Popcorn Paper

I decided to play with unconventional supplies again. I was wandering around in my local Lowes in the paint department when I stumbled on the stuff that is used to repair the "popcorn" texture in ceilings. "Surely I can use that in my art," I thought.



The base of my "Popcorn Paper" is actually chipboard, not paper. I used the chipboard that comes folded into my husband's laundered shirts. It's similar in thickness to a cereal box, maybe a little heavier. Here's how I did mine.

1. Spray the chipboard with the ceiling texture goup. You'll find it at any home or hardware store. It dries in about 30 minutes.



Here's what it looks like after it dries. It was late in the evening so this photograph was taken with ambient light. The blue is a result of my florescent bulbs. It's actually very, very white.



2. When dry, spray with black spray paint.



3. Highlight with burgundy and cream spray paint. I added Twinkling H20's to one corner (lower left), but they floated on top of the spray paint layer. It doesn't show up well in the photograph. If that's a look you like, go for it.



4. Finally, I added layers of pigment ink and blended them with my finger. Click on the finished photograph to get a better look at the texture.



This was fun.

Popcorn Paper

I decided to play with unconventional supplies again. I was wandering around in my local Lowes in the paint department when I stumbled on the stuff that is used to repair the "popcorn" texture in ceilings. "Surely I can use that in my art," I thought.

The base of my "Popcorn Paper" is actually chipboard, not paper. I used the chipboard that comes folded into my husband's laundered shirts. It's similar in thickness to a cereal box, maybe a little heavier. Here's how I did mine.

1. Spray the chipboard with the ceiling texture goup. You'll find it at any home or hardware store. It dries in about 30 minutes.

Here's what it looks like after it dries. It was late in the evening so this photograph was taken with ambient light. The blue is a result of my florescent bulbs. It's actually very, very white.








2. When dry, spray with black spray paint.
3. Highlight with burgundy and cream spray paint.

4. I added Twinkling H20's to one corner (lower left), but they floated on top of the spray paint layer. It doesn't show up well in the photograph. If that's a look you like, go for it.

5. Finally, I added layers of pigment ink and blended them with my finger. Click on the finished photograph to get a better look at the texture.

This was fun.

Back to Gravel

I'm back to working with gravel. I dug into a bag of Cherry Stone Grit I had in the garage (for spreading on the slippery sidewalks during the winter). Here's what it looks like after being rinsed. It's still a little wet in this picture. When it dries, it's not quite as dark.

I was curious to see how this would perform in one of my gravel art pieces. Here's a creation using the grit with a Krafty Lady mold purchased from After Midnight Stamps. It's mold number 128. For the column, I used paper clay painted with Lumiere paint (copper) followed by a blue acrylic paint rub.

For the background, I layed down a base of Radiant Rains on a piece of mat board. Then I mixed some of the grit into Golden Soft Gel and spread it on the mat board with a palette knife. If I do it again, I may mix some acrylic paint into the gel before spreading it. When it was dry I added highlights with Lumiere paint. Finally, I brushed on some additional Radiant Rains mists. You'll probably want to click on the picture below to see a bigger version.

It looks really different than the aquarium gravel pieces. The cherry stone grit is sharper and more angular. I like the look.

Deeply Etched Rubber Stamps & Paper Casting

Some stamps are better than others for paper casting from toilet tissue.

If you use a traditional rubber stamp like the one on the left, you'll get an image that is indented into the casting. If you use a stamp with an image that is etched into the background, like the one on the right, you'll get an image that is raised.

If you want to highlight just the raised part of an image, you'll want a stamp like the one on the right. However, this example is not deeply etched. While a fine stamp for stamping, this is not so good for this type of paper casting.

The After Midnight stamp on the left is deeply etched and is very good for paper casting. It's the stamp I used for the "Faux Antiqued Pewter" technique. Because the image is etched into the background, it resulted in a casting with the main imaged raised above the background. This made it possible to highlight just the flower.

Here's a link to the Faux Antiqued Pewter

Also, Tyra Smith has an excellent tutorial on her website for toilet tissue casting

Another Aquarium Gravel Experiment

I've become so enamored of the aquarium gravel projects that I decided to combine my technique with a Krafty Lady mold. You'll have to click the pictures to see the detail.

I started the same way I did my last experiment with aquarium gravel. If you've read that one, you'll recognize it at this stage.

