May I Smoke? ATC

It has been ages since I made an ATC.  And then, while looking for something else, I stumbled across this sultry photo of Marlene Dietrich that I had printed ages ago.  And in the same pile of leftovers was this one-sentence book text scrap that seemed perfect for the photo.  I don't remember if I originally planned to use these two items together, but my muse was telling me to do so now.

I started by adhering two patterned papers to a cardstock ATC base and dry-brushing on white acrylic paint.  I then stenciled on the flourish pattern using molding paste.  After the paste dried, I tinted the flourish with wild honey distress ink and outlined each section with a very fine pigment pen.  I used a charcoal pencil to add a shadow around the photo, and stamped a splatter pattern before adhering the book text.

Thanks for popping by!  Have a fab day.

Supplies:
Strathmore blank ATC base; The Paper Studio patterned paper ATCs; titanium white acrylic paint; Tim Holtz stencil; Golden molding paste; wild honey distress ink; splatter pattern stamp by All Night Media; Adirondack watering can ink; Staedtler black pigment liner; Derwent charcoal pencil; photo of Marlene Dietrich; found book text.

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!

You're a Star! Father's Day Card

Taking care of my mom after her knee surgery has meant that I haven't had a lot of time for leisure activities.  But she continues to improve each day which means she can do more things for herself, freeing me to get down and dirty at my art table.  And just in time, too, because I still had to make a father's day card for my dad.

When I don't have a specific idea for a card, I flip through my Artistic Outpost stamps and hope that one jumps out at me.  This handsome gent from the Gatsby set gave me a sly wink as I passed by, sealing his fate for the evening.  I started by stamping him twice on a patterned pattern by BoBunny.  The first image was diecut with a Spellbinders oval; from the second image I fussy-cut my gent and adhered him on top of the first for dimension.  (And I just noticed that I lopped off his left ear, poor fellow!)

For the background, I doctored up two other patterned papers from the same BoBunny collection.  That included dry-brushing white acrylic paint, applying molding paste through a stencil, rubber stamping, and sponging on various distress inks.  I can't describe how much joy this process gives me; I could play for hours this way.  After adding the sentiment and some tinted charcoal pencil for shading, I sprayed the entire collage with acrylic sealant.  My Father's Day greeting was added to the inside of the card after the front was dry and assembled.

I hope you're having a wonderful day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Brown cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by BoBunny; titanium white acrylic paint; Golden molding paste; Tim Holtz ruler stencil; fired brick, wild honey, gathered twigs, walnut stain and pine needles distress ink; Derwent forest pine and natural tinted charcoal pencil; rubber stamps from Artistic Outpost; star stamp by Tim Holtz; Ranger Archival black ink; oval and lacy oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; border bunch by EK Success; pop-dots.