Second Floor Challenge #11: Six Colors

October 30, 2012 By

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our 11th Second Floor Challenge and last Second Floor Challenge: Six Colors : Primar and Secondary- Yellow, Blue, Red, Green, Orange and Violet

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you

I had to laugh a bit about this challenge- if you visited one of my workshops you might have heard me saying, that for the beginning you should try not to use more than 3-4 colors when working with a paint medium because it get’s muddy and brown. And now here I am challenged to use six colors.

So first I decided to use only one paint medium- Derwent Artbars and then I struggled a bit if I should just do something like color blocking, or circles (again?) …and somehow it felt all too easy.

And so I decided to kind of draw a background…something that is not really my strength – but hey…it’s taking it the second floor, right?

I used all the colors in the leaves and background and as it looked really flat I started using the Sgraffito technique to get some texture and dimension revealed.

It turned out ok…I am not overly happy with it, but the main thing is, I had fun and I tried something new. I actually like all the colors together – the leaves…not so much- LOL.

What I learned from this challenge:

  1. I loved the challenge to use colors together that I would usually not use together
  2. I also learned once more that I really don’t like anything that looks too flat and has no texture- either visual or tactile texture – at all.
  3. I loved concentrating on just one paint medium…it made me think a lot on how to get the most out of it- although I guess it would have been a bit more challenging using an art medium I didn’t use that much before.
  4. In the feature I might stick rather to circles again- LOL

As mentioned before this is Julie’s and my last Second Floor Challenge. Only once we both decided to skip a challenge totally out of time problems and so it is 11 challenges we did. So let me put together

What I learned in total from the 2nd Floor Challenge

  • If something looks as if it turns out to be a disaster, keep going- it usually ends up to be one of your favorite pieces.
  •  I learned that it is really good to limit yourself to only a few supplies -it frees your mind.
  • I learned a lot about supplies etc. because I was constantly forced to think in a different way when usual out of the box.
  • Doing something together with my friend Julie who lives too far away has been just fun – the challenge at least made me feel as if we are doing something together which we usually cannot do because of the distance.
  • I love getting the most out of one supply – I don’t like to use supplies in the only way it is determined to be used
  • Paint Media and Texture are essential for me- they are a big part of my style- no need to fight against that ;)
  • I developed a deep love for watercolor paper throughout all the challenges
  • It doesn’t hurt to show stuff you don’t like that much and admit that things didn’t work THAT well, nobody is perfect and I don’t strive to be perfect.
  • I loved to see that a lot of our readers took the second floor too – I learned as much from your experiences as from my own. Thank YOU!

If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:

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hugs
Nat

Filed Under: 2nd Floor, Altered Art, Neocolor II/Derwent Artbar

Second Floor Challenge #10: White Cardstock

October 16, 2012 By

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our 10th Second Floor Challenge: White Cardstock

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you

White Cardstock – something I use a lot as a base for my backgrounds. Usually you do not see later anymore that something started with white Cardstock. Which was a good start taking it to the 2nd Floor…how about having the white Cardstock show itself and speak for itself for once ;)

I picked a 12×12 smooth piece of white cardstock and then a white cardstock with linnen texture from which I hand cut circles.

And then the weird blank page syndrom started….LOL. Yep – I was like …what they hay…and I let it lay there….for a day ….and came back and then just wrote down the feelings that came up when I was looking at this new blank page that offered so many possibilities…

I added a postcard  I had printed from one of my paper designs several years ago. This paper didn’t make it into the emotions paper line back then but it is still one of my favorite pieces.

What I learned from this challenge:

I love the chances that white cardstock offers -there is just so much freedom that attached to this supply.

I love to create layouts/projects with a deeper meaning- where the supplies itself have a meaning too.

I wish sometimes I could be a blank white cardstock again …I was so much more open and free in my work and I didn’t care about other’s and rejection.

My urge to add paint was calmed down once I had added this postcard with my painty artwork…I guess this paint obsession is not to overcome- LOL.

