Technique Series #1 - Bubble Wrap!

   Beginning today, I’ll be showing you my take on techniques from: CREATIVE FOUNDATIONS: 40 Scrapbook and Mixed Media Techniques to Build Your Artistic Toolbox   By Vicki Boutin  By no means does what I show take the place of anything Vicki 'details' in her book! The woman is amazingly creative and offers additional tips and variations along the way. The photography for the book is beautifully done. I'm just showing the possibilities of what you can do with every-day stuff. But grab Vicki's book and take it to the sky!

   I’ve always been a very structured person. I wanted to be freer on my creative path but the OCD in me held the upper hand. Lately, my creative life has been all about playing. I’ve been immersing myself in mixed media tutorials, books and web pages like Kellie Rae Roberts, Michelle at The Paper Dog and Roberta's Con Tain It.  I look at everything around me through new eyes.

   Even Bubble Wrap!

   This technique is incredibly easy but provides a cool background for cards, ATC’s and scrapbook layouts.
   Vicki’s tutorial used two sizes of bubble wrap – the quarter size bubbles and the standard. She also used two varying shades of blue acrylic paint. I wanted to work with blue, also, but only had a Navy. So I improvised. It’s that ‘freedom’ thing I’m trying to work on. ;-)

SUPPLIES:

Nonstick craft mat or piece of plexi glass (about 5x7) or large flat glass plate

for a braying surface

Acrylic paint 

Brayer

Bubble wrap

White cardstock (good quality like GP)

Spray Ink

You’ll also need basic card making supplies:

Paper trimmer, adhesive, images/ stamps

For the Spray Ink, I used a 3-oz mister bottle about half full of water. I added 4-6 drops of SU Brilliant Blue (retired) reinker. Start with only a couple of drops, mist for a color test and add more until you achieve your desired shade.

CREATING THE BACKGROUND:

Squeeze some acrylic paint on the braying surface. Roll the brayer through it to get an even coat.

Brayer a thin layer over the ‘bubble’ side of the bubble wrap. (See pic at top of page)

Turn the painted bubble wrap over and place paint side down on the white cardstock. Carefully lift off. Repeat the process to cover the entire surface. You can overlap the images and turn the bubble wrap different directions to achieve an ‘all over’ pattern. 

When you are finished, let it dry completely. A hair dryer will speed the process. I find the heat gun to be too hot for this.  When it’s dry, holding the spray bottle about 6” from your printed surface, spritz with the spray ink. Let dry. 

From this point you can cut your background for your projects. I’ll get several mats in varying sizes from this 8.5x11 sheet. For this project I cut a mat to fit the 4x5.5 card as well as smaller mats for image/ sentiment and several ATC’s.

TIP: If you plan to work directly on a 12x12 background for a layout, think about the placement of the items you’ll be using in the layout when printing your bubble wrap.

PROJECT:

Bubbles and blue told me water for this project os I chose a seahorse image from InkaDinkaDo and a simple sentiment. The ribbon is Offray MicroSpool Self-adhesive ‘bubbles’.

Play! Have Fun!

Creative Blessings!

Artful Thursday... plus

Plus I'm backing up to actually show my Teapot Tuesday card for this week. It was another one of THOSE weeks where what I had in my head just would not transpire to something tangible. I finally ditched my original concept completely and found a new jumping off point.

The card this week goes to Betty. She lives in AZ and has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She loves flowers and her nickname is Sunshine. So I went with Daisies and yellow.

I chose a sketch from the SCS Sketch Challenge (SC36) and tweaked it by adding the sentiment bar at the bottom. I also went looking in the SCS Color Challenge (SC36) and found the pairing for the base color of Daffodil Delight I'd chosen to work with. SC36 suggested Concord Crush and Pear Pizzaz. I LOVE Pear Pizzaz and have been ordering a pack every time I place an order because it's an In Color and will be gone this year. The sentiment stamp is from a set from Studio 112. The Daisy is one I picked up at $Tree years ago.

