So how are you liking Creative Carte Blanche? I am just loving this approach to the "online challenge" model which we like to call "creative adventures". Judging from the fantastic art you've all posted, you are totally getting it and are feeling your freedom.
The Queen of Vintage Arts, HRH Candy Colwell has suggested an awesome adventure for us this time. Combine the delicacy of lace, the rigidity of metal, and the texture of corrugated materials and ask them all to dance together on one piece of art. Let's go for it!
This is the second shot at this one for me. I first made a card that I will give to my aunt for her birthday, but wanted to keep the design. So I added to my studio wall by recreating the card as a 4 x 6 burlap panel.
For my lace element, I went to a huge bolt of wide lace that I bought at a garage sale. Can you believe it?? I love it when I find stuff like this.
I used some gesso on the lace to stiffen it up a bit and to give it a shabby chic feel. When I flipped the lace over after brushing on the gesso, I found I liked the flip side better, so I used that side.
DecoArt Traditions paint in Medium White has become a real go-to medium for me. Its not really white, more of a light tan color. I dry brushed a bit of paint in a cross hatch on a panel of Wallflower paper to grunge it up a bit and tone it down.
Here's my yummy paint. It adhered to the metal beautifully and dries with a nice matte, chalky finish.
I used my Fiskars paper crimper for my corrugated element. I scratched the edges of the Wallflower panel and dabbed a bit of Ground Espresso Distress Paint on the edges for definition.
I used adhesive metal sheets from American Crafts on card stock and die cut Tim Holtz's Layered Butterfly. My metal wasn't big enough for this big butterfly so I patched it in the middle. I was going to cover that part anyway.
I mixed a little DecoArt Traditions paint with Mermaid Lagoon and Fossilized Amber Distress Inks on my craft sheet to color my butterfly.
I tapped the paint on the butterfly with my finger and used a paint brush to pounce the paint into recessed areas and to blend the colors where they met. I used my heat tool for just a minute and then rubbed paint away from the raised areas.
I poured liquid starch on the gessoed lace panel, let it dry and then die cut another butterfly for a lace layer behind the metal butterfly. Its a subtle element, but one that really adds to the piece when you see it in real life.
Tinted, stenciled embossing paste letters give another layer of texture. I used a heavy gauge wire to back frame the butterfly. Some of my heavier elements needed a bit more reinforcement than just adhesive, so I stapled it down.
I added a couple of strips of Cavalini wash tape for balance. This panel is really heavy with the wire, so I drilled some holes with my Dremel and placed a couple of screws to secure it in addition to double stick adhesive. These will be hidden by Butterfly Girl.
I didn't plan to keep the "untroubled" theme from last month when I started out, but then I saw this sentiment on a Christy Tomlinson scrapbook paper and it just completed the story!
The little girl image came from a free download on Tammy Tutterow's blog. Do visit Tammy there, she does some pretty cool stuff. Its a regular stop for me!
Our little Butterfly Girl takes her place on my vintage window. Three done, two more to go!
The entries we already have are so cool in their variation. Seeing the different ways everyone interprets the same set of parameters is awe inspiring! So what will you create on your adventure?
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