Hello Everyone, this is one of two posts today...
The lovely Sara Emily is our host at Anything But Cute where we are celebrating Valentine's Day with a 'Grungy Love' theme.
In Sara's own words - "To celebrate St. Valentine's Day, we would like to see you make a Grungy Valentine's project for your sweetheart! It can be a card, tag, or anything else you might give a loved one to show them how much you care. Just make sure it's grungy!"
For my Sweetheart's Valentine creation I used a 6 inch square wood base (purchased from Indigo Blu), lots of paint in some of his favourite colours, some random stamping, a grungy crackled heart and some 'industrial' embellishing.
I painted the wood board with a good layer of the white gesso and once dry I added a few pieces of Tim Holtz tissue tape.
I then added some colour, not too heavy, I just lightly loaded my brush, first with Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Scattered Straw and then some Indigo Blu English Cottage acrylic paint in 'Grandma's Teacup' - this paint goes a long, long way and you only need a tiny amount.
It was a bit too blue for my liking so I added some more of the white gesso to knock back the colour a little bit. Next, I took a couple of the stamps and stamped randomly using the Indigo Blu black gesso. I still wasn't entirely happy so I got out my Andy Skinner Industrial set of stamps and I stamped randomly over the entire board, using Wendy Vecchi's Archival Ink in Watering Can. I love the way the gesso stamping comes to the fore and is slightly dimensional - and the Archival Ink stamping goes to the back. I am happy with my background now.
I gathered together some of the items I wanted to use. DecoArt Media Gesso in white, Indigo Blu Gesso (Gee-so-good) in black and my favourite background stamps, Rugged Edge by Limor Webber for Indigo Blu.
Next up is the heart embellishment. I cut a heart freehand and coated it with the Indigo Blu gesso in black. Once dry I added a coat of my favourite crackle medium - Weathered Wood by DecoArt.
Once the heart was dry I painted the heart with DecoArt Qunacridone Magenta Media Fluid Acrylic, with just a tiny drop of Paynes Grey added in to give the heart a slightly more grungy look.
As with all crackle techniques it is best to 'seal' the crackle and I used the DecoArt Ultra-Matt Varnish, it really does give a beautiful matt finish.
To grunge the heart a little more I twisted some black wire and added two lengths to my heart.
I thought the base looked a little bare so I added some cogs to two of the corners. The cogs were cut from some thick card using my new Memory Box Cog die.
To make the heart 'pop' a bit more I went all around the outside edge of the heart with a charcoal pencil and then smudged it with my finger. In real life it makes the heart look really dimensional.
To finish off I added some chit chat words by Tim Holtz.
I hope you like my grungy, masculine Valentine Project and I hope you will join us at Anything But Cute this month in our 'Grungy Love' mixed media challenge.
As I have used Indigo Blu stamps and paints I would like to enter this into Indigo Blu's latest challenge - where the theme is Anything Goes.
I would also like to enter into Countryview Crafts challenge where the theme is Make your
Own Background.
As always, thanks so much for looking, I have another project up already today - sorry for bombarding you but it is just the way it is sometimes!
Hugs, Anne xx
Hi Anne, love this just my sort of thing must pop over and take a look at the challenge. Have a great weekend, Angela x
ReplyDeleteWow Anne, this is so amazing!! I love the combination of the soft blue and yellow in the background and then putting the grungy black stamping on top of it! Your heart turned out so incredible, the rusted wire is such a great detail, and I love how you coiled it up for some extra interest! It's always such a treat to get to see how you have put something together, thanks for the wonderful step by step!! hugs :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Anne! I love the background a crackled heart. What a gorgeous canvas.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Anne! I love the background a crackled heart. What a gorgeous canvas.
ReplyDeleteHe will really love this great Valentine!
ReplyDeleteOMG, Anne, your grungy Valentine canvas is completely stunning! What a wonderful combination of soft blue and yellow tones with black and red! Love your cogs and gears, your incredibly awesome crackled heart with a wire, beautifully stamped background and a perfect quote! Brilliant, my friend! Huge hugs to you! Branka xxx
ReplyDeleteGrungy Loving Goodness! That heart just pops against that fabulous background! I love this Valentine and I am so sure your sweetie will as well! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteCompletely fell in love with your WILD and FUNKY background Anne. Then you added that FABULOUSLY TEXTURED heart and my eyes just went wild - between it and the background texture. It might be too much for some folks but for me it was SPECTACULARLY INTRIGUING. I really like your grunge! You definitely have inspired me to try! XX j.
ReplyDeleteWOW!! I love everything about this ..... the background looks amazing, the colours are fab, that heart is just stunning and I love the twisted wire. I'm sure your sweetheart will love it too. Have a great weekend. xx
ReplyDeleteFabulous Anne I especially like the little hint of Scattered Straw plu the heart is an amazing piece of art.
ReplyDeleteWarm crafty hugs from Shirl x x x
ShirlsCards.
anne, it looks like I'm already a little late to the party, and it's going to be hard to say something someone hasn't already said. But I'll say it anyway! I am loving the soft pastel looking background which contrasts perfectly with the deep grungy stamping. I will agree that using the different mediums to stamp with lends a great amount of depth to your background. And of course, your crackled heart with those metal spirals are just pure grungy love to me! Incredible work, as always! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteLove your heart, Anne! And that background is perfect - love the stamping with those great grungy images! xxx Lynn
ReplyDeleteWow! Love this grungy Valentine - especially the bit of wire you used on the crackle heart. Fabulous!