The difference is that I added a paper clay cast made with a Krafty Lady cameo mold I purchased from After Midnight. It's mold number 291. These molds are an absolute dream to use.

I glued down gravel and the cameo with cheap white glue and let them dry. Then I painted everything, including the cameo, with brown acrylic paint. I wiped most of the paint off the cameo right away, leaving only enough to highlight the details.

Here's a closeup of the cameo after the paint is mostly removed.

When the brown paint was dry, I highlighted the peaks in the textured areas with Lumiere Super Copper paint. I put a very small amount on the tip of my finger and rubbed most of it off on a piece of paper. I then dry rubbed the textured areas very lightly, so only the peaks would pick up the paint. I did the same with the graveled areas.

Here are some closeup photographs of the details.

Faux Antiqued Pewter

I was cataloging my new stamps and decided to turn this one into a paper cast. It's a great stamp by After Midnight. Here's how I did it for those who haven't tried it yet.

1. Lay rubber stamp down on table.

2. Spray with water.

3. Lay a single layer of toilet tissue over the stamp. With a soft paint brush, gently push the tissue into the crevices on the stamp.

4. Mix white glue with water (I think I diluted it about 50-50).

5. Lay another single layer of toilet tissue over the first. Dip the paint brush into the glue-water mixture and gently push the tissue into the crevices.

6. Continue this process until it's as thick as you want it. There are 5-10 layers, on this cast.

7. After it is dry, remove it from the stamp. It may curl or warp a little.

8. Mount on a piece of mat board. I ran it through my Xyron adhesive machine, but you could use double sided tape or a glue stick. I think I would avoid a wet adhesive at this point.

9. Paint the cast and the mat with black acrylic paint. I just used inexpensive craft paint this time.

10. When dry, apply silver Rub 'n Buff. Let is set, then buff it with a paper towel.

Use on a card or on the front of a journal or on a paper mache box.

Aquarium Gravel Texture Art

After covering up the Garnet Gel in my last project, I decided to try to a similar texture with cheaper materials. I went to the pet store and got a bag of the smallest aquarium gravel I could find. Here's what I did.

Start with a piece of mat board. Apply a thick layer of white glue in a pattern of your choosing. Sprinkle fine acquariam gravel over the glue and gently push down on it to set it in the glue. After it dries, apply a thin coat of Golden Self Leveling Gel (or any white glue if you don't have gel) to set the gravel further and keep it from dropping out of the glue layer. To give the areas without any gravel some texture, apply a layer of Golden Soft Gel (Matte) with your fingers, like finger painting. Click on the picture below to see the texture created by the Soft Gel.

Paint it, rocks and all, with black acrylic paint. (I didn't paint the hot pink rocks before adding Opals and wished I had.)

Paint glue on places that you want to put Opals. Sprinkle Opals on the wet glue and heat with heat gun until Opals melt. Add pinches of other Opal colors. Spray black areas with interference Radiant Rains.

Unfortunately, these pictures don't begin to pick up the richness of the interference colors. Here are some closeups of the final project. Click on the pictures to see the detail.

Koolaid ATC

I've had some koolaid around for ages to try on paper. Today I decided to experiment with it. I wet an ATC size piece of watercolor paper and applied pinches of koolaid through the middle. Then I added Twinkling H20's to the rest. I salted the whole thing. When it was dry I scraped off the salt (it really sticks to the Twinks) and stamped with Ranger Archival Ink. I liked the color and the effect of the koolaid application.

Texture

I experimented with a technique created by Zeborah Loray. I started with a piece of heavy mat board and spritzed it with Radiant Rains. Then I slathered on a thick layer of Golden Extra Coarse Garnet Gel with a palette knife. It's hard not to put down a thick layer because of the size of the stones. I spritzed again and applied the Opals on the gel.

I'm still familiarizing myself with the colors of these products, somy color combinations are a little iffy. But I like the texture this created. I think I could have gone a little lighter on the Opals to take full advantage of the Garnet Gel's texturel. Next time I use Garnet Gel I'll apply the Opals like I would a pinch of salt.

Bleach & Paint Brushes

I had some friends over today and showed them how to do the bleach technique I blogged about earlier this week. I didn't have enough water barrel brushes to go around so I got out CHEAP Prang brushes that came with watercolors years ago.

Well.....

