It’s Tuesday so it’s once again time for my Creative Squad to show you a fun project, and we are at the start of April now, so we have a new theme too! The theme for April is “My City Speaks to Me” and throughout the month, the team will be using my new Urban Scribble Foam Stamp, Rubber Stamp and Stencil Set. This month’s theme is all about expressing what your hometown or city is all about. What makes it special, vibrant, and important to you? This month, our Creative Squad will take us on a trip to their city!
So without further ado, here is the uber creative Gwen Lafleur with her gorgeous interpretation of the theme!
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I live in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah, but I work downtown and one of my favorite views is when I’m driving in and the city comes into view up against the mountains. I especially love it when the sun is coming up in the background (or the sunset behind the mountains on the other side of the valley when I’m driving home at night!) There are frequently spectacular colors and I never get tired of the view; the contrast of the man-made city with the rugged mountains really draws me. It also influences a lot of the culture here – my office mates are frequently off doing morning ski tours before work and lunchtime discussion usually centers around outdoor activities. I’m not particularly outdoorsy, but I love the views and the openness of this area, and after recently moving back here from Chicago, I’m especially loving the more laid back and less crowded lifestyle!
With those thoughts in mind, when I got this month’s challenge I immediately knew that I needed to use the Urban Scribble stamps backed by mountains of some kind. I started by taking an 11″x14″ sheet of heavy weight mixed media paper and I sketched out where I wanted the mountains to be. I used pages torn from a telephone book along with Mod Podge mixed with water and put crumpled paper within the outline of the mountains in the foreground.
Once they were dry, I used Montana Granit Effect spray paint and gave them a good coat – it really helps them look like rock! I used a few washes of acrylic paint on top to add a little shading and dry brushed some white on the tops (since the mountains still have their snow caps right now.)
Next, I gesso’d the area above my mountains and painted in some more in the background, then I added a sunrise with lots of fluorescent paints. For the city, I took a few sheets of drawing paper and gesso’d them, then painted them with different shades of gray and silver. When they were dry, I stamped on them twice with both the detailed side of the foam stamp and the rubber stamp. I also stamped in gray with the solid side of the foam stamp. I cut out each individual stamped image and mounted them all on a thin sheet of cardboard, then cut them out again. I lined them up in front of the mountains on my piece and started adhering them in layers, using stacked cardboard on the back of each piece to add dimension. I cut some of the cityscapes into smaller pieces so I could arrange them the way I wanted.
Once that was done, I added a wash of color here and there. I used a black Stabilo All pencil to add some definition to the mountains, then I finished the piece by using the stencil that comes in this set in the sky and in the bottom corners and on some of the buildings and outlined the whole piece with a gold paint marker.
I really love the contrast of the texture from the mountains with the stamped buildings, as well as the colorless early morning city against the beautiful colors of the sunrise. I think it even looks a bit like Salt Lake!
And maybe you will even play along -we would love to see how you interpret the theme – email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share what you did at the beginning of next month!
See you next Tuesday for the another project with the theme ‘My City Speaks to Me’.
I’m super excited to introduce you to the newest addition of my n*Studio Site: the 
Comments (18)
Dee Ann O'Brien
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Amazing mountains that really enhance the city!
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gwenlafleur
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Thanks so much! I just wish I could capture a fraction of how beautiful it is in real life, but it’s sure fun to try!
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Karen Petitt
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I have no words to express how wonderful this is. I get it completely because we lived in central London for a long time and the one thing I love about coming home was the city behind and the country ahead. Its beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful, awesome – not enough words to express how great it is. Thank you for sharing some of your process too. As I recent convert to mixed media I would not have had a clue how you created those mountains – it’s genius! Many thanks for the fabulous inspiration and for sharing your art with us Karen x
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gwenlafleur
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Thank you Karen! There’s just something about the contrast of city and nature that really speaks to you, isn’t there? You’re also making me want to go back and visit London again :D
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Joi@RR
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Oh my gracious – THIS is a FABULOUS creation Gwen. I am just blown away by the dimension and texture of this piece. YOU – dear girl – totally GLORIFIED Nat’s Urban Scribble. And since it’s my very fav one – I am just THRILLED to see this. HIGH FIVE!!!! Your entire piece is SPLENDID – your mountains are beyond GORGEOUS. LOVE love love this. j.
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gwenlafleur
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Aw, thank you so very much! I really love this set too and it was so much fun to use. So glad you liked it!
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cheiron
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This is one amazing page Gwen! I love the texture…what a beautiful city.
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gwenlafleur
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Thanks Cherion! The texture is definitely my favorite part :)
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Karenliz Henderson
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WOW amazing piece. Just gorgeous! I love the way you created the mountains plus the sky is gorgeous.
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gwenlafleur
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Thank you so much! It was lots of fun to put together :)
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Lynn Reed
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Wonderful artwork! Love the buildings and the mountains and the bright accent color of the sky.
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gwenlafleur
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Thanks so much Lynn!
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Sue Clarke
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I LOVE the texture in the mountains Gwen. Nice piece for sure!
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gwenlafleur
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Thanks Sue! The mountains are my favorite part as well… it was a bit of an experiment, but I love how it came out!
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Michelle LaPoint Rydell
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Wow! Gwen, your page is StUNNING!!! The dimension is fabulous, and that sunrise is breathtaking!
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gwenlafleur
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Thanks so much Michelle! I had a lot of fun putting this one together :)
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Laurie Hunt
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Gwen this is beautiful! I totally get how you feel about those mountains. I recently moved from Detroit to Phoenix and I love every time I go out seeing those mountains over the valley — and our mountains are nothing compared to yours! I tell my husband all the time I hope I never lose that awe inspiring feeling as I look around this beautiful southwest. Great work. Loved the step outs and the commentary.
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gwenlafleur
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Thanks so much Laurie! Yeah, I can imagine that going from Detroit to Arizona would be very similar… that’s a beautiful area too :) I’m with you… I never want to lose that sense of awe!
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