Pretty Face Boxes By Wendy Aspinall.

Hello friends! Who doesn’t love a special box to put treasure in? Who doesn’t love a pretty face? With my boxes , you get both. It’s fun and whimsical. More importantly, it’s easy and practical. You could paint a few over a weekend.

I’m using acrylic paints in the the same way i would use watercolors in this project to produce a soft , ethereal treatment. Lots of watery washes of color that you can build up. The results will delight and please you.

Supplies

• Blank wooden boxes
• Sunny Carvalho | Two Heads are Better than One | Foam Stamps - Set of 2
• Kae Pea | Dot to Dot | Foam Stamp
• Kae Pea | Scribble Florals Set | Foam Stamps - Set of 4
• ArtFoamies | Gibberish | Foam Stamps - Set of 2
• Acrylic paint SoHo urban artist acrylic in burnt sienna , cerulean blue , Golden so flat in black,Fluorescent pink,Naphthol red light
• Stanz-On ink black
• Acrylic gesso white
• Matte wax rusty red
• Scrapbook paper
• Mod podge glue
• Scrap buddy
• Derwent inktense block in baked earth
• Spray bottle with water
• Paint brush
• Sandpaper nail file
• Bone folder

Step by Step -- Video tutorial at wendyaspinall.art

1. Prime the outside of your box with two coats of acrylic gesso. Let dry.
2. Spray the ART FOAMIE face stamp with water and then the rub the Derwent inktense block over the stamp face. Stamp on the lid of the box. Before the impression dries, smear the impression into a round or oval shape. This is your first layer of the hair.
3. Now re stamp the face in the middle of the hair smear shape.
4. Paint face with mix of Burnt sienna and Gesso or white acrylic this combination will make a beautiful skin tone. The key to this technique is lots of watery layers. Use finger to Smooth and bend. Let dry. Add another later. Let dry.
5. Paint in a neck and body.
6. Paint in the white on the eyes and the black of the eyes.
7. Paint in the nose and eyes lids. Let dry.
8. Add pink to cheeks and lips.
9. Paint hair, adding layers with drying time between. Like painting with watercolor you want to build up your color and contrast. Let dry.
10. Using the same technique as the face add a pattern to the background of the box. (Scribbled rose) Art Foamie. Be careful to avoid stamping over the face.
11. Color in with the watery burnt sienna and gesso mix. Don’t worry if it bleeds out this is the affect you want to get.
12. Color in the background with more watery acrylic in a different color. Let dry.
13. Do the same to all the sides. Let dry.
14. Add more layers of pattern with a text (gibberish) art Foamie stamped with Stazon ink in black. Be light handed, this wants to add a light image.
15. Add more pattern this time with a the (dot to dot) art Foamie stamp stamped in white gesso or acrylic paint full strength not watered. Let dry completely.
16. Add colored wax to latch and hinges and side of box.
17. Add scrapbook paper to bottom to finish.

Thank you for watching and I hope you will try this acrylic watercoloring technique yourself.

Hugs Wendy

More Art Journal Pages by Liv

Hello Everyone! Liv here, and I am back for my guest designer post. I decided to do another set of art journal pages but this time in a more subtle color palette. I was able to bring in four different stamps into this project. The stamps I used were

• Emmie Roelofse | Feather | Foam Stamp
• Nathalie Kalbach | Signals | Foam Stamp
• ArtFoamies | Gibberish | Foam Stamps - Set of 2
• Nathalie Kalbach | Far Out | Foam Stamp

For the base of the project, I took out my Lindy's Magicals Powders. This product does require water to activate them but the colors are also so lovely. After that I add some tissue collage paper from Tim Holtz throughout the pages. I then stamped the Gibberish stamp in embossing ink and used white heat embossing powder on it. I added the smaller of the Feather stamp set through the piece and then went in with the Far Out Stamp in a pattern to fill in the blank spaces.

 

Finally, I sprayed the Signals stamp with Lindy Sprays and add some stamping in the paper. To even out the colors, I used my scribble sticks on the piece.

 

For anyone who wants to see how the piece came together, hop over to my Youtube page to watch the video.

