2021 Topic 5 Find Your Vibe with FP/ESC {by Nikki Acton}

 2021 Topic 5: Find Your Vibe

Finding your vibe doesn't always mean there's a clear and direct plan. Perhaps you have to trust the process like Nikki did and not be so constrained by an initial idea. Her patchwork scrap base is a fabulous idea and the layering is just beautiful. However you manage to find your vibe, just keep persevering!

~ Keren.

 

Hi everyone, Nikki, from Addicted to Art, here to share my 'Find your Vibe' creation! 

My creative vibe can vary, but I would say I nearly always add lots of layers (too many!) and don't always know where I am going to finish off when I start! I will often have an idea but get taken down a different path. I used to force my original idea to completion, but now try to go with the process of making rather than having a defined end goal.

This journal page is quite a good example of my process. Sitting on my desk were lots of scraps (mostly gel prints) from recent projects, so I decided to create a background collage with them, In the end a lot of this is covered up - but the patchwork still remains.

I realised there was just too much colour - or at least not enough cohesion of colour so needed to tone this down a bit, but also wanted some to show through. So I dry brushed Chalk Fresco Acrylic paint over the surface and stamped some images on tissue paper to outline a composition. The face is from FP002, the flowers and butterfly ESC18 and the letters from ESA21.

I now went to work adding more interest to the background and adding some watery washes to the underside of the tissue paper.

Lots of stamps and stencils were use on building up the background - here you can see PS102 with Pistachio Fresco Paint and PS169 with Rose Fresco Paint.

I continued adding lots more background interest....

The vertical numbers are from ID08, the red scripty circles ELB34, the French text from FP002 and the stencilled blue circles from PS234. 

Once happy with all my layers I adhered my tissue stamped images and added some pen work to enhance as required - eg the eye. I also added some paint spatters.

If like me, you enjoy doing backgrounds (don't we all) - using images stamped on tissue is a great way to add focal points once the background is done - even when it is very busy like mine! 

Enjoy!

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

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2021 Topic 1 Stamp Mashing - FP ECF I&D ESA: Healing Music {by Keren Baker}

 2021 Topic 1: Stamp Mashing with ...

France Papillon * Courtney Franich * Ink & the Dog * Seth Apter

This isn't the first time Keren has up-cycled a violin. I wonder how many other instruments she has stashed in the Baker household graveyard of instruments! I think we should give her some bagpipes! Anyhow, what a lovely project this id. Would love a whole wall of them actually! I now have visions of people scouring second hand stores for instruments! I'm sure you need no encouragement to read on!
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Keren Baker with you today, and I'd like to share with you a little upcycled art. I did a half sized violin a few years ago and I had others lying around (including this full sized one) waiting for their moment. Using 4 different designer's stamps called for something a little more special plus I felt that I needed a little more space than my average sized card or notebook

As a musician it pains me a little to take an instrument out of circulation, but if they're broken or very inexpensive, I don't feel as guilty. 

I made (on reflection afterwards) exactly the same mistake as last time I painted one of these; I didn't sand it! Ordinarily Fresco Finish Acrylic paints will go on pretty much anything- and they did- but because the piece is highly polished, the paint will scrape away more easily without a key, so do sand yours if you fancy trying to do similar.

It was a lovely blank white canvas. Normally a ton of white would thrill me, but on this occasion I felt a bit overawed as to how to combine stamp designs that are pretty different in style. I decided to choose the stamps first and maybe the combo would become clear. I wanted to use one of Seth's minis EM33 as it was the perfect size for the neck.

Stamping on tissue paper first and using Mod Podge is much easier. I loved the pattern created by rotating the stamp each time. Reminded me a little of a guitar fret board. I need to buy some matt Mod Podge as ended up with a lustre which I didn't love.

I decided on a simple colour scheme using Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics: Chalk, Cerise, Cerulean, Slate plus Crackle Glaze.

