DecoArtMedia Under the Sea Challenge: Mermaid Warrior

Hi everyone!!  Are you ready for another DecoArt Media challenge?  I hope so cuz this is a super fun one!!!  This challenge is an Under the Sea theme, YAY!  That means you can do anything from bright and fun fishies to dark and mysterious sea monsters or even cool submarine stuff. The Mixed Media Design Team has been very busy creating some great inspiration pieces that are being featuring throughout the challenge and we can’t wait to see what you come up with for this challenge.

The challenge is open for entries until August 12, 2016. The winner of this challenge will be chosen by the DecoArt Media Design Team on August 15th and announced on the DecoArt Media Social Media Channels on August 19th. The winner will receive a generous $100 DecoArt Gift Card for use on the DecoArt Media Online Store. Feel free to submit multiple entries!!!! 

I was seriously excited to start my project for this challenge.  I knew right away that I wanted to create a FIERCE mermaid warrior so that's what I set out to do.

I have a lot of scraps of paper in my stash so I decided to lay those down for my first layer.  If it was blue, down it went with American Decoupage Matte.

Next up, a little bit of random texture using the Americana Pixelated Stencil and DecoArt Media Crackle Paint.  I'm using the crackle paint in place of molding paste so I wasn't tying to get a crackle look.  I just wanted the added dimension.  I think the pixels kinda look like tiny bubbles.

I toned down the papers using white gesso before adding color.  I created the background using DecoArt Fluid Acrylics in Prussian Blue Hue, Cobalt Teal Hue mixed with Blue Interference.  The interference adds a beautiful pearlescent tone which helps create depth and the feeling that the rays of the sun are dancing through the water.  

Once the background was done it was time for the fun stuff: sketching!!  Yes, this is my favorite part of my projects.  The moment I've figured out my design and lay down my sketch because this is when my project comes to life.  My mermaid consists of the following DecoArt Fluid Acrylic colors:

Prussian Blue Hue, Cobalt Teal Hue, Phthalo Green-Blue, Paynes Grey, Pyrrole Red, Titian Buff, Titanium White, Hansa Yellow Medium, Cadmium Orange Hue and Burnt Sienna.

I added K&Company Tim Coffey die cut fish to help create my under the sea scene.  The top of her shield is from a turtle die cut.  In order to blend and bring the die cuts to life, I painted in details, highlights and shadows.

In order to give her that dripping with attitude, don't mess with me look, I added war paint to her face and chest.  I also added my favorite bohemian accessories like her arm band, necklace and cuff.  My girls just aren't complete without a little bohemian flair.

Now the only question is: should I add a quote or not.  Hmmm.......we shall see!!

I hope I've inspired you play along with us in the DecoArt Media Under the Sea challenge.  Be sure to stop by the DecoArt Media Blog for more Under the Sea inspiration and to check out all the other entries.  To purchase the products I've used, visit the DecoArt Online Store.

Thank you so much for joining me today!   Have a beautiful day!!

Mermaid - Advice needed on this one

Hi everyone, I hope you had a great Easter weekend!  I working on this new canvas.  I don't have any progress pics to share other than the ones on FB because this one went really fast.

I love the way this turned out but I need your help deciding on adding a quote or leaving it as is.

I found a quote that I think would work well but I just can't decide whether or not to add it.

So here is a full shot of the canvas as is: Option 1

And here is the canvas with the words added digitally: Option 2.

  

So what do you think?  Add the quote or not?  If I add it, it would be handwritten not digitally printed.  Help, please, share your thoughts :D

Update!  I ended up leaving the original without words but added the quote to the prints.  Both are now available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

1.Original   2.Print

I Must Be a Mermaid - PWP Mixed Media Canvas

If you're looking for the Zeus and Zoe Blooms Blog Hop, CLICK HERE

Hello sweet bloggie friends!  Thank you all so much for making the Zeus and Zoe Blooms Blog Hop such a success!!  I am beyond thrilled to have so many new people stopping by and following along.  So I'm sending out BIG virtual hugs to all the new followers and a special THANK YOU to all of you who stop by and say hello on a regular basis!  You all make each one of my days beautiful with all your sweet comments :D

I wanted to let you know that I was also posting over at The Aviary.  I created this sweet mixed media canvas using the Paper Wings Productions July Nesting Components kit and some of their ocean themed stamp sets.  What's really cool about this piece is that I used one of my used up sheets of palette paper for the background.  Head on over to check it out: I Must Be A Mermaid!!

If you haven't hopped with Zeus and Zoe, you still have time!  This is the blog candy that I'm giving away and each one of the participating designers is giving away a wonderful prize pack.  

Thanks again for all your sweet comments!  

HAVE A TERRIFIC TUESDAY!!!

My Favorite Things - Zeus and Zoe June Challenge

Hello Everyone!  I'm very excited to be back with you all today, I took a little time off to take care of a few pressing matters and to enjoy all of the end of year activities that my youngest had going on at school.  Summer has officially started for us so I'm hoping to enjoy some down time but we will see!  

