Icelandic Poppy No. 4 - Altered Envelope

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere.  In this case, it came from a forgotten monoprint that I found in my stash.  I made the print into a 6 x 4.75 inch envelope using my envelope punch board, then sat and studied it until I finally decided what my next step would be.

Since my partner likes poppies, I decided I would try to paint one on the envelope.  I did a practice sketch on a piece of scratch paper first.  Once I was happy with the size and shape of my design, I transferred it onto the envelope and outlined it with black Stabilo All Pencil.  I then painted inside all of the pencil lines with white acrylic paint.  Some of the Stabilo pencil smeared a little when it got wet, but that actually worked well with my design.

I continued to add color and details to the poppy by painting on lemon zest Dylusions ink spray, peeled paint and antiqued bronze distress paint, more white acrylic paint, and more black and white Stabilo pencil.  This was such a fun process that I never wanted it to end.

I added the No. 4 with a stencil to signify that this month is the Envie Addicts' fourth birthday.  I stamped a flourish border but left the back fairly plain, mainly to prevent any confusion at the post office.

I just love participating in this altered envelope exchange every month.  It's a fun and talented group and I have received many beautiful pieces of art through the mail.  I've also learned a lot and have been motivated to try new things.  For example, my first inclination was to add some stamped images to this envelope.  Instead, I drew my own poppy and am quite pleased with how it turned out.  I hope my partner likes it!

Have a wonderful day.  Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies:
Homemade monoprint using white cardstock, Liquitex acrylic paints and Gelli Plate; We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board; black and white Stabilo All Pencil; titanium white acrylic paint; Dylusions lemon zest ink spray; peeled paint and antiqued bronze distress paint; Tim Holtz stencil; black Staedtler pigment liner; flourish stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms; Ranger Archival watering can ink; squid ink Gelatos.

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.

The New Art! Bah! Envelope Mail Art

This is the altered envelope I sent to my September partner.  I thought the quote from an old novel was fun so I built a collage around it using random items from my stash.

The base is a 6x6 red envelope by Bazzill made out of textured cardstock.  I gave it a thin coat of white gesso and then removed some of the gesso by laying a honeycomb stencil on top and wiping with a baby wipe.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend.

M Cubed: Mary, Mary, Margie

I'm slowly getting around to projects and gifts for various friends and family members.  I created this mixed media collage for my friend Mary, an artist I first met about three years ago when I took her class Found Object Sculpture.  It ended up we had quite a few things in common, and we have so much fun whenever we get together.  When she posted this adorable picture of herself, her mom and her grandmother on her Facebook page, I knew I had to make something with it.

I started by adhering patterned papers and vintage sheet music to a 4x4 cradled wood panel.  I dry-brushed on white acrylic paint and added texture by stenciling modeling paste through a piece of punchinella.  After the modeling paste dried, I tinted it with distress ink.  I printed the photo on matte paper, trimmed out the three figures and adhered it to the background (note: you need to print photos on a laser printer if you're going to use wet media).  I added more modeling paste, charcoal pencil and Stabilo All Pencil to bring everything together.

After much debate as to whether to add a hanger or some feet, I decided on feet, using two old metal bobbins wound with a strip of book page.  And of course, I had to finish off the back with more book text, because those kinds of details are important to me.

I think this turned out so cute!  I love the juxtaposition of the vintage photo with the colors, and the modeling paste looks like a bunch of abstract flowers, especially after I added the glitter glue.  I hope she likes it.

Have a fabulous day!

ICAD No. 12 Gelli Print Make-over

If you think this card looks like a companion to yesterday's (ICAD No. 11 Silhouette), you would be right.  I actually started this card first, reached a certain point, and got stuck.  So I set it aside, made yesterday's card using the paints I still had on my palette, and came back to finish this card today.

The background is a Gelli Plate print I made on sheet music a while ago.  Unfortunately, the original color scheme (blue and yellow) was not inspiring me at all.  So I dry-brushed white acrylic paint over the entire piece to tone down the colors, and then used pink, green and additional white accents to transform the color scheme to one I liked.  Like yesterday, this card was also inspired by a couple of Dina Wakley techniques: drawing simple shapes and fixing overwrought layers.

Have a great day!

Supplies:
4x6 index card;  Gelli Plate print on sheet music; titanium white and pink acrylic paint; black and white Stabilo All Pencils; picked raspberry and mowed lawn distress inks; Signo Uniball white gel pen; Tim Holtz collage stamp; Faber-Castell black Pitt artist pen; Tim Holtz alpha stencil; punchinella.

Scrap Tags Part Deux

I had a few small scraps left on my craft table, so I made two more mixed media tags last night.

Have a great day!

Scrap Tags

Authors get writer's block.  Athletes have slumps.  What do artists experience?  I call it losing my mojo.  It happens periodically, usually after a stretch when I don't have much time for art.  Once I finally did have time this month, it's like all my creative juices had turned sour.  But now we're on the verge of a new month, and I'm determined to get back my mojo.

Usually the first thing I do to jump-start my creativity is to clean off my craft table and put away any items I left out.  (I'm notoriously bad about cleaning up after myself.)  A clean table is refreshing, and in the process I'm reminded of the great art supplies I have.  So while doing that yesterday, I came across the pile of scraps and "failures" from the last few weeks.  I also rediscovered a package of black cardstock tags I bought recently.  Bingo!  I decided to make some tags using just the scraps on my desk.

The tags include little bits and pieces from the past month: leftover word die-cuts, extra copies of a photo I didn't use, stamped images, a piece of gelli print paper, and bits of "failed" mixed media postcards on watercolor paper.

I used a regular paper hole punch to create the small circles, and then unified all of the bits with my Stabilo All Pencils in black and white.  I love how the white Stabilo pencil looks like chalk on a blackboard.

The finishing touch was some diamond Stickles on the die-cut words and on the small circles.  You can kind of see the glimmer on this last one, which I think is my favorite.

Tie a piece of ribbon onto these and they will make fun gift tags, or I may put them on a card front, or they could be the start of a journal page.  The tags are 2.5 x 4.5 inches, so they'll fit just about anywhere.  I love imagining all the possibilities.  Welcome back, Mojo!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Playing with Pencils - Chubby Bird

I've been playing with my new black Stabilo All Pencil this week.  A lot of mixed media art journalers use it because it writes on a variety of surfaces.  My favorite thing about it is that it's water-soluble; it gives a wonderful watercolor/charcoal effect when wet.

Rendering #1 (above):  Chubby bird modeled after the image on this card by my friend Stephanie.  I used the Stabilo All Pencil and a regular watercolor paint brush to create this bird in my sketch journal.

Rendering #2:  Chubby bird using the Stabilo All Pencil and  Derwent watercolor pencils.  I switched to 140 lb hot press watercolor paper and a Niji water brush for this one.  The birdie is the palest blue on his head and lower tummy, which is not showing up well in the scan.

Rendering #3:  Chubby bird using a little heavier watercolor pencil and the Stabilo.  This one is on bristol paper using a Niji water brush, and I decided he was good enough to put on a card in spite of not liking the twig that I put under his feet.  I fixed that by adhering a scrap of vintage sheet music left over from another project.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous Friday.