2021 Topic 3 The Creative Laboratory with France Papillon {by Miriam Grazier}

  2021 Topic 3: The Creative Laboratory with France Papillon {by Miriam Grazier}

Straight out of a petrie dish, these little critters are reminiscent of science projects in a school lab, but its certainly true no lizards were harmed in this experiment! I love how Miriam followed her muse to end in an unexpected place. Very satisfying!
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Miriam with you today, and I'd like to share with you a small panel that I altered to look like  science experiment, using the amazing collection of stamps from France Papillon.

When I thought about the topic I really wanted to push myself outside of my normal boundaries.  I wanted to create something that was 'different for me'.  I really thought about what 'creative laboratory' meant and came up with a myriad of ideas from creating colour with fruit and vegetables to experiments when I was in high school.  It was from here that my project evolved.

I chose to use stamps from France Papillon, including the new DNA set which is so detailed.  

This was so effective simply stamped and coloured onto the background of my panel.  

I added extra texture using the small circular numbers and splashes in Fresco Finish Gold Acrylic paint.  

I stamped the lizard from FP004 onto Smoothy card stock and the lizard and butterfly (FP009) onto shrink plastic. 

I was so happy with how the shrink plastic images turned out.  They were perfect for my pretend petrie dish, which I re-purposed from a sequin container that I had in my stash.

And for size comparison

I bought the mini magnifying glasses from an online store - they are intended for children's party bags, but the Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint worked really well on the brightly coloured plastic handles.

I loved layering the shrink plastic elements into the dish.  I added some Frosting Glaze for extra effect but this didn't turn out quite as I was hoping.

As my mind wandered I decided to keep the lizard that had been stamped onto Smoothy card stock.  I added it to my panel so that it looked as though the lizard was on the loose and crawling over the experiment - I have no idea where that came from!

So.  There we have it.  My quirky (for me) take on the Creative Laboratory' topic.  I really had great fun pushing myself to create something that was outside of my comfort zone.  The topic has so many possibilities and there are so many great stamp collections to suit the theme.

I really hope that I have inspired you to join in with the Creative Laboratory topic.  Push yourself outside of your comfort zone and give something new a try - create your own creative laboratory.  

Thank you for joining me today.  

Miriam