You can see below one of my 'u-turns', known more exactly as creative mistakes! I was going to do all the violin in Chalk, a very thin layer of crackle glaze and Cerulean but I thought a graduated colour scheme might be more interesting. I didn't like it, so started painting more white over it. Painting over crackle doesn't give you the smoothest surface to stamp over but I  knew I'd be using tissue paper again, so it didn't matter as much.

For my 'Ink & The Dog' stamps I used Buttons 1 B1. Once I'd applied it (and really disliked the sheen of the Mod Podge) I knew it needed knocking back a little which I planned to do with stencilling using PS021 and more stamping.

 

 

 

You can see how well the Grunge Paste works over the stamped areas. I added a little paint over some of the numbers to add some contrast. You can also see one of the France Papillon sets I used - FP005.

I now needed to make decisions about how to combine the other designer Courtney Franich's stamps in what I'd done so far. I had an idea about making flowers using some of her leaf stamps and also foliage from her sets ECF05 & ECF06

I just needed to add in a few more images. I was musing about the effect of music upon us and how it supports and improves both mental health and mood. Frances Papillon's set contained two sentiments 'PS:there is hope' and 'Serotonine' which I thought would give something for people to ponder whilst looking at the altered piece.

The super versatile dots on the neck of the violin come from another of France's sets FP002. You can also see the stencilled numbers which helps tie the design together.

I really loved adding the clouds, gel pen dashes and painting the tailpiece. The fact that there's a string missing seemed to resonate with the slight brokenness that many of us feel and also gave me an extra bit of space to stamp the sentiment on the neck. I had to google how to restring a violin (as hadn't a clue!!) so that was a new 'skill' !

This was a complete labour of love and I was amazed just how well the stamped images 'sung' together. I used paint more than I've ever done and even did layers (which I found slightly out of my comfort zone). If it hadn't been for the PaperArtsy topic challenge, I'd never have pushed myself with layering and combining. This has been a great topic for me.

It's well worth adding some paint and layers to things lying around the house. Musical instruments seem to have a mood of their own and are certainly very inspiring. Don't forget to prepare your surfaces better than I did and I now am on the lookout for a cello (perhaps not), but I'm tempted to try a viola or ukelele!

Hope to see you again soon,

Keren x

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2020 #13 Using lines in composition with Kim Dellow Stamps {by Nikki Acton}

2020 Topic 13: Lines

Sometimes simple cards can take more planning and design choices, and Nikki has taken a deceptively simple card which actually has lots of designed elements within. Nikki cleverly transforms some inexpensive plastic grid that we'll all be looking out for now.
~ Keren

Hi, Nikki here today, from Addicted to Art. For the theme of lines I decided to utilise various 'lines' to, hopefully, enhance the composition / layout of my card.

Composition in my artwork is really important to me - although sometimes I get it very wrong! Colour, positioning of items, focal points and tonal balance can all impact the overall design. The goal is for the eye to be drawn to the focal points and not get confused chasing elements around a page or being drawn out of the picture!

I started with two initial line ideas - some of this grid material I have (had it ages -UK  Poundland I think!) and my inky highlighted folds in the background. But as it developed I also used the lines of numbers and the horizontal tag to bring it all together.

I first brayered some white card lightly with Sand and Chocolate Pudding Fresco Paints. I  used my score board to create lines on the reverse and then swept the edges and creases with Potting Soil Archival ink (any brown ink will do). I stamped the little circles from Kim Dellow stamp set EKD01 and the lines of numbers from France Papillon Stamp set FP002. However I did these later so I knew where to place them to build the composition.

I added some Chocolate Pudding paint to the plastic grid so there was more of contrast with the background and also added a little tissue paper underneath.

I used Distress Oxide (Peeled Paint) to colour some card which I used to stamp my flowers and little hedgehog from EKD01. I cut my little tag to frame my greeting (from EM18). This horizontal 'line' compliments the vertical lines of the the background, the flower stems and the stamped numbers.

A relatively simple card! But hopefully you can see how I used the various vertical and horizontal lines to create the composition. 

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

Instagram: @Nikki_Act

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