Romantic Rose

Hello!

Last week was a busy one as I worked on projects for future blog posts and finally today was able to work on something "just because."  I'm going to lose several days this week to an upcoming exciting trip to Houston for a Gecko Galz crafting retreat and was so anxious to get something made and posted, so here 'tis, my latest art journal pread.

The background was colored with various shades and tints of Neocolors which alone right there is a whole bucket of fun.  I do love spreading the colors around with a wet paintbrush.  

There is stamping with black archival ink, decoupage (butterflies from my favorite paper guest towel  which I've been using a lot lately), and some 3-D copper metallic molding paste put through a stencil.  There's even a bit of doodling around the edges, though it's clear that there's work to be done there.  I'm such a beginner...

Isn't she pretty?  I can see I'm going to be using this stamp set (Stamper's Anonymous "Classic Favorites") quite a bit as the images are all so wonderfully romantic.  I first stamped her onto gift wrap tissue paper then decoupaged her onto the page.  The tissue paper disappears and all that's left is the image.  It's the foolproof way to stamp on paper that isn't perfectly smooth, and I'm giving all the credit for this technique to my mother who recently shared it with me.  There is no risk anymore of smudging stamps onto these journal pages!  Her swirly "hair" was stamped directly onto the page as were the stars.

The butterfly is a bit of the top layer of a fancy paper guest towel.

This rose was torn from the box that contained my favorite hand cream, Tokyo Milk.  The image was just too pretty to discard.  Actually, the whole box is gorgeous and you will no doubt be seeing other parts of it in upcoming projects.

The butterfly is another from the paper guest towel.

A little more stamping.  Not sure why it appears a bit blurry, but the sentiment is crystal clear on the actual page.  That's because I stamped it onto tissue paper and decoupaged it to the page, just like the face image.  No chance for smudging!  The light pink swirls are archival ink put through a stencil.

You can see the bottom edge of the metallic molding paste that I applied through a stencil.

And that's it for today's project.  Thanks so much for joining me and I wish you a day full of beauty and lovely moments, big or small.

Happy crafting!

Butterfly Collage

Hello!

All I can say is it's about time I get something posted!  I started this canvas collage last week but life conspired against me such that it took a week to complete!  I won't bore you with the details, but things have finally worked out so that I could finish it and share it with you.

Note: Look no further if heavy embellishment causes you hives or claustrophobia, because this piece is LOADED with it.  <smile>

This is a 6x8" canvas board that is chock full of stuff (my favorite kind!) and techniques.  It starts out with a wonderful tissue technique that gives lots of texture and which I painted shades of brown and red and topped with gold Rub 'N' Buff and some lime green paint flicked on as the last step.  Then I decoupaged a piece of vintage style collage paper from Gecko Galz "Dapper Dan" digital paper set and curled up one of the corners.  And last, I placed a strip of beaded, pink leaf-shaped trim up the left side, but most of that has been covered with the various embellishments.  Typical.

I agree, it IS "always tea time."  At least in this household.  Yesterday I had four cups because it was so cold.  Two in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening.  There is no wrong time when it comes to tea.  

The words have been decoupaged after first inking the edges.  Once the decoupage medium was dry I edged them with clear glitter glue.  There is no wrong time for sparkle in one's life, either.

This cute image is what started the whole thing.  It's from the Gecko Galz "Teatime" digital stamp set.  I smile every time I look at it.  I colored it very softly with Copics and distressed the edges, then I adhered it to the back of the Tim Holtz Weathered Clock die cut made from some of his grunge board.  It was inked and brushed with crackle paint, then I applied some gold Rub N Buff with my finger.  Guess what, it doesn't come off with soap and water, so I had two pretty gold "fingahs" for a couple of days.  (Sorry, was channeling a little Shirley Bassey there.)

That little bitty teapot came from my mother's enormous stash of mosaic/crafting supplies in her garage some time ago and it finally found a home here.  See that little bird?  Too sweet!  The large purple flower behind it was made with a purchased rose that I glittered up a bit and which I then placed on three layers of flower petal "blanks" which I airbrushed with various Copic colors.  I needed a bigger flower than that rose.  

Many of the flowers on this piece have been hand colored including the pink-tipped cherry blossoms and some of the roses, though not all.

The ceramic rose is another piece from my mother's "garage stash" and I've applied drops of Glossy Accents to simulate dewdrops.  The dragonfly is a vintage style brooch.

The rose has been attached to a rather rusty, age spotted vintage key escutcheon.  I layered a bit of hand-dyed cheesecloth underneath for a bit of textural difference and placed a beige pearl where the screw once went.  You can see the keyhole in the first and third pictures.

The butterfly was treated the same as the clock.  It started out as grunge board wings which I inked with two colors of distress ink then brushed on a thick coat of crackle glaze and then finger-rubbed some Rub 'N' Buff over that.  I edged the wings with gold glitter glue and adhered a vintage button as the body.  This is propped up and adhered to a resin rose for the 3-D effect. 

The little wooden clock is from Prima and is purely for decoration.

Another garage stash item is the teacup.  It started out white with a Delft windmill which is on the other side, but I airbrushed it with two colors of Copics (thanks, Katie, for the suggestion!) to tie it in with the teapot.  There are two little brown pearls in it signifying tea.  

That's one of the custom colored cherry blossoms.  Of course I had to put a little glitter on the stamens...

This will go up for sale in my brand new Etsy shop today.

Thank you for joining me, and I wish you lots of fun crafting goodness in your week!

Happy crafting!