ReplyDelete{julia}
Oooooh, I think your lover man will be over the moon with this declaration of love from you, Annie! It is magnificent and magnificently grungy!! Love and hugs, Darnell
ReplyDeletea really fabulous piece Anne - love all the layers and the crackle and its definitely wonderfully grungy! Thanks also for joining us at Countryview challenges and also at Indigo Blu this month too! Hugs Rachel x
ReplyDeleteOh wow, you are a busy lady today! Really fabulous and so very cleverly put together, - absolutely love it!! Brilliant project! Love how you used those IB stamps, they make for a fantastic background!
ReplyDeleteFabulous background and gorgeous crackle heart! Wonderful! xxx
ReplyDeleteWow Anne you definitely met the challenge criteria with your grungy love card. Love the crackle on your heart and the awesome background. That Limor Webber stamp is awesome. Thank you for sharing the techniques,I must have a play!Thank you too for your comments on my blog they are much appreciated. Hugs Lottie x
ReplyDeleteWell dearie, I am intrigued by the color blue and yellow together that blend so beautifully into this industrial masculine design. Whoot whoot! Your use of the stamps and the different inks sure brings the background to life. fantabulous! You totally grunged this design-rock on! Hugz to you muffin! ~Niki
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful make. I love the way you created the background. Pale blue & yellow would not have sprung to my mind when thinking "Grunge" but it so works.
ReplyDeleteToni xx
A fabulous creation Anne and lucky David, bet he will adore it. I love the crackle and wire on the heart and the very masculine feel you have achieved to the board.
ReplyDeleteHugs Brenda xxx
Oh Anne I really love this card. The background is fabulous, and very masculine. Love the cog die in the corner and fabulous crackle heart and rusty wire to complete the look, you clever lady. Mo x
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fantastic! I love the background and your crackled heart! Your tutorial is perfect too!
ReplyDeleteWhere in the world do you keep all this stuff Anne! As Miss Sara Emily says - Grunge can go anywhere!!! I love what you did with the wire around the heart --- now that should give me some ideas!
ReplyDeleteVery creative and even though I know you are a TH gal -- I never think of you as grungy!
Sandy xx
Great grungy background and heart too - love those crackles and the wire coils! Elaine xx
ReplyDeleteBrilliantly grungy Anne, David will treasure this. Wonderfully designed with love ladled into each and every gorgeous detail. Major question though, how on earth do you manage to maintain such a clean and organised workspace - look at those immaculate step by step photos!!! I'm so glad no-one can see my desk when there is a work in progress! Sorry for having been so absent, need to stay away from pc and have no works in progress at de mo alas. I do hope you are improving? Nx
ReplyDeleteThe grungy, industrial appearance works an absolute treat yet it doesn't detract from the message of love exuding from this mixed media panel.
ReplyDeleteStunning!
Anne, hope life is being kind to you.
Wishes
Lynne
Always enjoy seeing how your creative process works through, so the description and pictures are much appreciated. I know it takes extra time to photo the steps. Also appreciate seeing the products involved. This is just so unusual & clever, and says I Love You just perfectly for a special fella. You've done it once again! Love the twisted wire...looks terrific as an extra detail on the crackled heart...as did the tiny black gears! Hope you're feeling better. TFS & Hugs
ReplyDeleteLOVE the coiled wire and crackled heart! Fabulous card!!!!
ReplyDeleteAmazing background Anne and love your crackled heart and coils of wire! Deb xo
ReplyDeleteJust love those grungy background layers, and the wiry crackled heart makes a fantastic focal image. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteAlison xx
Gosh Anne! Completely in love with this! Great to see those IB stamps and paints getting a workout and that heart is superb. Jenny x
ReplyDeleteA stunning layout Anne and wonderful background details. The heart looks fabulous too.
ReplyDeleteHuge hugs Annie xx
This is awesome, Anne! Love your background. Very grungy layers of greatness! The crackled heart is so perfect as your focal point. It really pops off the background. Love the twisted wire on the heart, too. That added dimension just adds to the overall design!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous works, I love the gears and crackled heart is perfect! Barbara
ReplyDeleteLove the background works so well with the heart. Thank you for joining the IndigoBlu Challenge. Kay x
ReplyDeletewhat a great Valentine for David, Anne - I even love your background of paint and stampings before you added the heart and gears! You'll have to use that technique again on something! Of course, the dark gears and crackled heart make it wonderfully masculine - love the looped wire on the heart too! Have a lovely weekend! Julia xx
ReplyDeleteStunning make Anne! I especially love the spiral wire detail. :)
ReplyDeleteHugs
Samra
Paper Talk with Samra
Amazing piece of mixedmedia, Redanne! Thanks for playing with us at IndigoBlu challenge :-)
ReplyDeleteSincere apologies Anne - I was sure I had visited and left a comment for this fab project but it seems not - I am so so SORRY and am so annoyed with myself .
ReplyDeleteYour Valentine creation is absolutely fabulous - the background is superb - so much detail and so grungy - LOVE it . Love your crackled heart embellished with the coiled wire and your cogs are the perfect finishing touch . I have alot of grungy love for this creation my friend .
hugs xx
Wow! Fabulous project! Love the textures, colour combos & everything! Thanks for sharing the tutorial :)
ReplyDeleteGreat project! Love it! Thank you for joining us at the IndigoBlu Challenge
ReplyDeleteGreat project, thanks for joining us at the IndigoBlu challenge.
ReplyDeleteHugs Wenda
Fabulous textural piece and love the wire additions, wonderful Anne! Ruth x
ReplyDeleteWoot woot, congrats on your top 3 at Indigoblu! :) Hugs, Autumn
ReplyDeleteStunning project. Love that background and the textural heart is fabulous x
ReplyDelete