My favorite Technique...

I really love experimenting and playing around with different techniques. Over five years ago, I went to an art show in Maryland and saw an arist doing something that fascinated me. This artist painted in layers...Not what you think...paint on top of paint on top of paint. Actually, the artist created his scenes of depth and intesity by painting parts of a whole on individual panes of glass, then stacked them one on top of the other (with spacers) to create depth.

I minored in Art Education in college so this reminded me of an ancient technique called Reverse Painting. But his art was slightly modified. So as a teacher, I thought I'd share a link with you...If you would like to learn a little art history. CLICK HERE to learn more.

When I observed his work, all I could think of was my stamping. I knew this ancient technique could be a stamper's dream so I tried using clear acetate, StazOn ink, my stamps and of course, acrylic paints.

I created two different cards with the same materials- just a twist on the layout and a few additonal elements. I used Mixed Greetings because not only does it have some great sentiments in various fonts, it also has some adorable icon images (like the cupcake) that is perfect for cards.

I first tried this technique five years ago and I love it! I challenge you to give it a try! If you create something with this technique, please share! I'd love to see it!!!

PS... Older StazOn works best on acetate. It slides less, is more tacky and creates a crisper image. I had to get some new StazOn this week and it is VERY juicy so the images are less than prime this time. I'm a bit disappointed.

Kerry

Busy week...

This week has been pretty busy...crafty busy and a little extra work for the school system evaluating some lesson plans in the foreign language department to see how well they aligned with curriculum and state standards...I thought I'd pop on to post some of my crafty creations for this week as well as remind you of two things:

My color challenge will end soon so make sure to post a link to your creation before Monday when I will be asking inlinks to select a winner...

I'll will be participating in the Christmas All Year Long Blog hop for Magnolia-Licious again this month, please stop by on Sunday and check out my Christmas Maggie...I LOVE it...and hope you will too.

OK, so back to showing you my creations for this week:

The first few projects were created for a couple ATC swaps I'm participating in at the Stamp Shack. I used to create tons of swap ATCs but these days, I usually create an ATC to attach to a card I'm making. I don't swap them much anymore. I thought I would participate in a few more just for the fun of it...Anyway, here they are:

This swap ATC was created for the "Christmas in July" swap. I used my copics of course!

I used three stamp sets for this card. A Heidi Swap set, The penguins are from a set by MSE (I think) and the sentiment is from TAC. Added some ribbon from Ribbons and Bows Oh My!, a MS snowflake punch, Fiskars Threading water punch, and a little button from some shop at the GASC convention...I need to figure out who they were because I WILL definitely be ordering more buttons from them.

The next set of 10 ATC's were made for the "Try a new Coloring Technique" challenge. I saw this video a few months back where the person was painting with Liquid Pearls and thought it was an awesome way to use the medium in a non-traditional way. I knew this was the technique I was going to use for this swap so I had to hunt for a great stamp set that would allow me to display the technique...SO I pulled out my Fiskars Cupcake set that I hadn't used yet and whipped up some images, colored them with my copics then used Liquid Pearls like a watercolor wash over the top...WOW...It reminded me of Perfect Pearls or the Opalite Ink I used to use long ago, but oh how easy!!! This technique is a keeper! I added the traditional Liquid Pearl Drops to the edge to give the viewer two ways to see how this medium can be used...in it's traditional form, or as a watercolor wash...NEAT!

So, you may be wondering why I haven't posted a sample or a creation to my own color challenge right??? Well, I haven't been slacking, no, I decided to use the colors in the challenge on another project...The Thinking Inking classes I've been refreshing myself with on Twopeasinabucket. This weeks episodes challenged me to take out my acrylic paint, clear embossing powder and paper and create some lucious backgrounds...Here's what I created:

Isn't it just elegant? I loved how it turned out and didn't want to cover up the background with other stuff so I kept the tag pretty plain other than to layer with all the colors in the color challenge, add a little ribbon and a colored flower, and then to top it all off, added a little spritz of dazzle with my Shimmerz...love the sparkle! Here are the other sample swatches I created and you'll find one show up this Sunday in my Christmas Card Post!!!

Watch for a photo journaling in the next few weeks of this technique....I took step by step photos for my art journal.

Shack Challenges are BACK!

Hop over to the STAMP SHACK and take a peek at the fun challenges starting TODAY! I hope you find one (or more) to your liking and you'll throw your stamps in the ring for some FUN! Please join us as we revvvvv up our stamping MOJO.

Here is a list of the challenges this week (with some links to the Shack):

Color

Theme

Technique

Mystery

Limited Supply

Sketch

COLOR CHALLENGE: We will use this photo for our color inspiration this week:

Photo: HGTV
Copic Coordinates: R59 Cardinal, G40 Dim Green, E40 Brick White, Black 100

Here's my card:

THEME CHALLENGE "Summer Days"

Here's my card:

SKETCH CHALLENGE:

Here's my card:

TECHNIQUE CHALLENGE: "Using Painters tape to mask"

Here are a few tags:

LIMITED SUPPLY CHALLENGE: You must use one button and one stick pin.

Here's my card:

MYSTERY CHALLENGE: "Turn acetate into an embellishment!"

Here's my card:

Hope you enjoy the challenges! I will award one prize to a random participant next Friday. The more challenges you complete, the better chance you have of winning the GRAND Prize...and it's good!

Bye!

Kerry