Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Vintage Garden for Anything But Cute



The day has finally arrived for the first challenge at the Anything But Cute Mixed Media Challenge Blog.  Branka is our hostess this month and she is calling it Vintage Garden.  Here is how she described it:

What do you think of when you hear the word Garden? Is it flowers, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, lattice, vines, fences? Whatever garden vision you have, we want to see it. But make sure it's in a vintage style.


I decided to make a canvas  - you can click on it to get a larger view.  If you have followed me for a while you know how much I love vintage images so I went searching for something to use as my starting point and found this sweet image of a Mother and her children strolling in the garden at The Graphics Fairy.  It was coloured and I started to work with one of the colours in the photo but in the end changed it to sepia and then set it aside as it was the last element to be added.  Of course I had to add flowers to my project because it is supposed to remind you of a garden.

I started by giving the canvas a coat of Gesso.  Next I added some strips of torn paper, drywall tape and strips of washi tape.  Next I added some Golden Light Molding Paste through a TCW stencil called Mini ledger and a Wendy Vecchi stencil called Checkmate.  The drywall tape and stenciling was done on the sides as well.  The final texture on the base was achieved by gluing some cheesecloth across the middle of the canvas.


I used my Cameo to cut a wreath "mat" for my image from Tim Holtz Grunge Paper and coated it with Gesso.  Then I grabbed all sorts of lace, flowers, wood and chipboard embellishments, buttons, beads, cogs and metal pieces and glued them in various places on the canvas.  Some were already in colours that were not very complimentary or were in raw form so I gave them a coat of Gesso before they were glued down.


Once everything was in place I dry brushed everything with Deco Art Americana Peach Silk Acrylic Paint.  Then went over it with a light dry brushed coat of Gesso.

I wanted to add some spray inks and here is where I discovered I have a love/hate relationship with them.  I really like the look of them on a project but the spray bottles do not like me and constantly want to clog.  I am not one to be stopped though and when running everything under hot water to try to clear the clog didn't work, I found a work-around that gave the same result.  I just poured a little of the spray in a tiny container, stirred it well and dipped a natural sea sponge in it and sponged the ink on where I wanted it.

The sprays I used were a homemade one of rubbing alcohol, Glossy Accents, dollar store powder eye shadow with mica called Honey Suckle and Mountain Rose Alcohol Ink along with a Lindy's Stamp Gang spray called Burnished Brass.


Next I rubbed Rose Quartz wax paste by Treasure Gold over many of the high spots on the bits and pieces and finally added the vintage image.

I hope you will join us for the first challenge and show us your Vintage Garden mixed media project.  You have until June 4th to share your project with us.  The Design Team will be choosing their top picks and one deserving crafter will be invited to join us as a Featured Artist.

I am going to enter this project in the following challenges:

Mixed Media Monthly - May Flowers
Mixed Media Mojo - Tic Tac Toe (I used Gesso, Stencil, Chipboard - the starburst and fleur de lis are chipboard)
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes (mixed media)
Nordsalten Hobbyklubb - Monochromatic
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes (mixed media)

27 comments:

  1. Oh how I enjoyed all the close ups Cec, I've been dying to zoom in on this beauty!! I am completely blown away by all the creative ways you find to make texture on your projects! The,colour is so dreamy, I really need some of that Rose Quartz!! Love the subtle shimmer! Such a stunning garden feel you created my friend! Love it! hugs :)

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  2. Absolutely stunning Cec!!! Love the monochromatic tone and stunning choice of embellishments!!!

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  3. Gorgeous! I just love all the texture! Thank you for entering your project at Rhedd’s Creative Spirit. Sammy-x

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  4. Love monochromatic, it is so effective used on your canvas. It highlights your lovely design. Beautiful!

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  5. Wow, Cec! I loved this canvas when I saw just a shot of it, but now that I see how you have created it, I love it even more! I love the many ways you've achieved the texture, and how you have given it such depth through your creative use of sprays (great save!), paints, gesso, and Treasure Gold. Just an amazing textural piece with a wonderful vintage feel! Big hugs, my crafty teamie!

