Splashes of Watercolor

E Play challenge - Altered Bottles

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Hello, everyone! 

It's my turn to host over at the eclectic Paperie blog today.  I'm going to show you what I created for this month's ePlay challenge - Altered Bottles. 

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Please stop by!

Put Your Brave Girl Boots On!

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Come on over to the eclectic Paperie blog today and see how I created my Brave Girl Boots tag!

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See you there!

The NEW ePlay Challenge - Push Your Boundaries!

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Welcome to eclectic Paperie's ePlay Challenge – Push Your Boundaries!  We’re altering our challenges in 2014, creating one, month-long challenge, increasing the prize drawing, holding a design team blog hop, and including a product discount with each new challenge!  Check out the details below:

· We’ve combined our two challenges into one, announced on the first Thursday of each month.  This gives the design team more flexibility with challenge topics and projects and allows you more time to enter! 

· We’ll also feature a product each month, and during the first day of the challenge, you’ll receive a discount on the featured product….be sure to check for the special code! 

· Our prize drawing is increasing from $15.00 to a $25.00 gift certificate and the winner of each challenge will be announced on the last Thursday of each month and will be featured on the eP blog. 

· Each month we’ll hold a blog hop featuring the beautiful artwork from our design team…just scroll down to the bottom of the post for all of the links!  Talk about inspiration!!

Our challenges are about encouraging you to explore your creative journey and inspiring you to step outside of your comfort zone.  When you submit your artwork, share a unique card, scrapbook or journal page, a canvas, home décor project, or anything that you’re excited to share!  We’re looking forward to crafting with you!

Today’s special is on Liquidtex Gesso and Clear Gesso and for one day only, you can save 10% on a bottle of gesso…perfect for all of your altered projects!  Simply use code GESSO03 when checking out.

This month’s challenge is ALTER A BOOK.

And here's what I came up with:

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Here's my process:

1- Using an old (copyright 1990) torn-up children's book with a missing cover and hard pages, I covered the front page with Gesso.

2- I wanted to use my Gelli plate to add color to the page.  I coated the plate with yellow acrylic paint and laid my Daisy Bits mask on it. 

3- Next I laid down my Mini Chevrons stencil, then lifted it and turned the Gelli plate over onto the book page. 

    

I'm pretty sure I took too long to complete these steps, because my paint dried pretty fast and I didn't get a good imprint.

4- I used green paint and my Two Leaves Bits mask next.

5- Then I used hot pink paint and the Daisy Bits mask again, but I also added some curvy lines with my Silicone Wedge tool.

6- Next I used some aqua paint and the Silicone Wedge tool again to make some straight lines.

7- When I had the front of the page covered with the Gelli prints, I started added fillers with stencils and Distress paints. 

    

8- I added another watered-down coat of Gesso to create a more uniform background.

9- I added my words using the Letter Jumble stencil and the Funky Word stencil with some Black Soot ink and an ink blending tool.

10- I also added some Black Gesso with the edge of an old credit card, then added some more texture with some Metallic Gold embossing paste and more stencils and some white embossing paste and the Vintage Floral stencil.

11- Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone!  I had to pull out some Dylusions ink sprays and squirt them a few times, then allow them to drip down the front of the page. Then I finished it off with a few spritzes of gold Color Shine spray.

And this is how is all turned out:

     

You can click on any of the images  to see them full size.

That's it for me!   Please be sure to follow along the blog hop to see all the beautiful inspiration from the design team:

Thank you so much for stopping in today!

Letter Jumble stencil - Dylusions	Studio 490 - Funky Word Stencil	Mini Chevron 6x6 template	Studio 490 - Vintage Floral Stencil	TCW - 6x6 Well Rounded Stencil
TCW - Balzer Bits Mask - Daisy Bits	TCW Two Leaves Bits mask	Catalyst Silicone Wedge Tool - Yellow	Liquitex Acrylic Gesso	Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso -black
Claudine Hellmuth Studio products	Spun Sugar Distress Paint	Broken China Distress Paint	Black Soot Distress ink pad	Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool
Speedball 4" Pop-In Rubber Brayer	Gelli Plate 6x6" - Gelli Arts	Studio 490 White Embossing Paste	Dylusions Fresh Lime Ink Spray	Dylusions Bubblegum Pink Ink Spray
Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise Ink Spray

InLinkz.com

e Picks Challenge - an Altered Canvas Bag

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Hello there, everyone!

Please come on by the eclectic Paperie blog today to see what I made!!  See you there!

 

eP Get Altered Challenge - Altered Playing Cards

 

Hello there, everyone!  I'm hosting this month's eP Get Altered Challenge.  This month I'm asking that we play with~

 Altered Playing Cards

I'm sad to say I haven't tried this before, but after this fun little adventure I'm sure I'll be going back to pull from my deck again and again!