If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:

hugs

Nat

Filed Under: 2nd Floor, Scrapbooking Layouts

Second Floor Challenge #9: Embossing Powder

September 18, 2012 By

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our 8th Second Floor Challenge: Embossing Powder

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you

Embossing Powder- cool – I love Embossing Powder. I use it in many different ways and I love to try out all kinds of different media as embossing agents. If you have ever been at one of my life workshops you know that ;) You have used all kinds of stuff for it…Acrylic Paints was one of them. So started like this on a small tiny canvas

I spread black gesso over since I know I wanted different colored embossing powders on top of it and I hoped the black gesso would make the colors pop more.

It was like cooking …BAM! some more spicy embossing powder right into the kisser wet gesso.

Next was heating, and I had a suspicion already that this mixture would be a bit dangerous in case of the fumes…and boy was I right…yikes. I bet this is highly unhealthy and recommend almost a mask and a well ventilated area. But still I was pleased with the result.

Time to take it to the second floor – I sprayed it with water based spray paints

and BAM! sprinkled some golden embossing powder over it here and there – off heating again

Loved the results….and then used it right away for a present for a special girl

here is a close up of the Gesso-Embossing

What I learned from this challenge:

  1. I love the texture and patina aged look the embossing powder with the black gesso created. Actually to tell you the truth it makes me giddy :)
  2. this is NOT healthy! not something I would teach in a workshop. Black Gesso by Golden already has on their lable that it contains chemicals that are known to cause cancer…and embossing powder is essentially plastic, so melting it together like crazy is obviously a crazy nut case’s idea! I will wear a mask next if I do it again!
  3. I love that through the combination of those two media the heat resulted extra dimension stayed once it was dried. Pretty pretty cool.
  4. If you reheat colored gesso again and put the heat too long on it, it can loose its color at parts and gets white spots. Which in this case was cool! But something to keep in mind.
  5. I liked working on a smaller surface for this technique – first it was out of economic reasons as to not waste a huge amount of embossing powder if that technique would not work, but then it also was fun to incorporate this in a bigger project using different techniques then again.

If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:


hugs

Nat

Filed Under: 2nd Floor, Embossing, Gesso, Mixed Media

Second Floor Challenge #8: Use 3 different stamps

August 28, 2012 By

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our 8th Second Floor Challenge: Use 3 different stamps

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

Ha – I was looking forward to this challenge to use 3 different stamps- not because I thought I would be really challenged, but because I had just bought a couple stamps in July that I haven’t used yet. Time to get those out.

I decided to take it to the second floor by using different ways using those stamps. so first I stamped on paper colored with an Derwent Inktense Block.

Then I stamped on grey tissue paper which I later applied to the above background with gel medium.

I stamped the coffee mug on top of a piece of Scrapbooking paper, colored it in with Liquitex Inks and Derwent Artbars.

Then I cut out the cup of coffee, and created a heart on the background paper, which I cut out and created this Scrapbooking layout.

It was a quick layout but I had fun using some techniques with it – it felt of like art journaling but instead of painting on a piece of paper it was creating a layout.

Supplies: Pink Paislee Paper, Watercolor Paper, Tissue Paper, myStampBox Stamps created by Karen Ellis, Stampers Anonymous Stamps, Liquitex Gel Medium, Derwent Inktense Block, Derwent Inktense Pencil, Liquitex Acrylic Inks, Derwent Artbars, Ranger’s Archival Inks, Posca black marker, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L MyStik and 3D Foam Pads

What I learned from this challenge:

1. Sometimes when I create for a manufacturer it bothers me that I have to be triggered by the product for an idea for a project. But as I had bought those stamps because I surely loved them when I saw them, it felt totally ok to be triggered for an idea by the coffee mug created by Karen Ellis for myStampBox.

2. I usually use white tissue paper for the infusing technique when I stamp – I really like the grey tissue paper for this technique I learned- it tones the colors down but of course…it just makes it a shade – nice one- with some texture.

