Metal Collage--Impressive

Picture this: I'm in my studio and I want to make a card for our mom because her birthday is coming up. I decide to make something awesome out of the new metal I got from Ten Seconds Studio. And I can't find the metal. Which is really strange because I just got it in the mail last week. Let me clarify. I find small pieces of the metal, but not the nice sheets of metal. What's going on???!!! It's causing me to over-punctuate!!!

I have to confess, I used your metal.

Shelby, that was a LOT of metal. What the h**l did you do with it?

We were out of aluminim foil, and I had to take some food to a shut-in. The good news is, it made a lovely presentation of my food. You should get us some more of that.

Never, NEVER use my pretty Ten Seconds metal for food again, because: 1) It costs way more than aluminum foil and should not be wasted on food; 2) I don't even know if it's non-toxic for food usage; and 3) it's MINE. There have to be some boundaries, Shelby. I'm so mad . . . I banish you from the blog for the rest of this episode. Oh, and 4) being hung over does not make someone a "shut-in."

Wait a . . .

No, you are out of here.

So anyway, I had these scraps of metal. What would happen, I thought to myself, if I put these scraps together in a collage? Can I come up with enough metal to cover the Big Daddy Mold No. 4 (also by Ten Seconds Studio and shown here).

So I cut some shapes and even got out my punches and cutting dies. I cut out three red hearts, two big red leaves, and three "Brrrr blue" birds.

What is "Brrrr blue"?

It's a fun name for a color of metal. Go away, Shelby! You're being punished.

I also punched out some oval shapes. When my collage looked the way I wanted it, I ran it and the mold through my Big Shot, and sanded the color off the metal. The metal stuck together beautifully during the sanding, even though I didn't use the best adhesive (I just used my tape gun).

I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out, and I hope my mom likes her card/fabulous artwork.

Until next time,

Cyndi

Encaustic Art with Artistic Outpost

Do you love this or what? The stamp is from a new plate by Artistic Outpost, and the coloring technique is encaustic wax painting. I love to stamp, and I love to play with encaustic wax, but I don't usually do them at the same time. However, this stamp looked like it was going to lend itself perfectly to a little encaustic action.

First I stamped the image with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (I love this ink, by the way) onto glossy white cardstock. After heat setting the ink, I applied the sky and the ground with an encaustic painting iron, then I stippled yellow, green, and red wax onto the tree with a wire brush head attached to an detail stylus. These tools can be found here if you are interested. Also, if you are interested in this technique, check out John Vandebrooke's website. His tutorials are wonderful, and his demeanor makes you want to invite him to a dinner party.

So you basically "ironed" colored wax on top of the stamped image, is that right?

Correct, Shelby. I put colored wax all over the iron and smoothed the wax on.

How come the house is still white? Did you use one of your fancy "resist techniques"?

No. I just scraped the wax off the house with my fingernail. (But good for you for paying attention when I talk about "resist" techniques.) Then I drew the birds in with wax using the detail stylus with a drawing tip.

Okay, enough about you and your wax. There are people who tune into this blog to hear about me.

How's that project going?

The project you assigned me so I could work on my stamping technique?

Yeah.

I have finished the long and boring assignment, and I will never believe that you let me do it for you just so I could work on my technique. I know you were just using me for grunt work. People, she had me stamp 125, yes 125, Christmas card insides.

Wow! That turned out great, Shelby!

It's a verse and a flower thing in the corner. The art world is all a-buzz.

No, seriously. It turned out way better than I thought it would. I can't believe how straight you stamped the verse.

I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig.

Then you, my favorite sister, are at least half way to being a rubber stamp artist. You would not believe how many of my experienced stamping friends never use that fabulous tool. But you have already learned the value of the stamp placement device. You need never suffer the despair of having an inked image appear anywhere except where you want it. You are the master of your stamping destiny.

Great, can I make a card front now?

Well, I'm not sure you're quite ready for that yet. Maybe if you stamp the 125 matching envelopes . . .

Cyndi and Shelby