Queen Bee Shadow Box by Nancy Sheads

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS! As some of you know, I manage this blog for Kae Pea, so I'm usually behind the scenes. However, this week I'm the guest artist and I have a mixed media project that I hope you'll love. It features the Queen Bee Foam stamp as well as several others in supporting roles. 

I'm usually a card maker and my main medium is Copic markers so this was really out of my comfort zone. But I was inspired by the clay work projects by Jenn White and Wendy Taylor-Aspinall so I decided to give this shadow box project a try.

Today's project features:

• Gypsy Soul | Queen Bee | Foam Stamp by ArtFoamies
• Emmie Roelofse | Lavender | Foam Stamp by ArtFoamies
• Balzer Designs | Dino Skin | Foam Stamp by ArtFoamies
• Kae Pea – Microcosms by ArtFoamies
• Honeycomb Texture Background by 100 Proof Press
• Stamp Buddy by ArtFoamies
• Assorted Liquitex Acrylic Paints
• Creative Paperclay Modeling Material

STEP BY STEP

Clay Medallion

• Tape a piece of Glad Press 'N Seal (sticky side down) on your work mat to prevent the plastic from moving while working with the Creative Paperclay.

• Rolled out a small amount of Creative Paperclay so that it is larger the Queen Bee stamp and about 1/4" thick.
• Cut the Paperclay in a circular shape slightly larger than the stamp. I used a plastic drink cup to cut a circle out of the Paperclay.
• Carefully lifted the circle from the plastic and lightly rolled any frayed edges to the back of the circle. Lightly rub the surface with a tiny amount of water to smooth out any imperfections.

• Press the Queen Bee stamp into the Paperclay with even pressure. Lift the stamp and clean immediately to remove any residue from the clay.
• Make a small hole at the top of the clay medallion using a plastic drinking straw.
• Allow clay to thoroughly dry. This may take a few days. You can also bake the clay in an oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes or until dry. See Craft Tips for Creative with Paperclay Products for additional information.

• Apply two light coats of white gesso to front and back of the clay medallion. Allow gesso to dry thoroughly between coats.
• Select acrylic paints in desired colors. I used Liquitex Basics in Brilliant Yellow Green, Light Green Permanent, Primary Yellow, Primary Blue, Primary Red, and Titanium White. You can mix color to get desired shades. I added white to create paler colors.
• Apply first coat of paint as a light wash (I mixed each color with a small amount of water).
• Apply second coat, deepening colors as desired.
• Apply two lights coats of Gloss Gel Medium. Allow medium to dry between coats.
• Create a brown wash (water + paint) and lightly coat the medallion. Lightly wipe off the paint, allowing the color to remain in the indentations and crevices of the medallion.
• Complete any additional painting and apply another light coat of Gloss Gel Medium to seal.
• Set aside and allow medallion to dry thoroughly.

Background

• Apply two light coats of white gesso to a 6"x6" canvas panel. Allow gesso to dry thoroughly between coats.
• Randomly brush a couple of acrylic paint colors onto the panel. I used the same colors as the medallion, applying patches of Brilliant Yellow Green, Primary Yellow, and Primary Blue (mixed with Titanium White). Allow paint to dry.
• Apply a light coat of Gloss Gel Medium to seal the first layer of color.
• Apply acrylic paint to Stamp Buddy to use as an stamping pad. Use the Stamp Buddy to apply paint to the ArtFoamies of your choice and stamp randomly on the canvas panel. I used Microcosms, Lavender, Dino Skin, by ArtFoamies.
• Apply a light coat of Gloss Gel Medium to seal the second layer of color.
• Stamp Honeycomb Texture Background with Archival Ink in black.
• Set aside to dry.

Finishing

• Thread a small piece of rawhide through hole in clay medallion and tie.
• Glue medallion to canvas panel.
• Frame in shadow box if desired.

That's all for me today! Hope you enjoyed this week's project. See you again soon!

Nancy

Love Art Doll by Wendy Aspinall

Hi everyone, it’s Wendy and I'm back again to bring you another fun project for you to try using the fabulous ArtFoamies stamps. 