Turns out they were natural bristle. They disintegrated right before our eyes. I was amazed at how quickly the bleach ruined them. Just ate 'em right up!!! And if that wasn't bad enough, the chemical reaction between the bleach and the dissolving brush kept the paper from bleaching out. So we not only wrecked the brushes, we wrecked the pictures!! Here's a before and after picture of the brushes.

So if you get cheap brushes for this technique, make sure they're also synthetic. Or use a Q-tip with a pointed end. They're available in the cosmetics aisle, along with that other useful craft tool, the cosmetic sponge.

My Drawings

I've been drawing since I was a child. My drawings started out as likenesses of things in the outer world. They have since become images from my inner world. Here are two examples. The first is highly pigmented markers on watercolor paper. It was done over the course of several days in May of this year. The second is acrylic paints on a grocery bag. It was done several years ago over the course of a few weeks.



By clicking on the pictures you can see the detail up close and personal!

I framed the grocery bag art. It became the first piece of my own art I hung in my home.

Bleached Flowers

I got two great flower stamps designed by Zeborah Loray for After Midnight at the St. Paul Expo and decided to try them out today using a bleach painting technique. The first one is just stamped, embossed and bleached. The second one is stamped, embossed, bleached and colored with chalks using a water barrel brush.

I went back then and glazed the flowers. I glazed one leaf of the chalked flower with Diamond Glaze from the bottle and realized I didn't like how thick it was looking for such a large application. Plus, it had bubbles in it. So I switched to Golden Self Leveling Gel and brushed it on the rest. I like that much better. I've never tried to brush on Diamond Glaze. Maybe that would have worked. You can see the difference if you look at the larger version of the picture.



I used a sheet of black cardstock from The Paper Company Black & White Value Pack. Got it on sale at Michaels.

I use bleach straight from the bottle. I gave up on a gel bleach pen. I couldn't get results with it. To keep the bleach from bleeding outside the lines, I heat emboss the image in the color of the paper I'm using.

I haven't done that for a long time. Sometimes it's nice to go back to the simple techniques.

Wood Heart

I've been cleaning up my studio to make room for all the products I bought from After Midnight Art Stamps at the St. Paul Expo. I found a bunch of wood shapes that I've had for ages. Can't even remember why I bought them. I wondered if it would work to use Opals and Fantasy Film on them. I gotta do something with 'em!

I smeared the wood with my Versamark pad and coated it with black Opals. Then I melted it with my heat gun and added the Fantasy Film. Here's how it turned out.

I had one problem. After it cooled the Fantasy Film separated from the Opal layer. Perhaps I didn't use enough of the Opals. Probably should have done more layers so it could get more molten before I applied the film. I used Crystal Lacquer to reattach it and it's been fine since.

What I like about this is how light it is. It would make a good card embellishment.

Inchies

OK, I did it. I went smaller. I participated in a couple swaps of 1-inch x 1-inch squares. Fun format. Unfortunately, my scanner never picks up the irridescence of the pieces.



The gold on the first one is much more shiny than it shows in the scan. I punched the dragonfly from a blank notary certificate sticker I bought in an office supply store.



The shrink plastic tag printed with Chinese characters on the second one is barely visible. The hole in the tag is threaded with curled red wire and a gold bead.



The third one is painted with irridescent watercolors and topped off with sequins stars that don't sparkle at all when scanned. I'll have to experiment with photographs to get the glitz.

Dandelions

I had an amazing crop of dandelions in my front yard this Spring. Flowers blanketed the hillside. They were even beautiful when they went to seed. Don't you just want to make a wish and give it a good blow??



My two new friends, Alex and Sonetta, were my assistants for these photographs. Thanks you two!

Faux Repousse

I was playing around with HVAC metal tape and die cuts last winter. I cut these tags from chipboard and then covered them with HVAC tape.

On Tag #1 I used my metal tools for the designs.

On Tag #2 I used an empty ball point pen and tiny bit of burnt sienna acrylic paint.








On Tag #3 I placed an angel under the tape and tooled the metal before applying Ranger Adirondack alcohol inks.






On Tag #4 I placed stips cut from decorative scissors under the tape before applying alcohol inks. I wasn't crazy about how the tags with shapes underneath turned out. I need to work with that some more. I think it has potential if executed better.




And Tiny Tag #5 I just added this one because it's so darn cute!! Another one of those "little things" I love.