Sisters Wall Hanging

One of my cousins asked me to create a wall hanging using pictures of her mom (my dad's sister) and our five other aunts.  I had never made anything like this before so I was excited, but also a little scared.  After some thought, I accepted the challenge and we met to discuss what she had in mind.  She brought the photos she wanted me to use (high school graduation portraits, for the most part) and we discussed a color scheme.  Other than that, I was free to do whatever I wanted.

I decided to use a 12x12 cradled wood panel as my substrate.  The first step was to scan and print the photos to size.  This took a loooooong time.  The original photos were different sizes and quality, and needed careful editing so they would look good once they were all together on the board.  One major issue was that five of the six were looking to the left.  This caused the composition to look a little lopsided, and it also drew the eye (meaning the eye of a viewer), off the left side of the panel.  Finally I decided that one of the photos just had to be flipped.  Once I had the photos the way I wanted them, I printed them on cardstock using a laser copier.

I covered the front and sides of the board with a patterned paper and scraps of sheet music.  I then dry-brushed titanium white acrylic paint over the entire surface and sponged on faded jeans distress ink, a light green acrylic paint, and faded jeans distress paint.  Next I added some stenciling using molding paste.  Once the molding paste was dry, I colored it with Gelatos.  I used several different colors of blue, green, silver and gray Gelatos before achieving the look I wanted.  I lightly stamped on some cursive writing using permanent black ink and spattered titanium white paint over the entire background.

I trimmed the photos and adhered them to the board.  And this is where I got kinda stuck.  My aunts looked like a bunch of floating heads!  I had to figure out a way to finish off the bottoms of the photos and integrate them into the background, but since I had already glued them down I was limited as to what I could do.  My eventual solution was to swirl on some modeling paste to simulate a row of flowers.  This is the only part of the project that I wasn't 100% happy with, but at that point I couldn't change it.  And I couldn't start over.  My cousin had been waiting patiently for quite a while and frankly, I was ready to be done with it.

Since the emphasis really was on the sisters' photos, my cousin was pleased with the final result.  And for the most part I was, too.  I learned a lot through the process and if there is a "next time," I know which things I would do differently and which things I would do the same.  But I don't think I'm ready to do another one quite yet!

Have a wonderful day!

Love Heart Trio - Valentine Postcard

I sent several Valentine postcards like this one this year.  I started by creating the hearts. I used three different distress inks and the wrinkle-free distress technique on watercolor paper, then cut out the hearts.

The base of the postcard is bristol vellum paper covered with vintage sheet music and book text.  After stamping the sentiment on white tissue paper, I adhered it to the background and sponged distress ink around the edges.  The hearts were adhered with gel medium and outlined with Gelatos and a black Stabilo All Pencil.

The final step was to spatter on some white acrylic paint.  Some pieces just need that extra little touch of white all over to pull everything together.  On this last one, I also sponged on additional distress ink through a piece of punchinella.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Thanks for dropping in.

O Tannenbaum - Postcard Mail Art

This is the postcard I sent to my December partner in the Envie Addicts Unite exchange.

I started by adhering Tim Holtz tissue paper to a watercolor postcard.  To that I added a layer of spray ink through a polka dot stencil.  The additional colors came from Gelatos.  I created the Christmas tree by collaging old postage stamps to a separate piece of watercolor paper cut into a tree-shape.  Stickles added some necessary glitz to this card.

Have a fabulous day!

Twirling Swirling Whirling - Art Journal Page

I created this art journal page using a bunch of paper scraps left over from previous projects and a variety of wet media including acrylic paint, Gelatos, and artist pens.  I didn't know where I was going with this page when I started, so I just played it fast and loose.  That's always a challenge for me.  I really like how the background swirls turned out.  I layered red Gelatos with white acrylic paint, added some doodles in black, and finished with wild swirls of shiny gold.

Thank goodness this cold, snowy February is almost over.  Come on spring!
 
Supplies:
Strathmore 5.5 x 8 inch Visual Journal with 140 lb watercolor paper; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; floral notecard of handmade paper; Liquitex white, raw umber, and naples yellow hue acrylic paint; Sharpie red and black paint pens; Faber-Castell black and gold Pitt artist pens; Gelatos, Niji waterbrushes.

2014 Art Calendar Challenge - November

I finished my November calendar earlier in the month but never posted it because I couldn't get any good pictures of it; the colors were off no matter which lighting or setting I tried.  Now it's the end of the month and I decided I just need to post what I have and move on. 

My background started with some Tim Holtz tissue wrap that I dry-brushed with gesso.  I then added the hexagon stenciling using acrylic paint and once that was dry, I adhered the circles for each day.  I needed something to distinguish the circles from the background more, so I rubbed on some Gelatos and that's what really brought this calendar to life.  The final steps involved stamping on the swirl border, highlighting the circles and hexagons with black Pitt artist pen, and adding the letter stickers.

Besides the lovely color achieved with the Gelatos, this month's calendar also has some subtle texture thanks to the acrylic stenciling and the tissue wrap.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Strathmore Visual Journal with 140 lb watercolor paper; Tim Holtz tissue wrap (Melange); Heidi Swapp stencil; Liquitex acrylic paint; black Pitt artist pen; Faber-Castell Gelatos; patterned paper from Stampington and Company; swirl border by Stampabilities; Ranger archival black ink; letter stickers (unknown); white gesso; soft gel medium.

2013 Art Calendar Challenge - October

I wanted to try something a little different for this month's art calendar:  the entire background is a watercolor painting.  Here is what my calendar looked like before I added anything else.

And here is what it looks like now that it's completed.

The daily squares were cut from a piece of orange artist paper in a recent Stampington magazine (Somerset Memories, I believe).  After I adhered the daily squares, I used a sepia-colored Pitt artist pen and brown Gelatos (smeared with my fingers) to go back over the parts of the pumpkins that had been covered up.  I love how this detail integrated the daily squares into the painting and brought the pumpkins to the foreground again.  I used a water pen to add blue Gelatos around the month and days of the week.  The Gelatos are a recent purchase for me, so I wanted to experiment with them.

This calendar was super fun to make and it gave me so many ideas for next month as well as for other mixed media projects.  To see other art calendars for Kate Crane's challenge, please visit The Kathryn Wheel.  Kate also has a Facebook page called Art Journaling Calendar Challenge, which more people seem to be using now to post photos of their calendars.

Thanks for dropping in.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Supplies:
Strathmore Visual Journal with 140 lb watercolor paper; Schmincke pan watercolors; Pitt artist pens (black and sepia); alphabet and number stamps by Words Worth (October 2013); alpha stamps by Studio G (days of the week); number stamps by Hero Arts (dates); Ranger Archival ink (black); stormy sky and vintage photo distress ink; Faber-Castell Gelatos; scrap white cardstock from my stash; orange specialty paper from Stampington and Company.