Friday 2 February 2018

Melt It for AVJ

I have a large wooden tag today which has been layered up with gesso, stamps and acrylic paint splatters and lines to produce the design for the next stage ..........
But before we move on let's take a look at the AVJ challenge brief from the lovely Julia.
This month we're asking everyone to MELT IT! Get out the UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel), beeswax, encaustic wax, embossing powders or good old wax crayons and a heat tool and get melting to create something in a vintage; shabby; mixed media; art journalling; industrial, timeworn or steampunk style!


I started by sealing the wood with a coat of white gesso and when dry I dipped it into some watery burnt umber media acrylic paint.


To get some clear stamping using Andy Skinner stamps - including some of his new ones- I stamped using black and coffee archival ink onto tissue paper. Mixing in some text as well gives this a fabulous collage feel.


I adhered it to the tag, dried it, sanded the edges to remove the excess tissue paper and then splattered it with titanium white and the the white mixed with some burnt umber and dried both layers separately before using an old credit card to dip into the left over paint and print some overlapping lines.


 This provided some depth  ......


..... and interest to each of the main images .......



... and to help unify the whole piece.


Once this was dry I pondered my next stage whether I should seal it with a coat of varnish or not? I decided not to and went straight into a coat of UTEE. I pitted it with a paint brush before melting it and then rubbed walnut stain distress ink into it and dabbled on some walnut crystal ink to give it a more sepia and aged look.


I hope you will pop over to the AVJ blog to see what other fabulous 'Melt It' inspiration my lovely teamies have come up with - you know you won't be disappointed.

Have a fabulous weekend.

hugs Brenda xxx



23 comments:

Julia Aston said...

I just love the colors on your wonderful tag Brenda - the browns, black and off white match the subject of your stamps perfectly - so many wonderful techniques used as well - a beautiful project for my challenge! Julia xx

Kate Yetter said...

The colors on this tag look amazing together. I am loving the way you are using these fossil stamps!
Kate

hazel said...

I love this tag Brenda, the colours are beautiful.
xxx Hazel.

A Pink said...

Absolutely fab! Brenda. Love the stamped tissue paper ( that needs to be marketed as a printed tissue paper, imho :)) and in those colours....just perfect for the stamps used. Love the depth the cross hatching lines creates and the sepia look of the Utee finish . A remarkable piece of art .
have a lovely weekend
hugs x

SewPaperPaint said...

What an amazing collage Brenda! I just love every inch! I bet the UTEE top coat is really incredible IRL, love the idea of pitting. <3 Big hugs, Autumn

Gina said...

I am so loving all these fossil projects :D XXX

Redanne said...

I absolutely adore those stamps and they look beautiful stamped in the Coffee Archival. The cross hatched marks really do add some wonderful depth to the tag too, I love this Brenda!!! Hugs, Anne xx

Jennie Atkinson said...

What an incredible tag Brenda! Your choice of stamps is just wonderful and so beautifully stamped in the brown and black. And then the UTEE top coat ...... just stunning! Jennie x

Jackie PN said...

Way cool Brenda!!!
Jackie xx

Deb said...

This is fabulous Brenda, love the layers of 'fossils' on your tag, feels like I am on an archaeological dig! Wonderful depth and brilliant idea to drop the stain and walnut ink crystals into the UTEE as you were melting it, will definitely have to give that a go. Fabulous tag filled with inspiration as always, thanks so much for sharing it, Deb xo

Astrid Maclean said...

Totally gorgeous Brenda, all of your fossil makes look super and this one is a real beauty! Love the neutral tones and wonderful layering. Fabulous!!

Meggymay said...

A fabulous piece Brenda, this fossil stamps look great.
Yvonne xx

S@ndy Diller said...

Just love your tag Brenda. The design is so nice and the "melt it" is perfect on this project. Hugs, S@ndy xx

Heather said...

fabulous tag!!! love the look! Great technique

Nikki Acton said...

Gorgeous depth and colour all finished with the Utee! xx

sarascloset said...

A fabulous tag with incredible depth. The tissue paper stamping is perfect, but adding the credit card lines and then the UTEE really takes this to the next level! Pitting the UTEE is such a clever idea and really adds to the aged look. Love this! Hugs!

Rita said...

Brilliant take on the Melt Pot theme Brenda. Love the idea of using the skeletal pieces too. They have turned out fantastic too. Love the Sepia look you have given it too. Hugs Rita xxxx

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

I so love this technique and haven't used it for ages so thanks for reminding me. Must pop over for a look at the new challenge. Happy crafting, Angela xXx

Words and Pictures said...

I love this enamelled look - fabulous ageing just perfect with the vintage specimen style of the stamps. So clever to do the stamping on tissue, and the geometric lines of paint are a very cool touch. Fabulous melting!
Alison x

Annie said...

wonderful details Brenda x you are really creating some amazing art pieces with Andy's new stamps and the colour combinations are just stunning.

TFS and hugs Annie x

Stampendous said...

This is absolutely brilliant, Brenda. You've created a gorgeous, mixed media piece without making a mess!! lol... that's not always easy. Love the wonderful aged look. We're sharing this on our Facebook Page on Feb 9 at noon Pacific Time. Thanks so much for sharing with our products!!

pearshapedcrafting said...

Fabulous tag - loving the colours! Chrisx

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, your wooden tag is amazing! I love how you used the UTEE with the Distress Ink to finish the piece - beautiful 😁. Wishing you a happy new week! J 😊