Saturday 18 April 2015

"Aaaand....ACTION!!!!"

Servus and hi and thanks for stopping by!

Today I want to share another art journal page with you that I did in the wonderful Dylusions art journal from Dyan Reaveley. I really love this one as it has a stitched binding that allows all pages to be laid flat while working on them!




I had some ephemera lying around on my studio desk (a torn paper wrap from one of my watch glasses from the watchmakers cabinet and a worn tag from an old pair of Levis) and thought I might use them up.

So I started with collageing them onto my page using matte DecoArt Decou-Page after I had stamped some (rather) random texture in black archival ink (using some Tim Holtz stamps).




Then I applied some DecoArt Americana acrylic paints using a small palette knife. Once that had dried I stencilled a chevron pattern and my "Action" with black DecoArt media Gesso using Andy Skinner's fab stencils.




The white texture was applied using a TCW stencil and white Gesso. Once all had dried I unscrewed my black DecoArt Mister and added some drops of paint here and there.



The red circles were stamped using the cap of an old felt tip pen which I dipped into the red paint. The enforcement ring repeats the circle pattern - only slightly differently (which always helps to keep all the elements in a composition together and create "visual interest").




The main difficulty (as you might all know) is to find the right moment to stop. lol
The substrate paper of the journal is real good quality and a lovely natural white so I decided to let it become part of the creation by leaving (a big) part of it visible.

It was mainly a joyful play with colour and texture composition and building up layers. I hope some of the joy has become visible in a way and that you like it!

Hugs and happy crafting,
Claudia xxx

Wednesday 15 April 2015

"Pay no Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain!"

Servus and hi!

I hope by now Spring has arrived wherever you are and that you are full of energy!

What do I have in store for you today? Well, if you have missed yesterday's post here in my blog (which provides you with a preview and a link to a new DecoArt tutorial which I am really proud of and hope you will like) I would love to invite you over - just scroll down to the previous post after you have read this one or click HERE.

And today's post is about the actual challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges. If you haven't checked it out yet I highly recommend you do so - we have a great fun challenge theme, great makes from both the Design Teams and Inspiration Emporium are this month's prize sponsor! Yay!




Over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges we show you the team B makes today to fuel your imagination and remind you of our actual challenge 



http://sandee-and-amelie.blogspot.co.at/
 

My first thought that immediately came to my mind when reading our theme for the month was that wonderful adorable curtains-scene from the old "Wizard of Oz" movie when Toto reveals the true "wizard" by pulling aside the green curtain.

I just love when - already being "unmasked" - the "wizard" slightly paniccing and hastily pulling some gears and pressing his buttons yells into his microphone "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!!" I sometimes use this quote too when finding myself fiddling with something that somehow goes surprisingly wrong while being watched... lol

So let's raise the curtains and show you my altered canvas which I turned into the place of Oz the Great and Powerful.




It was really hard to photograph my altered canvas as I hardly ever managed to capture the sheen of the DecoArt Shimmer Misters and Interference paints I added, but I think the images give you at least a slight hint of the metallic green sheen that I tried to achieve as it is the main colour of the scene in the movie.

I added a three dimensional curtain of course, which I made from a piece of cloth (cut from an old napkin) that I dipped into previously tinted Paverpol. Paverpol is a great new liquid medium for mixed media artists that hardens once dry but stays flexible for quite some time so you can sculpt it the way you want. You can either brush it on or dip your fabric into it. I discovered it at this Spring's creative fair in Vienna and this was my very first go at it (and it worked pretty well for me).




As you can see I fixed my curtain to a real curtain rail I made from wire. The whole shadow frame was done in a reversed canvas which I first coated with old dictionary pages that were glued on with matte DecoArt Decou-Page to have some tooth for my paints to adhere to and some background texture as well.

The control desk of Oz the Great and Powerful was made from the circuit board of an old (taken apart) remote control, which I sawed in two and glued some other small parts onto (like resistors (thank you, Brigitte! Yes, I still have some of the ones you sent me! Mwah!X), some LED bulbs, an idea-ology light bulb, a piece of a broken hook from a hiking boot, a Prima faucet embellishment...) to make it look like there were a lot of switches to pull and panels to control.




The microphone Oz speaks into is an old ear plug from a disc man my son found and brought me (he always brings me found metal parts like screws or washers to use them on my projects ;). I glued it to a piece of wire I had bent into shape and glued to the top of the frame (with Decou-Page) so it looks as if it was hanging down (just like in the movie).

The round pressure control panel was stamped onto beige card (using one of finnabairs new stamps), cut out and glued behind a watch glass from my watchmakers cabinet.




Oz the Great and Powerful was drawn by hand and coloured with colouring pencils before I fussy cut him and fixed him to the frame and microphone with Decou-Page.




Brave Toto was done the same. 





He's about 3/4 inch tall in real and I used a fine detail cutting knife to cut him out. He is fixed to the frame with two layered and cut to size 3D sticky foam pads.

I really tried to capture all the "drama" there is to this scene....lol...and show that key moment when Toto has just pulled aside the curtain and Oz (finding himself exposed) says his epically desperate sentence.




