Hi everyone and welcome! It's time to unleash a new challenge for you over at A Vintage Journey - and Spring Is In The Air; our host Sandy wants you to leave those winter blues behind. Make anything that says SPRING using pastel colours. It is your choice, a card, canvas, 3D or a tag, etc. but remember it should be in one of the vintage; shabby; mixed media; art journalling; industrial or steampunk styles that we favour. Once again we are sponsored by Country View Crafts and the winner will receive a £20 voucher to spend with them.
I love Spring. It's by far my favourite time of year; the days are getting longer and lighter, the birds sing, the buds and blossoms appear and there's a real sense of optimism in the air. I'm celebrating this wonderful time with a floral garland and a couple of fun ideas for using your Distress Crayons.
Having given the canvas a coat of black gesso I stencilled through the Prairie Flower and From The Garden stencils, poured on some Picket Fence Distress Spray Stain and (when dry) scribbled over the Peacock Feathers and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Crayons. Then I misted on a little water and went back in with a brush to blend it all together. It gave me a fabulous pastel look and also meant I could go back in over the top with the same Distress Crayons (and some Twisted Citron) and add extra colour/detail.
You can paint with your Distress Crayons, either by applying a good amount directly to the paper and drawing out the colour with a water brush, or my favourite way is to use my water brush directly onto the crayon to draw out some colour with which to paint the embossed flowers. This also means you have control over the depth of colour achieved so you can make it softer or stronger.
The little flowers were layered over embossed leaves, and you may notice I also allowed some dilute black gesso to run over the top of the blended background to break it up a little. Here are some close ups...
I'm entering this into the following challenges;
(with Wendy Vecchi as the Special Guest Artist and two of her stamp sets up for grabs it would be rude not to!)
The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Challenge - All Things Distress (that would be the crayons then!)
Now I urge you to hop on over and see the Spring projects my fellow Creative Guides have conjured up to delight and inspire you, and then it's your turn! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with to celebrate this wonderful season...
Take care everyone, Jenny xxx
Love the black gesso and the flowers are to die for. Such a lovely creation. Great techniques used here and thanks so much for sharing. Sandy xx
ReplyDeleteHi Jennie, love how you incorporated the Distress Crayons in this piece. The background works so well applyng the stain over the texture and then adding the crayon, lovely. Love how you coloured the flowers too. Gorgeous uplifting Spring piece of art. Have a lovely weekend Jennie. Tracy x
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, Beautiful and wonderful spring inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThe dribbles of your wreath add a great feeling of motion to your piece Jenny - love the blue and bright colors of the blooms against the black! Julia xx
ReplyDeleteThis is such a beautiful bouquet of flowers Jenny! I love how you share the tips. The black background just makes everything pop so beautifully!!!
ReplyDeleteDot x
What a colourful, vibrant and beautiful piece! Love those rich colours against the black background! It's stunning!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for joining in our challenge at Stamps and Stencils this month! Branka DT x
What a fantastic 'burst' of Spring colour Jenny - I don't think you could describe the arrival of Spring in a better way than this! The flowers are stunning against the beautiful background you created and you have given us some more great tips for using the Distress crayons - thank you, as always, for the inspiration! Anne xx
ReplyDeleteFabulous. Love the black background because everything pops against it. The blue burst is like the spring sky and the flower garland is just plain happy after a dreary winter. Thanks for the tips with the crayons since mine arrived this week and now I have some help using them for the first time.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
Cec
Gorgeous work ... the colours really pop.against that black. Beautiful work jenny xx
ReplyDeleteWow, this is one cool concept! The black is such a fabulous background for these bright colors. Truly amazing use of stamps and Distress crayons! WOW!
ReplyDeleteOh and thank you so much for sharing this fabulous project with us at Stamps & Stencils. Hugs, Autumn
DeleteA fabulous burst of spring colour just looking fabulous on the black background and the gorgeous texture underneath. And thanks for the tips about the Distress Crayons - much appreciated! A stunning project Jenny. I hope you have a lovely weekend. Jennie x
ReplyDeleteLove the bright colours over the black background - and lots of lovely tips for when I finally get to crack open my crayons to play, thank you!
