WOYWW #284: Playing with CitraSolv

I'm taking part in yet another WOYWW desk hop today. In case you're wondering what it's all about, just follow this link to the Stamping Ground. This is what my desk looked like on Tuesday afternoon. Let's just say it's a bit "busy" shall we?

I've been experimenting with CitraSolv for the past few days. It's a natural cleaning agent made from oranges, but make no mistake, this stuff is strong! Apart from being a powerful de-greaser, CitraSolv is also known to have some properties that dissolve certain types of ink, making it suitable for mixed media applications.

Altering magazine pages with CitraSolv

One of the properties that makes CitraSolv suitable for mixed media applications is its ability to alter magazine pages. You just sprinkle some CitraSolv on the pages of a magazine and watch the ink dissolve into interesting patterns. Be warned though, this is an extremely messy process and the ink will stain your work surface, so make sure you protect it. You're also advised to wear gloves and work in a well-ventillated area, preferably with the windows open or better still, outdoors. The best magazine to alter seems to be the National Georgaphic due to the type of ink they use, but it will also work with some other magazines or even some junk mail.

I've altered a National Geographic and used up half a bottle of CitraSolv in the process! I've achieved some interesting results, but I don't think I'll be using this technique again any time soon as I don't think it's very cost effective considering the price of CitraSolv. The pages I've made will keep me going for a while. You can choose to alter the images beyond recognition or just distress them slightly. Let me show you some of my examples below.

Some of my altered National Geographic pages

A photo of a couple of fishermen slightly altered 

A photo of a puffin slightly distressed - CitraSolv made it look almost translucent

A magazine page distressed beyond recognition

Image Transfer with CitraSolv

You can also use CitraSolv to do image transfers. I'm actually very excited about this possibility, as I've tried numerous image transfer methods before, but none worked as well as CitraSolv. You literally get a perfect result every time! 

In order to do an image transfer with CitraSolv, you need to use a toner-based image. This could be a print from a laser jet printer or a photocopy. I don't think this technique would work with an inkjet printer, but you can always try! 

You can only transfer an image with CitraSolv to a porous surface. Copy paper, watercolour paper, regular cardstock, chipboard, the rough side of tissue paper, kitchen towels, napkins, rice paper, wood, MDF, textile all work very well. However, you won't be able to do a successful transfer onto non-porous surfaces like acrylics (including any surface with acrylic or gel medium layers), wax paper (including deli paper), vellum, glossy papers. etc. 

The easiest way to transfer an image is to place it face down on your substrate, Soak a piece of cotton wool with CitraSolv, saturate the back of your print and then burnish with a spoon or bone folder. This is a very forgiving technique. You can go over the same area several times, adding more CitraSolv if necessary, just make sure your image doesn't move. 

Here are a few of my image transfers using CitraSolv:

Kitchen towel transfer

Rice paper transfer

Textile transfer

MDF transfer

Tissue paper transfer

Transfer onto chipboard

A transfer of my own artwork onto a piece of kitchen towel. It gives your images a soft look.

 And finally, here's a quick journal page I've made using an altered NatGeo page and some image transfers.

Mixed Media Pear Painting

Those of you who saw my previous post will remember that I attempted and failed at painting a mixed media pear. I'm happy to report that I had another go today and I think I nailed it this time around.

This paining technique involves applying multiple layers of acrylic paint to create colour variation and texture. It really isn't very hard to do once you practice it a little. I followed the instructions of a video published by Betty Franks of Mystic Tulip Art. +Betty Franks, Mystic Tulip Art  You can find Part One below. Look for Part Two on Betty's YouTube channel.

I used heavyweight watercolour paper to create my painting, which I mounted on black cardstock when it was completed, to make it more sturdy. I painted my pear with Liquitex Basics acrylic paints. Before adding the final layers, this is what my painting looked like:

The stamping you can see here is underneath the layer of paint, just peaking through. On top of this I added more stamping with archival ink and white acrylics. For the white stamping I used a home-made foam stamp and a piece of drywall tape. I really like the texture the drywall tape created. Here's the final result:

In the close ups you can see all the different layers better: 

I love this technique and will definitely use it again. Why don't you have a go too? It really is quite easy and produces spectacular results!

