October 2006 - K.I.S. theme = Gratitude

Presented by Chelise Stroud Hery

Week one - Background

This week we are going to work on backgrounds. We will try out the very easy tissue background (that I love). Because this is a collaboration between ACEO and ZNE, we will always focus our size in this workshop to be that of a standard aceo – ie, 2 ½” x 3”.

So, for those of you participating – here is your supply list for the week:

Cardstock / Playing or Trade Card

Optional:

Tissue Paper (such as gift tissue) in any color or pattern
White glue (such as elmers or sobee)
Small to medium sized paintbrush (foam brushes work well too)
Rubber stamps, paints, images, stickers, etc. for decorating the background.
Light sandpaper (if using a playing card.)


REGARDING YOUR BACKGROUND:

Ok guys, we will start by choosing our background support in (or cut to) aceo size. It can be made of cardstock or heavy weight watercolor paper. It is also ok to use a playing card or trading card. Because we are working in collage, we are going to cover up the background we choose, so if it is cardstock with some marks on it or a trading card, playing card, etc. – that is alright.

Note regarding playing cards – be sure and measure them! Many vintage (and newer) playing cards are sized slightly smaller than aceos. At first glance they might look like they are the right size, but you do want to measure them to be sure.

Step One:

Prep your background support. Ensure that it is the right size, and if it is a playing card that has a waxy coating, you’ll want to lightly sand the side that you will be creating your art on, so that it is roughed up a bit and better able to hold the tissue background you will be adding.

Step Two:

Choose the tissue background you want to use. You can use any color. You may want to choose fall colors for the season, or your favorite colors, or just something you have on hand. You can use patterned paper if you prefer, too. Just remember that if it is a recognizable pattern (ie, repeated cartoon characters or drawings) you may risk violating copyrights if you sell your finished product. Note that if you are using a playing card or trading card – or cardstock that has any marking on them – you will want to use a darker tissue so that it covers up or primarily covers up whatever is underneath it. Lighter colored tissue will be fairly translucent after it dries.

Step Three:

Cut you tissue to the same (aceo) size as your background card stock.

Step Four:

Create a glue wash. I usually use two parts water to one part white glue. You are basically creating a decoupage glue here. For one card, you need very little. Try one table spoon glue to two tablespoons water. Mix well. You should be able to use a paint palette well or regular small bowl for this. Any glue left over can be peeled out of the bowl/well, after it dries.

Step Five:

Using the paint brush of your choice, paint the cardstock background you have chosen, with your glue wash. NOTE: The idea is for the background to be damp NOT wet or dripping.

Step Six:

Carefully place your tissue down on the damp cardstock background. VERY carefully (so as to not rip the tissue) press the tissue down, and use your fingers to press the tissue down and to press any bubbles in the tissue out. If the edges are not sticking, and or if some bubbles are not rubbing down or out, take your paintbrush (or your finger tip), dip it in the glue wash again, and paint over the top of the tissue on the edges or the bubbles. Again, the idea is for it to be damp, not dripping wet. Once you have wet those parts, very carfully press down again.

IF THE TISSUE RIPS: First, don’t worry. You have a couple choices: Start over, or (I would suggest) – just press down around the rips, and know that as you move along with this collage, you will end up pasting something, at some point, over that spot. NO PROBLEM. That’s the beauty of collage!

Step Seven:

Let dry! At least a couple hours to be safe. Once the tissue feels dry to touch you can either leave as it until next week when we being working on PRIMARY IMAGES – OR you can move on to Step Eight.

Step Eight:

If you would like to add a bit more design to your background, you might want to rubber stamp an abstract image around the edges or scattered around on the tissue. Likewise, you may want to decorate the background with bits of ink or paint. Polka dots, starts, hearts, squiggles, whatever. Just remember, this is not the embellishment stage. After we get your primary image set (next week) you’ll have plenty of time to embellish this card.

Here is my example, on a tag cut to ACEO size with a playing card support glued to the back:

 

Week One Participant Results:

  By eBay id = easybidness

Above by eBay id = fairywebmother

By eBay id = perpetualplum

The three backgrounds above are by hacw*bellsouth.net

The 6 backgrounds above are by isablue123

Dusty Miller


Autumn Asters


Asparagus Ferns (real asparagus, not the florist ferns)


Fuzz from Aromatic Asters

 The above 4 backgrounds were created by sue-jim.

