eP March Get Altered Challenge

Oh my word, it's another long-winded post. What is she trying to do??

 

It's the first Thursday of the month so that means that it's time for a brand new Get Altered challenge at eclectic Paperie, a chance to try new things and play with techniques and product. This time it's  Micki's turn to host and  her challenge is to include recycled fabric in your project. With so many possible ways to include fabric, it took me a while to whittle down the ideas to just one...or two. I had to raid my fabric stash to see what I could repurpose and experiment with.

I started with a flat 9 x 12" canvas to which I adhered a chunk of very rough woven fabric from an old stool. Decou-page  (Deco Art's equivalent of Mod Podge) did the trick adhering and sealing it at the same time. Three colours of acrylic paint (blue-green, aquamarine, and Ultramarine blue) plus white gesso were brushed across the fabric or spread with my finger. I was not looking for even coverage, just colour to show off the fabric's texture. At this stage, it looked pretty nasty.

Next came the stencils which had various mixes of the four colours sponged over them to create random texture. Punchinella and fruit netting were also sponged over. The idea was to lighten up the background while adding interest. A little copper dabber was added in a few places...just 'cuz. Black and white gesso were watered down and straight lines were made with an old gift card. Bottle lids were also dipped into the watery gesso to make various sizes of circles. Black gesso was used to stamp the Tim Holtz Love Struck heart.

To continue the lightening process, Wendy Vecchi white embossing paste was spread over the drywall tape clouds and through the Dylusions Diamond of a Border stencil to make them stand out. Vintage white reinforcements were adhered to the edges in three groups. A length of Glimmer Misted cheesecloth (more fabric) was rolled and glued close to the bottom of the page. Now it was starting to perk up!

I wanted to include three of the Maya Road chipboard houses which I've had forever. I covered the first and third house with papers from the Authentique Renew 8 x 8 pad. The middle one was sprayed with Dylusions Black Marble ink.  The first house was given a roof of the embroidered edge from the vintage handkerchief used elsewhere. A little stencilling with a Scattered Straw Distress marker, doodling, and stamping with Vintage Photo DI helped blend the too tidy house in with the messy background. The Dylusions zigzag border and a Wendy Vecchi sentiment were added. A small piece of the ribbon roof from house #3 was stapled on to create continuity and an "inspire" charm was added as gingerbread trim..

House #2 had a much simpler background. White gesso was spread with my finger over punchinella. The roof was a piece of the dotty paper present on the other two houses. Wendy Vecchi's  Queen of Art was stamped onto a vintage handkerchief using archival ink. Once heat set, Fresco paints and Distress markers were used to colourize the face before it was fussy cut and adhered to the house. I had not painted on untreated fabric before but Leandra Franich has a wonderful You Tube video to teach the basics. Another Wendy Vecchi sentiment from the same Seriously Art set was stamped with Versamark and embossed with white before the lady was adhered...didn't want to set her on fire :)

The third house was textured with Inkadinkado's script stamp, Dylusions zigzag stamp, and the same TH heart stamp inked with Scattered Straw Distress marker and spritzed with water. Doodling, a ribbon roof, a gear, and more of the embroidered border were added to House #3.

Once the houses were placed on the canvas, they seemed to get a little lost so a chunk of vintage twill tape was adhered above the cheesecloth to ground the houses (no pun intended) and on the top right of the canvas. The zigzag stamp was again put to use to add some pattern. The key was sewn to the tape with embroidery floss. Idea-ology Alpha Parts (Ransom) were used to spell the word play (because that's what art is for me) on the top tape length which also repeats the staples from House #1.

The last few steps were to create the sun from a button and a WV art part which was sprayed with Dylusions and then faux stitched; to sponge black gesso around the outside edges to create a frame and a place for the eye to stop: and to adhere Idea-ology pen nibs as house chimneys.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Get Altered challenge. It definitely stretched me to use fabric in ways I hadn't tried and to adapt techniques to accommodate the rough texture of the weave. I learned a lot and had fun doing it. Pop over to the eclectic Paperie blog to see what Micki has created and you'll find creations by the DT in the links below the challenge post. I hope you'll join us. I'm looking forward to seeing what creative ideas you come up with. That's how I get inspired to try new things :)

Thanks for hanging out with me today and for reading this super long post. If I could I'd share chocolate with you so you could regain your energy...you're probably exhausted. If you're curious about some of the products I used, click on the thumbnails below and you will magically be transported to the eP store.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490 - Embossing Paste - White	TCW 6x6 Template - Mini Chicken Wire Reversed	TCW 6x6 Template - Mini Numbers Collage	Dylusions Stencil 9x12" - Diamond of a Border	Dylusions Stencil 5x8" - Dotted Flowers
Authentique - Renew 8x8 Paper Pad	Dylusions Ink Spray - Squeezed Orange	Dylusions Ink Spray - Black Marble	Dylusions Ink Spray - Pure Sunshine	Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Scattered Straw
Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Spice Marmalade	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Distress Ink Pad - Black Soot	Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber - Metallic Copper