Failed painting salvaged

This weekend I continued my journey of self-discovery. I'm beginning to realize that negative experiences may work to our benefit in the long run. We just need to learn to make the most of a bad situation and turn it around somehow. I know it may not always be possible, but it's definitely worth a try.

Here's what happened: I watched a video on YouTube, showing me how to paint a pear and I really wanted to try it.  I took a piece of watercolour card and followed the instructions, but my artwork didn't quite turn out as I envisaged it. I was about to rip it up in frustration and anger when I remembered my exchange with +Beth Lee Browning just the previous day. She used to throw away her failed art cards until she realized that she could turn them into a collage, and thus Tree of Dreams was born. Of course, this doesn't just mean salvaging a few pieces of paper, but rather your spirit and determination. Instead of admitting your failure, you carry on and turn it into something positive. Something that is way more valuable than getting it right in the first place!

I decided to cut up my painting into small squares and make a mosaic card out of them. And you know what, I absolutely love it! I probably love it more than I would have loved my pear painting, had it turned out the way I imagined. I'm sure I will attempt the painting of the pear again, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, without the fear of failure. The worst that could happen is that I create another cool card. Guess what, I might even mess it up on purpose!

I'm really proud to share my card with you, even though the squares are a bit wonky. I just don't have the patience for precise measurements, I'm afraid, but I love how it turned out anyway!

WOIW: Forgiveness

The inspirational word for this weeks's challenge in the Kraafters Kommunity is FORGIVENESS. At first I thought this was going to be a tough one, but once I started thinking about it, I just couldn't stop myself. I've created not one, not  two, but THREE pages simultaneously. They do look somewhat similar as I used scraps of one in another, so these pages sort of bounce off each other. They are in three separate journals.

What prompted me to be so prolific this morning is actually a negative experience I went through yesterday. I received an email informing me that I didn't get a job that I was convinced I was going to get. Not being able to sleep very well, I got up early feeling really depressed. I browsed through some of the job ads online and felt even more depressed - I was on the brink of crying and despair. I'm so sick and tired of looking for a job.

Then I checked my G+ feed and came across this post by +Beth Lee Browning. She describes how art has helped her through difficulties and gave her the strength to carry on and how things finally started happening for her. I was so totally inspired by this that I threw myself into the "Forgiveness" challenge. I also knew exactly what my sentiment would be: forgive yourself.  All too often we keep punishing ourselves for our past mistakes. Until we can forgive ourselves and realize that we are worthy, we won't be able to progress and be happy. This is especially true for me as a number of bad decisions have led me where I am now, which I have to take full responsibility for. Then again, I may be moving in the right direction, I just haven't realized it yet! Perhaps, I am exactly where I need to be! I know with absolute certainty that without giving up my previous job, I wouldn't have discovered my passion for art and mixed media. Now I just have to find my way forward.

I went for a walk this morning after having dropped off my son at school. We live in the countryside and I often do this. I like to be alone with my thoughts and I often think about my projects and blog posts while out walking. It started raining and even though I had an umbrella with me, I didn't open it. That well-known (and probably a little overused) quote kept swirling in my head: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." I will try and remind myself of that every single day!

Now, I would like to share with you my three pages. There's no rhyme or reason to explain why I did what I did. This is just what came out of me and I enjoyed every minute of it! Hope you do too!

WOYWW 283: Altered journal cover #KSDNOV

Happy Wednesday AGAIN! Where did the week go? Blink and you miss it! Time for another desk hopping adventure over on the Stamping Ground. I'm also linking this post to the Kraafters Kommunity November challenge, which is all about altering.  You can take part too, just make sure to use #KSDNOV to tag your blog, G+, Instagram, or Facebook posts. Or better still, join the Kraafters Kommunity and post a link there! It's one of the friendliest and most supportive communities on G+!

