Mixed Media: Love Is Like Blossoms

 

Those who have been following the last couple days will know that I've been working with the materials provided in the Monthly Mixed Media Kits from Scarlet Lime. I finished my piece this weekend, but it was late that the lighting wasn't the greatest, so I knew I wanted to wait for the morning to take some nicer pictures.

 

The 'sweedish berry' looking gems on my canvas were little clear beads that I split into two, and painted red. I painted some yellow and blue as well and used them in the trees. I found that I really liked the combination of the sky blue and the red.

 

The 'kraft flowers' worked perfectly for the trees!

 

I used some of the Kraft Doilies after to stamp in some texture on them with a titanium white-yellow, and lighten them up.

 

I simply adored the teeny text stickers, they were so perfect for this project and had a great vintage feel to them. I might just have to shop around and build up a nice collection of various sheets. The best part about them, is that they have so many letters. You know you're going to be able to 'write' out almost any phrase and not have to worry about running out of a letter.

 

I used the washi tape that was included to decorate the sides - this is a huge thing for me, as I usually prefer to paint them black becuase it gives such a clean look and allows the painting to stand out that much more. But, the tape was the perfect width to go around, and the whole point of this kit was to 'try new things'. I 'toned' it down a splash of that beautiful blue acrylic ink. It's lovely, because it's transparent enough to show the washi tape, but if I let it dry and put some more, then I can 'block out' areas as well. 

 

I put drops of ink, circles of paint and rub-ons all over the place. I hadn't been able to use this particular shade of green often, and it was perfect for this colour scheme - a vintage-like green.

 

I also used buttons, and a little bit of glass beads medium

 

Look at all that lovely texture!! Makes me so, so happy!

 

I doodled a bit with a small sharpe as well

 

I found this beautiful quote online, seemed very appropriate and filled the space perfectly!

 

I will be posting this in my Etsy shop later this week, so keep an eye out! The only thing I didn't use from the kit was a small paper banner. I suppose I could have used it in the trees, but there was already just so much going on!

 

Curry's (in Canada, great art store!) had a canvas sale a couple weekends ago, and I purchased tons of different sizes. The 6x12" canvas size worked nicely, but it was also a lot smaller than I'm used to working on with acrylics, so it filled up fast!

 

 

Extra materials used: modge podge, gel medium, acrylic inks, acrylic paint, additional rub-ons, thin sharpie, glass beads medium, inktense pencils, buttons, Protective UV top coat

Mixed Media Kit Progress

This is the second last photo of where I've left off with this piece. You're going to have to wait until Sunday-Monday for the final pictures though, as it's late and they don't turn out very well and I want the finished piece photos as true to the original in colour as possible.

This was the 'gist' of my idea though, the rest that I've added are embellishments and enhancing what is there. :)

Mixed Media Process

Laying down the initial layers on a 6x12" canvas.
I adored that vintage-floral paper, and the grey / white
stripped paper.

I just signed up this past month for the Mixed Media Kits, offered by Christy Tomlinson in her online store: Scarlet Lime. They are subscription based, you can see what November has to offer already. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to 'challenge' myself, and use items that I would not normally purchase. It would also build up my of mixed media 'snippets' to use.



Adding some bits of texture by using the brown 'dollies'
as a stencil mask, and added the trunk of my tree. Splashes
of yellow acrylic ink.

  I thought about filming my 'process' like Christy does, but the reality is my creative process on these pieces are a lot slower. Partially because I don't have a heat gun to speed up drying, and also because this creative thought process is newer to me, so I have to think a little more before 'leaping'. But my main goal is to use all, or most of the supplies provided. I tend to work on it and complete a portion or layer, and then walk away for a little while - sometimes a couple days. Then come back to it with a fresh idea for the 'next steps'.

The kit included a 6x6" paper pad and extra paper 'pages', rub-ons, brown paper dollies, clear plastic 'beads' (which I found out later through Christy's video could be taken apart), washi tape, kraft flower pieces and tiny text stickers (which I adore!- I would love, love if we got teeny text stickers every couple months!). When I saw the round kraft flower pieces, of course I thought "flowers!"...the label on them forces that thought - and Christy did make a gorgeous piece with flowers on her YouTube video. But, then I played around with them - thought maybe some cute clouds could come out of them, and then imagined that they would be perfect to make a tree - just like my watercolour polka-dot trees! Just with a little...well, a lot more texture!

It's still in the process. I will share more pictures this weekend of my finished piece. It's just finishing touches now, and polishing it up a bit. I already excited for the November kit to arrive, after seeing all the goodness that will be in the package...mine came around the 20th...so I have to wait quiet awhile...*sigh*