Liv

Art Journal Pages - Liv ORMCraftyDesigns Marmara

Hello Everyone! Liv here, and I am back for my guest designer post. I decided to do another set of art journal pages but this time in a more subtle color palette. I was able to bring in four different stamps into this project. The stamps I used were:

• Emmie Roelofse | Feather | Foam Stamp
• Nathalie Kalbach | Signals | Foam Stamp
• ArtFoamies | Gibberish | Foam Stamps - Set of 2
• Nathalie Kalbach | Far Out | Foam Stamp

For the base of the project, I took out my Lindy's Magicals Powders. This product does require water to activate them but the colors are also so lovely. After that I add some tissue collage paper from Tim Holtz throughout the pages. I then stamped the Gibberish stamp in embossing ink and used white heat embossing powder on it. I added the smaller of the Feather stamp set through the piece and then went in with the Far Out Stamp in a pattern to fill in the blank spaces.

Finally, I sprayed the Signals stamp with Lindy Sprays and add some stamping in the paper. To even out the colors, I used my scribble sticks on the piece.

For anyone who wants to see how the piece came together, hop over to my YouTube page to watch the video.

Liv  

Oversized Magazine Mixed Media Art Journal Spread with ArtFoamies and a Technique Bonus - Nina Fickett

I’m excited to share with you one of my favorite ArtFoamies texture methods as well as an opportunity to play in one of my oversized magazine art journals.

Today I will be working with the following ArtFoamies:

• Mixed Up Numbers designed by Donna Downey
• Building Blocks Small designed by Donna Downey
• Gibberish designed by ArtFoamies

This mixed media art journal is huge. Each page is 10 1/2” x 13 7/8”. Its base is a magazine so the pages are semi-glossy and very light weight. As a result, I have pre-glued up to three pages together so it can withstand all my mixed media mediums. I always use gesso on the pages to ensure things adhere well to the surface and it also adds some strength.

After I’ve gessoed my pages I go in with collage elements. The collage fodder adds texture and is an easy way to break up the blank page. Today I’ve used some old color road maps as well as text papers. I’m feeling ready to travel with these pages.

Once my first layers are dry, I come in with my first ArtFoamies stamp: Mixed Up Numbers. I randomly stamp this over my layout using a Ranger archival ink in cobalt. I love to layer things up on the page before I make any final design decisions. As I layer the bottom layers will sometimes peek through telling a story.

I found that I kept seeing areas that interested me. Areas where the stamping converged with the text and map collage pieces. This led me to focus on these areas, so I pulled out a Stabilo All pencil in black and a circle template. I decided to trace different sized circles onto the layout, like a camera lens focusing on points on a map.

I activated the Stabilo All circle marks using a water saturated round brush and pulled the black into the circle.

At this point the circles began to feel like floating orbs, so I decided to ground them more. The orbs reminded me of the trees from Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. I know it may seem like a big leap, but it’s the way my brain works when I’m arting. So using a Higgins brush pen loaded with black India ink mixed with shellac I created these “Dr. Seuss” like pedestals for my orbs.

My next step was to do a little technique I call a “foamie press”. You can watch the details of this technique over on my YouTube channel HERE.

Essentially you press your very water saturated ArtFoamies stamp into some TCW Light & Fluffy modeling paste.

It is important to clean the stamp immediately in warm sudsy water. For my layout I added the TCW Light & Fluffy to the inside of the pedestals and then did the “foamie press”. Here you can really see the texture I got from the Building Blocks small ArtFoamie.

Next, I applied some white gesso to the background. While applying I concentrated on pushing back some of the collage and highlighting the right side of the orb/pedestal shapes. I let the TCW Light & Fluffy dry fully while I added Cobalt acrylic paint using my fingers.

I concentrated on the left side of the orb/pedestal shapes, which created a shadow for them.

Using multiple shades of blues and oranges I began to color the foamie press modeling paste texture. I wanted the color to get down into the grooves and catch the texture. To achieve this, I first painted the areas. Then I went in with a slightly darker color that I had thinned down with water to catch in all the grooves.

Next, I went in again with more gesso to push more of the background back. Once the gesso dried, I went in with a Ranger Distress Archival ink in Black Soot and the ArtFoamies Gibberish stamp. I made sketchy circular marks around the orbs with more of the Stabilo All pencil and activated it. Then I went in with a white paint pen to create a highlight on the orbs.

Finally, it was time to create a focal point. I decided a quote from Dr. Seuss would be perfect here. As I worked, I used a piece of cheesecloth to sop up the extra paint and it ended up being a great layer for my focal point.

You can watch the full process in the video this video.

If this has inspired, you to play with your ArtFoamies please tag your posts with #artfoamies. If you have tried your hand using the foamie press technique, tag me @nina_fickett on Instagram. I’d love to see what you have created.


-Nina

www.ninafickettdesigns.com