Since it's February, the month of Valentines, I decided to make Valentine altered playing cards for all my grandchildren.   There are 8 altogether between George and myself.  Whew!  So it literally took days for this all to come together. 

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I'm going to try to take you through a few of the steps….the ones I can remember and that I photographed!  The first thing I did was sand all my cards using a sanding grip block.

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I used my Gelli plate to apply some aqua and lime acrylic paints to the cards, then I added some purple dots.  Instead of using a brayer, I just used a paint brush.  It gave more texture to the surface of the cards.  It also took longer to dry between layers.  I did this with 4 of the cards.

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I painted over them with white acrylic paint and then wiped it off with a baby wipe.  This helped the texture of the paint to show up better.  I cut a heart from a scrap of paper and used it to draw hearts onto the cards.  Then I painted them with red acrylic paint.

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For the other 4 cards, I decided to try painting directly on the cards as opposed to using the Gelli plate.  I used the same colors and also painted on the purple dots.  I spread some Studio 490 white embossing paste on 2 of the cards and let it dry to add some texture.

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Then I put on some more embossing paste using my Mini Hexagons stencil and my palette knife.  After it dried, I sprayed on several different bright Dylusions ink sprays.  When they dried I sprayed just a little of the White Linen ink spray.

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I sprayed the first 4 altered playing cards with White Linen ink spray as well.

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Here are all the cards.  (You can see I experimented a little with the bottom right one.)

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I used both pieces of my cut-out heart (the positive and the negative) as masks to stamp either onto the hearts or around the hearts.

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I did some more stamping on the cards using the Catherine Scanlon Random Shapes images and Archival jet black ink.  This second photo is taken from a different angle so that you can see the texture even under the Glossy Accents that I added to all the hearts.

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And here are some closeups:

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I simply painted the back of the cards with some white paint.  That's where I'll write my little love messages to the kids.

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Ok then!  That's my take on Altered Playing Cards.  I hope you'll decide to play along with us!  Be sure to link up on the eclectic Paperie blog  so we can all check out what you come up with!

Thanks for visiting!

Sanding Grip Block Non-Stick Craft Sheet Gelli Plate 6x6" - Gelli Arts Mini Acrylic Paint Sets - Metropolitan Claudine Hellmuth Artist Brushes Black Soot Distress ink pad Jumbo round dauber eP Catherine Scanlon Random Shapes Archival Jet Black Ink Pad Studio 490 White Embossing Paste Palette Knife TCW Hexagons 6x6 stencil Dylusions Bubblegum Pink Ink Spray Dylusions Pure Sunshine Ink Spray Dylusions Fresh Lime Ink Spray Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise Ink Spray White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray Ranger Matte Accents

InLinkz.com

eP Get Altered challenge - Bottles

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Hi there, everyone!  Today I'm joining in on the eclectic Paperie blog monthly Get Altered challenge.  This month is Sue Carrington's turn to host, and she's chosen for us to ALTER A BOTTLE.  I haven't done this before, but I had seen some on Pinterest that looked interesting.  I pinned several that were coated with Epsom Salts and then filled with Christmas lights and I decided I wanted to try one of these.

Here's one of the photos of how it turned out ( you can click on any of the photos to see them larger):

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Now let me tell you how I created it.

After I had washed the wine bottle thoroughly I left it just a tiny bit wet inside and added a few drops of Stream Adirondack reinker, then swirled it around and set it aside to dry.

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I stamped some sheet music images onto drawing paper (a little heavier than copy paper but lighter than cardstock).  Then I used a single chevron die to cut a pattern into a piece of white cardstock.  I used it on top of the sheet music paper to spread some Studio 490 embossing paste.

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After the paste had dried, I misted it with some watered down Broken China reinker, then sponged the edges with some Rusty Hinge Distress ink to match the metallic bottle neck cover.  Next I attached it to the bottle using Studio Matte Multi-Medium.

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The next part was really fun.  I coated the outside of the bottle with the multi-medium then rolled it in some Epsom Salts that I had spread on a sheet of wax paper.  So easy!  Next I stuffed the strand of white Christmas lights into the bottle. Then I tied some linen thread and hemp around the bottle neck, attaching 2 die cut felt leaf branches and a chipboard feather that I had painted white and also stamped with the sheet music.

Lastly I die cut a snowflake and coated it with Star Dust Stickles, then attached it and a tiny blue ornament.  I added a couple of extra little pieces of the original sheet music paper too.

Here are some photos of the finished bottle and a close-up of the stacked bottle neck embellishment.

