Some Bokeh Play with Dylusion Sprays

HI Everyone!!!  Since I am trying to fight a cold, I have had some time playing!!  I wanted to share what I have been creating using the Bokeh technique.  If you have never heard of Bokeh, its really about perspective and circles!!!  If I were to describe it, if you have ever taken a picture with your camera of a christmas tree or anything with lights and its out of focus and all you see are the round lights.  That's how I interpret it anyways.  I have seen this done in many youtube videos and I think its really pretty.  In this post I will show you what I did and what I made with it. 

So, here are two examples that I have made.  I had done this using only some water, dylusion sprays, brushes,and cold pressed watercolor paper. 

The first thing I did was used some washi tape to tape down the watercolor paper.  When watercolor paper gets really saturated, it tends to curl or buckle and gets really stiff.  I'm not sure if hot pressed paper does the same thing ( I will have to experiment). 

Here are the colors I chose for this project: cut grass, funky fuschia, london blue, vibrant turquoise, and white linen.  I also got a spray bottle of just plain water.  First I sprayed the paper with the water to get it nice and wet.

Next, I started to get some color down. Once I had the paper covered in color, I took the water again, and moved the color around.

Next, I took a paint brush to move more of the color around.  Once I had it looking the way I wanted it, the fun part starts.   Because I was using a spray, I found some plastic packaging the I could spray the white into.  Or if you wanted you could just take the cap off and dip your brush into it (afterthought for me).  I started making big circles first.  They aren't perfect circles, I just freehand the circles down.

Now comes the medium circles......

Now because its dylusions, the colors are still going to show through the white making the whole thing look transparent.  You will want to go back and darken your smaller circles. 

Here I added the smaller circles and some white splattering to finish it off.  So this is what I decided to make with it!!!

I made some cards!!!!  Since I have been sick, I had been doing a lot of stamping and fussy cutting.  Now to adhere the card fronts to their bases, I used score tape on the back to eliminate the paper from buckling.

I hope you enjoyed this post and feel free to leave a comment or any questions......

March Monthly Challenge at Kraaft Shaak

 I am sooooo excited because this is my first art challenge over at the Kraaft Shaak!!  I'm especially excited about this month because the challenge was to incorporate fabric in some way,shape, or form.   So of course this called for a shopping trip to Michaels!!!!  New for the spring they have a Denim and Linen display of all sorts of stuff to alter that has denim,linen,canvas,and burlap.  So I grabbed a bunch of 4"canvas boards wrapped in denim and linen.  Now, I kept looking at the denim display and I began reminiscing about when I was growing up denim was a BIG deal.  Jeans, jackets,bags, purses, you name it.   What made it cool was drawing on it!!!!! So, in creating this project, it took me back to school and remembering all the art work my fellow classmates created with their clothes!!!

Here is the finished project.  But I will take you through step by step on how I did it.

These are just 4 inch square denim canvas panels that I picked up at Michaels.  They were real cheap.  I grabbed a bunch!!

Next, I took some washi tape and just taped them together.  I didn't exactly know off the bat that I would do a butterfly, but in the event I made something abstract or with a lot of movement, it might look neat with the panels seperated afterwards. 

I took some gesso and just spread it around with my fingers.  I didn't want to cover the whole thing so you could still tell it was denim. 

This first stencil is a recollection stencil by Michaels.  Here is where I like to get messy with my dylusion spray inks!!! 

Here I am using funky fuschia,vibrant turquoise,and cut grass.  I also used some distress inks as well (do you know hard those little inchies are to keep on the table!!!??)  Both these inks are water soluble.  Watch what happens next when I put some paint on. 

The butterfly stencil is from Plaid.  I first outlined the entire stencil.  I was planning on having just a solid butterfly.  Then this happened..........

At first I was upset, but quickly I loved what I was seeing.....Even after a couple coats of acrylic paint, the dylusion sprays were reactivated and the color bled through. 

Here I just added some more acrylic paint and filled in the stencil to offset the background a little bit.  I ended up just adding some shading and sparkles and called it a day!!!! 

If you would like to join the Kraaft Shaak Kommunity, head on over to www.kraaftshaak.com and join their kommunity group on google+ and submit your own challenge!!!!

Local Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo

Hi Everyone!!!!

If any of you are in my area I just thought I would let everyone know of the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo coming up!!   This year it will be on the end of May 30th and 31st. Admission is $8 at the door or $6 in advance and is good for the entire weekend.  They have make and take classes that fill up fast!!!   Many vendors will be there including Heartfelt Creations, Stampin' up, Close to My Heart, and Impression Obsessions just to name a few.  This will be held at the new arena at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY.  http://www.toomuchfunpromotions.com/syracuse--ny.html
It's not that far away so start planning!!!  

Welcome to my blog!!!!

HI Everyone!!!  I just want to welcome you to my blog for all my crafty goodness.  I will be posting some of my crafts and art on here.  I will also be posting current things I am working on as soon as I can.   I hope to soon be getting a good webcam so I can start posting some videos too!!   Yeah!!!!  I do want to give a shout out to some of my fellow online crafters that have inspired and encouraged me to take this leap of faith of the internet.  Some of my favorite youtube crafters are Heather over at the Kraaft Shaak (yes you read that correctly), Patty Parish from Inky Obsessions, Lindsey the Frugal Crafter, and many others.   It was Heather that was offering a design team contest that I wanted to get in on but I didn't have a blog or any videos.  So, even though I did create something I never submitted it because I didn't have my own space on the web.  If any of you are interested in any of these ladies I will post their links. 

For the Kraaft Shaak https://kraaftshaak.com/
The Frugal Crafter https://thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com/
Patti Parrish  www.inkyobsessions.blogspot.com

Please go visit them and check out all of their good crafts!!!!!  Hope to post again within a day or two!!