Altered Hymnal

I've been wanting to start an altered book for a while, and have had the idea of using a hymnal... the words of hymns are so meaningful to me, and I love the idea of adding artwork in and around them. I don't have duplicate hymnals here, and I didn't want to use "mine" and then not have one, so I tucked that idea away. Recently, friends were moving away, and they mentioned they might have some hymnals to share... I was so excited to find that the ones they had were the same as mine, so I can have one to read, and one to create in. YAY!

I used a few pages in the index to test coloring mediums and see which ones would work for me, and not show through or bleed. I was pretty sure, but it's nice to have a test page anyway. Of the ones I used, only the alcohol markers didn't work (and I knew that, but my husband made me "prove it"... LOL). So, in case you decide to do a similar project, this is what works:

• Pastel (chalk) pencils
• Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils (with or without odorless mineral spirits)
• Inktense pencils (even with an SU blender pen)
• Gelatos (be careful with finger blending since pages are thinner)
• White Pitt marker (India Ink)
• Versamagic chalk inks
• Oil Pastels
• Acrylic paint with a dry brush (not shown)

I did a similar test page for inks, and found that Versafine and Versamagic performed the best as far as not bleeding through. Brilliance was next, then Adirondack (but possibly because my pad is a little dry); Memento bled a little and the Colorbox Fluid chalk bled a lot. I merged the test page with the back side of the page, so you can see (in a mirror image) how each ink looks from the back.

And here's my first page - I didn't have any particular reason for choosing this page, just thought it looked like a fun one for full-page color. I used Gelatos for the background, acrylic paint (with my fingers) for the clouds, and Memento ink for the stamping. The stamps are from Alextamping, and they were getting pretty dusty! 

Happy [Belated] Flag Day

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 

Between their loved home and the war's desolation! 

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land 

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, 

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." 

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 

Stamps used: Currituck Lighthouse with Flag; sentiment is a partial image from a new dkdesigns collection being released next month at the CHA Summer Show! I used Polychromos pencils to color the image.... and HERE is a tutorial for cutting the image outside of the Spellbinders die.

Long may she wave,

Mixed Media Challenge - ACK!! black?

It's my turn to host the Mix-Ability challenge over at Splitcoaststampers! I love the chance to host, encourage, and teach a few new tricks for working out mixed media in each participant's own style. It's so easy to think that all mixed media work has to be grungy and messy - and then get frustrated when that style doesn't express our normal artistic idiom. I kept my cards clean and simple, just for that reason!

This week I've challenged our participants to use BLACK to shade their colored images. I don't usually go for such deep contrasts, so this stretched me a little too. I put together a little video showing 3 different ways to do this, with a few tips and tricks along the way. I used the same Orchids image from Flourishes on all 3 cards.

My first card was watercolored using black dye ink from Ranger, and a waterbrush... I did darken a few of the deepest shadows with a pencil after making the video.

On the next card I colored the orchids with Touch Twin Markers, then added more shading with a colored pencil. The background is colored with dye and chalk inks. There's a fun tip on the video for adding that texture to the background... I may or may not be addicted to this technique...

These are the Touch Twin Markers that I used:

 
 For the last card, I made a block print using an acrylic block and misted chalk inks. The image was colored in with a Touch marker (120 Black), stamped over the top, then splattered with white acrylic paint.

I put the lower half of the card base into an embossing folder, and parts of it split and cracked - I thought that was sort of cool, so I left it that way!

Here's the video - check it out, then come play along with us!

Iris Thanks

Earlier this year I won some stamps from Crafter's Companion, and they've finally arrived at my house... I am a big fan of Sheena Douglass' stamp lines, and she had just added some new floral sets when I was shopping. This iris image is from her A Little Bit Floral line, and it is huge and full of detail.

I painted the image with Shinhan watercolors (Permanent Magenta, Permanent Violet, Ivory Black, Greenish Yellow, Green Deep) on a 3-inch Art Square from Inchie Arts, and added some texture by stippling paint through an area masked with drywall tape.

The sentiment I used is from Heart and Soul Rubber Stamp Co.

Click here for more Inchie Arts products!

Inky Antics - Snapdragon pendant

One of my guest projects for Inky Antics last month was a glass pendant. Jackie sent me a sweet little set with poppies and snapdragons, and I already have 3 poppy necklaces, so I chose the snapdragon image.  I used a photo online for color reference, and colored with my Touch Twin Markers. The colors I used are below - I was surprised that it took so many colors for such a tiny piece!

The glass tile I used is 7/8" x 1-1/4". I put a thin, even layer of Diamond Glaze on the back side of the tile, and laid it over my colored image. I set a little glue bottle next to it so it wouldn't slide - sometimes the tile will 'float' on the glue a little and shift position. I left the piece overnight, so the glue would dry completely.

Once the glaze was dry, I cut around the edges, signed the back of my piece, and coated the back of the cardstock again with Diamond Glaze. When that layer was dry, I added a small bail to the back and secured with more glaze.

Here's the finished piece! It's on a memory wire necklace that I got at Sun And Moon Craft Kits - you can find all kinds of jewelry-making supplies there if you'd like to make something like this too!

Mix-Ability - Smudge It!

Just wanted to share my sample for this week's Mix-Ability challenge over at Splitcoaststampers! Janelle is challenging us this week to smudge a little paint in the corners of our projects.

This was actually a pretty quick card to put together, because the card base is one of the cardstock pieces that I keep under my work to catch extra paint and ink. The Girlfriends Silhouette image was stamped on glossy cardstock, then buffed a bit. I brayered and smudged paint over the circle as well.

Had the key in my stash (I think it came from Art Impressions...?), the twine is Timeless Twine from Bella Creationz, and the sentiment can be found HERE. I was thinking of graduation cards when I put this together - come to think of it - I graduated 20 years ago this month. Aaaaaaaand now I feel old.

I hope you'll join us for this week's challenge! And next week it's my turn to host - so excited about that! Happy weekend!!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Bloom Where You're Planted

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a floral card. I got a new orchid for Mother's Day last month, and it's a beautiful, delicate pink, so that was the inspiration for my card - this is what blooms where I'm planted!

I used Prismacolor pencils to color the floral image (Orchids)...

The bricks were added using a stencil from Want2Scrap...

The additional texture was added by stippling Inktense ink through a piece of drywall mesh tape. I used a piece that had a little ink on it already, so the teal color is sort of accidental but I like the contrast that it adds.

Here's my new orchid - isn't it beautiful?

Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration -

Daniela @ For the First Time
Dina @ Mama Dini's Stamperia ------------- you're here
Jeanne @ Inky Paws
Jenny @ One Krafty Kat
Julie @ Out to Impress
Kittie @ Kittie Kraft
Laura @ Laura's Stamp Art Journal
Vicki @ Summerthyme Studio

Remember you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps! See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! We'd love to have you join us.