Friends With Flair and Mixed Media

It is Friday - and I always try to use some Unity Stamps on Friday to share in their Friends With Flair challenge/share.

I have had this little project in my head for awhile.  I am going to make these for 4 very special women in my life.  They are my Ya Ya's.  We lost one of our Ya Ya's to breast cancer several years ago so it makes them even more special to me.  We kinda like to have a drink or two once in awhile so that is why this is so fun.  Plus one of our Ya Ya's winters in the Keys and several of us have visited her there.

 
This is a set that Unity made exclusively for Archiver's.  We use to have a store in Madison and I do miss being able to have paper therapy when I go to see my Mom.  Now I get paper therapy when I go to see my daughter in the Milwaukee area.  I even have a step out for you today on how I made the project.

The 4 x 4 canvas is covered with a page from an old dictionary.  I apply the dictionary page to the canvas with gel medium.

I then paint over the canvas with gesso.

I had bought a new pad of paper and it had some blue patterned paper in it.  It was basically blue on blue - a very subtle design.  I was hoping to achieve this same look with acrylic paint and then using different stencils and varying shades of blue paint and gelatos.

I did achieve the look I wanted.  It is amazing how the same color on top of the same color but in a slightly different shade can make such a subtle background.  

I then stamped my Santa on more pieces of gessoed dictionary pages.

I colored the Santas with various gelatos, Big Pens and anything else that helped me get the look I wanted.  Santa is dressed in some wackier colors but hey he is having his afternoon toddy.

Ok now I stopped taking pictures.  I am working on trying to do a complete tutorial so you will have to picture the steps in your head.  I stamped the sentiment.  I could not get the 5:00 to turn out so I decided to just write it on the paper myself.  I adhered the image and sentiment with gel medium.  I carefully added gel medium over the top of the entire project to protect it.  I added a few snowflake rub ons and flourishes.  I use to  hoard rub ons so mixed media is a great way to use them.  I added texture paste down at the bottom to make it look like a snowbank.  I also rubbed Stickles over the top to give it some sparkle.  Swiped some gesso around the edges and called it completed.

If you notice, I flipped my canvas again.  The triangles were supposed to be on the left side well they are on the top in the finished project.

I am also placing this on the Monday challenge on Simon Says Stamp which is to use stencils.

I really like how it turned out and I know my Ya Ya's will enjoy it also.

Happy Friday.