Saturday 28 March 2015

A Little Piece of my Heart!

Welcome to Magpieheaven! Over at PaperArtsy the challenge is currently to use Grunge Paste and to try to move away from the obvious stencils technique. Leandra has found some incredible inspiration for us with dramatic and unexpected ideas for using this very adaptable medium. I loved Liesbeth Fidder's incredible stained glass effect, which has to be seen to believed. Please do take a look here  if you haven't marvelled at it already. And Lou Collins wood grain effect - not to mention Wanda's lovely textured use of spring colour have been so inspiring! Unfortunately life has been presenting quite a few challenges of its own recently, so creating has been squeezed into tiny time slots and I'm going to have to leave the really 'heavy-duty' experimenting for when I have more time. I have played along with Grunge Paste a little bit this time, though, because I needed to make a card for a special friend. I've used an idea I learned on a workshop with the wonderful Lin Brown!



I started with some scraps I had from previous projects, including some basic, Treasure Gold Grunge Paste stencils of Lin Brown's leaves; a little Lynne Perrella heart and a Sara Nauman sentiment stamped onto some 'mop-up' card. I printed out some of my own art-work, which I use for creating little peg-dolls. I started to play straight away, giving her a pierrot hat from triangle cut out of a Lin Brown bird. I liked the way that tiny heart was now a different feature. A theme was beginning to emerge!



I then cut my Grunge Paste scraps into tiles of slightly different shapes and sizes, arranging them onto a piece of card.



Next step was to paint my card, so that the little Grunge Paste tiles become integrated into the background.



I do hope it won't be too tedious to look at the different stages my background went through before I was satisfied with it and ready to add my feature images! This is a layer of Caribbean Blue and one of Guacamole - gorgeous colours, but they needed to be toned down.



Here they are with a wash of Blue Oyster. Eventually I planned to sand the card too so that colours over the Grunge Paste would be varied.



I added some stamping in Snowflake - Sara Nauman's script and little circles.



Finally, I added two Sara stars, stamped in Fresco paint then clear embossed and a wash of Blue Glass and some dabs of Hey Pesto and just sanded. Adding Treasure Gold in Sapphire, Green Amber and White Fire and rubbing and sanding is the final effect. It is so difficult to photograph how the Grunge Paste looks, but it does really shimmer.



Now all that remained was to add my foreground detail and sentiment. I used some Glossy Accents on the heart and fixed my art work with dimensional pads. I hope something of the effect of the GP Treasure Gold tiles; the glossy heart and the Treasure Gold scrap of lace shows through on this picture.



 My friend has such a generous and loving heart that I thought the theme suited her perfectly. The idea for the blog title just occurred to me because this card is created from little pieces and also a little piece of my heart goes with it. The Janis Joplin song, of course, deals with heart-ache, but the support of good friends is so welcome when we feel low and the very best antidote to heart-break! Thank You so much for stopping by today and looking at my Grunge Paste background which I should like to link up to PaperArtsy here.

30 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous card, I wasn't sure where you were going after the first layer of paint (loved it then!) but it's even better now!! I am sure it will have been appreciated.

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  2. Sanding the card really lifted everything Julie Ann. Love the way that you went and the finished result is beautiful! Gorgeous face and hands! Great style And sending love to you! X

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  3. Brilliant card Julie Ann, love the background that you made lots of layers. Especially this time the blue is awesome. Another your girl is lovely too. xxx

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  4. This is fabulous,thanks for showing how you done this.xxx

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  5. A very beautiful card Julie Ann, love the way you have used small pieces with grunge paste to make texture.
    Anni

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  6. Beautiful Julie Ann I'm sure friend will love it x

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  7. This is stunning! Bet your friend is very pleased with this. So lovely to give a piece of yourself as part of the gift I think!
    Catherine

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  8. What a gorgeous card, Julie Ann! So much love has gone into this. I had forgotten about that lovely technique we did at Lin's class and I'm glad you reminded me. It is one of my favourite paperartsy quotes. The best bit though is the beautiful hand drawn face!

    Lucy x

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  9. Hazel really needed the lift Julie Ann, your gift of time and love put into your project is so very generous especially as you have also been having a tough time...

    A beautiful creation on every level and beyond:-) xxx

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  10. This is gorgeous!! So many good ideas. Absolutely lovely!!

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  11. That's an amazing creation, just wonderful.

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  12. The Grunge Paste tiles make for fabulous textural detailing, Julie Ann - absolutely inspired. The colours are stunning, especially with the layered gilding - it really is beautiful. What a wonderful gift for someone who's feeling down.
    Alison xx

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  13. Such a gorgeous card. The background texture looks wonderful & I love the little art doll.

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  14. Different, clever and beautiful!

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  19. Oooops, I'm very sorry by the numbers of my messages!!! I had a problem and wasn't sure my comment was recorded.. Well, you can be sure that I love your card at least like that haha :))) (but pls, delete some of them after reading...lol)

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    1. Thank you CoCo. I think I might have deleted one too many, but I did read all your messages before doing so and I really appreciate your kindness in making such an effort to comment. xx

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  20. I remember that fab technique...gorgeous piece Julie Ann! xxx

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  21. How on Earth did I miss this!!!? It really is fabulous, totally, utterly fabulous!!! Hugs, Chrisx

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  22. What a cool make!!! I will have to give your technique a go- I love the results! Thanks so much for sharing Julie Ann!! xo

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  23. gorgeous - what a lucky friend to receive such a meaningful card xx

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  24. So beautiful and tender Julie Ann and seeing your creative process is always a treat. You are very good at taking step photos and remembering just what you used. I often get lost when creating lol.
    Beautiful gift for your special friend ♥
    oxo

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  25. Lovely and I enjoyed reading how the project developed - great colours as well. Super duper! xx

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  26. This is fabulous, Julie Ann!!! I loved seeing all the pics of the background coming together!!

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  27. I like this technique it's a great "starter" too if one's mojo has deserted. In the end a very interesting page to look at and lots of Treasure Gold, yummy!

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