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So that's my altered bottle!  I can't wait to see what the other girls have created!  Come along with me!  We just need to head on over to the eclectic Paperie blog and follow the links!

Thank you so much for stopping in today!  I certainly love it when you do!

InLinkz.com

Always Time for a Glass of Wine

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Hello!  I can't believe that I'm finally getting to play along in an E-Team Picks challenge!  This month Tracy is our hostess and we're to RECYCLE!  I love to recycle!

I didn't have to go far to figure out what to use on my journal page.    How about the label from a wine bottle!  I have plenty of them!

Here's a look at my finished page:

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Now let me take you on the long road to how I got there!

I started by covering my page with Mustard Seed Distress Paint.  I used the paint instead of the ink because I like the striations I get with the paint. It didn't matter that I was going to cover them all up…didn't exactly know that at the time.  Next I stamped a saying and a background in Versamark ink and clear embossed it. (You can click on any of the photos to see them full size.)

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Then I printed out an image of a wine bottle onto copy paper and cut out the bottle using a craft knife. 

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I used the reverse mask to sponge 3 different shades of purple ink (listed in the supplies section) onto my page.

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I attached my wine label using Studio Matte Multi-Medium and coated the top of it as well.  Then I started stenciling on several designs using stencils and Distress inks and even sponged around the edges of the page.

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And I hated how it looked.  It was so mono-chromatic with limited dimension.  Even after I'd slathered some embossing paste along the top and bottom edges.

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So I decided to make another wine bottle on some multi-media paper using the same mask I had created and the same purple inks.  I sponged them on then spritzed it with water.

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I stenciled some numbers onto the bottle and I cut it out and mounted it onto the page with some foam mounting tape.

I printed out my saying onto some more multi-media paper and cut it into a flag shape.  It was also mounted using foam mounting tape.  I added an enamel dot.

Now I'm happy with how it looks.  I think it has just enough color variation and enough texture and dimension as well.

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I hope you enjoyed reading about the process.  Be sure to check out all the projects from the rest of the E-Team!  You can get all the links at the eclectic Paperie blog.  And we REALLY hope you'll play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Now I think I'll go have some of that wine!

InLinkz.com

Get Your Game On!

Hey, y'all!  I'm playing over at the eclectic Paperie blog today!  Come see my Beachy Bingo themed canvas!

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See you there!

A Buried Treasure blog hop!

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Hi, all!

I thought it would be fun and quite a bit exciting for me to join in the annual Buried Treasure blog hop over at Seth Apter's the altered page blog.  He's gathering fellow artists and asking them to post one or several of their favorite projects and link to his blog hop.

I don't consider myself to be at the caliber of these artists, but I'm working my way there and what better way to learn than to participate, right?  So here goes.

I thought I'd give a glimpse at a few of my latest favorite attempts at altered art.

You can click on any of the photos to be taken to the original posts.

First up is the Water Baby Nap Journal page , which I created for the eclectic Paperie gel medium challenge.

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Next is my Experiment for Spring altered page, which was also an eP challenge to use flowers:

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How about another Mermaid?  Here's my Ocean's Beauty page:

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And last, but not least, is my favorite.  An altered book I made to commemorate my summer beach trip with my family.

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Thanks so much for dropping in today!  Enjoy the rest of the Buried Treasure blog hop!

E-Team Picks Challenge - Experiment for Spring

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Hello, everyone!  As hard as I tried I just couldn't have a project ready for this past Thursday's e-Team Picks Challenge.  I finally had some time this weekend and I'd like to show you what I came up with.

Sherry is our hostess and she asked us to use FLOWERS. 

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The first thing that came to my mind is the fact that Spring has finally sprung here, and we have flowers everywhere now.   I also just received some goodies from eclectic Paperie, so I decided to experiment with some of the new goodies as well as some older favorites and some flowers, of course!

I pulled out my art journal and coated a page with some new Spun Sugar Distress Paint.  How yummy this pretty pink is!  Then I just started adding paints, inks, stains, sprays and so many other fun elements!  Here's what I finally ended up with:

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I used stencils and Distress ink with blending tools, some Christy Tomlinson Text Coffee Filter paper with Matte Multi-Medium, a crimper with white cardstock and Distress Stains,  a Donna Downey flower foam stamp with black ink, and Ranger Glossy Accents for dew drops on the paper flowers.

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I also used some Wendy Vecchi embossing paste here and there and then spritzed everything with some White Linen Dylusions ink spray.  Love that stuff!

This was certainly fun, but I may have "overloaded" it with all my experimentation!

We'd love it if you play along in the e-Team Flower challenge!  Let's see what you come up with!

Thanks so much for dropping in today!