The photo above shows my desk on Tuesday night. I had to tidy up a bit on Monday because the clutter was getting unmanageable. I had finally come up with an idea to alter the cover of my "junk" journal, which is an old business calendar that used to have a boring black plastic cover. At first, I was thinking of doing something similar to this painted cover by +Marianne Morris but I quickly had to admit to myself that I don't possess the skills (yet!) to accomplish something that requires this level of artistry. (I'm not sure I ever will, to be honest!) Then I watched a YouTube video by Gabrielle Pollaco, which turned out to be the perfect method for altering my journal cover! Here's a link to it:

Mine is a simplified version of this project. I used die-cut pieces (left over from my stencil cutting with my Cameo) and some texturing with Polyfilla, but I was quite impressed with the results nevertheless. I first gessoed the cover, stuck down some die-cut pieces in various patterns, added some texture paste (DIY polyfilla) through a stencil, added another layer of gesso, sprayed it with some Dylusions inks (London Blue and Vibrant Turquoise) and rubbed some bronze gilding wax on top when it was dry. As a last step, I sealed it with a cheap hair spray, so it wouldn't smear. It was a very quick and easy project and I'm loving the results!

Here are some close-up shots of my altered journal cover to show the texture. Thank you for visiting my blog! I always visit every single desk hopper who leaves a comment! 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

My experimenting with faces continues. I created this spread today. I can't decide whether she's pretty or just a bit weird, hence the title. I'm having a bit of difficulty mastering the skin shading to be honest, but the only way to improve is just to keep doing it, right? I may look back on this someday and cringe, but for now I'm just having too much fun playing!

The background started out as a collage of gelli prints and book pages, but pretty much got covered up with acrylics. Because the background turned out so dark and busy, I stuck with just black and white lettering and accents. The girl's hair is metallic copper, which really shimmers when the light hits it at certain angles. I quite like that! I've tried to take a photo which shows this feature. I used self-adhesive pearls for her earring and necklace.

I've also played a little in Photoshop with black and white settings and selective colouring. See what you think!

I used self-adhesive pears for her necklace and earring.

I used metallic copper acrylics for the hair

Sunday Sentiments #5: November 2014

Hello everyone! I've decided to turn Sunday Sentiments into a monthly occurrence rather than a weekly one as I have sooooo many other projects on my list, I can't keep up with my own schedule. But fear not, the link will be there for a whole month for each post and you can link more than one project if you want to! The new links will open every first Sunday of the month.

This month, as it is now November, I'm sharing a very girly page to celebrate my feminine side. Growing up, I was kind of a tomboy. I always played with boys, had sensible haircuts, never wore skirts and I didn't have one single doll, only teddies. In my teens and twenties, I always wore jeans and T-shirts, listened to alternative rock music - and generally thought of myself as someone too "cool" for girly stuff. It wasn't until my thirties that I became more feminine in my thinking and attitude. Now I embrace my femininity and probably overcompensate for the lost years! I love pink and purple, glitter, flowers, little hearts, pearls and sparkly things! OK, perhaps not to wear them, but I often use them in my art. This page is dedicated to all of you with a hidden princess inside!

My sentiment for November is a quote from a 1980's movie, The Princess Bride.

Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high.

I created this page in my altered calendar journal, which is filling up nicely. I used scraps of gelli prints for the background, added a magazine cut-out (which was too small to alter much) some prima flowers and pearls, copper stamps, some white doodling and a computer print of the quote. A very simple layout really, but I'm quite happy with the colours, especially that I didn't plan it beforehand. 

Hope you enjoy! If you would like to add your link, just scroll down to the bottom of the post and look for the blue button! You can find out more about Sunday Sentiments here. Happy November everyone! The next Sunday Sentiments will be published on December 7th.

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