Then there's the Art Journal project Michelle over at the Paper Dog and I are playing with. After Saturday's fiasco of trying to draw a face on the cover, I'm stalled. I loved my cover then after I attempted the face it looked horrid. No, this wasn't the inner voice. I truly looked like an alien. So I painted that area back over with white gesso, then a layer of vintage rose acrylic before adding a piece of the original paper back into place.

Next week when I'm not so focused on working on my current novel, I'll have time to sit and play with the face more. Only after I've sketched something I can look at, will I add it to the cover... hopefully for next Thursday's post.

In the mean time, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the collage.

Creative Blessings!

Artful Thursday.. Getting it together

Today begins a series of something I love to play with but don't devote near enough time to... mixed media art. I don't think I've very good but then again, being any good at art is irrelevant. Truly, 'good' is in the eye of the beholder.

Last fall I met a wonderful person on Splitcoast Stampers. If you look over under my Paper Bloggers Unite list, you'll see The Paper Dog. That would be Michelle. As soon as I found out she loved art journals, we started chatting. And something just clicked! I love when that happens. It's like you've been friends forever. In six months, that's the way Michelle and I have become.

We decided for our first joint venture, we would walk through Taking Flight By Kelly Rae Roberts. I'll talk more about the book next week, but actually delving into a long-term project prompted me to get my art together. I mean everything in my stamping studio is organized, my writing life is organized but the tools of the art trade seemed to be everywhere in the house.

Last week while in Springfield I found this soft-sided scrapbook tote for 50% off. It's brown, cream and black. There were just enough pockets to hold the basics plus space to add specific items for individual projects.

As you'll see from the photos, I have it well organized. I wanted to make sure I could get to everything easily. And if I ever attend an art retreat, I can keep my tools somewhat contained, not infringing on someone else's space.

The inside of the flap has three pockets. I've designated one for glue sticks, one for small punches, and one for my water color pencils and brushes case.

Each end has a big zippered pocket plus an open pocket.

Not shown, but the zippered pocket on one end of the bag is full of Tombo Mono adhesive refills and some cardboard sheets. Can never have too much adhesive on hand when working a project. That's why I order mine by the case from Penwa office supplies. Their prices are reasonable (about $1.85 per refill as opposed to over $2 -with coupon at the craft stores- when purchase by a case of 100). They also ship in a reasonable time frame.

The other end pocket holds my chalks and oil sticks in the zippered compartment and the pen keeper with all of my gel pens and fine black writing pen in the open pocket. I LOVE all the colors I have to work with.

There is a big zippered pocket across the front that for now is holding my small alphabet stamp sets. These are by Studio G and sell at WM and Michaels for $1 per set. They're the perfect size for journaling or small ring tags and ATCs.

But the real treasure is inside the big open compartment. I had this multi-pocket bag from my days as an instructor at Michaels. I emptied it when I had Bob build that sectioned compartment along the front edge of my work table to hold all my scrapbooking tools. It fits perfectly within the main storage space.

Within the parameter pockets I have a misting bottle, bottles of stickles in various colors, cutter replacement blades, basic office supplies, Mono applicator and dimensional glaze. The inside pockets are large enough to hold my containers of Gel Medium, White Gesso and Clear Gesso. I also have dry baby wipes, needle mat, various applicators like chenille balls and Qtips, and CS mats for tags and a container of Watercolor paper mats, clear stamps and acrylic blocks.

When this bag is stowed away in place, I can place my writing instruments book on top, as well as my paper trimmer. The writing instruments book is composed of Elmer's Pencil Pouches in various colors and held together - book style - with 3 ring clips. Each pouch holds something different. Twistable colored Pencils, broad tip markers and Flair Pens. This keeps all of the writing items together (and horizontal for longer life). Plus I can stand it up easel-style in front of me and flip the 'pages' to the items I want.

Wherever the creative journey takes you... go in style!