3. You really need to mix the Liquitex inks- otherwise you get an smudge image- which is not really bothering me here on the coffee mug- but I need to keep that in mind. Why be so lazy with a tiny bit of shaking (gosh..I ‘m so lazy sometimes- LOL)

4. I forced myself using unusual colors for me and I liked it. I need to get more out of my color box  again – I used to do it … why did I stop? :)

5. Stamps always give an handmade feel to a layout, even if you use them in small amounts- I love that. I need to use stamps more on my work- and not solely for backgrounds ;)

If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:

hugs

Nat

Filed Under: 2nd Floor, Scrapbooking Layouts, Stamping

Second Floor Challenge #7: Use Five Supplies

August 7, 2012 By

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our 7th Second Floor Challenge: Use Five Supplies

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

You might have noticed that Julie and I didn’t post a Second Floor Challenge in July. We were simply out of breath with assignments and CHA stuff…and sometimes the challenge is to let go of a challenge ;) So we decided to just leave July out- and I am sure that is fine ;)

So – Use Five Supplies…this was fun…it was for me a constant mixture between: “ha, piece of a cake” and “oh brother, really?” LOL

So starting with the task I picked these five supplies in the beginning:

Heidi Swapp – Vintage Chic Bookkeeping Paper

Washi Tape

Crafter’s Workshop Templates Deco Doily Stencil

Liquitex Spray Paint

MyStik Permanent by Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

So first I added some Washi Tape to the Paper.

I placed the stencil over the washi tape and started spraying using the Liquitex Spray Paint- love it- it is acrylic based and it is brand new on the German market. I will post more about it later and I also have some give-aways coming up ;)

When I lifted the stencils up- I realized that the page looked a bit unbalanced with just a big focus on the right bottom corner- so I decided to use up the additional paint on the stencil and flipped it over to make a small mark on the upper left corner of the page.

I also layered some more Washi Tape over the spray painted areas.

Then I decided I needed another supply, so I decided to mount the photo with the washi tape (which will probably not hold forever like the MyStik though) and exchange the MyStik for a brush.

I sprayed some of the Liquitex spray in a puddle and then used the brush to handwrite my title on the page. I would say that was my take to step up the second floor :)

Actually our sweet friend Julie Fei Fan Balzer is missing on that photo- cause she belongs in it too!!!

Here is a close up of the photo and text underneath

What I learned from this challenge:

  1. six is the new five. I actually used a photo too- one could argue that using that…or using photoshop to add the journaling is another supply. So there…six is the new five ;)
  2. I was done in 10 minutes, which felt weird…I do really enjoy the process of a layout- for me it is not the outcome and it feels if something is not done yet.
  3. I like the outcome though and I like the style- I might go more into this – it still feels like me but needs more diving into..with more supplies- LOL
  4. It was good to just use five supplies, it made me think more how you could utilize the products more- something I always like to do. For example not only using the spray paints as spray paints but also for writing the title.
  5. I have a huge to do list, limiting myself to five supplies made it easy for me to spent some time in the studio without feeling I leave my other stuff undone. Spending 10 minutes in the studio is doable- it doesn’t always have to be a huge task and hours to make you happy and get inky being creative ;)

If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:

have a wonderful day

hugs

Nat

Related articles
Filed Under: 2nd Floor, CHA 2012, Scrapbooking Layouts, Spraypaint

Second Floor Challenge #6: Pencil

June 26, 2012 By

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our 6th Second Floor Challenge: Pencil

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

So we decided this challenge should be to use a pencil. And I have to say I was really looking forward to this. I just recently purchased a Sketching set of pencils by Derwent because….I remembered how much I love pencils – although I can’t sketch at all ;)

 I picked an image of a frame that I still had of some amazing Danyeela Paper and traced it with the Saral Transfer Paper on a piece of cardstock with a pencil.
then I started playing with the different pencils HB, 2B and 4B
I liked realizing again the different possibilities of the pencils and then I took some Derwent Artbars and started painting the background
I took it to the second floor by adding the journaling also with the pencil – so in total I only used pencils, Artbars, Adhesive and a Photo for this layout
hehehe- this photo of Julie had to be used some day…don’t you think ;)
 I am not super happy with the outcome. The frame looks ok- and I like the pencil painting- but actually I don’t like the rest…It didn’t look good without any paint surrounding it but I wonder if a softer looking medium like PanPastels would look better around it.
What I learned from this challenge:
  1. I was reminded that it is fun to play with different pencils – something about their smoothness makes me happy.
  2. I liked playing with the tracing paper – I hadn’t used it before and I can see some fun possibilities using it
  3. I would rather have used Panpastels that would have left a softer background here to have the pencil frame more set off
  4. It was fun using some of the Artbars on the pencil frame- the way how the waxy Artbars react with the pencils is fun
  5. I like using a pencil for journaling
  6. It was calming to work so long with just a few supplies – instead of feeling limited I felt actually kind o relieved and I had more ideas just focusing on them
  7. I still can’t draw….a 2 year old draws nicer pencil pictures then me- there will be only ever be tracing for me ;)

