern.
Peeled Paint and Walnut Stain Distress Crayon was rubbed onto the Tumbled Glass paint.  This really added depth to the circles.

White marks were added with a Posca pen.  Once dry, I sanded over the marks with steel wool and rubbed more crayon over the top.

And that does it.
I love the additions of the Collage Paper numbers, the Peeled Paint crayon over the blue paint and the Posca pen marks.  This was a fun project to create in a short time.  I think creating the canvas with the vintage paper one day and making the collage the next was key for me.  Somehow walking to the art room with a substrate ready to go made everything seem easier and more fluid.  Now to make something with the three other substrates!

Oh, and by the way...did you notice that all the creases and bubbles in the vintage paper have disappeared?

Thanks for stopping by,

Now carry on,

paula

A Time of Wonder

Hi all!
Hope you have had a productive week!  It is still raining here in California (something we haven't said in a long time around here).  The hills are as green as they have ever been and our "drinking water" Lake Cachuma has risen from an all time low of 8% to 41.2% as of today.   Now I know this because my husband sends me (and a few other people who asked) a "lake totals" text every morning.  I admit it has been fun seeing the lake total go up this week!

(photo taken last week on Highway 166) 

Well on to today's Plexiglass project.  This one really is limitless in what you can do.  I ordered 2 pieces of 8 x 10" plexiglass (ebay) then sandwiched the paper ephemera between the plexi.  I slipped the plexiglass into an Adjustable Easel to make a great home decor piece!

You can see I used Memoranda Paper Stash for the background piece then layered other ephemera from the Collector pack (blue receipt), Paper Dolls (people), the Botanical pack (flowers + corsage).  The corsage was larger piece and I just clipped off two of the flowers to make it fit on her coat lapel.
Tinting was done with Distress Markers, Faded Jeans, Victorian Velvet, Aged Mahogany and tiny bit of Fossilized Amber.  I love this Paper Doll image because she is so fun to tint...that plaid coat and the hat are my favorite!

The Snippets pack (all tiny ephemera) included the 15 cents ephemera piece that I stapled to the top of the blue receipt (yes, I did add Crazing Medium).

Clippings were used to add the number 175 by the feet and the saying, "a time of wonders" at the top.  Because I could not add actual depth to the paper elements (like foam squares), I tried my best to give it 'visual depth' by folding the blue receipt card then sanding and inking the lines to make it look like an old folded piece of paper.  I also ripped and bent the edges and sanded the flat parts.
The Transparent Tile number five was added to represent the boys age. 

Once my design was complete, I added it to the Plexiglass.  I used a self healing mat board (that I work on everyday to protect my desktop) to make sure the the paper was straight on the plexi, then added the top piece to sandwich the artwork. 

Once they are together - hold on tight so it does not move!  Then add the Design Tape of choice around the edge of the two pieces (it might seem hard but it was quite easy).  After the two pieces were secure, I used the Blending Tool and Walnut Stain Distress Ink to age the tape.

Just a little side note on Design Tape...I got a few emails about how I store it.  I am currently using a plastic case I purchased at Michaels called a 'Divided Storage Bin' that has a flip-top lid. The case allows for removal of the plastic dividers which create the absolutely perfect space for each of the Design Tape sets (each set has 7 different tapes).  I also used a label maker to add the names so I could keep track of what I use the most.

 

Well I sure hope you take a chance with today's project.  Its an easy one and better yet, when you get tired of something you made, the tape can be easily removed and the artwork changed out.  The Adjustable Frame is perfect for display and making your artwork seem much more 'elevated' shall we say? (no pun intended, lol).

Now carry on,

paula 

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KEEP

Hi again.
I'm here today with a project using Fragments + a few new products from the CHA release.  My goal was to show how you can incorporate personal information into a project.  Now I know I have talked about Fragments before so I won't go into the how-to details I just hope you'll bear with me while I talk about some of the nuances of this piece.  (oh and there is a link below for the, "I need a Fragment refresh").

 I stated with the new Framed Panel.

If you are a follower of this blog, you know I use flat panels all the time for artwork.  But they never quite looked finished because there is no frame....and much to my dismay, there are no elves in my garage making me frames (or even cleaning my garage for that matter).

Problem solved.

The Framed Panel comes with a frame so when you're done with your artwork you can simple add the frame over the top.  EASY as that.

I started by adding linen from the Textile Surfaces pack onto the panel.  It does take more than one piece of linen to cover the background, although you can barely see the seam.  The Textile Surfaces are self-adhesive so there is no worry that glue might seep through the fabric.
I used a photo from the Photobooth strips but you could use a copy of a family photo if you want to make this more personal.

Art Journal - page 2

Back today with another page in the art journal. The pages have been primed with my favorite white Gesso.  Once dry I started with Mustard Seed Distress Paint.  I like yellow today!

 A wet wipe to spread it out and also thin it so some of the white will show through.

 Tumbled Glass Distress Paint added.

 

There is a blending of the colors - and of course blue and yellow make green so I get a third color band between the two, which I quite like.

 I added some Tissue Tape with a little bit of paint over the top.

And then this.
Wendy Vecchi's Crackle Embossing Paste over the Latticework Layering stencil.  Once dry, I inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to bring up the cracks.  Oh my, how I love how this came out with just bits of the paste here and there.  I could stare at this picture all day long.

I also went back and laid the stencil over the Crackle Paste texture to continue the pattern with Distress Ink.

 I fussy cut some pieces from a piece of the Wallflower Paper Stash to add detail.

I don't really like how those two pieces of Tissue tape stick out over the rose...gotta fix that since my eye goes right to it.

 I do like the details and how the Walnut Stain Distress Marker gives more depth to the project.

So this saying, quote, affirmation...whatever you want to call it, was the catalyst for today.  I saw it on Pinterest and thought, I need that!
I cut the letters from Wallflower paper using the Bock Talk Dies.  I am lucky enough to own both Block Talk Capital and Block Talk Lowercase, so I combined the two to give the words a more whimsical feel.  I laid out the words to get the spacing right and then added them to the page with Multi Medium.

This is what they looked like after adding the Walnut Stain Distress Marker around the edges.  Yummy.

 Almost there...

I added the Parcel Post ephemera along with some words I cut from a book of poems.  The tiny number comes from a Remnant Rub sheet.
Always, always need some numbers...

I added the butterfly Remnant Rub above the flower to fill in the sapce that was bugging me.  It still bugs me, but just a little less now.

And here is the final.
I decided to let the words be the star of the page since they have so much meaning.  Simple but I like it and I feel like I am learning every step of the way.

Now carry on,

paula

PS) remember, let whatever you do today, be enough.

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