  These three are by elfslovelies.

Instructions for week two - THE PRIMARY IMAGE!

Tools needed:

(All Optional!) ~ Scissors, more glue wash, rubber stamp, paints, colored pencils, etc.

Ok, this one takes some thinking through...

Our theme is Gratitude. If you look up the meaning of flowers, you'll see that pink roses symbolize gratitude:

http://www.rkdn.org/roses/colors.asp

So, we are going to incorporate a pink rose into or as our primary image. Here is where the fun starts.

You really don't want to draw or paint directly on top of your tissue overlay, as it is fairly delicate. You could rubber stamp directly on it if you wanted. That being said:

Find an image of a rose, either already colored pink or that you can color pink - and decide what you are going to do with it.

If you want to draw or paint your own rose, then I suggest doing it on a piece of paper that you can then cut out and paste down onto your background.

If you have or want to invest in a rubber stamp (at a local stamp supply store) to find a rose, you can do that to, if you think you would use it often. Note that if you want to sell anything using the stamp - you'll want to make sure that the company has an "angel" policy.

Or, to be on the safe and easy side - here is a website where a photographer has graciously provided some rose images, copyright free:

http://www.shortenyoururl.com/kEDd9

(You may see one annoying pop up, just close it. Sorry about that.) You can print these out, photo shop them, whatever you want. There are two images on that page that are already pink, and there are some white ones that you could easily paint or color pink with pencils or pens.

Now, here's the fun part:

Decide what you want to do with your rose. I'm not talking about embellishments, as we'll handle those next week.

What I mean is: Do you want it to be in a vase, in a garden, or as the pom pom for a cheerleader. Perhaps it could be the pillow for a princess.

This is where the really creative part comes in. You can absolutely just use an image as is. The embellishment and background can add a lot to a plain image, and that is absolutely fine too. But you might also want to incorporate some more stuff on, into, or around the main image. Perhaps a sky with roses for clouds? Maybe a catepillar or butterfly has landed on the rose?

The sky is the limit. Those of you who created multiple backgrounds (I ended up creating 7 of the tag above) can experiment with doing different things with your pink rose.

Here is an example of 7 of mine with the primary image:

 Here are the other Participant Results - Week 2:

Above nine by perpetualplum.

 ACEO by hacw*bellsouth.net

 These three are by easybidness.

   This one is by jeanze*art

and the two below are by isablue123

Week three - EMBELLISHMENTS:

I am going to borrow from ZNE Moderator and Fondante Member Julie (tisjewel) O'Neil's fabulous set of guidelines on embellishments. These guidelines can be used on any collage, not just ACEOs. And remember, they are not the end all, they are just the beginning, but they give us a great starting point for thinking about embellishment creativity.

Can't wait to see what you all do this week!!! Next week we add the final touches and voila! We're done!

Julie's Guidelines:

Embellishing can be as simple as adding stickers, rubber
stamping or as intricate as bead fringe or envelopes with tags or fun inserts.

No matter what you choose to add, it makes the collage fun.

Ideas:

Stickers (copyright free)
puff paint
sequins
glitter
lace
shrink art
transparencies
brads
buttons
beads
rhinestones
fringe
fibers
shells
gel medium
flatter page pebbles
cuts lifted with pop dots
scrapbook papers
paper clips
paint
marker
wired on embellishments.. anything you can imagine!!
envelopes
tags
moveable pieces
game pieces
feathers
pom poms
coins
wire
charms
holes
doors
secret openings
pockets

Only limited to your imagination!

Participant results:

Rose Tower


Rose and Ferns


Close of some beads on Rose and Ferns


When the Last Petal Drops


Closeup of beads and lace on When the Last Petal Drops


Violas for Remembrance

All the beautiful floral cards above are by sue-jim.

And some more views of easybidness's cards, below, with embellishment:

Remember Jeanze*art's card?  Look at how beautiful it turned out with embellishments:

and then, with a dragonfly charm, a gold border, and a smattering of glitter:

And all these cards of perpetualplum's, below, are just delightful!

Here is a gorgeous embellished card by hacw*bellsouth.net:

And isablue123's embellished cards:

And the two below are by lines_six:

And... Chel's just need to be scanned.  They are coming soon...  :)

This workshop was SO fun!  THANK YOU TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS!