Sunday 6 October 2013

Welcome Back Alison Bomber Project #1 A Study In Scarlet ....


"Hello everyone, Alison here again. I’m so delighted to be back, but I will admit to a slight frustration with this month’s projects. My main idea of what I wanted to create simply wouldn’t come together. I’ve saved it up in my head to try again at some point in the future when there’s less house-moving pressure in the mix. So, I’m a bit down on these makes, only because they’re not what I intended - maybe you’ll be able to judge them with less prejudice !"



I’m working with the Ink & the Dog stamps this month - absolutely in love with the quirky, crazy, fascinating images. My first offering is a sort of journal page, made in an old book.  I’ve seen this idea in a few places, one of the most recent being at Magda Polakow’s great blog (http://littleeverland.blogspot.co.uk/).



So I started with giving the pages a rough layer of Snowflake Fresco Paint. 



I spritzed some water on, and brushed some of the paint away, so that the text would still have a presence.



Next I took some of the new teeny tiny tags, in sizes #1, #2 and #3, as well as some offcuts from larger tags, and layered them up with some wide mesh from my stash.



Once happy with the arrangement, I glued them into place, and added textured areas of Grunge Paste.



I applied it with a plastic palette knife, and then just patted the flat side of the knife up and down on the paste to get the miniature mountain peaks.



Next step was to give all of that a wash of Snowflake to blend it all together.



Lots of my favourite blogs are Polish, including the wonderful Anna Dabrowska a.k.a. Finnabair (with whom I was lucky enough to do a workshop last month), and they do lots of spritzing and spraying, so I decided to borrow that idea; and I also took a leaf out of our own Gillian’s book, by doing my spritzing and spraying using Fresco Paints.



So I gathered a mix of colours and created a spray. If you put the water into the spray bottle first, the paint won’t stick to the sides so much. I used about 75% water to 25% paint I would guess and, as you can see, I used all translucent colours. Obviously, mixed with water, even your opaques would become less opaque... but these were the shades I wanted.



I wanted some really intense colour in places, as well as the lovely delicate diffusion of colour which the spray gives. So, before spraying, I used a wooden coffee stirrer to add globs of Blood Orange to various points of intersection, corners and edges where tags or mesh overlapped.



Then I spritzed over those globs (at this point about equal amounts of the three colours in the spray), hoping that the spray would disperse the paint a little. It did, but only a very little.



So I used a paintbrush to “help” the paint to spread out. I guided it along the texture available - into cracks, along edges and so on, trying to make it look as though the paint had travelled there “naturally”.



Here you can see the whole page spread at this point, with one glob already spread out (top right-ish), and the others still awaiting action. I couldn’t hang around too long, since I didn’t want my globs drying as globs, but the moisture of the spray does give you some play time.



It was all a little bit too pink at this point, so I added a bit more of the Smoked Paprika to what was left in the spray bottle, and did another spritzing with the slightly more orangey colour. I love how this warmed up the pages, adding another layer of colour - I forgot to take a photo, but you will see it as we go on.



Time to get some stamping into the mix.  I knew I wanted to use my favourite of the Ink & the Dogs Dolls (you’ll be seeing lots more of them later in the week), but there was no way I could stamp onto all that texture, so she needed a background, and the quote, from the Ink & the Dog Eclectic plate 4 has always spoken to me, so that had to play a part too.

I whitewashed a couple of bits of manila tag with watered down Snowflake, and then put a spritz of my now quite orangey spray onto the craft mat.

I smooshed the white-painted tag into the spray, dried, and re-smooshed until I liked the look of it.



I positioned my Doll and the quote, and added some stamping around the pages using Plum Archival.  You can also see the delicious orangey tints from the additional spraying here. 




The postmark is from Dolls 1, and the lovely script is on the Dolls2 plate.


ID Dolls 2
And then came one of my favourite parts of the process.  Having got it all glued down, sprayed and stamped, I started peeling up the edges of anything I could get my fingers on!



I love how this suddenly brings the pages to life.



Of course it adds dimension and texture, but where the tag edges are peeled back, you also reveal unsprayed areas, giving you white highlights and even, in places, some more book print too.




