Lifebook Week 17 - Lily Faux Stained Glass

I have finally finished week 17 of my Lifebook class. This one took a little more time, as it was a little (way) more detailed, and the process was simply a slow one that you had to take your time with.

But, the effect and the results are stunning! I love how this all turned out, and it actally made me want to consider taking a real stained glass course in the future.



Typewriter Hello

I have this square card that I made to share with you today, that I'm entering in this month's Unity Inspired Challenge. This greeting is 100% stamped :) I used elements from about 4 different kits. It makes me happy that I've grown comfortable enough with stamps over the past couple months to be able to layer them up and not have to have patterned paper within the creation - I made my own by layer stamps and different coloured inks! :D

I 'popped' up the layers to give some extra dimension, and coloured in the typewriter in with my aquamarkers. On the base / white layers, there are stamped and embossed leaves to give that plainer layer a little more interest. 

I based my card for the challenge on the sketch on the bottom left and the colour scheme - it's just so pretty for summer!

Since my card is square, it is a little off of the card sketch - but it's for slight guidance only anyways ;) 

Painted Mailbox and May SMAK kit

It's been busy in the art studio working on commissions this past week (and into this week!). I finished up a large custom wedding invite order - and now I'm working on this mailbox (for the same wedding - for cards). I haven't ever really painted a mailbox before, but so far so good. The curve at the top throws for for a loop sometimes, but I have found that working on the floor with it makes it easier.  Also on the go - I tend to jump back and forth between projects as they are drying - are a couple watercolor painting commissions. I finished two up two watercolor paintings last night, and might share with you later this week if their owners are okay with it :) I'm also working on a pig 'lawn ornament' that I'm painting - except I will not be sharing on my blog, as per request...but it is fun and different to work on!

I also got May's SMAK kit in the mail from Unity Stamps. I love how big and wonderful they are! I am always just jumping to get my hands on them when they arrive. I still cannot believe how many stamps they jam-pack onto that 8.5x11" sheet of red rubber - literally no waste of materials - which is always a plus :)

I am always eager to tear them from the sheet - I almost always do it right away after opening the package. It's just so much fun! I really don't have a very organized system for these stamps yet, I basically just store them in their respective plastic ziploc bag, and keep them all in a box - it works for me. And the simple storage solution, means I'm more likely to keep it going :)

With all the custom work going on, I didn't have time to get into them a lot. But I knew I wanted to stamp this one in my journal, and so I did - using inks to create a pink to orange ombre effect. It stamped so pretty! I'm using this particular impression for a "grateful" list for the week. 

Stardust Art Journal Page

I recently read this quote in a book that I finished last week, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True by Richard Dawkins. It just sort of stuck with me, and I knew that I wanted to put it in an art journal page. 

I started by stamping all over the place, using Unity's SMAK kit from April. Then I applied a layer of clear gesso, and went to town with colour! I used neocolours, pencil crayons and then finished the colour off with PanPastels - smoothing all the layers together, and uniting them all nicely. 

Lastly I ended the page off with black puffy paint. I recently picked up a bottle for a Life Book assignment, and although I'm still working on that page, I know I will have plenty for other projects...I was only able to purchase a large bottle. 

I really like the contrast of the shiny typography against the matte coloured background.

{ Poppies } & Unity Blog Hop and Giveaway!

I am thrilled to be a part of Unity Stamp Co's blog hop this week! If you are following the hop, you just came from Unity's blog. It is truly an honour to be included with all the other lovely ladies of Unity :) - and the first at that! No pressure they told me, hehehe :) I must say I love their stamps, and have become quite addicted to them. Be sure to leave a comment on this post, and the other posts in the blog hop, for your chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Unity Stamp Co. Winners will be announced on their blog on the weekend. 

My first greeting to share with you is based on the Unity Inspired challenge that is just about to end. It is based on this sketch:

I used stamps from the February Stamp Kit, Let Love Grow; from the April SMAK Kit, Celebrate The Good Times, and Itty Bitty stamp, Wishing You Joy. I stamped the poppies onto patterned paper and cut out and collaged them onto the card. The little wood veneer flower on the top corner was embossed with white embossing powder before being affixed.

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine, Oreo is most definitely!

The silly kitty keeps darting outside, only to stop at this first step on our pathway and then starts rolling around in the dirt...and then wants back in. Oh lovely creature, hehe. :)

And, don't forget to leave a comment here, and on the rest of the blogs on the hop, for your chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Unity Stamps! There is always such lovely work on everyone else's blogs that you won't want to miss them!

Next up is Angie Blom's blog! :)

Mixed Media Flowers Progress - Part two

This is where I left off with this particular piece of artwork in my last post. After waiting over night, it's now all dry and you can see all those lovely strands of colour that I was talking about before. In areas where it's just the clear gel medium (with no colour, or less colour), the paper patterns underneath will be perserved.

Isn't that just beautiful texture?! The thing I like about gel medium too, when working with acrylics, is that if you only put paint on top, you can always use water or rubbing alcohol to get down to the layer that had the gel medium over it (and sometimes past it if you're persistent). It's like a security layer that not many people know about. Once again - it depends on what medium you mixed with your paints, but after a bit of experimenting you quickly get the hang of it. I oftern 'scrub-through' old paint layers to get peeks and snippets of the original patterns on the piece.

Now, because I was just in a gel-medium-lovin' sort of mood, I added some more, but this time mixed in some colour throughly. I also added some water and glazing medium to thin it out a little. Next, I poured some clean tar gel over top to add some clear texture that I will accent later with colours.

