Angels in Disguise

FYI: Be sure to stop by The Altered Alice; I've added another week of amazing design team projects made with IndigoBlu stamps!

I have quite a collection of angel stamps, and I love this Bible verse from Hebrews 13:2 about angels: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." That's one of those quotes that just doesn't sound right to me unless it is the good old King James version!  I know when I reflect on my life there have been definite turning points and people who seem to have been placed in my way for a reason; without those influences my life would have been on a very different course.

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This page started off as a technique exploration. I wanted to try using Liquitex Clear Gesso on the page instead of regular. Clear gesso is very different as it seals the surface AND gives the surface a lot of tooth to hold pencil or charcoal; it almost feels like the fine side of an emory board. I painted it on with a foam brush, first in one direction then another, which resulted in a linen finish.

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Then I sponged on PanPastels in a beautiful gradient. The aqua shade in the center is actually more vibrant than it appears. Then I sponged various colors of PanPastels through a stencil at the top and bottom and outlined the areas with a clear Gelly Roll Stardust pen. I was hoping that the extra tooth of the surface meant that I would not need to fix the pastels, but I still needed to spray the surface with a fixative to prevent smearing.

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Next I used a wing stencil with a product I now LOVE - Delta Texture Magic. It gives so much dimension; I spread it through the stencil with an old credit card. It has a really different texture and is fairly low moisture. I was pleased at how quickly it dried compared to modeling paste, and it has a very interesting texture!

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I stamped "Angel in a Garden" by Postmodern Design and painted it with watercolors. When dry, I went over the halo, wings, and robes of the angel with the clear Gelly Roll Stardust pen. I hope the above photo gives you some idea of how shimmery this is in real life! I trimmed it out and adhered it to my page.

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I wrote in the Bible verse with a purple Copic Multiliner SP but the dark color was too harsh. I rubbed some PanPastel over the words and that really helped to soften the text. I highlighted some areas with the clear Stardust pen and other areas with a white Gelly Roll pen.  The layout needed some horizontal elements, everything was so up and down, so I ruched some ribbon, adhering it to Scor-Tape as I ruffled it up. I love the ruched ribbon, it adds a lot of movement, which reminds me of angel wings, and the satin folds remind me of folds of the angel's robe.

It still wasn't right. it looked like an overgrown card, not a journal page. Then I realized it needed some journaling! I keep a lined journal where I write down poetry and quotes that I like, and I have quite a few angel quotes. I am much happier with the page now that it tells more of the story. Click on the photos above to see the details!

Around the top I wrote this quote that I love by Eric Honeycutt:

"The wings of angels are often found on the backs of the most unlikely people."

Above the angel wings I drew another white line with a white gel pen. In between I wrote a quote by James Russell Lowell:

"All God's angels come to us disguised."

At the bottom, I could not fit the entire passage I wanted to use, so I just used the last part of this quote by George Eliot:

"The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone."

I do have a pretty amazing card to share with you, I just haven't had a chance to get good pictures. That will be up next!

Supplies: (you may not see the list in a reader or email; click on the title of this post to go to the blog)

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about angels, influences on your life, or any of the techniques used. Your comments are what makes this effort worthwhile!

Week 2, CHAPTER 7: Text as Nonsense

I couldn't resist making a second project this month for The Altered Alice CHAPTER 7 Challenge: Text as Nonsense. I am in love with the wonderful silhouette stamps on the Alice 2 plate from our sponsor, Stamp Attack!

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I created the first page in my new Moleskine sketchbook. I got two of them: a red sketchbook for Alice projects and a black sketchbook for everything else. (They were almost one third off at Amazon, just click the link at left!) The paper is so smooth and heavy, a dream to stamp on, and it smells wonderful!  You may laugh but I just kept sticking my nose into the pages and inhaling the wonderful aroma of this paper! They were so beautiful and pristine that it took me a while to actually get the courage up to sully a page with one of my artistic attempts. But now I'm over that, lol!

I began by painting a backdrop for my "shadow puppets" with PanPastels. The grassy area was done with the oval sponge and all the rest was done with the Sofft Tool palette knives. LOVE them!! I started off with the 20 set of pure mass colors (the "Painting" set of 20) but I am going to order the tints and shades next, plus the palette trays.  The bulldog clips just help to weight down the pages while I'm working on it. I knew the curtains would cover the sides and the stage would cover the bottom. The silhouette images were stamped with black Versafine.

