Friday, May 16, 2008

GPP Street Team Crusade #20 - Casting Call

So I have been having such fun with the GPP Street Crusades that I had to keep going - all the positive exchanges are addictive, not to mention the creative pleasures ! This Crusade took a little longer for me to get to. I was thinking about how to get hold of a second blender to make the paper pulp - ours gets used often for smoothies and I don't think paper pulp goes well with fruit ! Anyway, I was planning to hit the yard sales and flea markets this weekend to find one (may still do that !) but decided to give the tissue technique a try first !

I had a package of dollar store tissue paper I had bought somewhere along the way. When I opened it, what I found was not silky glossy tissue paper but something between mulberry paper and paper towel. So perfect ! The fibrous texture made beautiful feathery tears.

I had a bag of old jewelry treasures that my mom's manfriend, Lindell from CO, had collected for me at flea markets and then sent via snail mail to my mom in Montreal. Those babies have been around ! (Thanks so much, Lindell !). I searched the bag and found these wonderful metal charms, the perfect molds !!

I tore up the wonderful cheapy paper and got to work with my paint brush and water, filling in the charm molds . Then I left it for about 6 hours for drying time.
It worked like a charm (pun intended, tee, hee !) ! I loved the results, especially the angel wing ! Love that feathery texture !
Then I thought about using these casts in my journal. Would the heaviest of the pages crush them ? How could I make them a little tougher ? I got out the gel medium and very gently painted a couple of coats onto the top, embossed surface with a dry brush. When it dried, the casts had hardened just a little. Hopefully they will stand up to my journals wear and tear !
The final step was color. I used an eye shadow sponge brush and applied some colored chalks. That left things a little flat which wasn't quite what I wanted. Then I got out the Lumiere Metallic Fabric Paints and used the same sponge brush to dry brush the metallics on. I love the effects ! Again, I think the angel wing is my favorite - the pearl metallic paint makes it look heavenly (puns again, love um !), don't you think ?
Now all that's left to do is to make some journal pages to use my paper casts in. I have a vision of a page with an angel who has lost one of her wings... Stay tuned to see what I come up with !


14 comments:

michelle ward said...

Kimbo - great post! Love the visuals showing us the evolution of your casts! They look terrific - thanks for sharing with the team. They should hold up in your journal, especially the ones that have been painted. Let us know when you've incorporated them on a page.

Susan said...

Your castings are so dreamy. Love them. I love the thought of putting them into your journal. Hope you show us. Come by and see mine if you get the chance.

Sandy Steen Bartholomew said...

I'd love to know more about this Street Team! Sounds like fun... Also, about WCANH - we are having an Art Party at the Capitol Center in Concord on Aug. 9th (I think) and it is custom made for "people like you"! We are trying to draw out all the lurkers and let them see what we are like so they will want to play with us more often. :-) Send me your email and I can keep you up to date.

mcdc3s said...

Susan! These are adorable. They look so 'rich'!

Anonymous said...

They look really great, Kimbo! I love how you colored them too :)

Wabbit said...

Susan, these are terrific! Thanks for the good idea... I'll have to check out my supply of charms for some likely ones to use. ;-)) Marilyn

Anonymous said...

Nice job, Kim, for someone who was just "winging" it!!! :D Using the charms was a great idea, I'm thinking I may have to give this a go... I have the same concerns about using my blender as you do... we'll see. Thank you for the inspiration and the chance to see the stages of the work. xoxo

Cinnamon and Sage said...

Hi Kim, these are beautiful, especially love the wing, it looks like a tiny angels wing and as if it would feel soft and feathery - beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Kim, these are so great! I must add my thanks for thinking of a low-tech way around dulling the blender with paper pulp, although old tag sale blenders is another great idea. Your problem solving is so helpful! And a great use for those new Lumiere paints I just bought on sale. Thanks for the inspiration! Can't wait to see how you use the castings.

FAQ said...

OH, girl what fun. How innovative and great results. Love these.

Anonymous said...

Oh the wing, the wing. FANtastic.

Anonymous said...

Kimbo - wonderful casts! I love that you showed them in various steps. I am now going to start heading to flea markets when I can. - Nicki

Fiona said...

Very delicate - the angel wings are very soft. Great on a journal page

Cindy said...

Thanks for sharing the details of your process. It is so interesting that the textures of everyone's casts came out a little differently. That feathery wing is so cool! Can't wait to see how you use the casts in your work.