Today's project features the following stamps from ArtFoamies: 

• Kae Pea | Microcosms
• Kae Pea | Good Hair Day
• Cat Kerr | This Girl
• Cat Kerr | Wonky Scallop

Do you remember your first baby doll or any doll you had as a child? Dolls have been a staple toy for young girls for years but what about big girls? Don’t we need a doll? Maybe not a baby doll but an art doll. We can share our dream with a doll to inspire and enjoy.

So I give you Miss Rosebud and her open heart. She’s made with very simple supplies, some cotton or linen material. Acrylic paints in all your favorite colors. Some stuffing. Some thread to sew her together. 

And some of your favorite ArtFoamies face stamps and patterned stamps. And a pinch of wonder and imagination. So pull your stamps and supplies together and watch the video.

Additional Supplies

• A yard of cotton or linen material in cream or white
• Acrylic paints
• Fiber fill
• Scraps of materials and ribbons / lace
• Charms, bits and bobs or buttons
• Thread for sewing
• Sewing machine
• Paint brushes
• Scissors
• And also the free with order heart stamp

Thank you for watching and I hope you will give the Love Art dolls a try.

Hugs!

Wendy

http://blissangels.blogspot.com
http://blissfullatcswap.blogspot.com

Spread Love not Hate by Wendy Aspinall

HELLO EVERYONE! I am Wendy and I have come over from the Relics and Artifacts Muse design team to play with some of the Art Foamies and Rubbermoon stamps. 

We live in extraordinary times, each one of us can decide if we want to spread love in the world or hate. Never has loving thoughts and actions been so important to spread in the world. With this thought in my mind when I was asked to prepare a guest blog post for Art Foamies’s blog. I thought what if I made a key holder to place just near the door so as I picked up my keys to go out I would be reminded of this important message.

Today's project features: 

• Sandra Evertson | Ex Voto Heart by ArtFoamies
• Balzer Designs | Writer's Block by ArtFoamies
• Kae Pea | Microcosms (set of 5) by ArtFoamies
• Sandra Evertson | SE6009C - Sacre Coeur by RubberMoon
• Additional supplies are listed below.

I started by making some of my own printed tissues paper. I sprayed the tissue with Delusion Shimmer Inks in Hot Pink and Periwinkle Blue. 

When the tissues are dry I randomly stamped the tissues with Balzer Designs | Writer's Block and Kae Pea | Microcosms. Don’t be afraid to overlap the stamps. When dry, I added Distress Oxide Spray in Mustard Seed and let dry again. 

Tear the tissues in pieces. I especially like to use the tissues over white acrylic so when you glue them down they go transparent and make a beautiful effect. But let’s get on with our Love not Hate key holder project.

The canvas is approximately 4 x 4 inches, I started the first layer with white gesso, covering the whole canvas giving a smooth surface for the other layers to come.

Once the gesso has dried, I added a layer of Craft Smart acrylic paint in Peacock Blue to the side and edge using a large flat brush. Let dry. Then I glued on the pieces of tissue with Mod Podge in Matte finish and added a layer of the glue over the whole surface.

With white gesso, paint the shape of a heart onto the middle of the canvas. 

Spray the Sandra Evertson | Ex Voto Heart and  Sandra Evertson | Ex Voto Heart stamps with more of the Delusion Shimmer Spray in Hot Pink and then brush on white.

Stamp in the middle of the canvas. Set aside to dry.  

Now ink up the Sandra Evertson | Ex Voto Heart again with StatzOn Ink in Jet Black and stamp over the previous impression. Let dry again.

Use a Posca paint pen in white to outline the heart and wings and flames and add dots. Also ink up the ArtFoamies with StatzOn Ink in Jet Black and randomly print all over the canvas. Also ink Sandra Evertson | SE6009C - Sacre Coeur and add the tiny heart in right corner. Color in with a Posca paint pen in Silver. You can add some of the tiny hearts to the sides too.

Stamp out the saying with tiny alphabet stamps on card stock. Cut and glue onto heart. 

Add some water soluble wax crayon in yellow and green, blending it with your finger. Lastly I added some alcohol ink drips using Tim Holtz Adirondack Earth tones in Ginger.

Predrill a hole for the 7/8 inch cup hook and then screw in the hook. You may need a pair of pliers to tighten it.

Lastly staple a square of decorative paper on the back of the canvas and add a hanging fitting.

I used my favorite colors but this would look just as pretty in any color combination to suit your home. I hope you will have ago and spread your love where ever you go.