The front of the stage was punched with an EK edger punch of card suits and I scribbled red marker in the heart and diamond openings. I created the scroll with the title in Adobe Illustrator. The admission tickets are an old Art Tickets set that is still available from Invoke Arts.

I ran book pages through my crimper in all different directions to soften the paper fibers before I tried to pinch and glue the curtains into place. They are sponged with Distress Tea Dye ink on the folds. The tiebacks are ribbon. The ALICE Scrabble tile word and the key stamped on the curtain valance are also from the Stamp Attack Alice 2 plate.  I love making these curtains; you can see my first attempt on this circus tent page!

I hope you enjoyed my little Wonderland Shadow Puppet Theater. Please leave me a comment and think about playing along in this month's challenge!

The Altered Alice CHAPTER 7 Challenge Begins: Text as Nonsense!

 

Alice didn't dare to argue the point, but went on: `-- and I thought I'd try and find my way to the top of that hill -- ' `When you say "hill,"' the Queen interrupted, `I could show you hills, in comparison with which you'd call that a valley.' `No, I shouldn't,' said Alice, surprised into contradicting her at last: `a hill can't be a valley, you know. That would be nonsense -- ' The Red Queen shook her head, `You may call it "nonsense" if you like,' she said, ` but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!' -- Chapter 2, Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

Using text as pattern is a trend right now that I really love. Your challenge is to use text as nonsense - not to read but as pattern on your project! Of course you can still have words or sentiments, but we also need to see text used in a non-reading way. I have a stack of old books and dictionaries that I use for this purpose.

Our sponsor is Stamp Attack, a British company that is well known (among other things) for their fantastic Alice stamp plates which have sold to customers all over the world. In fact, Helena Bonham Carter, the actress who played the Red Queen in the Tim Burton Alice movie, purchased sets of Alice stamps from Stamp Attack, which were then delivered to the studio!  Enabler alert: Stamp Attack offers speedy worldwide shipping for only £1 on unmounted stamp orders, so go on and check out their beautiful stamps!

The winner will receive a Stamp Attack gift certificate for £13.50, which is equivalent to one of the stamp plates that the design team will be using!


You have until Friday, September 23 to enter your creation at The Altered Alice and the winner and honorable mentions will be announced on the last Sunday of the month, September 25.  All kinds of projects are welcome, they do not have to be "altered art" and as always, entries that feature some aspect of Wonderland are given two chances instead of one in the random prize drawing. You may enter multiple times as long as each project is on a separate post.

My Project

My art journal page was inspired by this Stamp Attack image of Alice on the Queen's croquet ground. The Scrabble tiles spelling Alice are another Stamp Attack stamp, cut apart and displayed on a banner of ribbon snippets, outlined with black or white. They are both from the Stamp Attack Alice 2 plate; it is a full-sized plate and the images are very deeply etched on thick red rubber.  I'm working on another project with this stamp collection so stay tuned!

I am working in a Strathmore Visual Journal - the mixed media version. Love the heavy book board covers and the paper is great. The background of my page is a Hero Arts cling stamp called Word Pops; I had to have this stamp! The text circles were stamped and then the whole page was colored in using PanPastels (love them!). I applied the color using the Sofft Tool palette knives; this product is a unique cross between a soft pastel and a fluid medium. The black strip on the bottom was punched with a fun EK edger punch with scallops and huge dots, then backed with dictionary paper colored with oil pastels. That takes care of the "text as pattern" required by the challenge; all the circles make me think of colorful painted croquet balls, although I know Alice will be using hedgehogs instead!

It is a journal so I decided to include some writing. I had fun wrapping a quote from the story describing the croquet game around all the text polka dots! I used a Copic 0.2 Multiliner SP to scribble in this fine print. I love how this turned out. If you click the image above you can enlarge it enough to read the story. Please visit me at Savvy Sisters Studio and leave a comment, I love it when you do!

I hope you are inspired to make something and play along with The Altered Alice!

NOTE: If you decide to buy some of the products mentioned above, please consider using the links above to do so. I will get a tiny referral fee and you will get the same great price. It is a small way you can help to support this blog and The Altered Alice. Eventually it might cover my Linky Tools and professional Photobucket subscriptions, LOL!!! Thanks!