eP Picks: Gel Medium!

 Hi there!  Today is an eP Picks Challenge!!!!  Julie is our lovely hostess today!  She challenged us to use Gel Medium!  Head on over to the eP blog to see how SHE used it!  Amazing!

What IS Gel Medium?  Here's what Faber~Castell says: "Gel Medium is great for adding body and dimension to other mediums.  Use it to extend colors, add semi-gloss sheen, decoupage and for creating dimension as it will hold its form when it dries.  Try this semi-gloss, translucent medium with all your paper crafting and mixed media projects."

Well, Julie used it as an image transfer vehicle.  Some fellow eP teammates used it in a variety of ways!  You HAVE to check their blogs out!  Amazing!!!!  All links are at the bottom of Julie's post!

What did I do with Gel Medium?  Well, today I just used it as a sheen, more like a top coat, if you will.
I was inspired by eP's Guest Designer, Lynne Forsythe's post using an ATC.  So, I decided to make one too!  Of course, mine doesn't lie flat, and it's probably the wrong size for an ATC, but that's ok!  I'm not going to be sending it to anyone!

I received a fabulous box of goodies today, which I used in today's creation!  The full listing is at the bottom!

To create this ATC, I first took a piece of plain blueish paper from the Park Bench stack by Fancy Pants.  I took a floral piece of paper as well, and tore a piece to use on here.  I inked my brand spankin' new Tattered Chicken Wire stamp from Unity in Onyx Black ink.

Then, I took from the 50's Diner Gelato Collection: Aqua Dolce and Banana and just scribbled over the chicken wire to color it in a bit.  I colored Squid Ink all around the edges.  W/ a blender that comes in the pack, I blended the colors together so they weren't standing out, but faded into the background.  I also added Squid Ink to the bit of floral paper, and blended that in.

I adhered the floral paper to the chicken wire paper, and painted it with Gel Medium.  When you brush in up and down strokes, once dry, the gel medium takes on the look of wood!

Embellishments are just paper cut out and adhered!

I really tried to get a close up shot of the sheen, but my camera just wasn't going to work with me!

So, that means you need to try it yourself!  You can pick some up Gel Medium HERE!
Park Bench 6" x 6" pad
50's Diner Gelato Collection
Big White Brush Pen 
Chicken Wire Stamp

Have a great day!  Can't wait to see what YOU do with Gel Medium!!!
 

Peeled String

Today I am showing you my abstract side!

It's rather hard for me to create simple pieces.  Take my scrapbook pages for example.  I love to make them 3-D.  Same with my cards!  It's so hard to mail them!  Haha!

So, when I started working on this canvas, and especially when I told myself it was done, it was SO hard to walk away!!!!  I feel like it needs more!

I was at Michaels today, and I wandered back to the art section (my newest favorite part of the store!), and I found String Gel!  It acts like honey when poured gently!  I bought it and couldn't wait to get it home to try it out!

Well, when I painted my canvas with clear gesso, I knew I wanted to incorporate the String Gel in some way.  I started with a few stencils and Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads. Then, I wasn't happy with it, so I took a baby wipe and swiped it to blur everything.  Ok, liked the look, time to add the String Gel!

I grabbed a knife and after gathering a heap, I let it drip off of the knife while moving it across the page.  I continued doing this until I was satisfied with the drippings.  I let it dry (with the help of my embossing gun!  Can we say impatient?!), and actually took a nap (we had to get up super early to go to church this morning w/ my MIL).  Once it was dry, I sponged more Forest Moss Distress Ink over the entire canvas.

Then, I started to peel the String Gel off.  I used my exacto knife, and then after a while, I just used my nails and scraped it off.  That was a whole lot quicker!

I looked at it, and decided it need a LITTLE bit of color.  So, I used my Hexagon stencil from eclectic Paperie, with Dusty Concord Distress Ink.  I took another baby wipe and swiped the corners a bit to make that blur, and then I was done!

What do you think?  Abstract enough?!  LOL!

Have a lovely day!

Spread Your Wings!

Hi!  Today I would like to share with you a journal page that I finished creating earlier this weekend!  I am currently taking an online art class, and I wanted to participate again (life has been a bit crazy, so I haven't been able to participate much!).  I started laying paper down, and not really paying attention to what was on the paper.  Turns out, I was actually creating a theme!  Wings!  As you can see below, there is a plane, and fairies on my page.  As I was looking around my craft room, I spied some Paper Clay that I had purchased for the class, but hadn't opened yet, and tore into it!  I have some ideas on what I can create with this, but I'm going to work slowly towards sculpting.  I decided, after several failed attempts, to just make wings! 

I created the wings, and then, waited....and waited....and waited some more, for the clay to dry!  Finally, I couldn't wait any longer!!!!  I sprayed them w/ purple smooch spray.  Then, I took Black Gesso and filled in the creases that I made with a pencil point when I was initially creating the wings.  I painted some pink polka dots for flair.  Then, I took Glass Bead Gel and liberally painted on them to create some bubbly texture.  Then, I took Gloss Gel and painted that on top of the Glass Bead Gel.  Once it was dry, I glued them to the page!

 This is the page in its entirety.

To create the page, here are the steps I took:

1.  Choose and adhere your paper pieces.

2.  Mix White Gesso with water until desired lucidity and consistency, and paint over entire page.

3.  Take a baby wipe (or alcohol on a towel) and wipe away the gesso what you really want to have emerged.

4.  With acrylic paint and a stencil, start painting.  Take a Copic and create the 3-D effect. Highlight with Pitt Faber-Castell Black Pen.

5.  With a white gel pen, create highlights.

6.  Create wings with Paper Clay, and let dry.  Paint and adhere to page.

Here is a close up of the top of the page:

 Here's a close up of the bottom of the page:

Have an amazing day!

Wacky Wednesday!

Hi there!  Today I would just like to share with you a card I made for the teachers at Olivia's school.  I am co-chair of Teacher Appreciation/Hospitality this year.  And since I'm a crafty girl, I had to get my craftiness on!  I decorated each teacher's door (there are only 6 teachers, so it wasn't a LOT of work, but still took plenty of time!), and w/ the help of the other co-chair, came up w/ a menu and gift ideas for the teachers throughout the week!  It's a fun week, and I'm so excited that the teachers love what we are doing for them!  It makes all the hard work worth it!

So, today is Wednesday, and since our theme for Teacher Appreciation is Dr. Seuss, I made them Wacky Wednesday cards!  Just to let them know how much we value them!  And to thank them for keeping learning fun this year for our kids!  I also decorated the teacher's lounge w/ a shoe on the wall and a shoe on the ceiling!

Now, this is a not so great picture, because I actually forgot to take a picture this morning before I dragged everyone to school!  So, this was taken in Olivia's classroom. 
When I was thinking about what I could do, I started reading Wacky Wednesday, and took some ideas!  The girl w/out  legs, I exchanged for no head!  Which this is a perfect use for an MFT WTG!  I used MFT's City Skyline die, cut a building out and adhered it above the grass.  I stamped a shoe from one of the sets, WTG Window Shopping maybe?  And then I die cut giraffes from Lisa Johnson's Circus set, but drew the face and spots.  I drew the manhole, and cut it out.  I glued the giraffe in place, and then black c/s behind it so it looks like he's really popping out of a manhole! 

I even put the card together backwards and upside down!  What fun!  The teachers thought they were cute and funny!  Perfect reaction and exactly what I was hoping for!

To see the door decorations for each teacher, check out my post on the eclectic Paperie blog!

Hope your Wednesday is Wonderfully Wacky!