BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!

Brr ... Baby it's COLD outside!  

What a perfect theme for those of us who are experiencing winter ... and NOT on a beach!

Susan Mostek is hosting this month's art adventure at Creative Carte Blanche!  I hope you'll join us!

When trying to come up with an idea for this challenge, I started looking around my art studio and really zoned in on gears.  It was amazing to me how much they resemble snowflakes. Well, maybe in a weird way they do!  Anyway, I decided to mix actual snowflakes and gears to create a unique snowman.

I created this unique little guy from basic blocks that I fashioned out of chipboard, cardstock, some DecoArt Media products, metal and chipboard gears, sticks out of my yard, a little bling and a couple of our guest artist this month Beverly Seymour's B-Line Designs stamps.  If you get a chance, check out her website.  HERE is a quick link to her catalogs of stamps.  They are amazing!

  

In the children's movie, "Frozen" ... the musical question is asked

"Do You Want To Build A Snowman?"

Well ... do you??  Then let's get started!

First you create three blocks from chipboard.  My blocks are 3 1/2" square.  

I used "structure strips" to join the chipboard squares together.  These were made from 1" x 3 1/2"  strips of cardstock, and folded in the center.  Each side of the strips has a 1/4" piece of Scor Tape (double sided tape) to hold the block together.

Each block requires six chipboard squares and twelve structure strips. Simply remove the tape backing and place one side of the structure strip underneath an edge.  Then place another chipboard square upright along the edge of the chipboard block with the tape already in place. 

  

Remove the tape backing and while the chipboard pieces are perpendicular to each other, press the cardstock strip up against the standing chipboard piece.  Then lay the chipboard square down and there will automatically be a perfectly spaced joint.

Continue to join the chipboard squares together until you have created a block.  Do this three times to make three blocks.

Here is your snowman at this point.  

(The color of chipboard doesn't matter.  I used black because it is what I had.)

Now the REAL fun begins!

I put on some gloves (not necessary) and added DecoArt Media Modeling Paste all over the blocks using my fingers.  You could also use a palette knife or some other tool but I just love using my fingers! 
Let this air dry and continue to add until all sides of the blocks are covered.  I used the Modeling Paste because it adds a little bit of texture and it is opaque so that whatever color you add on top of it will be a more pure color.

Once the Modeling Paste is dry, brush over all of the sides of blocks with DecoArt Media Crackle Paint.  It is also opaque and will dry white.  The more paste you add, the larger the cracks.  The less paint, the smaller the cracks.  Let completely air dry.

LOVE these cracks!  This is your snowman at this point.

I wanted my blocks to be sort of a frosty blue color so that the white snowman would really stand out on the block fronts.  I combined DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Titanium White and Cerulean Blue and brushed a light coat of paint over all of the blocks.

Next I brushed a thin, random coat of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Interference Turquoise over the surface of the blocks.  The interference paint brings a showy iridescent glow to the paint and when the light catches it ... it's beautiful!  Very frosty looking.

To add a more blue-ish wintery edge to the blocks, I mixed DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Cobalt Teal Hue and Interference Turquoise and brushed it around the edges of the blocks; brushing from the edge and feathering inward.

Then I added a mix of DecoArt Media Metallic and Medium Grey Value 6 together to create a bit of a shadow and age effect around the edges of the blocks.  Again, I gently feathered from the edges of the blocks inward.  Notice the iridescence of the block on the left?  That's the Interference Turquoise paint.  Love it! 

Here are the blocks at this point. But something is missing ... a defining edge to each block.

Enter DecoArt Media Paynes Grey Fluid Acrylics and my finger again!  I paint with my finger a lot!  I love the way painting with your finger feels and how it really makes me feel like I am more a part of the art I am creating. I also like the randomness that paint on your finger leaves behind.

Here are the blocks now; all crackled, painted, defined and ready for the snowman and whatever else is to come.  After this picture was taken, I added some DecoArt Black Antiquing Cream over the surface of the blocks and wiped off most of it using a damp cloth.  I left the black only in the cracks to emphasize those and blend the image of the gears with the crackled, vintage look of the blocks.

