Toxique

Everything about this creation is unconventional and you may not care for it. However, my experimentation here illustrates some unusual techniques that may be of interest so I've decided to share it.

I began by using watercolor on watercolor paper. I stamped on some Plain Tissue Wrap (the hand and face with circle/lines). I cut out some gear images from some Tissue Tape. I used a home-made circle stamp and filled one of them in with some dot-stamped tissue wrap.

I wondered what it would look like to draw white lines with a Gelly Roll pen throughout the background. Then I sharpened the circle edges and added some dots with my black and white pens.

But it wasn't big enough to be a tag so I mounted it on some grey cardstock with stitching.

Now what to do with the empty space on top? I stamped and then embossed some black dots and added the white ones with a gelly roll.

I brought out the whites of the lady's eyes with a Picket Fence Distress Marker.

I think it's interesting that you can't really tell what's tissue wrap or tape when you compare the look with the stamped circles (where the watercolor paper is completely exposed).

For collage work, the tissue wrap is really useful and I have a tip: There is a subtle difference between the front and back surfaces--one side is slightly smoother and stamping on that side seems to give me the best results.

I really don't know what to make of my subject matter except to say that maybe it reminds me to wash my hands to avoid germs? I think I'll link it to Simon's Monday challenge blog (this week's theme is embossing "powder power") just to remind them too :)

Not Alcibiades

Dotty is making an appearance once again--this time, she's a bit smaller and the setting a bit more somber. The dark (perhaps dastardly) mansion is courtesy of Tim's new Mini Halloween #5 set made larger by multiple stampings on tissue paper.

The autumnal leaves were cut from a G45 paper collection called Botanicabella and the distinguished gentleman (José de San Martin) graces an Argentinian postage stamp circa 1935.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this tag is the background made with torn squares of tiny book text pasted in random fashion. It was a tad time-consuming to prepare but I love the look and plan to set some time aside to make more of it to use in the future.

Common Denominator

Images that caught my eye were printed and pasted, then Tissue Wrap, stamping, stenciling and bits of Dapper paper stash combined with Distress ink/paint and many dots from a Gelly Roll pen became this journal page assembled over the weekend.

For me, the fun of "journaling" is I don't have a plan, I just take what interests me and begin. I never know where it will lead me and along the way I always learn more about what works and what doesn't.

Here are some close-ups (click for the larger, lightbox view):

The papers designed by Tim Holtz are ideal for collages but can be a little too thick for some applications. But no worries, as I have found they are easy to modify into a thinner version perfect for pasting.

I just use my fingernail to separate the front from the back then use a tiny amount of water to soften the paper so I can gently rub more paper bits off the back. In the image above, the paper on the left is the original, thicker version, the right one is how it looks after my delamination process.

I really, really enjoy the challenge of trying to create a sense of depth in my work and with this page, using warm reds at the bottom, cool blues and blacks at the top and the lightest values in the center along with modifying the size of the people helped to accomplish my goal.

And, if anyone is curious, the guys in the white uniforms--they were Coca-Cola salesmen from the 1930's. Perhaps the common denominator here is the love of a good cola?

Stamp credits: Tim Holtz Dots & Florals, Inkadinkado Newsprint
Stencil credit: Crafters Workshop Art Is