Frida Kahlo Mixed-Media Wall Art

It's Stampotique Designer's Challenge once again and I was so excited when Sarinda chose text paper to be the theme for their 101st challenge.

I LOVE text paper and I rarely do any projects without it. Hooray!

I thought it would be fun to make another Modern Girl, this time using Frida Grande.

After stamping her head and shoulders on book paper using Staz-On ink, I drew the rough shape of a blouse on deli paper, using it like you would tracing paper. 

Then I cut out the blouse from an embellished index card.

For her skirt I made a mono print using my Gelli Plate and layered long strips of the painted paper to form the skirt. I was going for a boho-formal vibe which I felt was consistent to what I've seen her wear in photos.

Then I added jewel and pearl embellishments.

The quote:

I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.

~~~~- Frida Kahlo

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today. It's my last week as guest designer for Stampotique and again, I truly couldn't be more honored to have the privilege. 

Note: Some of you eagle-eyed blog readers may notice there are two different spellings of, "Frida" shown in the pictures. When I printed the quote I was working from an official Frida Kahlo website and her birth name had the 'e' in "Frieda" but the spelling she used professionally drops the 'e'. I went back and forth and finally decided to correct the art. Some of the pictures are from before, some after. For the final work I went with the commonly used, "Frida Kahlo"

Summer Garden Fairy Mixed Media Collage

Hey Everyone! 

The SDC99 challenge, chosen by Carol, is "Summertime"and the first thing that came to mind was gardens, flowers, fireflies... and that led me to creating a garden fairy clothed in a cheerful sundress.  

The piece measures 6x12 and the background is acrylic paint on MDF, with layers of stamping and stencils. The majority of the stencils used in this mixed-media wall hanging are TCW - Balzer Designs. 

For her wings, dress and boots I made Gelli Plate mono-prints using regular typing paper and deli paper. The deli paper is translucent (like vellum) and it gives the wings a lovely ethereal quality. 

For the head I stamped Jill on book paper, I just love her big eyes and sassy hair. I'll be investing in the other heads ASAP here's a link to the ones I'm coveting Stampotique carries: Leeta, Jeepers, Miss Snottie, Clover,  Muffin, Pockets and Mervyn

The flowers were made with scraps from my mixed-media index cards and a heart punch. 

For the quote I stamped Sometimes on typing paper using Staz-on. I could really relate to the sentiment:

*snort*

This is also my entry for the Simon Says Stamp: Inspired By Challenge. I was inspired by this pin:

And it's my "Inspired by Gardens"  'Take the Challenge' with Mou entry. 

My youngest said this is his favorite piece I've ever made. I think my heart just about exploded with happiness :-)

Thanks so much for visiting.

Warmly,

~~Nicole

Valentine Curio Box featuring Gelli Prints and a Tutorial

When I saw Christy's awesome mixed-media curio box I was inspired to pull mine out and finally make something. Valentine's Day seemed like a perfect topic as love is celebrated year round so it can stay out and not look too theme-y.

This project was a great way to use some of my favorite Gelli prints that I shared in my last posts here and here.

Here's a close up of some of the cells:

The edges were a perfect way to highlight some of my favorites:

And here's the back, I just loved this print and wanted to make sure it had the chance to shine:

One of the fun things Christy did was make a foil heart. I loved her tutorial but I've always made mine a little differently so I thought I'd share my process. Basically, the difference is that I cover my foil with masking tape and then gesso it instead of trying to Mod Podge paper to the foil. To be honest, I haven't had any luck doing that - I'm all thumbs. Masking tape makes it easy :-)

Ta-Da! 

Your very own light-weight, practically-free, custom, mixed-media embellishment.

Or if you want to watch the video, here's a link: http://vine.co/v/bJUF06giIh2

(OMG! Vine is a hoot, no? Look me up there so we can hang out.)

Available on Etsy

Linked up at Tatertots and Jello

Gelli Print Mono-Printing Part 2

This is the second part of the post showing all that Gelli Plate fun I was having last week. You can see the first part of the post HERE

For this one I wrote into the paint with a  Q-tip.

For the ghost print I added white paint and printed over teal

You'll see this paper prominently in an upcoming Valentine's Day project

This is another print made with layered stencils

Don't forget to roll out your excess paint and dab off your stencils into your art journal

And here's a few of my favorite prints from this Gelli Plate session:

For these ones I used a large focal-image stencil creating both a positive and negative print:

Did you recognize the sunburst behind him?

Hope this gave you a glimpse into a few of the ways you can use your Gelli Plate. 

Warmly,

~~~Nicole