  I absolutely LOVE this snowman stamp by B Line Designs.  He is the perfect face for my quirkly little guy. I stamped out several of the images on a sheet of stamping paper using Jet Black Archival Ink and then heat set the ink.

Then I painted the snowman using DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics:  Pyrrole Orange for his nose, Primary Magenta for his scarf, Viridian (Green) for the holly, Dark Grey Value 3 on his hat and a mix of Medium Value Grey 6 and Metallic Silver for the hat band.

What is a snowman without a little snow on him?  I made my own snow using DecoArt Media Modeling Paste and sprinkling a little glitter in it while wet.  See the shiny areas on his hat?  That was done with a DecoArt Twinkles Crystal (glitter) Writer. You'll see more about those in a bit.

I set the snowman face to the side to air dry and began working on some chipboard gears.  First I used Metallic Silver to cover the chipboard and then using my finger, I softened the shiny silver by wiping a very light amount of Paynes Grey randomly on the gears and specifically around the edges to create a worn look.

Not all metal is silver.  So I made more gears using DecoArt Media Metallic Gold and then adding Quinacridone Gold to add that rusty look randomly on the gears and around the edges.  Finally, I added some more of the Paynes Grey just at the edges to define them and add more of a distressed look.

Here are the plain chipboard gears after being transformed with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics paints. I love their rusty, grungy, steampunk-ish appearance.

Now to decorate the very top block.  I had a snowflake in my stash of Christmas stuff that I simply pulled out and glued to the center of the block.  I used DecoArt Liquid Glass as my glue.  I am in LOVE with DecoArt Liquid Glass!  It dries clear but is not glossy.  It works wonderfully as a glue, creates a faux glass look and it also can add dimension to things.  I added Liquid Glass to my snowman's carrot nose and black eyes.  They appear to be raised from the snowman's face.

Then I added little metal gears to each corner of the block using Liquid Glass as my glue.  I added a rhinestone piece in the center of each gear.  I added two of the chipboard gears to the center of the snowflake and then a metal gear topped with a rhinestone to complete the snowflake.  See how the gears blend so perfectly with the snowflake?

Here you can see the how the Liquid Glass creates the illusion of a raised nose and eyes.  I glued small metal gears over the mouth and added a metal gear and rhinestone to the hat band.

Now it was time to start working on the other three sides of the blocks. I ran across a lovely poem on the Internet that I thought would be perfect for my snowman.  This poem was written by Mandy Williams and here are the words:

No Two Alike
Beautiful beautiful snowflakes, floating down to earth
All created to be unique, each holding significant worth.
Just like an intricate snowflake, we come from up above
To bless the world with beauty, to sparkle the world with love.
No two of us alike, we hold our own design
And because we are so different, we get a chance to shine.
When our Heavenly Father makes snowflakes
I think He takes great care.
He works on every detail
He makes them precious and rare.
He lovingly spends time on every one
He blessed them all the way through
If He cares this much about snowflakes,
Imagine what He thinks about YOU.

I figured out how to divide up the poem for each side of the blocks. I typed out the words and sized each phrase to fit on the blocks.  Then I printed them out on a piece of heavy cardstock, cut them into pieces to be glued on to every side of the blocks and edged them with black ink.

Each side is embellished differently.  Different shapes and sizes of snowflakes adorn each side.  Little metal gears; some with rhinestones are on every side. Each side also has metallic silver glitter flourishes and designs made from DecoArt's Twinkle Writers.  And of course, each side has it's section of the snowflake poem.  The Twinkle Writers are super easy to use and the pointed tip allows for finer writing or drawing.

These were some foam snowflakes I had in my Christmas stash.  I simply wiped my finger over the surface of the snowflake that had Metallic Silver paint on it.  Then I added the Crystal Twinkle Writer on top of the silver snowflake.  Done! 

Next, I used another of B Line Designs wonderful stamps.  The one above is titled Snowman.  Isn't it precious?  I created "Do You Want To Build A" on my computer and sized it to fit with the Snowman stamp and also to be a cute sign for the snowman to hold.  Once inked with Archival Jet Black Ink, I centered the snowman stamp under my computer letters and created the sign. I backed the white cardstock with black cardstock and created a nice little border.

I cut out two 3" circles out of heavy white cardstock and ran a black permanent ink marker around the edge.  Then I began gluing a mix of the transformed chipboard gears and metal gears onto the "body" of my snowman.  They were then glued in place on the center of the bottom of middle blocks to create his stacked body.

His arms were created from some sticks I had out in my yard.  I wired two sticks together to make each arm and then I painted them black using DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black paint.  I cut off the excess length of the sticks, made a hole in the sides of the center block and glued the arms in place.

Here is a closeup of the center body section of my snowman.

Here is an example of one of the sides of the blocks containing the poem.

And here is the finished snowman again, minus his little sign.

I hope you've enjoyed this pictorial tutorial bringing my snowman to life.

I really hope that he has inspired you to think outside the box (no pun intended) and see the possibility of what things COULD be instead of what they are.

I encourage you to join us over at Creative Carte Blanche.  It's such a nice place to share ideas, art, our stories and just a general happy place to be with artsy friends.

ALWAYS BE HUMBLE AND KIND MINI BOOK

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to our last creative adventure for 2016.  This year has flown by, hasn't it?

My lovely crafting buddy and dear art sister, Cheryl Grigsby is hosting this month's theme at Creative Carte Blanche.  It is one I dearly love..."Creating With Song Lyrics".

I chose not to use a Christmas song but rather a contemporary country song that is very near and dear to my heart.  It is sung by Tim McGraw and titled "Humble and Kind."  The lyrics of this song are so beautiful and transport me to a simpler time, back to my childhood and the way my parents' generation attempted to teach their children respect, love for their fellow man and simple manners.  I think ALL of us could learn a lot from reading these lyrics and listening to this very simple and poignant song.  Just think of how much better our world could be if we would all practice being humble and kind to one another.

Click HERE to see Tim McGraw's music video. 
It is well worth your time.

Now, I hope you enjoy my interpretation of...

The song is so simple and I wanted the cover of my mini book to reflect that feeling.  So I just used a piece of cardstock, distressed using Tim Holtz' Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and spritz and flick technique to age the cover.  Then I glued the cover in place on top of the manila folder backing.  

My mini book was created using three manila folders that were cut, folded and then taped together to create a twelve page book (including the inside covers) with hidden pockets on some of the outside edges.  I originally created a mini book using this technique for A Vintage Journey.  You can see that book and the instructions for creating the basic book HERE.   

I began with these items:  3 manila folders, 1/4" Scor Tape, a bone folder, a ruler and some Ground Espresso Distress Ink to distress the edges of the pages once I taped them together.

Again, refer to the instructions on the link highlighted above to see the construction of the mini folder book.  Once that was finished, I laid it to the side and began planning out each page according to the song lyrics I would be illustrating on that page.

The first page talks about a light that glows from the front door and that a key that is under the mat.  So, I decided to create an old farmhouse style screen door.

I have a stamp from River City Stamps of a front door.  I just altered the door to make it look like a screen door.

Once the image was stamped (twice) onto heavy cardstock, I measured to create open sections on the door where I would stick a piece of "screen".  

Then I cut out the doors using an Exacto knife and colorized the door with various Distress Inks.  Next I used 1/4" Scor Tape (double sided tape) to attach the screen in between the two stamped doors then I pressed them together, sandwiching the screen in between them.  I bent the door along the inside edge of the door so that it would swing outward when glued into place on the page. 

Here are the Distress Ink colors I used to colorize the door.  I also added some of these colors to my background paper that covered the plain manila page.  I designed the page, glued everything in place and moved on.  The little Victorian house was an image from a Graphic 45 paper.  I cut the roof a little bit and bent it at the peak of the roof line to add a little dimension.  Then I added Platinum Stickles to the Tim Holtz Mirrored Stars and along the roof line to add some sparkle and dimension. 

On the opposite page, I glued the first verse of the song.  I taped a piece of plain white tissue paper to a piece of plain copy paper using 1/8" Scor Tape around the outside edges of the copy paper.  I created the font and size of the font I wanted to use for the lyrics on my computer.  Then I fed the tissue paper taped onto the copy paper into my printer and printed out the lyrics.  I tore around the edges of the words because the torn edges melt into the background much better than cut edges.  Next I brushed DecoArt Media Matte Medium onto the paper where I would be adding my words.  Then I laid the tissue paper in place; removing all of the wrinkles and then brushed over the tissue paper using more Matte Medium.  Let it dry or gently heat set it.  Throughout the book, I used this technique to add the song lyrics to the pages.  It really works well!  (The background paper I used on this page is some old Pink Paislee Fairy Garden paper that I still had.)  I loved how it worked so perfectly onto this page! I also created a little tab from the extra manila folder paper that I stuck in between the first and second pages for more interest.

Once the lyrics were dry on the paper, I distressed the edges using Ground Espresso Distress Ink.  I then smeared DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze onto the paper with my finger and let it dry.  Then I sent over the glazed area with the distress ink and wiped off the excess ink.  It left some delicate little crackled effects all around the edge of the paper that gives a very vintage feeling to the page.  I also added some Platinum Stickles with my fingers to add a subtle shine randomly on the pages.

Once the page was dry, I taped the back side of it and pressed it into place in the manila fold book.

And here is a look at the first two pages.

I love the next two pages!  You can see the lyrics for the second verse to the left.  To create this look, I found the image of the old church online.  I sized it to fit the page (6 1/2" x 4 1/4") and then added the lyrics using a photo editing program I have on my computer.  I sized the words to fit the page and then sized and printed out a picture of "Papa" (Grandpa-my husband) with our four grandchildren to also go on this page.

I cut around the images of Grandpa and the grandkids and glued them in place on top of the church image using pop dots to give that page a bit more dimension.  Here is the page as it finished out.  I love how the words and the images work together so well.

Opposite of this page, is "the hook" of the song, or the repeating main theme of the lyrics.  As you can see, it talks about "mountains to climb" and an image like what I used on the page immediately came to mind...people helping people over the rough times.  I found this image on Flickr.  The photographer is VanHuy Nguyen and HERE is the link to the original image.  I loved it and it's PERFECT for my page!

The lyrics were printed out just as I had done for the first page; on a piece of white tissue paper and then added to the top half of this page.  I then used Distress Inks to fill in all around the lyrics and blend the images of the mountain climbers into the page.  You will see the completed pages later in this blog post.

Once that was completed, I randomly added DecoArt Media Crackle Paint (with my finger) around the edges of the page. Once dry, I used Distress Inks to blend the crackled edges into the page.

I used double sided tape and secured the mountain climbers page in place on top of the manila folder page.  I am showing a swinging tab in between these two pages but decided not to add one here.

The next two pages in the book were created using part of the
"hook" and the next verse of the song.  I added the flowered paper to the left manila folder page and glued it in place using Scor Tape.  Then I printed out the words onto white tissue paper (backed by white copy paper) and glued the letter in place using Matte Medium.  I stamped "let yourself fly" onto the tab using Jet Black Archival Ink and then went to work on the opporiste page. I added the background paper onto the manila folder page first and then stamped the Tim Holtz butterfly image in place.  Next I added various colors of Stickles to create the sparkly butterfly effect.  Once dry, I added black decorative rub ons to create the delicate scroll work on the left page and also around the butterfly.  The "always stay humble and kind" tab was added just like the one between the first two pages.  Once finished, I added black paint around the edges of the pages to better define them and then I added some Platinum Stickles to give them more of a vintage feel.

