Heart With Wings

Happy Friday. Working on several projects at the same time creates the problem of lapses between shares. I've had a picture in the back of my mind for a while of how to use the resin heart I purchased from Prima Marketing. It is one of their Archival Cast pieces which I've had for at least a year. I finally decided to mount it on a canvas with angel wings. I designed the wings, then cut them from heavy chipboard. After a couple layers of gesso, I applied some thick homemade modeling paste with a palette knife to create the appearance of feathers. A thorough dry and then a layer of black gesso followed with a layer of crackle medium and a thin coat of white acrylic paint created the aged plaster effect.

Here are some closeups!

Believe in Magic

I wanted something with more gold tones than I normally use and I may have gone a little overboard. I seem to always end up with lots of blues and greens. Teal, turquoise, forest...it doesn't matter what shade, I seem to gravitate towards the cool color spectrum all the time. Odd, since I prefer warm colors for my clothes and home decor.

I repurposed a canvas for this project. That's one great thing about mixed media, the more layering and textures you have, the better. Also, it allows me to change up my decor without investing lots of dollars, just my time.

There are lots of elements here: printed tissue paper in the background, resin pieces, papers, mulberry paper flowers, metal bits, micro beads, pearls, and loads of bling. This was all layered on modeling paste stenciled designs and I also used some honeycomb packing paper to add additional texture and dimension to the background.

 I love incorporating vintage photos and artwork into my designs, but because I didn't permanently fix the photo into the frame, it could actually be removed and a current personal photo displayed in the frame instead.

More details can be seen in these photos.

Hearts

This is my version of the project done by Angela Holt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69-68DvwtB0&t=1623s). Hers is much bigger, so has more elements.

 It's so much fun to play with a variety of inks and materials.

The embroidery hoop is 10 inches in diameter and covered in a lightweight canvas, then painted with a thick coat of white gesso.

The heart is half of a paper mache heart ornament that was glued onto the canvas. There are resin elements, metal, shells, beads and mulberry paper flowers layered with some stenciled designs and some lace and paper to add texture. Layers of paint, inks and gesso create the colors.

Thank you Angela for sharing your talent and this beautiful idea.

Steampunk Dream

New project I've finally completed. I've been thinking about this for weeks and finally pulled it together. The canvas is the backdrop for the three dimensional steampunk hot air balloon. It took some time to figure it all out, but the canvas balances on it's feet, so it doesn't need to be propped to sit on a shelf or table.

 There are so many elements here, I can't go into them all, but the balloon is fabricated from a paper mache egg as is the teacup. There is paint, paper, burlap, lace, loads of metal gears, crystals, ink, and glitter. I turned a 12" square canvas around, removed the staple holding the canvas to the frame and then used that as a shallow shadow box to frame the project.
 Here are some other pictures:

 These allow a better look at the details.

This project was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

Vintage Girl with Hoop Canvas

I've been incognito for a long time, dealing with some health problems that are finally slowly being resolved. This is my first creative project in a long time. We moved and my paints and things were all packed up and I just didn't have the strength to do any organizing or unpacking. Now I'm more organized and really feeling more creative, so I'm off to the creating races!

                                          Here is the whole canvas, and below are closeups.

This is an 8" x 10" canvas I painted with white gesso, applied some clear modeling paste from different stencils, then layered with ink sprays, stamps, lace bits and paper to add more texture and color.

Once the background was done, I added a photo to a Prima Marketing resin frame that I'd antiqued with a bit of gold, copper, and blue-green patina. I layered the frame over a faux tin tile and piece of window screening. Fabric and paper flowers, bits of lace, a few resin and metal pieces were arranged around the frame. the finishing touches are some Prima glass pearls, crystal embellishments and floral wire "springs" dyed to match the background.

The photo came from Angela Holt's Pinterest pages. https://www.pinterest.com/angelahdesigns/?eq=Angela%20Holt&etslf=21077

Only A Heart With Wings Can Fly

I love the "exploding canvas" concept. It looked like so much fun when I first came across it. This is a smaller canvas (8"x10"). I began by flipping it over and painting the back with an off-white acrylic paint. I added some texture with a stencil and some texture paste and some spray inks and mica powder.Once dry, I painted the front, similarly. And don't forget the sides! I like people to be able to look at my work from any angle and find something of beauty, so I don't leave the canvas plain anywhere.

I glued some lace and textured paper to the front and gessoed and painted some more. I then cut the canvas from the front center out towards the frame like a pie and glued each section in place as I wanted. I cut a piece of chipboard to cover the back and covered it with gesso before stenciling, stamping, embossing and painting. Then I glued it to the back of the canvas and began the real fun!

I attached a twig inside the frame and set little fairy on it. I placed some tiles made from patterned card stock that I attached to chipboard, coated with UTEE, and heated. Paper flowers, silk leaves and a few trinkets were glued on and then painted with gesso before spritzing with inks. The butterfly was left natural metal and the medallion is a piece of patterned paper mounted to chipboard, stamped, and edged with border of Liquid Pearls.

Finally, some eyelets attached to the top allowed me to attach a chain for hanging and some attached to the bottom allowed me to attach a handmade tile for added interest. This is my idea of an exploded canvas...go ahead and try it yourself, you'll create something completely different with this fun technique!

Returning to My Goals

I have neglected my blog for a long time. Not because I have lost interest, but for other reasons. Now it is time to get things in order and pick up where I left off....

I love to create. I have made things as long as I can remember. My favorite days in school were always the days we had projects to make, usually when there was an approaching holiday and we got to make decorations. Except in third grade (sorry Mrs. Walker). My teacher was an older lady who thought art was handing out papers with a picture printed on it and having us color it. Ugh! All the other classes were making skeletons from milk jugs or paper bag Jack-O-Lanterns and we got coloring pages. It was the most dismal of my elementary school years! I did survive it, however my brothers suffered the brunt of my thwarted creative genius. That was the year they all got pencil holders made from frozen orange juice containers covered with Con-Tact paper for Christmas. They still tease me about it.

My point here is that while I've been on hiatus from my blog, I haven't stopped creating things; I've just not been posting them here. Today I will begin anew and I will once again share my creations! I hope to inspire and uplift others out there who may be taking a break due to health or personal issues and encourage your creativity to start flowing again, too.