I wanted to use a new large stamp I bought from Prima, called Gardenia (link: https://tinyurl.com/y9cgmrng) and wanted to use it in the art journal I’m making out of a kid’s cardboard book.  I used Krylon Spray Gesso on the book to ensure the background is white, and it will accept inks and markers (as the surface of the book is normally shiny and doesn’t absorb inks.) I stamped the Gardenia stamp with a jumbo Ranger Archival Ink in black (link: https://tinyurl.com/yb2xva6y) over a two page spread, making sure most of the face and hair are on the right side of the pages. If I was doing this again, I’d recommend you’d use a stamp that wouldn’t cover both pages, and that you stamp as close to the outer edge of the book as possible, as the floss adds so much bulk, I can’t close my journal any more. (Big mistake, trust me.)

After inking, I used a black alcohol marker to darken all of the lines and then colored the image with watercolors (and maybe should have stopped there, and I’ll probably say that a few times before I finish it.) I took embroidery floss in the colors of the watercolors and cut very short strips and laid them in school glue then put them on the hair on the image. I didn’t put any floss in the spine of the book. To make the flower, I started in the center of the flower and used a red floss and spun it in a tight circle and continued the circle…I added a darker red and went around the outer edge of the rose to show you how to do it. The more glue, the better… I let all of the image dry…then decided to use a stencil and used Brutus Monroe silver glitter glaze (link: https://tinyurl.com/y9n39gzf) and a bubble stencil to add circles all over behind her. I wanted to make sure the background wasn’t white, since I had some spots of color on it (that I didn’t like), so I inked it with archival gray ink from Stampin’ Up (that they no longer make.)

I used a Michael’s Shimmer Mist in orange (the spray no longer worked, so I had to put it in a little dish and a brush to color around the hair image (This was a mistake, as it looks smeary when it’s dry.) The shimmer mist I used was from Recollections, and Michaels doesn’t sell it any more, but here’s a link to Dylusions Shimmer Spray. link: https://tinyurl.com/yajwryjh

I added some Stickles (link: https://tinyurl.com/yblqcgat) to the hair… (Another step I should have skipped.)

All in all, it’s a fun idea, but a lot of work and makes an even bigger mess. If I hadn’t been set on making a mixed media image using embroidery floss, I would have stopped with the watercolor image I started with…but then it wouldn’t have been mixed media, darn it.

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