For even more detail, I stamped the butterfly using Jet Black Archival Ink onto a piece of Fantasy Film (an irridescent semi transparent film), let it dry and then cut it out.  I glued it directly on top of the already stamped stickled butterfly on the page just on the body.  The wings flap freely when the book is opened.  I lightly added Platinum stickles around the perimeter of the butterfly.  Finally, I glued on a little metal butterfly to the right edge and also up in the upper left corner of the opposite page.

The next page has a very powerful message that I wanted to emphasize.  To do this, I created my own faux "label tape" by choosing a font and printed out white letters on a black background sized to fit the page.  I cut out each word and glued them in place on the page.  I then covered each word with Glossy Accents.  Whey dry, Glossy Accents leave a glossy raised finish on each word, giving them depth and dimension.  

The page opposite this page is the "hook" of the song again.  I simply printed it out onto a piece of cardstock, distressed the edges and glued it in place on a cardstock background.  You will see the finished page spread later in this blog post.

The next verse of the song talks about "when your dreams you're dreaming come to you..."  When I think of dreams, I sometimes think wistful clouds in the sky as your thoughts seem to float away.  So, I created a cloudy sky by cutting a couple of little clouds out of cardstock and then starting at the top of the paper and working my way down; gently rubbing Stormy Sky Distress Ink just around the cloud.  Be careful not to go too far out away from the cloud because you do want to leave a lot of white space to create the next cloud.  Randomly place the cardstock clouds onto the paper and go around each one with the ink applicator and the blue colors of distress ink.  Finally, I lightly covered the entire paper with Antique Linen to soften the white into more of a vintage look.

Once that was finished, I added my lyrics using the same white tissue paper method as on the previous page and some rub on butterflies.  Next I used Tim Holtz spray applicator to add the splotches of black ink from a Black Soot Distress Marker and then I framed the page using Washi Tape.  Once finished, I glued the page in place on top of the manila folder page using 1/4" Scor Tape.

For the opposite page, the lyrics talk about an open window.  I immediately thought of Tim Holtz' window and pediment die cuts.  So I created a "farmhouse background" using a piece of corrugated paper that I painted with a mixture of DecoArt Media Cobalt Teal Hue and Titan Buff Fluid Acrylic Paints.

I die cut the window, window box and pediment topper out of plain Grunge Board and covered it with DecoArt Media Crackle Paint.  Let it dry naturally.

Once dry, I painted the window parts with a combination of DecoArt Media Primary Yellow and Titan Buff Fluid Acrylics.  Then I added the distressing with Burnt Umber, wiping off the excess and leaving the deep crackled effect and weather worn edges.

The last page talks about not taking the love this life gives your for granted.  For me, this "love" not only refers to my husband but to my family.  So, I included a photograph of my brother, all of his children and grandchildren and of my husband, children and grandchildren from a wonderful fairly recent get together we had.  The words were added using the tissue paper method.

The simple cover was created with Tim's spritz and flick method mentioned at the beginning of this blog post.

I added the lettering using some rub on letters I've had forever and absolutely ADORE them!

Then to cover the spine of my book, I simply cut a piece of Sticky Back Canvas the length of the book - 6 1/2" and 2 1/2" wide.  I marked the center of the strip and stamped buttons onto the strip using Jet Black Archival Ink and a stamp from River City Stamps.  Then I stuck the canvas to the spine of the book.  Very simple.

So now it's time for the big reveal of all of the pages in order as you flip through them.  If you are so inclined, you might want to go to the link I provided above and listen to the words from the music video as you follow along with the pages I've created.

Now it's YOUR turn to create something using song lyrics.  It doesn't have to be ALL of the lyrics; just a portion of them will do.  Then share your art and your interpretation of this theme with all of us at the Creative Carte Blanche community.  Link your creation to our blog so that everyone can enjoy seeing your thoughts and work.  

I'd also like to wish everyone a
VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a blessed 2017!