Elusive Ghost - 4x4

Here's another haunted Halloween chunky.

This one started with some scraps of torn patterned paper that I dry-brushed with white acrylic paint.  I then added some vintage Czech book text, stenciling with distress ink, a stamped crackle background, and a distressed rub-on.  The bat was stamped on plain vanilla cardstock, colored with pencils, trimmed closely, and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder for dimension.  I added a layer of Crackle Accents to the tree branch for even more texture.  The English book text was found in my favorite1920s novel.

Wow!  This is my 500th post.  That does not seem possible.  When I started this blog, I wondered whether I'd be able to keep it up.   Guess I surprised myself (lol).  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Medium weight chipboard coaster; patterned papers by Authentique; titanium white acrylic paint; Dylusions and Heidi Swapp stencils; vintage photo and dusty concord distress inks; My Mind's Eye distressed rub-ons; vintage book text; crackle background stamp (unknown); Stazon black ink; bat stamp from Oxford Impressions; Stampin' Up very vanilla cardstock; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; Versamark ink; clear embossing powder; Crackle Accents; dark and white charcoal pencils; Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber; soft gel medium.

E.E. Forrest, Druggist - 4x4

Here's another 4x4 chunky with the theme haunted Halloween.  It has so many details and loads of texture.  And this chunky even involved FIRE!  I lightly singed the edges of the prescription pad in a couple of places.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Medium weight 4x4 chipboard coaster; vintage book text; patterned paper by Authentique; white acrylic paint; crackle background stamp (unknown vendor); Stazon black ink; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; Ranger picket fence distress crackle paint; peeled paint, antique linen, vintage photo, and black soot distress ink; rubber stamps: Hero Arts (skull), prescription pad (Artistic Outpost), bottle, label and mortar/pestle (Oxford Impressions); Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; dark charcoal pencil; clear embossing powder; Glossy Accents; Crackle Accents; Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber; soft gel medium.

One Dozen - 4x4

Over the weekend I tore into some new vintage ephemera (meaning new to me) to create this 4x4 collage.  I started with a page from a 1942 math book for elementary school children that has adorable and colorful graphics.  I got the book for a mere $1.50 at an antique shop.  It was labeled "as is," but the book is actually in great condition for its age so I snatched it up.

I started with a section from the math book about how to write numbers and how many items are in a dozen.  I added a list of words from a 1935 spelling book; next to the words someone had made check marks in blue ink.  The piccalili recipe is from a 1942 cookbook purchased at the same antique shop.  I love the tiny yet crisp font.

I then started digging through a box of old postage stamps that I bought last week, trying different colored stamps until I found two that I liked (the blue postage stamp matches the blue in the dozen eggs graphic, and the blue of the check marks, almost perfectly).  It wasn't until after I had them adhered that I realized the stamps added up to 12 cents!  What serendipity, since I was planning to call this collage One Dozen.  With the theme now firmly set, I went back to the math book and found additional text relating to the number twelve or the word dozen.  I outlined the text and the postage stamps with charcoal pencil and rubbed on some distress inks to integrate all of the pieces together.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Chipboard coaster; vintage text: 1935 spelling book, 1942 cookbook, 1942 math book; vintage sheet music; red polka dot scrapbooking paper (unknown vendor); vintage postage stamps; medium charcoal pencil; antique linen and frayed burlap distress ink; a blue distress ink (stormy sky maybe?).

White Paper #4 - 4x4

I don't use a lot of bright colors in my collages, but I generally use some color.  Thus it was a real challenge to create a collage featuring mostly white.  Or in this case, off-white.

All of the papers are from the 1920s and earlier.  I started with the handwritten ledger paper, then pulled the other pieces from my scrap bin.  I added a little pumice stone distress ink around the edges for definition.

I hope you're having a great weekend!  Thanks for popping in.

Supplies:
4x4 chipboard coaster; miscellaneous vintage papers; torn Flinch card; pumice stone distress ink.

Life's a Journey - 4x4

I'm pretty much self-taught when it comes to mixed media collage.  Almost everything I've learned has come from my own experimentation, the internet or books.  One book that I purchased last year is The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman.  He uses a lot of vintage images in his collages (which I love, of course) and the book's subtitle is spot-on: How to Get Started and Stay Inspired.  It includes 50 creativity exercises with samples that definitely inspire me.  I was looking at the book over the weekend and decided to make a collage based on two of his prompts:  color plunge (make a monochromatic collage) and five-minute collage.

The five-minute time limit went out the window when I spent that much time looking for the paint chip samples I wanted to use (don't you hate when that happens?  I never did find them).


So instead I worked with some papers that were in my scrap pile.  After adhering them to a chipboard coaster, I added the vintage bicycle (a rub-on) and a portion of a round playing card.  I decided it still needed "something," and eventually I decided that something was a vintage photo.  Because the gentleman was facing the wrong way in the original photo, I added him to the collage via a gel medium transfer.  The final step was to add the title (another rub-on) and some espresso acrylic paint around the edges.  I am thrilled with how it turned out.

For more information about Randel Plowman and to see samples of his work, feel free to visit his blog called A Collage A Day.

Have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Chipboard coaster 4x4 inches; miscellaneous scrapbook papers; vintage French text; old tissue paper dress pattern; Vintage Finds Rub-Ons (Michaels); round playing card; laser copy of old photo; glue stick; soft gel medium; pumice stone distress ink; Adirondack espresso acrylic paint dabber.