If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:

add your own creations inspired by our 2nd Floor Challenge: Pencil

have a wonderful day

hugs

Nat

Related articles
Filed Under: 2nd Floor, Neocolor II/Derwent Artbar

Second Floor Challenge #5: Found Object

June 5, 2012 By

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our 5th Second Floor Challenge: Found Object

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

Found Objects….Love them. What does this mean in the Art World?

Let me just quote Wikipedia: “A found object, in an artistic sense, indicates the use of an object which has not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which exists for another purpose already. Found objects may exist either as utilitarian, manufactured items, or things which occur in nature. In both cases the objects are discovered by the artist or musician to be capable of being employed in an artistic way, and are designated as “found” to distinguish them from purposely created items used in the art forms.”

But an found object could also just be something that you found!

My problem with found objects is, that I want to incorporate them in my work- but then I can’t get over me to use them. Because most of those objects are one of a kind findings at a flea market, a junk yard or something I have this “perfect moment” feeling. This leads to piles of stuff of objects that are desperately whispering “take me, take me!” yet….I am just ignoring it ;)

So the first floor was ….picking up stuff that I had in my pile of “found objects” to use. I didn’t make a huge effort – I simply picked the first three items I found on the pile.

Lightbulbs – mini lightbulbs, which i had found last in Australia at a junk yard, a little cross stitching hoop – I have no clue where this came from , and a vintage yarn spool which I found at a flea market in the States and says Kismet on the spool ends- FATE :)

I transfered some beautiful Prima Ledger Paper to a canvas fabric and then added the found objects on top of it, pit a frame on top and and knew I would love to give this my friend Katja who is a costume director and made me my favorite clothings in my wardrobe :) (If you are ever in Hamburg for longer and are looking for awesome tailored clothes – let me know !)

But what I didn’t know for two days before I glued it down, was…what else and which paint media I should add. It was taunting me. Every time I passed  the project walking by…I thought…”I like it- but mmmmhh what am I going to add to it?”. I took everything apart, arranged everything differently and yet…in the end I would end up with exactly the same design as before. And walk out of the studio, sighing again…

And then…I slapped my hand against my forehead hard today…still have some fingermarks…”Mc Fly…you like it as it is, so just glue all down and leave it” . It is OK to not use paint media (pssstttt….I used gel medium but don’t tell anyone ;) )

What I learned from this challenge:

  1. It is ok to use stuff from the pile of found objects…it is not even noticeable that something is missing.
  2. The frame hiding underneath a stretched canvas is a beautiful thing.
  3. It doesn’t kill me to not use paint on a project.
  4. Less is sometimes more
  5. Projects like this are extremely hard to photograph- it looks so much better in real life …sigh
  6. I am cheating and even lie in my blog post since I actually not used the first 3 things I found in the pile…my hand magically wandered over the Dresden dolls…because seriously they need to be on a really really cool project, I haven’t even dreamed of yet ;)

If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:

add your own creations inspired by our 2nd Floor Challenge: Found Object

have a wonderful day

hugs

Nat

Filed Under: 2nd Floor

Second Floor Challenge #4: Circles

May 15, 2012 By

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our fourth Second Floor Challenge: Circles

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

Circles…I love circles…Circles are a big part of my creating ….I use them often…hand drawn, cut out of paper, made with markers. Circles are just such an amazing form to tie elements on a layout or project together. And so I decided I would this time just start with circles, instead of adding them later to my work and see where those circles would lead me to.

I started out on some water-color paper, drawing circles and adding some Derwent Inktense Blocks to it. Then I grabbed my Derwent ArtBars and added some more colors to the circles- simply just playing.

I liked the outcome but what to do with it?

