Glimmer of Light Mixed Media Canvas

***Warning*** Photo heavy post ahead so get your eyeballs ready for some visual happiness. 

 

 I had some messy fun in my studio and I can't wait to share the results with you all!

I've had this bright red canvas staring at me for quite some time. I've always thought it's just been too obnoxiously vibrant, but tonight I decided to conquer it. 

What better way to tone down the red than to cover it up? haha
I used a sheet of old, old music given to me by a bloggy friend and cut it into a face shape. 

I LOVE how easy it is to make emotive faces with the Face It! stamp set from Visible Image.  I stamped the closed eyes onto the sheet music. 

I used some Dina Wakely Scribble Sticks to add some colors to shading. 

Even though Scribble Sticks might not look like much when you scribble them on, as soon as water is added to them, they activate and make all kinds of gorgeousness. Around the edges of my face, I used some Faber Castell Gelatos to add depth and dimension.  I also stamped my background with some numbers from the Somewhere in Time stamp set to grunge it up a bit. 

I took some metal gears and transformed them with some Inka Gold metallic paste. 

I embossed a sentiment from the Glimmer of Light set. 

 

 I glued down the gears to the top of my gal's head, along with some turquoise gemstones and then sprinkled the whole dealio with some Picket Fence Distress Spray Stains. 

 

Pretty much in love with the way this turned out and no longer intimidated by all that red. 

I had to add the stripeys to the side to complete the whole shebang. 

Thanks for tuning in and have a very happy Saturday!

Gesso Vs. Matte Gel Medium - What the heck do they do? A tutorial. + A WINNER

Earlier today on my Facebook page, the oh-so-snarky, oh-so-talented Chris D. of Chrispy's Creations asked me this question: "What's the difference between gesso and gel medium?" Well, Miss Chris, thanks for the inspiration! You made me get artsy and create another mixed media canvas. And this time I have a tutorial!


Gesso Vs. Matte Gel Medium:
Now, please bear in mind that I am a fledgling mixed media artist and learning and exploring. So I'm probably doing everything wrong. hehe. But I'll tell you what I use these things for.

What Is Gesso?

Gesso is a medium that most artists use to prime a canvas. It allows your paint/gelatos/next layer to spread easier and not just soak straight into the canvas so you don't spend umpteen million dollars on paint. They sell gesso in a variety of colors, but most commonly in black and white. 

Gesso can also be used to:
>Prime objects that you want to change color with another medium (like paint, gelatos, etc)
>Use through a stencil to create a pattern
>Stamp with

What Is Gel Medium?

Gel Medium is a substance that can be used for a variety of different things including:
>Sealing a layer on a canvas/art journal
>Gluing objects on a piece - much like mod podge
>Using through a stencil to do a resist technique

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The canvas that I'm working on is a Tim Holtz Ranger 6x8 burlap canvas. I applied one layer of gesso because I wanted the texture to still come through the finished project. If you want a smoother surface, you can add more layers of gesso. 

After the gesso was dry, I rubbed on some gelatos and blended them with my finger. Then, using a palette knife, I added a layer of matte gel medium (you can get glossy too). 

Why did I add this layer of gel medium? I knew that I wanted to add white texture paste over the gelatos and since they are reactive to water/liquid, if you don't add the gel medium between layers your texture paste will soak up the color from the gelatos and blend into it. 

So I wanted to break up the color of the background and decided to do that by adding some old music notes that a very special bloggy friend sent me (THANKS BETTY!!!)

Remember when I said you could use gel medium like glue? Here's an example. I painted the back of the music stuck it to the canvas, and then painted over the front of the music, which sealed it to the canvas., Then I added a layer of embossing paste through the ARTplorations Tribal Triangles stencil. See? It stayed white! Thanks to the gel medium. 

I added another layer with the ARTplorations Confetti Circles stencil and then sprinkled it with blue embossing powder while it was still wet then I set it with heat. It turned out beautifully!!! All puffy and grungy and cracked. 

I had these chippies, but I didn't want them to stay the color they were. So I added a layer of gesso to prime them and then used bright orange gelatos to recolor. 

Voila! A finished canvas! And one I'm very pleased with. Thanks Chris!


I'm going to enter this into the following challenges:
Mixed Media World - Stencils
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
STAMPlorations Mixed Media Challenge - Anything Goes Mixed Media

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Speaking of things I'm pleased with - I still have another 5 names to draw in my birthday bash giveway.

Today's lucky winner is going to receive The Bee's Knees PartyGirl stamp set. 

 

Entry number 36 is Gail from The Crafty Nomad! Congrats, Gail! Please email me with you address and I will pop your prize in the mail for you. :) 

Mixed Media Canvas, CAS Card + A WINNER!

Have you ever been so petrified of screwing something up that you don't ever take the chance to start it, thereby failing by default?

Well this is how I felt about trying mixed media canvas art. You see, I'd purchased 4 canvases about 6 months ago and they've been balefully staring at me from the corner of the my craft room - the stare held one part intimidation and the other part taunting glee. 

I'm preparing for my first craft/vendor fair next week and knew I wanted product that had higher price points. So I picked up the canvas and conquered my fear. 

For my very first ever canvas, I went looking for inspiration and the Mixed Media Place Creative Gym has a "One Important Word" challenge. So I decided to focus on my inner strength and came up with the word "Strong". 

I started with a layer of gesso on the canvas and added some gelatos, blending them with my finger as I went along. 

Next thing, I added a layer of Matte Gel Medium to seal the initial layer. Then I stamped a big background text stamp and used some gesso through a stencil to create some texture. 

Then I used another stencil and distress paint in black to create some black lines, added some die cut wording, and used a Dina Wakely stencil and some neon green texture paste to create a bold woman. 

I put a lot of heart and soul into this first piece and it truly was inspired about how the process made me feel. I am strong. I am bold. I am confident. And my work is unique. I can conquer my fear and try a new art form. :) 

I'm going to send this over to the following challenges:
Mixed Media Place - One Important Word
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - Get Texty
Mixed Media World - Stencils

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On a totally different note I also have a CAS card to share with you folks, too

Mynn Kitchen does this totally cool thing, called the Pony CASEpress. It's basically a chain of CASEing and you send your CASEd card off to the next recipient on the list, and then you'll receive a CASE of your own card in the mail. It's a pretty dandy way to do something fun with fellow bloggers. 

This is the card I made for Kathe Deck. 

It's made with Hero Arts Color Layering Butterflies stamps and coordinating dies. It's so bright and happy and a little different from my normal aesthetic, It's fun to step outside my normal box from time-to-time. 

I'm sending this on over fly around in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon - Up, Up and Away
Mod Squad - Anything Goes plus a Die (mine is Hero Arts brand, which One Happy Cut sells)

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And now - for the moment you REALLY came here for. Wink* I drew another name from the awesome people who linked up to my birthday bash - 52 of you! Thanks for making me smile, now it's my turn! 

The winner of the STAMPlorations Party Time set is.... 

 

Link-up #15 - Jessi Fogan of One Crafty Mama!! 

Could you pretty please send me an email with you address? :D