Thoughtful Thursdays: Dimension!

No matter how hard I've tried (okay, I didn't try that hard!) to keep my mixed-media collages on the flat side, I pretty much always end up adding some kind of dimensional objects to them! It just makes the whole piece pop a little... makes it more real... and a little more interesting!

For this mermaid piece, I needed her to have a little offering of some sort. So I cut a piece of cardstock in the shape of an oyster... and painted it with acrylics. I then brushed some Perfect Pearls Pigment Powders over top to create that cool inner-oyster sheen. I wrinkled up the edges... attached it to the collage and then glued in some freshwater pearls.

Pleased with the results, I liked the subtle way it added to the otherwise flat piece. A little dimension goes a long way!

Cupcake Apron... Ranger Style...

Nothing like another challenge to get your creative juices flowing! My most recent assignment was to decorate a white apron—using Ranger products—that I'll be wearing at the booth for the CHA Show. And how shall I decorate it? With cupcakes of course! Here's how I did it...

Colorize the entire (pre-washed) apron using Adirondack ColorWash Spray in Cranberry. When it is completely covered, place in about 2" of water and press out about half of the dye...
and you'll get a nice shade of watermelon.Hang to dry overnight and then throw it in the dryer to set.
I knew I was going to silkscreen the cupcakes, so I made a stencil and used the Inkssentials White Pen to draw them in. Once all the sugary treats were properly positioned, I painted them in using Claudine Hellmuth Studio Acrylic Paints (Hint: when painting over a colored background, use white as a base coat to keep these colors true).





I wanted a little pizzaz for the icing, so I mixed Perfect Pearls—in Perfect Pearl—with water and painted all the cupcake tops. It still allows the color to show through, but gives it an awesome sparkly look!

Next, it was time to silkscreen using Studio Paints. How on Earth can you silkscreen using an acrylic paint, you may ask? Combine it with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Extra Time... a brand new product from Ranger! It increases the "open time" of acrylic paints by 20-30 minutes!
So for silkscreening, I added 2 parts Extra Time to 1 part Studio Paint in Charcoal Black. This gave me enough time to silkscreen about 8-10 cupcakes... washing and drying my screen in-between each pass! I even used Ranger's Craft Scraper as my "squeegee".

And voila! Pretty cupcakes! It still needed a little something to fill the space, so I stamped "i love cupcakes"... again, using the Extra Time/Studio Paint combo, only this time at a 1:1 ratio. After mixing, ink up your Brayer with a nice, thin coat and brayer onto your stamp. Spritz lightly with water using a Mini Mister before the final stamping.
I'm so happy with how my apron turned out... that now I'd like to design fabrics! This was a whole lot of fun. And if you're going to the CHA Show... stop by the Ranger booth, say hi... and see it in person!

Pretty Please... With Perfect Pearls On Top...

Cupcake Number 4 I created on a square cigar box top and started with a background of different sized dots in acrylic paint. I layered several washes of color over top, which I really liked because it made them fade into the background just right. I sketched out a cupcake on a scrap of paper, colorized it with watered down acrylics, then put a layer of beeswax over top. I thought it needed something else, so I brushed the icing with Perfect Pearls Powders for a shimmery effect and added the rick-rack.