So I decided to take those circles to the 2nd Floor. I chose a paper- a Pink Paislee Mistable Paper – which I would usually transform, as this is what they are made for. Those papers are giving you permission to play with water based paint media on top to change the color of the background to your liking and reveal through a resist some nice patterns on the paper. But I decided to let the background be as it is….and added the circles.

I added some marker circles and then I decided to actually go also a different design route. I wanted to place the photo in a for me unusual way – so I placed it in the right corner and I also wanted the circles to be part of the focal point even thought I kind of clustered them. So I formed my visual triangle, that leads the eye including the circles as a part forming the triangle.

(photo credit: helene larsson)

I really love this – although it is a bit different from what I usually do

What I learned from this challenge:

  1. Circles are a great starting point to warm up and then do something new with them.
  2. I like hand cut circles more than perfect cirlces…I think it just fits better with my style
  3. It is fine to leave a paper that is made for changing the color as it is
  4. Breaking habits on where to place stuff is fun – it lead me to something I really like
  5. I like how the Derwent ArtBars and Derwent Inktense Blocks work together
  6. playing with watercolor paper and including that into my projects is a new passion of mine- there is just something about this paper that makes me think “you deserve to be used more often because you are beautiful!”
  7. This challenge also lead me to thinking how much I love what I do – how happy it makes me to teach and see students be inspired and that inspires me….the circle closes…..

If you’d like to show off your response to this Second Floor challenge, leave a link!



have a wonderful day

hugs

Nat

Filed Under: 2nd Floor

Second Floor Challenge # 3: Truth

April 24, 2012 By

 Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challange

So today is our third Second Floor Challange: Truth

Click here to see what Julie did http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2012/04/second-floor-challenge-3-truth.html

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

Truth..yes -when Julie proposed that theme I didn’t think it would be too difficult! Yeah…right. Little did I know. Just the word truth as a start…ok…

First step for me was to get an idea at all as an inspiration as to what to do….and I googled it…nothing too new for me…nothing to inspiring…I even asked Siri and that is what she told me:

mhhh great Siri, that doesn’t help – I mean I do a lot of open statements in my work….I try to stay true to myself…I show true feelings, thoughts etc…so now what?

I started googling songs containing truth …mmhh – clearly still first floor as I did this before ;) I found this one by John Lennon

This resonated a bit with me- especially those lines:

…
I’m sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
…
I’m sick to death of seeing things
From tight-lipped, condescending, mama’s little chauvinists
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth now
…
I’ve had enough of watching scenes
Of schizophrenic, ego-centric, paranoiac, prima-donnas
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth
…
Actually…this resonates a lot with me – absolutely the truth…I’m sick of such stuff..wether it be in politics, work life or with people that surround you sometimes.   I also found that Dark blue is the color of truth and moderation.
OK – Challenge is up – the plan was to incoporate the song and only use dark blues…
going up from light blue to dark blue —-as if digging for the truth. And doing it all in one color…was actually my walk up to the second floor- I am really not so much a monochromatic person- LOL
or maybe, I took it to the second floor via journaling ;)
I so can’t wait to see what you come up with ….
What I learned from this challenge:
  1. The moment you think you are not challenged you lost…you are challenged ;)
  2. There is no elevator to an successful page you need to take the stairs and I didn’t – this is a last minute page because I was struggling with the theme.
  3. I usually work in a way that I do the backgrounds darker and then layer them up to get lighter…I like the different way thought…Need to do this more often
  4. Monochromatic is actually pretty cool – it makes you also aware of how many shades of blue are out there.
  5. I used cheese cloth many times before but I actually really like it in the monochromatic layer on top of acrylic paint and then spraypainted – it gives a pretty cool dimension.
  6. It doesn’t help when you start thinking of what your challenge partner…aka Julie might do with this theme…just stay in your own brain, it is hard enough to get that figured out ;)
  7. Siri is as useful as a cough ;) Sorry Siri ;)

If you’d like to show off your response to this Second Floor challenge, leave a link!

 TRUTH

have a wonderful day

hugs

Nat


Filed Under: 2nd Floor, Art Journal

Second Floor Challenge #2: Use Something New

April 3, 2012 By

Today is the second Second Floor Challenge. Julie and I are so amazed by the response and the awesome things you showed us wether officially in the link list or in the private Flickr Group!

