Unity Stamps Anything Goes Challenge

This week’s challenge over at the Unity Show and Tell Facebook page is to use any Unity girl stamps to create a card, scrapbook page, mixed media project or anything else, using Unity Stamps only.

I love mixed media so I took the opportunity to play with Donna Downey’s stamp Kit, Calliope.  The girl’s image is 5×7.

This is an 8×11 canvas board that I primed with clear gesso so I could work on the face.  I first worked on the background and left a space for the image.  I used several Unity Stamps after laying down three different colors of Deco Art media fluid acrylics in Pthalo Blue, Hansa Yellow Light, and Liquitex heavy body acrylic in Payne’s Gray.

After the acrylic colors dried, I started stamping randomly using Unity Stamps Numbers, Etc.; the script from the Let it GO & Focus set; Donna Downey’s Peony and She; and Layers of Life kit Paper Hearts.

 I also added some doodles with my white Signo pen.

Then I went to work on the girl’s face and body.  I first stamped her on Rice paper so I could get a good impression then glued her with matt medium.  Some of the colors I used on the face were Americana acrylic in Fresh Tone, Golden Brown, Natural Buff, White and Liquitex Basics in Light Portrait Pink. For the lips, and cheeks, I used  the Tombow Art markers.

While that was drying, I used Donna’s stencil and applied gold and green Art (C) molding paste I found on clearance at Michael’s.  Great stuff, by the way!  It came in three small containers with three different colors – enough to try out!

I used one of Heidi Swapp’s stencils and her glittery silk screen molding paste here…

…and here.  It was the first time I used it and was very impressed with the creaminess and the shine – just like her glimmer mists!

after everything was dried, I stamped the She stamp on regular printing paper so it would have a good impression, cut it out, and glued it on the canvas with matt medium.

Then I worked on her hair, glasses, and dress. I used three different colors of Tombow pencils and ArtDeco Interference to make it shine.  I also added shading to her face and body using Pitt Markers.

I added glossy accents on the glasses and a few white lines to make it appear as the glare on the glass.

Thanks for stopping by to see my project and leave me some love in the comments.

Happy creating you all!

Carmen

Life Book Week 19 – Shadow and Light

Wow, two posts in one week!!  I must really be behind!  Nah, just taking my time, LOL!

This lesson was presented by Jessica Swift.  She is an awesome pattern designer from Portland, Oregon.  She designs hand carved stamps and other media.  You should go to her shop and see all the amazing things she creates!

This was so much fun!  I got to use some of the stamps I created myself when I took Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s Stamp Carving Class a while back.  Please go visit her too – she is obsessed with carving stamps LOL.  I also purchased her book Carve Stamp Play which is full of wonderful carving and how-to pictures!

But I digress, sorry about that.

I only made one stamp for this class because I tried to make the one thing I have difficulty with – circles!

Since I will be creating a big journal at the end of our creative year, I opted for creating two pages on one large watercolor page.

I divided my page in half by adding painter’s tape to the middle and right hand side so I could have a border.  I will be cutting off the paper on the left side, then folding the whole page in the middle.

The left side is the light part.  I used acrylic paints in greens on the bottom layer and Speedball block printing ink in turquoise for the stamps.  I used a favorite stamp of mine at the bottom because this is the one my grandson’s friend made for me.  It has two small ants at the bottom of the flower, cute!  Then I stamped the leaves on the borders followed by one small stamp I turned right or left to make a border.  Then I made lines with my dotted home-made stamp for journaling.

The dark side on the right is a combination of different shades of purple acrylic paint and then I used a pink Speedball block printing ink with the home-made stamps.  I also added some white dots with the white paint marker.  My husband was really impressed when I showed him this page .  Made me happy!

This is the upper part of the light page.  I added black dots with my Pitt pen.

A close up of the border I used between the two pages.

Sorry about the picture bellow, it warped a bit on the right hand side.  You can see a closeup of the 1/2 flower I made with the leaves on the dark page.

The bottom right with the line stamp and white dots.

And the closeup of the flower with the white dots.

I was really happy to use all the different types of pens and materials I have accumulated in the past seven years since I started playing with paper.

I go to Joann’s, Michael’s or Hobby Lobby and go straight to the clearance section to find anything that is on clearance I can use  in the future.  I have found quite a bit of goodies every time!

Next week we will be having a substitute instructor – I promise to be nice to her, LOL!  Apparently Flora Bowley is having some family health issues and will not be posting so Jenny Doh will take her place and Flora Bowley will do her class in the summer.

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned, lovely friends, and see what new project I have in store.

Until then,  happy crafting!

Carmen

Spring Time In Paris

Michael’s stores is having a trip to Paris giveaway on their Face Book page.  You can read more about the contest at Michaels.com.  Today is the last day to enter!

I’ve been working on this mixed media project for three weeks.  I took it to my acrylic painting class and worked on it while my teacher gave me pointers. I googled Paris in the Spring time and this is the picture I chose.  It’s a picture of the Eiffel tower taken from a park filled with flowers and trees.

It’s a 16×18 canvas.  I used acrylic paints for the background as well as tissue paper, stencils, stamps, and molding paste.  For the inside of the tower I used speckled molding paste and black acrylic paint.  For the metal around the tower I used a bronze acrylic paint marker by Sakura and bronze acrylic paint.  I also added different color stickles to the flowers and trees just to give it a bit of “shine” all around.

I may not win anything, but if I don’t enter, I’ll never know what the judges think!

The first picture I took inside and I like the way the tower shimmers so I entered that one into the giveaway.  The second picture was outside next to my lavender bush.

Thanks for stopping by!  Let me know what you think!

Happy crafting,

Carmen