ReplyDeleteAlison x
Beautiful Jenny, loving the contrast of the black background against those lovely florals on top and thanks for sharing how you created that amazing background, it is very striking! Deb xo
ReplyDeleteOh my Jennie I just adore this beautiful canvas full of wonderful colours and techniques, you have built up those layers so cleverly using stencils and distress, but those gorgeous flowers really pop amongst the colours and contrast delightfully against the black background. Love it.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend.
Hugs Brenda xxx
Such a gorgeous and bright piece Jenny, love those fresh Spring colours you used and all the dimension you added with the flowers!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding it to our MMM challenge too!
Fabulous! Jenny . Such a striking piece full of lush colors and great techniques especially using the distress crayons. Wonderful quote too to compliment the fabulous creativity .
ReplyDeletehave a lovely weekend
hugs x
Your creations is gorgeous, lots of texture, love it
ReplyDeletethanks for joining our challenge over at
http://creativeartistemixedmedia.blogspot.com.au/
Debbie DT
Awesome project Jenny! Thanks for the technique info, I'm going to try that with my crayons. Thanks so much for joining us at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous piece, Jenny! Love all the new techniques using the Crayons! Want to try them all! Hugs, Sandra
ReplyDeletethis is beautiful! i love the bright colors against the black. such fun techniques, too! Thank you so much for playing with the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!
ReplyDelete-Rachel
rwkrafts.com
A stunning garland - what a fabulous idea. Your distress crayon flowers are just gorgeous and the black background and dribbles are so effective. xxx
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at how opaque the Distress crayons are on black! Love this design with the flowers bursting out of the dark background. Thanks for showing us this splendid make at Country View Challenges.
ReplyDeleteThe most glorious project. Absolutely love how you did the background on the black gesso. Gorgeous texture, beautiful colours and striking canvas, thank you for the inspiration x
ReplyDeleteWell this surely bursts with fantastic Spring-like energy Jenny! Great use of colour contrast at play. You are rockin' Tim's crayons!!! Fab inspiration. Nicola x
ReplyDeleteStill to get some crayons, thanks for the tips on your inspirational project. Love the bright colours against your black and the perfect sentiment to finish it off.
ReplyDeleteJulie x
SO INCREDIBLE!!! I completely forgot about my water pen and the versatility that gives all my other mediums.... thank you for jogging my memory and for the amazing step by steps of this creation. The best thing is seeing so many pictures...LOVE that!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work, Jenny.
Big hugs and happy weekend,
Lisa x
Such a beautiful make Jenny and the colours really pop against the black gesso......fabe stencilled area and those little flowers, sentiment and bow are perfect finishing touches.
ReplyDeleteSending huge hugs xx
Annie xx
Oh my goodness, this is stunning, Jenny!! The flowers look amazing!! They just pop against the black background!! This is so gorgeous!! I love, love it!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)
ReplyDeleteLisa
A Mermaid's Crafts
Wow, fabulous canvas with a beautiful floral wreath! Interesting techniques too!
ReplyDeleteWow I love the dimensional layers you have created on your canvas.... Thank you so much for entering our challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog, we hope to see you join in again...
ReplyDeleteHugs Rhonda DT & Owner xxx
http://creativeartistemixedmedia.blogspot.co.uk
Jenny, what a fabulous and colorful spring canvas! Using the black backdrop those blossoms really pop, and is such an effective technique! I am loving that yummy pastel blue against the black, and even loved it before you smudged and blended the crayons--both looks are so spring like! GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS! Your work is so inspiring! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteJust popped back to congratulate you Jenny on your top 3 win at CVC . Wahoo ! Delighted for you x
ReplyDeleteOh Jenny - this is absolutely GORGEOUS and Wow - just INCREDIBLE CREATIVE GENIUS. Soooo love the stenciling over the black making such a stunning background. And all your flowers and embellies - JUST STUNNINGLY FABULOUS. Soooo deserving of your win at Country View Crafts. YEAH!!!!!! Xj.
ReplyDelete