This time the challenge was to use a supply from your room you never used before. Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

Click here to see what Julie did.

So I first was looking around in my craft room and one of the supplies that I snapped right away were my Letraset Aquamarkers.

Aquamarkers are water based markers and I have to admit I have them for over a year and not even unpacked them – it was about time!

First of all I unpacked them…and actually tried them on some different surfaced papers …well that is not really even getting into the first floor…that is more like taking something out of your mailbox and sniffing in the envelope before you actually enter the front door.

After playing around a bit I finally took out a Mistable Paper – a paper by Pink Paislee that is coated with a Resist and to which I know the Aquamarkers as a water based color medium would work on. I applied different colors and blended them with a brush.

mhhh – ok…fine…..it worked, but it wasn’t really pushing me out of my slippers…so time to take it up to the second floor.

I used a Crafter’s Workshop Template over the background and sprayed it with Ranger’s Color Wash, then stamped it, applied a paper stencil on top which I had also unused and forever in my stash and put some white gesso over it.

After it dried I applied some of the water markers to a craft sheet and with a wet brush I picked up the paint and painted the gesso areas…BOY….that was UGLY…I totally disliked the result and I was about to give up and cheat…yep. Not lying here…I was thinking, if I would just pick another supply I haven’t used yet, you might never know…LOL. But ok…if you put yourself out there- you’d better be honest…so ….ok…I fell down a couple stairs, but let’s try to get going. TACKLE those stairs….

So I applied the markers directly to the gesso and AHA- better with the outcome of the paints- but boy….STILL UGLY!

I started to get a bit annoyed…and angry…with myself…I felt a bit like Anette Bening in American Beauty where she starts crazily cleaning the window repeating “I will sell this house today” besides I was mumbling through my teeth “I will tackle those markers today” Take a look here to imagine how I felt:

I applied a stamp over…mmmhh- that tied it a bit together and actually I started to like SOME parts of it.

Wait a second….some parts….mmmhhh – ok – so I just cut some circles free hand out.

And I remembered that I actually liked the look of the Aquamarkers on the watercolor paper – so decided to do a background which I later on applied to my artjournal.

I actually like my journal page…LOL- especially since I …and now you…know the story behind it ;)

What I learned from this challenge

  1. I do not like the fact that I, the person who loves paint media has unused paint media in the studio- what a waste. This will not happen again ;)
  2. I realized though that there is paint media that I get only luke warm with.
  3. The darker colors spread nicer over porous surfaces then the lighter colors
  4. Although water based, sprayed with something else water based, doesn’t reactivate in a huge capacity as other water based reactivated media.
  5. When I applied white gesso on top, the gesso picked up some of the Ranger Colorwash but it didn’t pick up the Aquamarkers.
  6. I was never able to really put my finger on it, but now I know for sure I do not like muted colors too much.
  7. I also learned – or better finally I know for sure- that I do not like harsh marker lines- I like it blended.
  8. If something doesn’t work as a whole …try to break it down…cut it in pieces.
  9. Keep going…the outcome might be still fun…especially because you remember the  process itself.
  10. While just playing, even if it doesn’t go the way you think, you might have some other cool ideas for different projects.
  11. I really love watercolor paper ripped and with the watercolor effect – I think I will use this again!

Wow…actually not too bad what I learned…I hope  you enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see what you come up with too.

If you decide to play along with our Second Floor challenge (we’d love to have you) please leave a link to your blog or wherever you decide to share your project!  Of course, I would love it if you’d share a line or two in your blog post or flickr photo comment about something you learned from the project.  (If Julie and I have done this linky list correctly, when you leave a link on Julie’s blog it should show up on this blog and vice versa.)

If you’ve made something for the Second Floor “Use Something New” challenge, leave a link!



If you’re not up for sharing 100% publicly, we have set up a totally private flickr group.  It’s a way of sharing within a safe space. If you want to join the flickr group, you will need to e-mail us at (secondfloorchallenge AT gmail DOT com) and we’ll send you an invitation.

have a wonderful day

hugs

Nat

Filed Under: 2nd Floor, Art Journal
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