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  6. Wooow, Cec, now I can finaly see more details of your stunning creation! Amazing monochromatic mixed media canvas! Rich, detailed texture and great choice of embellishments! I love your fantastic version of vintage garden, my friend!
    Hugs :)
    Branka xxx

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  7. Ahhhhh - stunning and perfect. This is my fav kind of mixed media art Cec. Your image is just exactly right for your monochromatic theme and it's just sooooooooo Vintage.... yes - Vintage Garden. For me... this just could not be any better. Finnabair needs to take a peek! It's just lovely in every way. j.

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  8. Amazeballs Cec! I have to tip my hat to you for creating your own spray! Eye shadow Makeup? Genius! Love the monochromatic scheme of this vintage layout and so happy to see the process. I have never heard of Treasure Gold so I need to look into that. Bravo dearie! Fantabulous crewtion my teamie! Hugz to you muffin! ~Niki

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  9. This is just a stunning rose-gold beauty Cec!! I adore the close ups of the yummy texture, the way the inks play with lace, tape etc... The image is so sweet and you've given it the perfect home in your art. Hugs, Georgie xx

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  10. A stunning project Cec, the colours and textures are gorgeous.
    Yvonne xx

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  11. Love the fabulous texture and such awesome layers. So much wonderfulness! Thanks for playing Tic Tac Toe with us at Mixed Media Mojo!~kim

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  12. Pretty canvas! Love all texture and dimension. Thanks so much for joining us at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge.

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  13. a beautiful project - good luck on your new challenge site
    thanks for joining us at Mixed Media Mojo

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  14. Love your monochromatic garden! Great textures.Thanks for sharing this with us at Rhedd's Creative Spirit this month. Good Luck, Rupa, DT.

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  15. Gorgouss monocromatic card!
    Thanks for beeing creative with us at NSHK!

    Hugs Mari-DT

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  16. I am looking forward to seeing more from this new site and you. What a beautiful canvas with the perfect vintage image. Love the mix of flowers and other ephemera, just perfection. hugs...

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  17. What a lovely canvas - thanks for the close up photos of some of the elements - I really like how you coloured and then highlighted bits. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Altered Eclectics - Steffi :o) xx

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  18. stunning really it is - love it Thank you for sharing with us over at Eclectic Ellapu this month and hope to see you again in future challenges.

    Handcrafted by Ellapu
    Mother Hen for Altered Eclectics
    Mother Hen for Eclectic Ellapu
    DT Rhedd's Creative Spirit
    DT The Mirror Crack'd
    DT Anything but a Card

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  19. Amazing work of art and colour, this is a really beautiful piece of artistic pleasure. I have joined as a new follower...to learn and admire.
    {aNNie My Personal Blog}

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  20. Beautiful canvas! Thank you for playing along with us at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!!

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  21. This is such a beautiful canvas, thank you for sharing it with us at Mixed Media Mojo.
    xxx Hazel.

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  22. Beautiful canvas! Love the color and details. Thanks for joining us at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!

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  23. Such a beautiful vision of how you see your garden! Thanks for playing in our Altered Eclectics Challenge!

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  24. This is so beautiful, Cec! I love the subtle color, and the all the different textures. ( I struggle with spray bottles as well! Next time, I'll try your solution.)

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  25. Fabulous creation! Thanks for joining the May challenge at Mixed Media Mojo!
    Siv xx

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  26. Nicely done! Thanks so much for playing along this month with Mixed Media Mojo!

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  27. Cec, this is absolutely lovey. I love the soft color and all the fabulous texture. Thank you so much for sharing this with us in the May challenge on Altered Eclectics and look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.
    :) Chris / CS Designs

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I love to hear what you think about my work, so please leave me a comment.

Thanks!
Cec