I admit - if I were able to add sounds and smoke to my make I would have. ;)

The metal piece in the top right corner is a piece from a taken apart alarm clock which I bought at the flea market and enhanced with some dashes of Viva Rusty Paper. I also used it on some of the wire pieces alongside some Ranger alcohol inks to make all the pieces blend together and build a warm contrast to the cool green.





The five LEDs to the right are from a broken headlight. The old telephone is a Stampendous stamp from one of my very first stamp sets I bought. I stamped it onto some beige card and painted over it with a very light wash of DecoArt Quinacridone Gold.

The quote was written by hand onto a die cut panel (using the fab Sizzix Tim Holz Alterations "Labels" set) that I had aged with some Distress Stains before. 




The gears texture you can see running around the outer frame was done using a mask and Viva Rusty Paper that was stippled on with a bristle brush. Then I painted over the dried texture with DecoArt media fluid acrylics in various greens and blues (including "Interference Turquoise" and "Interference Green")).




For a finish I dabbed some DecoArt Dazzling Metallics paint around the outer and inner edges of the frame (using my fingertips as always of course) and also sprinkled on some DecoArt Shimmer Mister in turquoise (by unscrewing the bottle and letting some of the paint drip from the nozzle's tube onto the areas I wanted). All silvery metal parts were either treated with alcohol inks or painted with DecoArt media fluid acrylics Quinacridone Gold or Viva Rusty Paper until I was content with the result.

And once all had dried I added my curtain which I admit was a bit scary as it was the first time I used Paverpol. So I did a test panel first to find out if it was tricky to use and about any dos and don'ts....well, even though I had done a practice piece I still was hoping that I would not mess up my frame with the glibbery, wet cloth. I think I only started breathing again once I found that all seemed to develop the way I had intended...lol.




Toto and Oz the Great and Powerful were added at the very end (because I needed Toto to pull the curtain of course and Oz to speak into his microphone).

I had a great time doing this shadow frame using the backside of a 6x6 inch canvas and I really am very happy with the outcome as I have managed to capture one of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite movies.




I hope you like it too and I would love to invite you to hop over to SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges to check out the makes of my fabulous teamies who have outdone themselves on this month's theme "Raise the Curtains!".

I hope to see you join in our challenge soon! 
Hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia xxx



Tuesday 14 April 2015

Grungy Pizza Box Canvas - another DecoArt Mixed Media Tutorial

Servus, hi and welcome to my blog (and thanks for taking the time to stop by)!

Today I want to invite you over to the DecoArt Mixed Media Blog where you will find my latest tutorial in which I show you how to create a steampunk style canvas from a pizza box.



I love up- and recycling boxes of all kinds and sometimes online stores send out their crafty goodness in pizza boxes - so I always keep those for later transformation into more crafty goodness ;)

In this tutorial I show you how to create lush and timeworn looking crackle and texture...



...how to use Brushos alongside the fab DecoArt stuff to add another playful medium to your mixed media projects...



...how to add texture by using stencils, fabric and found objects...


...how to incorporate old photographs and tiny treasures...


...and how to add those final touches that make it a fab grungy looking piece like this:


So get out all your hoarded treasures, found objects and stencils, your DecoArt paints and media and hop over to the DecoArt Mixed Media Blog to find the detailed step x step I have prepared for you!


I hope you will have a great play- and joyful time creating your own grungy canvasses from up-cycled pizza boxes!

http://www.decoart.com/blog/project/243/grungy_pizza_box_canvas

Hugs and happy crafting,
Claudia
xxx 







Wednesday 8 April 2015

Struggling with a creative bloc?

We all have to go through these annoying times of a creative bloc every now and then and sometimes it really feels as if one might never come up with a new idea for a creative project again (which can be rather intimidating and frustrating).

Over at Our Creative Corner I offer a fun and playful way on how to overcome a creative bloc and create this art journal page:



Curious? Great! Just hop over to Our Creative Corner to find out about today's artful journey I am taking you on. Hope to see you soon! Maybe you will also decide to play along with our actual challenge ;) My teamies have created some fab inspirational projects for you. So make sure you check those out too!

Hugs and happy crafting,
Claudia xxx

Sunday 5 April 2015

"Masterboard" Challenge at The Mirror Crack'd

Servus, happy Easter and welcome back to another mixed media challenge over at The Mirror Crack'd!

We want you to "make and use a masterboard" this time. A masterboard is a large, self made background piece designed to cut up and used in smaller projects. It can be created any mixed media way you can think of. With paints, inks, spray paints, stencils, stamps,....just to name a few.

Here's what I came up with:




I had some left overs from my last Gelli plate session lying around (you know: that kind of prints you are not really content with but cannot throw away either).
When I found that some of them matched the colour of a (previously emptied) chocolate box, an idea started to form in my head.

I got out my black archival ink, my new Red Lead crows stamp and some DecoArt Misters and created this masterboard:




See how well the chocolate box and the colours of the print go together? Hah - lucky me! ;)




I cut my masterboard to size and glued one of the strips to the inside of the box.




The other two strips were glued to the top and bottom of the box lid. For a finish I added some black and white washi tape here and there - done!











My team mates have created the most amazing masterboards (and projects from them) too - so make sure you hop over to the The Mirror Crack'd challenge blog and see for yourself!

Good luck with the challenge (I can't wait to see your masterboards and creations) and hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia xxx