I also used a Sanding Block to attack the textured Grunge Paste, creating additional white highlights amidst the now pretty intense colour.  



Regulars at Words and Pictures will know that I tend to work in adjacent shades on the colour spectrum, rather than leaping across to huge contrasts - hence the post title - borrowed from Sherlock Holmes, of course.



I also had a lightbulb moment and decided to experiment with peeling away part of the mesh in places.


So happy with how this revealed extra white highlighting, as well as giving some really funky texture variation



It also gave me some leftover bits of mesh covered in yummy coloured Grunge Paste...



... so I used them to adorn the stamped panels of the Doll...


 

... and the quote.




Overall, I’ve ended up very happy with all the texture and detail.



And I’m looking forward to having a play in the rest of this book.  I’ve already decided that it’s going to be dedicated to the other Dolls, so keep an eye out at Words and Pictures to see how the others turn out!



Thanks so much for stopping by.  I’ll be back tomorrow with another Ink & the Dog creation - hope to see you then.

Leandra Says: It's been on my to do list to make a video about spraying the paints for some time now. You can really use Opaques and Translucent shades in different ways to obliterate of build depth nicely, and you can vary the opacity and viscosity depending on your ratios of paint to water. Frescos are a fantastically versatile paint, and you have highlighted this perfectly! I love the texture on your pages, and peeling up bits is a fantastic idea. The re-positioned mesh looks superb too!!

Gillian Says: Spraying with Fresco's are just so much fun .... I love all the different elements you used to create your textured layers. The colours and images look fab.





44 comments:

sam21ski said...

Fab pages Alison

Sam xx

Helen said...

Fantastic Alison - I think it looks just gorgeous!! Love the peeling up of the edges, that was inspired.

Julie Lee said...

Wow! This project is just delicious! I love peeling things - except potatoes, of course! I love the really impasto look of the GP and the mesh. This is just fabulous and goes so well with Ink and the Dog stamps that I love! Julie Ann xx

Unknown said...

Excellent!!!!!!! Messy play time, once I'm well again - love the pages

Anonymous said...

Such a fantastic page, I love the colour & all the textures look amazing.

Dawn Louise said...

Absolutely marvellous the step by step is perfect and the finished article looks great. also thank you thank you thank you, that doll stamp I saw on someone's blog and enquired about it I knew I'd seen it somewhere but the lady pointed me in completely wrong direction lol so now I have found it, look forward to seeing your next project Alison x

Jenny Marples said...

Gorgeous Alison. I can see Finnabair's influence on this shining through. Jenny x

Jo said...

Alison, lush and so divine! Can't wait to have a go at the picking and peeling! Jo xx

Redanne said...

Looks like it was messy but loads of fun, that sentiment is brilliant. Hugs, Anne x

Amanda said...

Fabulous texture and colour love how you've peeled back anything glued down that looks fab
Love
Amanda x

Alison said...

Gorgeous pages, great techniques Alison! Wonder if I'll have time to play before I go on holiday on Tuesday?!
Alison xxx

Craftyfield said...

Love your techniques for bringing back the white, superb colours and textures too on this page

Carol Q said...

fabulous Alison - a wonderfully messy project to get stuck into. do you like your raised edge reveal too.

Rita said...

Absolutely Stunning. I love those papers so much. Hugs Rita xxx and

Anonymous said...

Fabulous pages Alison ! Love the texture created by peeling back the layers ! Sue C x

Miriam said...

Fabulous pages. I love the textures. And the sprays are a great idea.

Fliss said...

Just amazing Alison and I love the scarlet which looks fabulous. Wonderful texture and stamping.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Mona Pendleton said...

What a beautiful project Alison! Love your mix of color and texture! Thanks for sharing the creative process!

ionabunny said...

I'm not really a pink person but I love these pages. Love the texture and the stamps and yeah, OK the colour. Fantastic. Those doll stamps are so cute. Looking forward to seeing more

ionabunny said...

I'm not really a pink person but I love these pages. Love the texture and the stamps and yeah, OK the colour. Fantastic. Those doll stamps are so cute. Looking forward to seeing more

Astrid Maclean said...

