Halloween Inspiration

In the last few weeks I have been doing some experimenting with new materials and was inspired to make some Halloween tags and backgrounds.  I have access to a photocopier again, so the first thing I did was blender pen image transfers!  The three images I used are cabinet cards from the store.  The transfer process is really easy:

1. Photocopy the image . I usually make multiple copies while I'm at the machine.
2. Cut out the image- this step is not necessary if the background of the image is white with no toner.
3. Place paper image side down on tag (or whatever you are transferring to.)
4. Color the paper with a blender pen that contains xylene to saturate the paper.  Do this in a well ventilated area.
5. Rub with a bone folder or other tool to make sure the entire image transfers.

I love using this technique for image transfers because it can be imperfect and unpredictable which lends an element of spooky-ness that is perfect for Halloween tags.  The old clothing and imperfect transfer brings to mind ghosts and haunted houses.  After doing the image transfers, I added color with Dylusions ink spray and Faber Castell Gelatos.  The Gelatos are still new to me, so this was a great chance to experiment with different techniques.  I mixed the gelatos with water in mini spray bottles to create my own color sprays, drew directly on the tags and blended the colors with a foam blending tool, used the gelatos with a waterbrush like paint...

Afterwards, I added washi tape and other embellishments.  The keys are tag board cut-outs from Coffee Break Design, and the "Boo" banners are my own creations.  Then I added some of my favorite ribbon in coordinating colors.

My other Halloween experiments used alcohol inks, stencils, and Golden Soft Gel in gloss.  I was inspired by the Tim Holtz tag tutorial for September.  I tried his method of dribbling different colors of alcohol inks and blender solution onto a craft mat and "swiping" the cardstock over the surface of the craft mat to get a unique background.  Then I applied the Golden gel over a spider web stencil to create a glossy raised image.  The Golden gel took a long time to dry, so I worked on these backgrounds over several days.  Later I added distress ink to darken the background, leaving the areas under the dried gel the original background color.

I tried this technique with Gelato backgrounds too and it worked great.  For the purple spider web in the upper right hand corner of the photo, I tinted some of the gel with a few drops of acrylic paint for a completely different look.  Overall, I had a lot of fun experimenting and got a few cute Halloween decorations out of it!

Collage Greeting Cards

 

It has been a busy few months getting the store set up, planning classes and workshops for the spring, and hosting a Grand Re-Opening Party.  I have fallen behind on several things like laundry, art projects, and blogging.  While I can't make any promises about the laundry, this week I have been getting back to the art and blogging parts

I am working on making collage greeting cards for my Kickstarter supporters.  The campaign I started to help fund Small Studio ended in December, and now I need to get my creativity flowing and make the rewards!  This is the start of the 140 cards I will be working on.

 

Sometimes collage is like a puzzle.  Start by gathering interesting papers, cutting out images, then piecing things together.  And when all else fails, I remember the wisdom of Portlandia and "put a bird on it."

Free Association: Book 223

I mentioned in a previous post that I am a member of an art book group called Art Books Cleveland.  Every year the group has an exhibition of alphabet related books.  Last year I made a book called the Astronomer's Alphabet featuring paintings of space related things for each letter.  This year I wanted to do something a little different.

The book is called Free Association.  Each page has a painted background with a collaged image and phrase that both start with the same letter.  I chose photos and images that had nothing to do with each other, which often creates meaning of its own in the new context.

I started putting together the book last year after finishing the astronomy book.  I was still interested in the alphabet theme but wanted to do something more whimsical.  The book is currently on display at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland until the end of November.

I obviously can't share photos of the entire book here, so I took shots of some of my favorite pages.  Enjoy!

Special Occasion Cards

I sat down last week to make greeting cards for the first time in a long time.  I've made Ohio cards, Christmas cards, and Valentine's cards in the last 6 months but that's about it.  With the summer show season coming up, I decided it was time to make some cards for birthdays, Mother's Day, and Father's Day.

In my studio, I have a set of plastic rolling drawers where I keep paint, scissors, bookbinding supplies, etc.  One of the drawers is my "scrap paper" drawer where all my little pieces of cardstock or decorative paper live.  My process for making cards goes like this: pull out the scrap paper drawer, pick out a bunch of scraps, use fancy edged scissors, and assemble on a card blank.  Add stamps, embossing, or decorative pens as needed.

It is a relaxing process that helps me "recycle" the extra bits that are too pretty to throw away.  Many of these are available at the Urban Orchid in Ohio City.  The rest will be at the Midland Summer Art Fair june 1st and 2nd.

Books 002-005

Yesterday I sat down and made books 2-5 of my 365 for the year.  I decided to have a little bit of fun with collage.  First I made four easy pamphlet stitch books as the base for the collages.  The covers are light yellow cardstock with white printer paper as the pages.

I used some bits of leftover paper from my last book, along with a sheet of canceled "Royal Wedding" stamps from Canada, and assorted old tickets.  I'm pretty happy with how they came out.  I don't usually do collage, and sometimes I find it difficult to get a composition I like.  Hopefully little exercises like this will help with future collage projects.

I put the books under weights to dry, but the covers still curled a little bit.  To help reverse the curl I brushed some water on the inside of each cover, and put them back under weights overnight.

This is my favorite of the four