2015 #6 Garden Hanging {by Wanda Hentges}

Hello Everyone!!!!  It's Wanda Hentges here today for the Altered Grunge Paste theme.  I love paste because that means texture and I love texture!!  My two favorite techniques with paste is (1) use it through a stencil and (2) stamp into it!!  I've done both of these and more in creating this hanging.

I began with a 6 x 6 Heavy Grey/White Board working on the white side. I added Grunge Paste through a stencil (TCW mini pointy circles) over some of the board and then stamped into it with the text image at the bottom of the ESN14 set.  If you keep the paste thin, which I did, scraping it down mostly even with the stencil, you get very good detail when you stamp into it. To keep the Grunge Paste from sticking to the stamp, you spray some water on the stamp and then rub over the stamp with your finger to spread the water.  You still might get a little paste on your stamp and you want to be sure and clean this off both before stamping again and when done. You do NOT want the paste to dry on the stamp!!  I then spread some paste right onto the board and stamped into it with the lines image from ESN14.  Isn't it great!!!

 ESN14

Once the paste was completely dry, I painted the board with blue oyster, smurf, wisteria, and candy floss.  I sprayed some water on the board and also mixed water with each color of paint.  I painted each color on quickly, sprayed more water in places to allow colors to run together, blotted up excess water and dried the board.  Next I added the leaves, again using a stencil (PS002) and some Grunge Paste. I coloured the paste with Fresco Finish Paints before adding it to the board. (3rd technique with paste - tinting it) I first mixed up some paste with tinned peas but then decided I wanted it to be lighter so I mixed some up with limelight.  I taped off the other leaves on the stencil that were too close for me to be careful enough not to get paste through and then began. You need to be careful when adding paste through a stencil over texture. If you press too hard you will get lots of squishing under the stencil and be left with a mess. Use easy pressure and don't work it too much. As you can see, I still got some extra going under the stencil but not bad. After I had all the leaves stenciled, I added extra paste along the bottom and since I had that paste with Tinned Peas I used some of it also. Once the leaves were dry, I placed the stencil back over them and sponged on a little Archival Ink leaf green. Finally I used my finger to very lightly rub snowflake paint over the texture in the background on about the top 2/3 of the board.  Not only did it highlight the texture more but it made me think of wispy clouds and everything looked more "sky-like" to me.  

Here's a close up. 

I added a quote (ESN14) stamped onto deli paper with Archival Ink jet black. I dried the ink well and tore out the quote leaving some extra paper around it that I could crumple. I glued it to the board with matte glaze just behind the quote, not at the edges. For the flowers, I painted some smoothy card with vanilla and some with chalk.  I stamped 5 large and 5 small flowers (ESN14) on the vanilla and 5 small on the chalk. Once the flowers were painted there is very little difference in how they look.  The ones on the chalk paper (center flower) are slightly lighter but you don't really notice unless you are looking. I cut out all the flowers and then painted them with tango first starting at the base of each petal and going outward. I then painted them with banana starting at the tip and going inward covering not already painted areas and going onto the tango a little. Once the paint was dry, I made each complete flower starting with the 5 large flowers.  I turned them over, sprayed the backs with water, blotted them, stacked the flowers one on top the other turning them so the petals look random, stapled the center twice with a tiny attacher, pulled all 5 petals of the first flower up to the center and squished them together.  I continued pulling up petals and squishing until it was all a clump and then pulled them back apart, shaping as I went, and when it looked good I set it aside to dry. I repeated this with the small flowers using 5 for each flower.  To glue the flowers to the board I used Golden Heavy Gel Medium.  I glued buttons tied with string to the center of each flower. Next comes the 4th technique with grunge paste, carving into it.  I used a pointy craft tweezers to scratch into the paste along the bottom giving it more of a grassy look.  Pretty cool, huh!!!  You could also use a craft knife.  For the hanger I colored a piece of crinkle ribbon with watered down banana paint, scrunched it into a ball (not too tight) and then dabbed it into some watered down tango for some variation in color. Once dry, I punched holes in the board using a Crop-a-dile and tied on the ribbon trimming the ends.      

Some close ups.

I hope you've enjoyed today's project and that you are inspired to get out your grunge paste and play!!!  Be sure to link up your projects to the challenge post so I can come see what you've done and for your chance to win a great prize!!

Wanda

Blog - Art By Wanda

Twitter - @WandaHentges

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Huge thanks Wanda for kick starting our new theme. Grunge Paste is such a versatile and super easy product to work with as you have demonstrated beautifully in your hanging board. Love the effects achieved by using the stencil, especially the leaves, they look so dimensional. The graduation of colour tones throughout is wonderful.

We would love you to join in with challenge #6: Grunge Paste If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

NB.  you will get 3 weeks to participate in this challenge, as we will interrupt the usual schedule for our 3UP week which starts April 5th.

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Grunge Paste link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, April 12th, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.