Background Tutorial...(with a give away)

Today I want to share a background tutorial with everyone.

This background will be turned into mixed media postcards for a swap I found over at

MixedMedia.club

and hosted by Lisa Vollrath who can be found at TenTwo Studios .

(I have been a fan of her collage sheets for years)

Anyhoo

I am in a use up mode lately. 

Trying to use the items I have around my house rather than go buy the newest latest & greatest.

I realize over the years I have bought and bought...now I need to USE!

This background uses what I have on hand, 

nothing fancy or special today, yet in the end I have a unique background waiting to be turned into

6 postcards.

Several for the swap and several left over.

Like what you see?

Leave a comment and you may get randomly picked for a piece of happy mail from me!

So let's begin...

First up I am using a 12x 12 piece of card stock (which I have piles and piles of)

You don't need special heavy weight paper for mixed media projects, I find that card stock works well for just about everything I am doing right now.

I tore some Washii tape and added strips here and there.

Squirted on some blue Americana acrylic paint (again I love my fluid acrylics but you know what...inexpensive craft paint works just as well for these) craft 

Spread it with a brush and squirt on some green paint by Plaid Folk Art.

Using the same brush spread it around.

Some orange...

And some yellow. Again these are the paints you can buy sometimes on sale 3 for a dollar etc. 

Nothing fancy.

I still had some white space so went back in and added a bit more color.

I took a fan brush and dry brushed some Liquitex unbleached titanium

to calm everything down and blend some edges. Wipe most of the paint off on a piece of scrap paper first, I wanted just a touch of the light color.

A script stamp and Archival ink...perfect for use on paints.

It dries quick and smudge proof. Script stamps are some of my favorite ones, they find their way onto just about everything I do.

A circle stamp by Club Scrap and Teal Blue StazOn ink.

This is where a mistake happened but turn the mistake into a happy design element.

I was using a mister with water & acrylic paint inside. The mister clogged so I took the nozzle off and started flicking, until I forgot I had the open bottle in my hand and tipped it over.

Yes...I meant to do that lol

Dylusions mist through a Crafter's Workshop stencil in areas.

Stamping with numbers and Archival ink.

I went back with the same stencil and used it with Gesso this time.

In some spots I got white diamonds, others the Gesso reactivated the Dylusions mist and it absorbed and  was tinted by the mist.

I went into my drawer full of rub ons.

You know the ones I HAD TO HAVE and never use.

Well here I just applied a bunch of the little tab ones randomly around the page.

Remember this is going to be cut up so each postcard will have a similar but different background.

Lastly some Punchinella and the same yellow paint as used on the background before.

I just rubbed it through with my finger here and there.

And here is the finished background all ready to be cut up.

Remember leave a comment and you'll get entered into a random drawing for a piece of happy mail from me created using a piece of this background.

Deadline for comments to be entered in the drawing is 8/30 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Believe…a Mixed Media canvas with Bonus Video Tutorial

Feeling in the Holiday spirit today

(even though it's grey and rainy outside).

I pulled out this background I created a while back,

my box of Christmas crafting goodies,

put on some carols and began to create.

I have also created a quick video for you on how I did the background of the canvas.

Using Acrylic Paint and Jet Dry (yes the stuff that goes in your dishwasher)

you can create a really cool distressed base for your art.

This is my finished piece...

Here is the video for you.

It's a super easy technique using items you probably already have on hand.

Once the background was completely dry I

stamped on it with various stamps and Solvent ink (i.e. StazOn)

and yes if you look closely my stamping is upside down.

From when I stamped to when I began adding my elements someone (blaming the 8yr old here)

turned it around.

Embrace the mistakes, they add character!

I also used acrylic paint with sequin waste as well as bubble wrap to stamp.

Old Rub Ons from my stash, some paint drips and some misting from Tattered Angels.

There are sequins scattered across the page from when I was cutting up the Prima floral cluster.

Nothing goes to waste here!

The focal cluster is made with dyed cheesecloth, half a doily, BoBunny metal and a bunch of Prima wood and flower. The big red flowers are handmade and purchased from an Etsy shop.

Some washii tape with music on it to remind me of the carols I was listening to.

Tim Holtz white Rub On snowflakes were scattered about.

The white just pops off the background.

Be You…BE BOLD!

Sharing another art journal page today.

This one was inspired by a challenge over on the

Flying Unicorn forum.

The Art Journal challenge is held every month and is always a favorite of mine to play along with.

Song Li is hosting this month and her challenge was to

GO BOLD.

Love it!

This was the first piece I created.

I combined Paint, Mist, Stamping, Modeling Paste, Stencils, Pan Pastels,

old felt flowers, cheesecloth, doilies, and last but not least dry wall tape.

PHEW….

I also thought I would share a bit of step by step as I went about creating.

Keep on scrolling to check it out.

To begin I adhered doilies, felt flowers,

cheesecloth & tape to my page.

I then covered everything with a layer of Gesso to give a neutral base.

Once the Gesso dried I misted the page with Vibez Jeni B Blue 

by Shimmerz paints.

