A Great Hat a la RSD ~ An altered book spread

Hi everyone! I am thrilled to bits to be here today for my very first post as part of  Rick St Dennis' Elite Design Team. I am still pinching myself at my luck. I am absolutely smitten with Rick's images and the Hat ladies seem to hold a special place in my imagination. I decided to mark my debut with a mixed media spread featuring 1911 Stroller in the French Style which can be found in both Rick's Zibbet and Etsy shops. I love altering children's board books so that the entire book follows one theme, in this case Women's Hats.

I coloured the beautiful image with layers of Prismacolor pencils, using 3 to 4 colours for each hue. I usually have the main colour, a lighter colour or white, and two darker colours that can act as shading. Once she was coloured, and her glasses were given a coat of Glossy Accents, she was fussy cut, matted in black cardstock, and fussy cut again. She was then backed with foam tape and asked to wait patiently until the background could be completed.

The background of my mixed media pieces is created with many layers of colour, paper, stencilling, and stamping.

The spread began as a gessoed background to which Neocolor II water colour crayon in shades of pink and gray was added. A layer of TH tissue wrap was adhered with gel medium over the watercolour to tone it down and create more interest.

Two patterned Authentique designer papers, and a whole lot of stencilling (TCW Well Rounded, TCW Tiny Circles, TCW Punchinella, and Dylusions Blocks) with gesso and Archival inks (Watering Can, Jet Black, Magenta Hue) built up the layers. Two kinds of lace, remnant rubs, half pearls, and doodling created the elegant background with a French flair that I was looking for. I added some Paris themed digital elements purchased on Etsy to further the theme.

This is the first inside two page spread in the book. Each one will feature a different Rick St. Dennis image accompanied by an appropriate sentiment or quote. This one was computer generated, matted in black, faux stitched, and popped up on foam to create dimension. The lettering for "Un Chapeau (a hat)" was done in glittery stickers.

Thanks for visiting today. Mme Stroller and I appreciate your fine company. I hope you were inspired to check out the rest of Rick's amazing hat ladies. They really spark my creativity. Love using digital images in mixed media art!

For more inspiration using Rick's fabulous images, fun challenges, and some wonderful sharing of projects and knowledge, come and visit:

our Facebook group ~ share your projects, join our challenges
our Airless Chambers blog
our Rick St Dennis Gallerie
our Tuts and Comments blog ~ all tutorials all the time!

Hope to see you there.

I am entering this project in the following challenges:
Digi Choosday ~ Week 23 Use 2 Real papers
Fan-tastic Tuesday ~ #39 Anything Goes (Square or rectangular)
Through the Craft Room Door ~ Anything Goes
All Crafts Challenge ~ Anything but a card
613 Avenue Create ~ #75 Anything Goes
Oddball Art Stamps Co. ~ #3 Girly and Glam
Rhedd's Creative Spirit ~ June Anything Goes Altered Art Only

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie