AlteredPages Artsociates

This week I have been playing around with color.  Fall is inching closer and Michigan will be a flood of reds and golds in a few short weeks.  I love Fall colors and that's what I've used on this canvas. I started with a layer of gesso.   Right after the layer was complete, I dipped my brick stencil into the wet gesso to leave an impression. To better show the texture of the dried gesso, I smeared on a few light spots of Gelato to highlight the ridges. The entire canvas was covered with Dixie Belle's Grunge Glaze.  Since I was going with a Fall theme I felt like the brown in the glaze would be a good fit. The glaze interacted with the Gelato and gave me some different undertones.  Gelatos are water soluable so they are activated with paint just as easily as with water. I chose a few more Gelatos that reminded me of fall and used my finger to apply them in random spots on the canvas. Now to add some fun texture!...

Hey, let's just have fun and experiment!  We are going to play with a trending art form  that you may have seen a bit about;   String Art.  It is fun and easy and the results are pretty incredible. You will want to use a watery consistency of medium  as your "ink".   You can use diluted  acrylic paints, Gelatos or Splash inks .  You then s aturate pieces of  twine  in the colors of your choice.    I prefer using gloved hands for the next few steps.  Sometimes I like messy artsy looking hands, but I had literally just had my nails done this day and did not want to lose my French mani. ;-)  Now, lay the twine in a meandering pattern from the top to the bottom of your paper.  You can use an art journal , as I did here with my Dylusions journal, card stock or even a premade craft card .  You basically just need two pieces of paper to sandwich over your twine.  ...

Today, I have a quick little post about all the options for you at  Alteredpages.com   if you love playing with watercolors like I do.  Whether you prefer  watercolor pencils ,  Gelatos  or a bit of shimmer like these  Niji paint sets , AlteredPages has you covered.  You can even paint right on  vintage music sheet  like I have done with this butterfly.      Or, use a more traditional approach with this  Prima watercolor pad  like I did with my little cactus friend below.  This piece is not quite finished.  I need to decide what this guy is sitting on...maybe a potting bench or maybe in a garden.  We will see, but for now he is just kind of floating around.   I love to make little pieces like these and send them off to family and friends.  They make great little memories for sharing.   So, give our watercolor supplies a try for yourself and make some...

Spring has sprung, the weather is warming up, flowers are getting ready to bloom and birds are singing in the morning! Today I have a beautiful tag created with the Music Sheet Stencil , on the Large Watercolor Tag  and Little Birdie Medley . Supplies: Music Sheet Stencil Altered Pages Collage Sheet - Little Spring Birdies Large Watercolor Tag Little Birdie Medley Gelatos Metallic Rub Water brush Mist  Brown Tacky Glue Ribbon - Seam Binding Spray water on   Large Watercolor Tag , add color to tag with Gelatos  (blue and yellow) with Water brush  blend colors on the tag, let dry.  Spray with Mist  Brown on the tag, let dry. With Metallic Rub  and  Music Sheet Stencil  add the notes to the top of the  Large Watercolor Tag .  Apply a little rub around the edge of the tag. Cut image from Altered Pages Collage Sheet - Little Spring Birdies , use in the cente...

On Groundhog Day 2018, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, that is just two weeks away!  Spring will be here just in time for Easter and the early bird gets the worm!  Today's tag would be great on a spring hostess gift.   March is all about STENCILS!    Supplies: Large Watercolor Tag Gelatos: Yellow and Green Water Brush Water Inks: assorted colors Stencil - Raven Scape Stencil - Branches Flowers Tacky Glue Ribbon Mist    Large Watercolor Tag  with water, apply layers of  Gelatos: Yellow and Green   by scribbling on mat and applying with  Water Brus h ! Use  Stencil - Branches  apply brown ink with sponge.  Use  Stencil - Raven Scape  to add bird, numbers and more with  inks in assorted colors ! Attach flowers to tag with  Tacky Glue.    Finally add ribbons to the tag. Be sure to vis...