Living in the Layers

Well, this page certainly didn't turn out at all as I had even vaguely imagined when I started thinking about what to do for the latest PaperArtsy challenge "Shiny Stuff".  All of the samples from the team are luscious, and had my head spinning in many different directions.

My thoughts seem occupied by translucence, however, so I decided to start

with a

Quinacridone Gold wash on gessoed pages, to which I added crumpled tissue paper with Glue and Seal, and topped with a thin wash of Smalt Hue.

All of the lovely textures seemed made for sprays, which could wander down and among all of the rivulets.  I have quite of few Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays that have gold or other metallic effects, and some Prima sprays that are also quite shiny.

I was really starting to like this, but still had no "story" to tell..... oh, well - just  keep playing then!

Young Woman of Wonder

Here is a link to the poem from which the title derives - there is also a link at the end with a bit more description.

My imaginary Victorian Townhouse attic trunk has once again yielded a treasure......young Esmée on her sixteenth birthday. From the other items found with this, I surmise that she received a trip to Paris!  She appears to be in the family dining room, and I am certain there is a wonderful cake on the table awaiting her.

Fragile Paper Challenge from Paper Artsy

I love the challenge that Leandra at Paper Artsy has set using fragile papers.  I love old books, and now that I am getting into mixed media, I'm delighted to see I can incorporate them here.  I am also an incurable romantic of the Victorian and older history stripe....I love ruffles, lace, doilies, all things delicate, ruches, or both.  Though I imagine most people who actually know me would never guess that, lol!

For this challenge, I decided to Walk on the Frilly Side, and imagine that I have found an old framed photograph in an attic trunk in my wonderful  (imaginary) Victorian townhouse, wherever it might be....London, San Francisco, Paris, Prague.  That is the great thing about imaginary doings - I can magically transport it to wherever I want - even that beautiful winter palace in Dr. Zhivago (can you tell it is cold here at the moment?!)

Random Acts of Kindness Against Violence

Please see and share this awesome response to the terrible events in France recently..... Bravo, Manu!  And thank you for sharing your generous heart and spirit!

My first art journal page

Inspired by Astrid MacLean and France Papillion, and a very timely post from Brenda at Bumblebees and Butterflies.  Week Two can be found here.

The rest here is just for my records - feel free to skip.  But first, a thank you to Brenda!  Great exercise for this newbie!

Background of gesso-coated page created with Silk glaze in Apricot Nectar, Emperor's Gold, and Pink Anthurium with lots of water.

Texture paste applied through Prima stencil and then colored with watered down Silk glaze Wine and Roses, with lots of drips going every which way.  I did the layout on Bristol Vellum, and then put into my journal, an approach I saw on Jennie's blog.  Since I am doing this with a broken hand, thought it would be easier to manipulate the pages, and I think that was a good choice.... plus even with gesso my other sample journal (mixed media it claims) is horribly warped even when dry.  I think I should probably coat both sides, even though just working on one.

Stenciling added with Chalk Ink in Rusty Hinge dabbed on with makeup sponge, using a Donna Downey stencil.  Then toned down with diluted gesso.

Lynne Perella Geisha stamped with Black Archival on clear vellum, edged with fine detail gold embossing powder and attached with brads that are reminiscent of Japanese family crests.

Ginko leaf stamped with Versamark and embossed with Antique Gold powder - love the muscularity of using this thicker power for a delicate stamp.

Felt white spaces needed something, so applied more watered down Wine and Roses mixed with Pink Anthurium.

Not sure I am happy with that effect, but do think it is a marginal improvement.  Makes me wonder what the backstory is here.....broken heart?  Regicide or murder a la Kurasowa movie?  But love the inky effects.  Detailed shots below.

Ended by stamping sentiment and fun script stamp, with some spattered diluted gesso to try to tone down the dramatic purple.  Wrote "Saranoya" with a gold Sharpie.

Very fun!  Can't wait to keep playing along with this great activity offered by Brenda.

Great Article on the Inevitable Comparison of Self to Others

Very timely as I learn a whole new world of paper crafting...
.the danger of comparing oneself to others

Thank You Card

A belated thank you card for a wonderful Christmas present....

I was inspired by the colors used by Mona and Astrid for my background.  The design of the card from a size ten tag (Ive cut off the piece with the ringed hole) is from Linda.

I cut one end with the Distressed Doily, one of my favorite dies.  The stamped words are from Oxford Impressions, and are stamped on tissue with Cobalt Blue Archival ink.

I stenciled White Lumiere paint through a Memory Box stencil.  No magnet this time - just tied up with seam binding ribbon stained with Chipped Sapphire distress stain.

An InLinkz Link-up

Tim Holtz 2015 Tag Challenge

Having admired so many tags of the past several years from this challenge, from Tim and others, I decided to try my hand this year.  We will see if I can keep up with the monthly make and post!  First off, the January tag.

Having indulged in the full set of distress stain sprays, and also having finally rounded out my set of distress paints, I thought I'd try some colors I have not yet used.  I was also looking to create something with a winter late afternoon sky, with beautiful blues and purples.  Thus Faded Jeans paint and Dusty Concord spray.

And as my inner "crow" can't resist shiny things, I used Tarnished Bras paint, distress glitter and spray.

I don't have chit chat stickers, and really wanted to keep the background somewhat visible anyway as it reminds me of a landscape from the air, or a map..... the three is because I started this tag on the 3rd.

I used some cutouts from the Trellis Frameworks die, numbers cut from grunge board using the Vintage Market die, and the letters from the Newsprint Alpha Parts.  The crinkle ribbon is died with Tarnished Brass spray.  Note to self - work on bows this year!

The numbers were cracked with Tarnished Brass Crackle Paint, and knocked back with a bit of Maya Gold, which also highlights the great crackling.   I applied quite a bit of paint so that I would get large crackles.  You can also see here the splatter using Tarnished Brass distress paint and a toothbrush as I couldn't find my splatter brush.  It later turned up, in all places, with my other brushes :-)











The letters were completed in the same way as Tim demonstrates, although they were small enough that my fingers did all the distressing as I was handling them.

I used Chipped Sapphire in the distress marker spritzer, but it doesn't show well in the photo.  I also splattered a bit of Dusky Concord distress paint once I found my splatter brush, but I need to work on that technique.  No, it did not go everywhere - it went virtually nowhere!


 Looking forward to seeing everyone else's take on the January tag - thanks for dropping by!

Catch Up!

Between work and family, there was little time to catch up on my own blog, though I spent plenty of time perusing all the beautiful seasonal makes across blog land!

I did get around to making some small things for friends at work, and in the process getting to try new techniques and revisit favorites from earlier projects.  I am catching up on a lot here, so this will be photo heavy.

 I made a little luminary for my friend and colleague Judy.  The windows are acetate covered with frosted film, embossed in a snowflake folder, and then the debased areas were painted with crystal distress stickles to look icy.  I think the structure is made of card spritzed with the new Brushed Pewter distress stain spray.  A variety of Mover N Shaper dies were used to decorate it all, and a small battery-operated tea light was placed inside.  I gussied up the deer with some brown stickles after I took the picture, lol.

Next, I made a card for my Secret Santa at work, Sue.  This tag was to have been my first entry in the 12 Tags of Christmas challenge hosted by the wonderful Linda at the Funkie Junkie Boutique, but as happens, life interfered,  so looking forward to playing along next year.

The hanging lantern is embossed foil.  The holly is cut from the Holly On the Edge die, with Red stickles for berries.  The candle background is specialty paper that I was trying out with the metallic Distress Stains.  The tag itself is Barn Door paint, using the wrinkle free distress technique, and then spritzed with the Tarnished Brass distress stain spray.  The candles have a bit of texture paste dripping down as wax, and the flames were pained with two colors of Maya Gold.  The word is cut from the new Script Holiday Words.

Next up is my first attempt at trying Sarah Allen's beautiful Chocolate Box.  I loaded it with chocolate kisses for my friend and colleague Jeanne.

I used the Royal Peacock gilding flakes from Indigo Blu, using the same beautiful Indigo Blu stamp Sarah uses in her video, on yummy chocolate paper from Stampin' Up.  The top is made from the Snowflake Rosette with the same gilding flakes.

This was so fun and resulted in such a lovely gift in rather short order that I decided to make one for  each of my colleagues on our management team.  These were also filled with a variety of chocolate kisses.

These were stamped on black card stock, using the same stamp but this time with Cosmic Shimmer's Mulled Wine flakes.  The tops are made from the Mini Paper Rosette die.

Ever since I made the birthday book for my friend Janet, I have been wanting to do the weathered wood look again, with a textured stenciled element as demonstrated by Liesbeth.  I have also been wanting to try the mini-album using one sheet of 12 x 12 paper that I read about on Astrid's blog.  I am a great fan of her textured work, and would try some of this in my little book, which I made for my friend and colleague Karita, who hails from Lapland.  The paper I used is from a winter collection from Maja Designs, although most of it is covered by the mixed media techniques!

More gilding flakes at work behind the deer :-)

A textured stencil, with a deer stamped and embossed with antique gold powder.

Another stenciled texture.  The snowflakes were cut from remnants of my lovely gilded paper from my Chocolate Box rosette tops.

I made separate covers of chipboard because of the technique I wanted to use....took a bit of puzzling to figure out how to put the little book in sturdily - not the prettiest thing in the world but live and learn.

All in all - a LOT of fun!  Thanks so much for dropping by -

xx  Lynn