Using a wet brush I spread color over the whole page,

then misted more to get some drips.

Did some large splatters with Liquitex Acrylic ink and a dropper.

As I dried the ink I blew it across the page some more.

Once all the ink was dry I stamped randomly with 

StazOn and a check stamp.

Modeling Paste through a Crafter's Workshop stencil.

I then dried the paste with my heat gun to give it a bubbly texture.

When the paste was completely dry I colored it with Orange Pan Pastel.

Since I knew I would add more layers I quickly sprayed the page with workable fixative.

This allows me to continue to layer but preserves the Pan Pastels as it is.

I took watered down purple paint in needle nose bottle 

and scribbled across the page.

My letters were covered with black embossing powder,

melted then outline with a Montana Acrylic Paint marker

A few closeups….

And that is how I went bold today.

Make sure to stop by the forum and see how everyone else is doing.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Art Journal page with another background tutorial :)

Hey everyone,

It's Thursday (which means it's almost the weekend)

and I wanted to share another background tutorial with you.

One of my art journals had 1 blank page left in it, taunting me with it's sheer whiteness,

I had to fill it up.

Here is my finished page:

And here is how it started:

First I randomly covered the page with masking tape.

Not completely though, the paint with react differently to the paper and tape and I love the variations you get.

Some random stamping with my favorite Kaisercraft script stamp and Solvent ink.

(you need to use solvent ink or else your images will bleed and run as you add layers)

Very light layer of Gesso over everything.

See, you can still see the stamping, but now have a smooth surface for the rest of the layers.

Using my finger I colored the page with 2 colors of Golden Fluid acrylics.

Keeping my finger wet I was able to smooth and blend the paint quickly covering the page with color.

I still had the hole reinforcers on my desk from using them for the latest Craft Hoarders Anonymous challenge.

They kept sliding off the background paper they came on, so why not use them up on this project.

Just glued them down across the page.

Using some Claudine Hellmuth paint and my finger again I colored the white circles.

More stamping, this time with a Bobunny stamp and Solvent ink.

Washii tape…

I love using this on my projects. It's semi transparent so the background shows through, is lightweight so you can layer and not get too bulky,

and of course it brings more pattern to the piece.

Washii tape= Love

Last but not least on the background creation is a bit of Modeling paste through a hole stencil.

A real thin layer just to add some dimension. 

You can color the paste with paint if you wish but I wanted the white to contrast the other colors here.

And the finished piece.

With an image cut from an old magazine,

some Rub Ons (which I swear multiply in the night and I will never be able to use them all) and a little bit of handwriting.

My page, and book, is now complete.

                                           
                                                              Some closeups of the page...

I hope I've inspired you to get out and play.

Thanks for joining me and have a great day!

Art Journal page playing with Bister

The other day a friend shared some works she had created using

Bister.

I was in awe of what she had done and at the same time decided I 

NEEDED them now.

Bister is wood stain imported from the Netherlands.

It's water soluble and on glossy or stamping paper can created absolutely beautiful backgrounds.

Doing a Youtube video search I found a few tutorials,

most in another language, and most on how to create cards and such by combining the Bister background with stamped images.

I am all about backgrounds, and I am all about stamping (but usually as part of my background making)

so I decided to share my spin on combining the 2.

The following is a step by step tutorial on creating this Art Journal page.

This is Bister.

It comes in 8 colors in these little containers.

Don't panic about the size, it truly is an example of a little goes a looooonnnggg

way.

See, it has fine grains, almost along the lines of an embossing powder.

I used a dry paint brush to flick a small amour across my page.

I wound up using 3 colors here.

Mist it with water.

The more you mist the more it bleeds and runs.

I'm in heaven.

Excess water can be blotted up along the edges with a paper towel

and you can dry with a heat gun to speed things up.

I added a second layer of color just because I wanted more veins of color in my piece.

Then some simple stamping with a Kaisercraft stamp and Solvent (StazOn) ink.

I put a tiny bit of the stain in a container, added some water and made a watercolor paint.

Using a cosmetic sponge and stencil I added some circles to the page.

In hindsight I'd use a different applicator,

the sponge soaked up more of the water than I wanted

(I know, who'd have thought a sponge would soak up water…duh moment)

My circles...

I outlined the circles with a white acrylic paint pen.

Added some torn pieces of a sewing pattern.

More stamping,

this time with a Tim Holtz stamp and Solvent ink.

Little bit of Washii tape,

cause tape makes me happy.

For my embellishment I took a piece of canvas and misted it with Olive Vine & Bronze 

Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels, 

and Buccaneer Bronze Moonshadow Mist by Lindy's Stamp Gang.

Once it dried a little bit of stamping with a Club Scrap stamp and Solvent Ink.

I cut a heart out freehand, adhered it to the page and did a bit of machine stitching around it.

Here is the finished piece.

I added some words using Tim Holtz stickers.

Outlined the heart with a Distress Marker and smudged it with my finger,

and inked the edges of the page with black ink.

A few closeups….

Love my heart

Some of the Bister background with stamping over.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my newest tutorial.

Have a fantastic weekend!