Wonderful textures Alison and great techniques! And wow, pink and red from you, that certainly is a change!!

Tracy said...

Oh my giddy aunt...FABULOUS Alison and sooo inspiring!!
Thank you for showing step by step.
Hugs
Tracy
xoxox

Paper Profusion said...

The sweet raspberry ripple thoughts in my head changed to darker stuff as you progressed with this Alison. Fabulous piece with terrific layering and underlying secrets! Thanks for all the step x step deets! Have a good week Alison - now 'The Final Countdown' has started blaring in my head! Nicola x

Kathi said...

I'm so excited that you're back.

I love your journal pages. The colors, textures, and layers are amazing and work so well with those stamped images.

I'm itching to know the title of that book though!

massofhair said...

Enjoyed seeing the Frescos being sprayed, love doing this for backgrounds! Great project with interesting techniques, fab peeling back tags to expose more white areas.

Not really into dolls but my interest is being piqued :-)

Marci said...

Ooh, I love this, the colors; strawberry watermelon ish, all that texture and the stamping. (At least, that's what it looks like on my phone.) Thanks for the how to.

Nan G said...

Holy smokes! Wow! I don't use sprays so I'm keenly interested in how a newbie uses them. You've created a fabulous piece, Alison! Great texture and color. Red n pink from butterfly! Looking forward to this week with you!

Yvonne Garner said...

Oh Alison! Your work just takes my breath away! Fabulous step by step tutorial. Cannot wait to see what you dream up next! Have a fabulous week!

Sid said...

Fantastic textured page, love the tag effect !

Deborah said...

Love all the peeling, curling and lifting - Fab!

http://blog.timetocreate.com.au/ said...

Sometimes you flip through a manufacturers stamps and don't really look.
I am looking now Alison with fresh eyes as your textury tortured piece is so effective and so inspiring.
Love it!

Ellie Knol said...

LOVELY texture on your page, Alison, don't be to hard on yourself, and keep enjoying crafting...

Dianne said...

Hello dear Alison, I couldn't believe you were using red,as I watched the process,it became another one of your gorgeous, tactile, piece of fabulous art, loved it, thanks for sharing..

Cocofolies said...

Oooo Alison, how could we judge you down on that??!! That's just wonderful AJ and great art for me! I love your fabulous choice and use of colours with subtle shades, and how clever it is to have peeled off the whole page and moved parts of mesh like that!! Love it!!! Coco x

Hettie said...

Brilliant! Love it and now I shall just have to get my stamps out for a play in my AJ!
Hugs
xx

cathylynn said...

Alison I truly enjoy seeing how your creating process works! These pages are fabulous and I love the textures and colors and of course the stamps. All fantastic!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Princess Judy Palmer said...

Excellent! I loved the step by step of how this project came to life. I liked the "now that its all glued down I pried it up in places." That really makes it.

Mary Elizabeth said...

Alison -- this is so cool ... and of course you make it look so easy. It's "elementary my dear Watson". I've heard of grungepaste but I have not had an opportunity to see a tutorial or step-by-step. Thanks for this!! How fun; I want to play in it :) Seriously, if my craft wish (have-to-have) list gets any longer, I will have to declare bankruptcy! Love how you re-purposed the pulled up mesh bits back into the piece. And I so love the sentiment -- Fab art journal! -- Mary Elizabeth

barbarayaya62 said...

your page is astunning! textures stamps colors layout..... all is really beautiful! Thanks for sharing the tutoriial! barbarayaya

Anonymous said...

Fabulous pages!!! Love seeing the progression photos :) ~Sophia

Annie said...

Love these stamps Alison and this is stunning. Gorgeous grungy layers and textures.

TFS
Annie x

Dorthe said...

Oh MY!!! you created the most stunning effects on this Alison...the texture from paste and layers of papers and the mesh--all together making a stunning art piece... your play with the colours are fantastic, TOO.
Hugs, Dorthe

Sandy said...

Wonderful and I love the tutorial.
sandy

Kezzy said...

Wow wow wow absolutely gorgeous, I love all the amazing texture, it really makes me want to touch it lol. I love the colour you used, awesome. Kezzy :-) xxx