Once it was all dry (sped up this time with a heat gun), I used some of my homemade colour sprays and dripped and sprayed all over.

Here's a close up for all the yummy texture, patterns and colour that are now going on in this painting

The layer of brown gel medium works so well on top - it's thick in some areas and scrapped quite thin in others adding so much interest.

And of course, to really appreciate all this texture-goodness, you need an angle shot:

Next, I pulled out some stamps (these are Unity stamps from various kits). I used the woodgrain to stamp around the edges of the canvas, which I will be painting later. The texture is stamped in black though, so it should peak through a little. If not, then I'll just restamp - I have begun to really love stamping, so I'm completely okay with a do-over :)

I used the lace stamp and the words ("life" and "together"), and along with versamark and embossing powder, I embossed the images with white on the canvas. I find embossing really makes the impressions jump out.

Next, it's time to add some paint! I add some white to mellow the edges out, and to give the next colour some sort of base so it doesn't look too crazy when I put it on. 

Next, I add more colour (red) and after that I use some PanPastels to add more colour and some subtle shading / varience in the current colours. Then I sprayed a fixative, and did a quick clear layer (the PanPastel smuges a bit here, but since it's just for added colour, not an actual picture, it's not a big deal).  

Finally, I feel that I'm ready to start adding some elements: the flowers! I have three of them, like I said before, I like odd numbers. I make their stems out of washi strips, and then glue down the flowers once I like where they are.

I add the next set of elements - some premade leaves that came in my mixed media kit in the mail - I altered them by first covering them with a thin coat of gel medium so that the paper leafs wouldn't just "absorb" colour (if they absorbed the colour, it would look more dull, and less vibrant), and then splattered them with colours. I also added two chipboard pieces - an envelope (which I stamped in red a sentiment and words), and a stamp. I sort of wished that I added them earlier, so that they were more integrated, but there's nothing I can do now. So with them, I'll be focusing on making them more a part of the canvas.

I use my faber-castell markers and start adding shading, and using some more paint for more shading. I colour the birds on the stamp piece.

I decided to add two chipboard butterflies. I use paint on them to make them seem more part of the canvas and this painting. I choose two - bringing the total number of 'items' to five - again, this girl loves odd numbers. I add some rub-ons, more dimenstional black paint, some white, more colour to the leaves and stems - right now really just trying to make everything work together, but at the same time, I want the flowers and butterflies (uhm, one's a moth I guess heheh) to stand out.

Not quite done, but so close! I'm going to let this piece rest for a night, and then continue on tomorrow with a fresh look at it. Thinking of adding a word, but then again, I might leave just the sentiment at the bottom to stand on it's own. And, thinking of adding one more pair of leaves to the large flower, maybe.



Mixed Media Flowers Progress

I thought I would take the time this week to walk you through a mixed media painting that I am working on. First off, is deciding the canvas...and this decides a lot about your piece: it determines composition and how much you can create on it. If you have a grand idea, and start on the wrong canvas not quite thinking it through - you might not have enough room for that grand idea. Also, if you have a 'smaller' idea, and start on a canvas too big - you're going to have lots of extra space that just might not work for the concept you're going for. I like to have lots of different canvas sizes on hand, so I can just pick from my pile. Of course, as time goes past, the pile goes down. I order my canvases in a big lot once or twice a year. 

I choose the 8x16" canvas for this piece. With the size of the blossoms, and everything else I'm thinking of incorporating  the 6x12" canvas is just too small. I don't want a more square canvas, as the elongated canvas is perfect for the long stems of the flowers. 

I have decided that I want a collaged background, and so I start out with a couple pages of patterned paper that I like together, and simply just rip and paste them down. I love this past, as it is probably the 'easiest' = you don't think, you just rip and paste and love all the colour and patterns :D

Next, I mix some gloss gel medium loosely with a paint with of blue / green. When I say loosely  I mean that there are 'strands' of colour in the gel medium, I didn't fully incorporate the colour. I also didn't fully mix the blue and green - so there are strands of blue, green and various teals. As this dries, the 'white' will be gone, and only the various colours will be left. I plan on going over all this with a sheer, very wet layer of colour to pick up all the grooves.

Next I add some stamping through the use of coffee filters. Since the colours right now are quite pale, I wanted to use paler stamping ink. I know the particular 'pale' ink that I have does not stamp well over mixed media services, so I stamp on tissue first, and then glue that down and it works perfect!

While all that is drying, I make my flowers. I choose three - I like odd numbers in my artwork - it's a personal thing. Some places will say it's a compositional thing, but you can look in fine art and find even numbers too. I just like odd, it just feels right. The flowers are made of canvas pieces that I have distressed by folding them, running my scissors along their edges and then finally going over the edges with distress ink. I use a cute brad to hold all the layers together. I like brads for layered flowers, then I don't have to worry about the glue holding every layer. The brad holds them all, and I just have to really glue the layer closest to the canvas. 

The gel medium is still drying...this will take a while, as I put on quite a bit. I add some more texture with dimensional paint. I do this now, as I know I will want to paint over it when I start bringing out my paints. Although, the black does not look bad right now....

And my final layer before I sign off for today is some of my spray mist, which I sprayed and also just dripped everywhere too. The green might seem to not go right now, but I know the colours that I'm glazing over top and it'll make it all work :)

That's it for now! :) Happy creating!