Week 7: BPC class

I've been working on this project for several weeks now for my Big Picture Class, and thought I would share some of the steps that I went through to create this.

Step 1 - adding a few items

I started out with an 8 x 12 canvas.  I glued some items on to it to give it some depth - corrugated cardboard, chipboard gears, and a couple of tags.

Step 2 - seal all areas with gel medium

Next, I applied a couple of old receipts with some gel medium and let everything dry.  I did find with this project that I often had to let things dry overnight before moving on to the next step.

Then, I applied a thin layer of gesso over the canvas and let that dry again.

Step 3 - apply a thin layer of gesso

Now, the fun begins!  All I really did was play with paints (purple and blue) and distress stains (tea dye), then went in with some molding paste and worked on adding some more texture to the canvas.  The paste picked up the colors I was working with.  Again, I let it dry overnight.

I also wanted to experiment a bit with inks, and went in with purple, blue, green and metallic.  I dripped it on and let it run to get the effect I was looking for, and let it dry once again.

Step 4 - add paints, molding paste and inks

Next I went in with some stamps and StazOn ink and added a few images to the background, and adhered some postage stamps. I decided to add some clear crackle paint over some of the images for more texture. and...can you guess, let it dry overnight!

Finally approaching the end!  I laid my image out on the canvas and played with where I wanted to put everything - flowers, gears, words, etc. before I glued anything down.  I had fun mixing flowers with gears and antique buttons, and decided to add some to the lady, along with a bustle and feathers on the wings.  Oooh, such fun!

And there you have it...the creation of my SteamPunk Lady!

Voila!  My finished "SteamPunk" canvas!

Off to the Moon!

This is a small mini album I made from an October Afternoon kit for a craft show.

cover

example of inside pages

back cover

I think it makes an adorable album for a little boy or for anyone interested in space.

Bunny Land 2

 

Here we are...bunny pops!  Yes, you guessed it - craft show time, and I've been working on ideas for the Easter basket.  These cute little bunnies are Dum Dum lollipops.  I cut out a heart shape for the feet out of craft foam, doodled around the edges, added tiny pompoms for arms and tail, and the ears are pipe cleaners.  The face is a little wooden bead with googly eyes, a cute pink pompom nose, a black pen for the features, and a pretty ribbon tied around the stick.  These bunnies are ready to hop right in to some lucky child's Easter basket!

Week 6 BPC class

This past Saturday, my Big Picture Class held an impromptu on-line crop to celebrate our midpoint in the course.  This was the first on-line crop I "attended" so I did not really know what to expect or what to do.  Well, I think I picked it up pretty quickly.  We posted messages, had challenges, put our work up in the gallery, won prizes (YES, I did!) and had a lot of fun!  I worked on several projects, and wanted to share my week 6 layout that I call "Alien Lunch".  My husband and I took a little road trip and had lunch at a diner in the midst of the UFO area of the east - Pine Bush, NY.  It was a lot of fun, and I wanted a playful layout, and I wanted to try as many of the techniques from class that I could with it.  I used distress inks, spray mists, doodles, layers, paper, fabric, metal, etc.

Sometimes, you do things without really realizing it.  It wasn't until I put the pages side by side, that I saw the design really does flow one page into the other. I must have had my subconscious working on that part of it!

And, a find today in my stash, was this double 12x12 clipboard - just perfect to use to photograph my pages and put them on display....could have used it yesterday, but, hey now I have it out.

Bunny Land

 

Lately, I feel like I have been in "bunny land".  I've been working on creating some Easter themed items for an upcoming craft show at the end of this month.  One of my ideas is to do a simple make and take with children, since this is at a school.  I've been getting everything prepared for the kids to make these cute paper plate bunnies.  I'll have at least a couple more bunny projects to share with you in upcoming posts, and this might give you some ideas for Easter!

Supplies:  paper plates, craft foam in pink, light pink, brown, and black, googly eyes, dental floss for the whiskers and a black pen

Altered Book to hold ATC's by Jen

Recently, I got an email from Jennifer Sager asking me if she could show my Valentine ATC on a You Tube video she was putting together.  Well, of course, I was honored to be a part of it!  I really like her idea for holding ATC's.  She created a beautiful mini album to hold them - check out the video for ideas.  My ATC shows up around 2:50 min. and is the one on the lower left...

Top 'O The Mornin!

My pin that Sheila made for me - I wear it every year in celebration!

Art Journal: BPC

One of the challenges presented to us in my Big Picture Class is to work in a grid.  I also had this challenge in my art journal class, so with inspiration from both sides, this is what I created in my art journal.  It had felt "undone" to me, even though I thought I was done with it, and tonight I decided to go back in and work on it.  Now that I have added some gears, buttons and ribbon, I feel like it is "finished".   In thinking back on the process, I liked what I had, but felt it was flat.  Now that it is more three dimensional, I feel it is done.

Inspiration!!

Source: tworzysko.blogspot.com via Ania on Pinterest

One of the things May Flaum does to keep us inspired in her class that I am taking "The Curious Scrapbooker", is to share with us someone who inspires her.  I was blown away by this week's inspiration. Ania Dabrowska is an extremely talented artist from Poland, I believe, who is doing incredible stuff!  This is just one example of her work.  You can check her out on her blog HERE, or on Pinterest HERE. I just love this Steampunk style collage!!

HERE is also a link I found to a video by Finnabair - it's about an hour and a half, but she takes you through her process to create a project.

Join Us!

Want to join Maura and I? 

We've signed up for this:

More info HERE.
Maura here - check out the information above, and post a comment this weekend on Tim's website - you can WIN a slot in the class!!

Embossing on Vellum

I thought that I would share the table numbers that I made for an upcoming St. Patrick's Day wedding. I used a heavyweight vellum and on the backside dry embossed the shamrocks. By working on the back side, it really shows up on the front side.

I punched the scalloped border across the top and once adhered together, they will look like this.

It's quick and easy to emboss on vellum and this was a great way to personalize the St. Patrick's Day theme without going overboard.

Week 4 BPC: Snow day for the teacher

 

What could be more perfect than a snow day at the very beginning of my week 4 class at Big Picture? I haven't done a 12 x 12 layout in quite a while, so it was fun to use to portray what I love about snow days.  I am sure we teachers look forward to these just as much as our students do! The focus of the class this week is pens, so I did some journaling, drew in some lines, and the other challenge was to work with a grid, which I tried. I am hoping to play a little more in my class this weekend.

What a treat!

...and it's still falling...

In depth look

Maura's Big Picture class that she is currently taking is taught by May Flaum who recently shared an in depth look at the new Tim Holtz Distress Markers on Scrapbook Update. If you're on the fence about them, be sure to read her article HERE.

courtesy of Scrapbook Update