Mixed Media Adventure: Knowing When to Say When

I have been looking at mixed media videos and mixed media pieces all over the web for awhile now and it looks like it should be easy to do. I am beginning to learn that it is one of those things that looks easy until you try to do it! One part of the process I want to change is stopping earlier, before my page or project becomes a muddy mess. I guess I thought that since there really are no rules that meant that I could just throw several techniques on and it would be okay. I have decided a little restraint will make me happier with the outcome.

I started two pages side by side in my kraft envelope mini book, one with scraps of old music paper and old sewing pattern pieces and the other side with crackle texture paste through  a stencil. Next I covered each piece with a light wash of white gesso. The kraft envelopes are pretty sturdy but I wanted to be able to add lots of liquid so I added the gesso so the pages would be able to handle all the liquid.

I intentionally left some of the music and pattern paper raised up to see what effect that would produce. I used spray inks and tilted the page to let them run to the sides and bottom and then I stamped with some medium inks. That didn’t show up very well so I stamped again using darker inks. I like how the page became so dimensional with all the colors. Because I wasn’t sure what else to do I decided this page was done. I think it looks okay but probably needs a focal point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The page with the crackle paste wasn’t dry in this photo so you really can’t see the crackle lines, but they were very small. You could still see them after I added the spray ink but when I stamped over that they become very difficult to see, so that was not a particularly effective technique. I like the white paint splatters on the blue and green background and did add a bit of a focal point to this page. The wavy squares are cut from ripped apart cardboard and I put so much paint on them that the cardboard flattened out. So then I added some twine that I sprayed with ink and it helped tone down the white paint a bit.

            

I also seem to be missing the journaling piece of art journaling so I want to work on adding that to my pieces, but will not really do so until after the next few pages. I’ll post those with my thoughts soon.

One Little Word Mini Canvas

Many people make several resolutions at the beginning of a new year with the best of intentions to  improve their life. It can be difficult to make many changes all at once, and this is why I find the One Little Word concept helpful. I learned about this idea from a memory keeper named Ali Edwards and have chosen a word most years since 2006. This year my word is choose.

To make my word visible I created a mini canvas inspired by this art journal page  and this mixed medium canvas by Shari Carroll. I love the color, texture, and contrast of her page and canvas and I was inspired to create something with these features for my word. I started with some gesso and scraps of paper, lace, and chipboard. The gesso acts as an adhesive as well as toning down the colors.

I didn’t have all the same materials on hand so I improvised. I used some clay and molds to create the flower strips and some of the single flowers. I cut the shanks off some old buttons and added some random beads and some little stones from an orphan earring. While hunting through my crafty stash I found some Dew Drops I had forgotten about and added some of them too. I had the chain from an old light and I used my tin snips to create some of the little balls. I also had some new chain and I cut some of it apart as well.

I used some clear liquid glue to adhere the buttons and beads since I wasn’t sure if the gesso would hold the heavier pieces. It doesn’t look very pretty before I add more white gesso.

I decided to create two mini canvases since I had all the materials out and was making a huge mess. After the white gesso was dry I used some Distress Inks with a water brush to put down some color . I also used some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Heidi Swapp Color Shine Sprays. Adding water with the colors and tipping the canvases let the colors run. I wanted to have the effect of an old piece that had been weathered and stained.

Waiting for everything to dry was the hard part – I am impatient so I used my heat tool to speed things up. Since I had my heat tool out I decided to add some embossing powders. I have some Distress Embossing Powder in the Verdigris color and it is one of my very favorites. It gives the look of metal that has been left outside for a long time.

Time to add my word. I didn’t have a die for choose so I used my Cameo to cut ‘choose’ out four or five times. I glued them together to make the word dimensional and painted it black ( I cut most everything out of white card stock on my Cameo.) I added some liquid glue to make it shiny and added it to the smaller canvas. Tying some twine on the end finished it off.

I did have a die for the word wonderful so I cut it out of black card stock four or five times and glued them together for the larger mini canvas. The twine didn’t look right so I just left it off. The wonderful canvas doesn’t look as balanced as the choose one but it was okay considering I was making it up as I went along.

I had fun making these – until it was time to clean everything up. Yikes, I can really make a mess but I didn’t get any photos of that.

Thanks for stopping by!