Hugs and LOVE

Wendy

 

SUPPLIES

• Sandra Evertson | Ex Voto Heart by ArtFoamies
• Balzer Designs | Writer's Block by ArtFoamies
• Kae Pea | Microcosms (set of 5) by ArtFoamies
• Sandra Evertson | SE6009C - Sacre Coeur by RubberMoon
• Canvas
• White gesso
• White tissue paper
• Delusion Shimmer Ink in Hot Pink and Periwinkle Blue
• Distress Oxide Spray in Mustard Seed
• Craft Smart acrylic paint in Peacock blue
• Mod Podge in Matte finish
• StatzOn Ink in Jet Black
• Posca Paint Pens in white and silver
• Tim Holtz Adirondack Earth tones in Ginger
• Spray bottles
• Water
• Alphabet stamps
• 7/8 inch hook

Mixed Media Journal Cover with Art Foamies

Hey Art Foamies Fans! I'm Nancy Sheads and I'm this week's guest artist. Today I'm featuring a project that was actually a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. She has always kept a journal so I decided to get her a journal and a nice fountain pen. Since the cover was plain, I decided to jazz it up a bit so I pulled out some Art Foamies stamps and acrylic paint and got to work.

Today's project features:

• Sarah Matthews | Kente Cloth | Foam Stamps - Set of 2 by Art Foamies
• Gypsy Soul | Harlequin Backdrop by Art Foamies
• Gypsy Soul | Honeycomb | Foam Stamp by Art Foamies
• Kae Pea | Microcosms | Foam Stamps - Set of 5 by Art Foamies
• Balzer Designs | Dino Skin | Foam Stamp by Art Foamies
• Einat Kessler | Woman Power | Foam Stamps - Set of 2 by Art Foamies
• Gale Nation | Dream, Believe, Create | Foam Stamps - Set of 3 by Art Foamies
• Assorted acrylic paints (colors listed below)

Since my SIL will be writing in the journal, I wanted to keep the cover flat so I had to design something without multiple layers or embellishments that might make writing inside the journal cumbersome. In addition, the journal was soft-bound so I decided against any sort of texture paste, embossing paste, etc. for fear that it would break off from the cover with use.

I cut a piece of Canson XL watercolor paper to be slightly smaller than the cover size and rounded the corners on one side to match the journal cover. I chose watercolor paper because I wasn't quite sure where I was going with the design and wanted something that would hold up to paints as well as ink. The texture of the watercolor paper was an added benefit.

I decided to use acrylic paints instead of inks. I had several tubes of Liquitex Basic Acrylics on hand so I started with a color palette of pink (Medium Magenta), turquoise (Light Blue), and lime green (Brilliant Yellow Green). All of the paints were too bright and/or dark out of the tube so I mixed each color with Titanium White to make them more pastel. Using a wide brush, I applied each color randomly to the paper, creating blocks of color that covered most of the page. It looked pretty bad at this point, but I've learned that the secret to mixed media is to keep adding layers of color and texture so I just kept going. 

For the next layer, I used various Art Foamies stamps and additional acrylic paint colors. I squeezed a small amount of paint onto my inking palette and used a brayer to spread it out. Then I patted the stamp into the paint and stamped as usual. I started with one of the stamps in Sarah Matthew's Kente Cloth set in Light Blue (full color, no white), followed by Gypsy Soul | Harlequin Backdrop in Brilliant Purple; Gypsy Soul's Honeycomb Foam Stamp in Primary Yellow; one of the stamps in Kae Pea's Microcosms Set in Brilliant Yellow Green (full color, no white); and Balzer Designs' Dino Skin in Titanium White. I applied the stamps randomly and allowed the colors an designs to overlap.

For the focal stamps, I used one of the stamps from Einat Kessler' Woman Power and the "Create" sentiment from Gale Nation's Dream, Believe, Create by Art Foamies. I stamped both using Liquitex Acrylics in Mars Black.

Originally, I was going to use a Posca Pen to doodle a border, but decided instead to dip the edge of an old credit card into the black paint and add various lines as shown.

Once everything was dry, I glued the watercolor panel to the front of the cover to complete the project.

I'm happy to say that she loved it!

That's all for me today! Hope you found some crafty inspiration!

Nancy