Anywho, my DT time with Zeus and Zoe has really flown by and this month marks the final month of our normal term.  So I'm thrilled to be joining the EXTREMELY talented Denise Van Deventer to bring you this month's challenge!  So here is our challenge post from the Zeus and Zoe blog:

This month's challenge is inspired by the lyrics of Julie Andrews song "My Favorite Things"

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things!

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things!

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eye lashes

Silver white winters that melt into spring

These are a few of my favorite things!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember

my favorite things

and then I don't feel so bad!

We all have those favorite little things that we just can't help gravitating to and maybe even collecting.  So this month we want to see projects highlighting YOUR very favorite things and to kick things off, we've put together a couple of boards to share the things that we love!

For me (Denise) personally, my favorite things that come to mind are: my shoes, my morning cup of coffee, my flowers in the garden, comfort winter food eg. soup or a beautifully decadent cupcake. So here is my board for some inspiration.

I

Now anybody that really knows me, really knows that I have quite a shoe collection! ;-) I love a beautiful pair of shoes and my Dad asks me regularly if I am wearing a new pair! So my layout had to simply be about this little love of mine. The sentiment I chose specifically because it is absolutely spot on! ;-)

So here is my page for this challenge.

I used the wonderful papers by Donna Salazar, the die-cuts, as well as the chipboard alpha's. I did some gesso stenciling on the background and also added texture to Scrap FX chipboards with Kwik crackle.

Aren't these shoes just to die for?!

Norma here to share some of my little obsessions with you, lol.  I absolutely  love everything on my board with my top pick being the beach.  The beach photo on my board is my family's favorite summer getaway here in beautiful Texas.  I added pics of bracelets, lanterns, storage crates and pink orchids because I collect all of these things.  I love, love, love orchids and have them all over my home but they have to be pink (you know how I love color, lol).  I'm also obsessed with storage containers and lanterns.  They're all over my home too.  Oh and bracelets, don't even get me started!  The funny thing is that I tend to always buy them in beautiful shades of turquoise, browns and silver just like in the photo.  One of my other loves is architecture and design, I enjoy taking photos of old buildings with loads of character like gorgeous detailed doors and worn wrought iron and you know my board would not be complete without my paint brushes.  They transport me to my happy place!

Since my all time favorite thing is the beach, I thought I'd do an ocean inspired project.  I also wanted to do my favorite kind of project (mixed media) and use my favorite blue/green colors.  So this is what I came up with:

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved painting and been completely mesmerized by the sea.  I looked forward to Saturday mornings so I could watch two of my favorite shows on public television: The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross and The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.  So my goal was bring those two worlds together in this piece.

I began by applying molding paste, patterned papers from my Zeus and Zoe kit and swirls with a 3-D writer.  Once that was dry, I added layers of paint in my favorite shades of blue and began building my cluster of treasures that I'm sure my mermaid has been collecting for some time ;D.  Most of the found objects I used are from my Zeus and Zoe kit but a few are from my stash of goodness.  Next I applied a layer of gesso over all the little bits.  Once the gesso was dry, I spritzed various colors of Dylusions sprinkled with blue/green PearlEx for shimmer.

I love including a positive message in my artwork so I chose to use, "You can never cross the ocean unless you have the COURAGE to lose sight of the shore".  I truly love the way this project turned out and I hope I've inspired you today.

Now it's your turn!! We would love to see your interpretation of this month's challenge, "My Favorite Things"! Whether it's a project using your "favorite" materials or it's about your "favorite" things; if you love it and it's your "favorite" share it!!

This month we are fortunate to have the talented Donna Salazar sharing her wonderful products with us as well as Couture Creations. Each has sent a beautiful assortment of items for our challenge winners.

The Main Prize is sponsored by: Donna Salazar, http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/, and she even autographed it!  How cool is that!!

Donna Salazar is a wife, mom, grandma, artist, designer, teacher and kid at heart. Her playful nature tends to come across in her products and classes because she believes that art should be fun. Donna is known for blending contrasting elements to create what she calls her “Girlie Grunge” look. Donna's style is especially appealing to mixed media artists, however her love of flowers and all things sparkly seems to appeal to crafters of all types and styles. 

Donna is a licensed designer and has product lines with 5 different companies: Clearsnap, GCD Studios, Spellbinders, Want2Scrap and Zutter. Donna offers free video tutorials, e-classes and a LIVE webshow, called Tuesday Tutorials, where she gives away lots of prizes from her partner companies and/or original artwork created during the show!

Random Prize:

Couture Creations

http://couturecreations.com.au

An Australian owned and loved brand, Couture Creations is the culmination of 20 years experience in the scrapbooking industry. From its final inception in 2010, Couture Creations has been devoted to producing expertly designed, high quality products overseen by veteran designers and crafters for a result that is both simple and elegant.

Couture Creations is part of Artdeco Creations growing collection of quality craft brands available worldwide. Distributed through a network of the best industry representatives in scrapbooking and craft internationally, Artdeco Creations has the ability to test and meet global expectations for quality and precision beyond local trends and markets.

Also included in the Random Winner Prize Pack is this 6x6 paper pack from Donna Salazar:

You have until the 30th June to join in on the fun.  So break those supplies out, get messy, have fun and share your creations with us!

Have a wonderful day!!