A Misty Morning Notebok - DecoArt Media Team

A Misty Morning Journal/Notebook - mixed media style

This is a project I made for the DecoArt Media blog last autumn.

The process steps of this project were an experiment in creating that overcast look of the early autumnal mornings that have that blurred and more nebulous feel to them. 

1. Cut two pieces of greyboard 11 x 22½  cms and seal with a coat of gesso on both sides.

2. Use a medium size brush and wet the surface all over with water and let it pool in places. With the wet brush pick up a small amount of raw umber and dabble it in a couple of places around the edges. Whilst still wet repeat that step with medium grey, quinacridone gold and titan buff keeping it lighter and more watery in the middle. Dry with a heat gun after each layer. Repeat this a couple of times more to get some nice layering effects of the watery colours. Finish with some light splattering of the same colours used and lightly distress the edges with a sanding block and brown distress ink.

3. Mix some white modeling paste with a little tinting base and apply through a stencil with a palette knife. Leave to dry.

4. Start creating a misty background effect. Spray over and around the stencilled flowers with water and use a paint brush to blend in some medium grey media acrylic paint. Spritz with more water, let it drip and flow around the flowers and dry. Repeat process with another layer of the medium grey mixed with dioxazine purple, a third layer using dark grey and then a fourth using titanium white. Splatter some of the medium and dark grey as a watery wash.

5.  Choose a small, fine paintbrush and using sap green, burnt umber, quinacridone burnt orange and titan buff, mix colours and water to paint in a background colour to the stencilled wildflowers.

6. Add in some of the dioxazine purple and dark grey to add more detail to the flowers and leaves and also some levels of lower background foliage.

7. Having given the flowers some depth we're now going to knock them back a bit by wiping some white antiquing cream down the flowers, drying it with a heat gun and then using the fine brush and clean water to pull back random parts of the flowers as if they are peeking through the mist.

8. Finally I used my stabilo black water pencil to create some dark shadows and more murkiness and also added a little wash of the quinacridone burnt orange to bring back some faint colour. I loved the use of the watercolour pencil so much I added some shiraz red to the flowers too. I hope I've not overdone it!!!

To finish the booklet I re-sanded the edges and inked them and added a computer generated title and ......

.... I made holes to add rings to hold it together and filled it with some papers.

Supplies

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic Paints - raw umber, dark grey value 3, quinacridone gold, titan buff,  medium grey value 6, dioxazine purple, titanium white, sap green, burnt umber, quinacridone burnt orange and titan buff. 

DecoArt Mediums - modeling paste, tinting base,titanium white antiquing cream

Shabby Mini Album for DecoArt and Tando Creative

An 'Encore' Post

I made this little album for Di as a sample to take to her Hochanda show at the beginning of March and this was also my DecoArt Media Team Project too. I know some of you will have seen this already but I always like to bring my work back into the fold here at Bumblebees and Butterflies.

It was fun experimenting with painted lace covers and some small collage panels inside.
I am also sharing it over at Tando Creative.

Using lace as the texture for my front cover proved to be a great way of getting the shabby chic effects I wanted and it really didn’t take too long. 

Process steps 

1. Take the mini boards and using matte medium some lace onto the outer covers. Let dry naturally or speed the process up with a heat gun.

2. Add a fine layer of texture sand paste in the gaps between each row of lace and again dry.

3. Take the cover boards and the page inserts and paint everything with a coat of white gesso on both sides.

4. When everything is bone dry sand the edges and any rough spots then use a natural sponge to blend over a neutral palette of media acrylic paints mixing the colours on the project spritzing and blending them together with a babywipe as you go. Dry each layer before adding another. I used burnt umber, titanium white and titan buff.

5. Because I wanted the next layer of watery paint to seep into the recesses and not into the lace I gave the covers a couple of coats of matte medium. When they were dry I dipped and spritzed the washes over them then took some time to add the colours directly into the recesses with a small brush heat drying as I went.

6. Now came the time to add embellishments to the front cover…..

7. …. and to add some collages to each of the pages and some uplifting words.

Here are some close ups -

8. Once assembled I added some American seam binding to tie it together.

Thanks for popping in today and -

xxx

Supplies

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics - Raw Umber, Titan Buff, Titanium White, Burnt Umber 

DecoArt Media Speciality - Media White Gesso, Media Texture Sand Paste, Media Matte Medium

Tando Creative Mini Album/ Journal 

Lace and embellishments 

Vintage photos and collage fabric scraps

Spring Flowers Mini Album for Tando Creative

Here is another little album made for Di to take to Hochanda with her. This time I was inspired by seeing all the beautiful flowers at the garden centres we had visited in March.
I am sharing it on the Tando blog for the Anything Goes theme this week.

Process steps. Pages

1. Cut panels from patterned paper, ink the edges and adhere to the album.

2. When dry sand back the edges and ink again..

3. Use snippets of Tim Holtz  botanical collage paper with decou-page  mate sealer/glue on each panel,sealing the complete surface of each one

4. Sand off any over hangs.

5. Paint the flowers and leaves with watery media fluid acrylics.
6. Add some tiny flowers and words.

7. Repeat the same process steps for the front and back covers.

I used small buttons and thin black elastic to make the closures.

Finished front cover

Finished back cover.

 This is such a cute size 8 x 9.5 cms and feels lovely to hold in the hand and I adore the hand painted flowers and leaves



I am adding this to the mini album makers challenge and happily linking to where there is a wealth of album making inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by and ....

xxx

Tando Creative Mini Album - Ghostly Shadows

This is my project for the Tando Blog today where the theme is Anything Goes.
It has been a busy January and February with DT deadlines and this is one of the brand new Tando mini albums being released at Stitches next weekend.
If you look carefully you will see the ghostly shadows through the arched windows.

This is one very easy album to put together as the spine bends round and there's no gluing or adding pieces, it's all in one. There's no process steps today but those of you who know my work will recognise any paint techniques and the rest is all collage.
So with Andy Skinner stamps on every page - take a browse.

 All the arches were stamped onto tissue paper ........

 ..... then adhered over another of Andy's stamped creatures or skulls from a whole variety of his sets ......

........ the arches were cut out so that they look the same on every page.

I also used Andy'd Words Up and Numbers stamps for the added words - plus a computer generated one on the front cover.

Over the collaged pieces of paper on the backgrounds .....

..... I painted on a little black gesso and daubed some watery white gesso.

I stitched the pages through the album spine slots.

And I added some fabric for a tie which had been dipped in the paints I used for the covers.

 The pages were separate pieces of thin card connected together and folded into a concertina.

 Do pop over to the Tando blog for more ideas on how to use the fabulous Tando Creative products.

Thanks for stopping by again today - I am really appreciating all the comments you are leaving for me, thank you for taking the time to do so.

hugs Brenda xxx