Scrapfriends Challenge #19

 

 

Another fab sketch from Scrapfriends! This particular sketch site inspires me to get out my mixed media supplies, they almost always some architectural element on their sketches that make them so very interesting and appealing.  

 

I was so delighted to open up my email from Angela to find this sketch to use for my guest designer post at Scrapfriends.  I was disappointed that I didn't own any feather elements, but it inspired me to use a sea theme.   On the header of this page, I used some corrugated cardboard, gesso, stamps, mists, and my Kosher Salt technique that I have used on other projects.  I used this same technique on the Blue Fern Studios star fish chipboard pieces as well.

 

Chipboard pieces are all from Blue Fern Studios: the little ocean wave banner, star fish, "Beauty", and the coral and shell at the bottom of the page.

 

Ocean themed stamps are from 7 Gypsies.

 

How will the sketch inspire your theme?  You have two weeks to post your layout here.

 

 

 

Close ups:

 



Lady Grey

I was inspired to use these colors upon seeing a woman walk into my office building wearing a grey pant suit, with a pale shell pink silk blouse and a cream scarf with little tiny pink pearls woven in the fabric, and, of course, she was wearing a strand of pearls.  She looked just exquisite in these colors.  I hope she didn’t notice my staring her down to absorb all the details.  LOL.   Later on that day, I went through my scrapping stash in my mind wondering if I could create a page inspired by Lady Grey wearing those exquisite colors and textures.

Using the salt texture technique I posted earlier,  some of the supplies I purchased from the C'est Magnifique ("CM") store which included the French Kiss - Glitz paper, and four staples (a challenge to members in the CM Forum),I created this page. 

My title on my page comes from an experience most of us un-goddess like ladies have experienced at one time or another.   While vacationing in Hawaii with some very dear friends, I was introduced to this Goddess.  She was tall, with long golden tresses, with perfect teeth and a smile, and had  gorgeous high cheek bones.   I was told she was a Miss something or another, I can’t remember what her title was at this time, but she fit the title perfectly.  J   I had mousy hair, a gapped tooth smile, and flat cheek bones, and at that moment, I wanted to become invisible in front of the Goddess standing before me.     Later on we were invited by the Goddess and some mutual friends to join them for dinner.  It would be ungracious of me to try to think of an excuse not to go so since I was invited to stay at my friend’s lovely home on this beautiful island.  I put on my best face and went.   As everyone was finding a place at the dinner table, the chairs starting filling up quickly around the table and there were chairs vacant next to the Goddess.  It quickly became evident to me that I might have to sit next to the Goddess.  My heart starts racing, and I’m thinking, “Please don’t seat me next to that pretty girl”.  Not only did I not want to sit next to the Goddess, I certainly did not want to be photographed with her as that would only enhance her Goddess like qualities. LOL.  Well, all my insecurities faded as the evening went on because this Goddess was warm, friendly, funny and terribly sweet.   She truly was a Goddess in every sense of the word by making me feel like we had known each other for a long time.

 

 

 

 



Keeping the Best Sketch Challenge ("Remember Prom")

I found a new sketch challenge site by following Georgia Heald's blog.  "Keeping the Best" posts a sketch challenge every two Monday's and it is open to international participation. The Design Team is consisted of some very talented and inspiring ladies, and I'm hoping to become a regular participant there.

I loved this sketch by Angela because of it's archectural elements and it inspired me to create a masculine page featuring one of my brothers.

Here he waiting for the phone call from his prom date to pick her up and take her to the prom.  He looks so anxious waiting for that call. 

On this page, I used a watercolor technique by applying Kosher Salt to a pool of various colors of Glimmer Mist.  Normally in watercolor, we remove the salt after the paint has thoroughly dried and it reveals a lovely texture and effect.  In this case, I really loved how the salt added so much texture and height and I chose to preserve it by adding some spray adhesive over the salt areas.  The salt stayed in place perfectly.  If you're interested in this technique, check out the tutorial I posted prior to posting this page.  It's really quite simple.

Here is close up:

 

 

 

Kosher Salt Technique

Look as this yummy texture achieved by using Kosher Salt.  The size of the salt crystals are just perfect for layouts and/or your mixed media art.

The supplies shown in the picture are all you need to achieve this salt texture.  I'm only showing one color of Glimmer Mist in the photo, but I actually used a Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mist (Smoky Sapphire) color as well.

 

Kosher Salt is often used in watercolor paintings.  When you saturate a section of watercolor paper with watercolor paint, and you pour some Kosher Salt on top of the paint and let it dry thoroughly, the salt absorbs all the color and you can then flick off the salt and it leaves a really cool effect. I would often use this technique on some of my watercolor art and thought why couldn't this work on a layout as well, so I set out to see if I could make it work.

In this case, I saturated some sections of corrugated paper with various colors of Glimmer Mist and Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mist and poured some salt on the pools of color and let it dry with the help of a heat gun, but not too close as you don’t want the salt to fly off the paper. I would suggest you let the pooled colors with salt dry naturally. Once it was dried, I really liked the texture it revealed and decided to keep it as it was by applying a light mist of Elmer’s Graft Bond Spray Adhesive.  If you don’t apply the bond spray adhesive, the salt will eventually fall off the paper.

 

Unfortunately, that strip is a piece I had to cut off to make this creation fit on my layout that I was working on, but you can see all the cool texture effect the salt produced.

 

I sincerely hope you give it a try and let me know what you do with it.