Paint Stick Swap

♥

Hello sweet sweet friends! I haven't posted in so long, and for that I am sorry. but I've been working on some really great things in the background and sometimes there just isn't a way to show them. 

I will be debuting two new paper lines for 7 Dots Studio along with coordinating embellishments from UmWowStudio in just a short few days!! 

I also DO have a few other Mixed Media projects to show you over the next couple of weeks, so that's great, too! 

I've been doing some filming behind the scenes to update classes and a million other things. 

BUT >>> For TODAY I get to share with you a really delicious Mixed Media project I just finished.... an Altered Paint Stick! I joined this Paint Stick Swap with a few other really talented ladies and you should definitely visit all the blogs today to see what they're up to. 

The full line up:

Brianna Marshall

DeeDee Catron

Melissa Johnson

Michele Kosciolek

Sara Vukson

Susan Brown

Tina Walker

Truly the best part of this is how different and unique each piece turned out. We all started with the same thing... just plain ol' paint sticks from your local hardware store! Then we were encouraged to just.. DO 'EM UP! any way we wanted and that made us happy. No theme was given or anything... my sticks turned into this sort of Magical Night Sky themed little beauty:

Because we're each paying for postage to the designated destination, our sticks could be as heavy and 3D as we wanted.... and of course I love some dimension! 

The background for my sticks are several layers of goodness. I started by covering my sticks in Gesso. Any gesso will work if you're willing to put in the hours for extra coverage. I did two coats for the fronts of my sticks and a lighter single coat for the back. 

After both coats of gesso were dry, I applied a third, but this time through an UmWowStudio Star Confetti Stencil. It allowed me to really start bringing in the theme of my sticks and simultaneously start the dimension portion. Before that was completely dry I embedded some UmWowStudio Star Confetti Chipboard pieces into the gesso. Gesso itself is not an adhesive and shouldn't be used AS an adhesive... but if you're working in the background and are planning to build up some dimension WHILE working with gesso, it can certainly substitute. I just wouldn't recommend using it solely for adhesion. 

I let everything sit and REALLY dry, then I layered up some watercolor from my brand new Grumbacher pan set. The watercolor gave me a really great fluid base to build upon, and because I was already working with water based products I grabbed my Tim Holtz / Ranger Distress Stain Sprays and helped really add some night sky colors. I dabbed my chipboard stars with a bit o' gesso to help them stand out and sealed everything with a gloss acrylic sealer. The shine to these beauties mimics star shine :) 

Then it was just a bit o' layered! My little German Charlotte Dolls are vintage replicas. I picked up a set from an etsy shop a year or so ago, and them molded them with Amazing Mold Putty. Now whenever I want one (or four!) I just cast them in Amazing Casting Resin and I have as many as I need forever. The vintage ones sit on my shelf all pretty like. 

The wings have been stamped using a new stamp I designed for Viva Las VegaStamps! : Pair Of Butterfly Wings, and they've been stamped using Archival Ink by Ranger in black on my first paper line for 7 Dots Studio : Nature Walk. The frayed bit behind them is one of my favorite ribbons from May Arts Ribbon, crocheted lace, and to finish it all off there's a teeny tiny little paper doily by Doodlebug Designs I picked up from Paper Issues. My little fairy (as Gabe calls it) assemblage was put together with Prima Marketing / Finnabair's 3D Gel Medium.

What do you think? :)