The Aviary: Mixed Media Monday - Fun with Journaling Stamps

Monday, February 3, 2014

Mixed Media Monday - Fun with Journaling Stamps

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Hi Paper Wings fans! Dana here today sharing a mixed media piece I created with some of my favorite Paper Wings Productions stamps and the second half of my bird nest. If you missed the Reverse Bird Nest Canvas that I created with the first half of my bird nest, you can check out that post HERE.

Once again, I have used the piece of sturdy cardboard that protects the contents of the Nesting Components Kits for the base of my project. This piece of cardboard measures approximately 8.5 x 11 inches. A sentence from a novel written by one of my favorite authors, Megan Hart, stuck with me and I used that passage as inspiration for this piece; "My heart became a bird, my ribs the cage it beat against."

I primed the cardboard with a light coat of gesso before I stamped the background. The gesso helped to cover up some stray color that landed on this piece from another project (ha!), but also added some "tooth" to the otherwise smooth surface, which helped to grab the ink and color I added next. Another benefit to priming with gesso is that it acts as a sealant, so any mediums added to the top of the cardboard will stay on top, rather than soaking into the paper, prolonging the life of my mediums.

I stamped a square boarder using the Graph Journaling Lines Clear Stamp and I used the Ledger Journaling Lines Clear Stamp to create a stand for my nest. I arranged some stamps from the Perfect Alphabet and Perfect Numbers clear stamp sets randomly on a stamping block and pressed them onto my background for some interest. The selection of PWP Journaling Stamps are great for embellishing if you're not big on journaling! I also added some circles to the border with the Art Textures Cling Stamp Set. Note: I used a black Archival Ink for my stamping so that the color would not bleed when encountering water when I applied color in the next step.

I applied streaks of color with Gelatos from the 50s Diner and Tropical packs and then blended with a wet paintbrush to color my background. Tip: To keep the shades of blue and yellow vibrant, I blended those shades first, cleaning my brush after each color.

Next, I stamped some hearts using the NEW Carved Love Cling Stamp Set and colored them in with a Watermelon Gelato. Note: To achieve the subtle pink color I applied a small amount of Gelato to the area and blended the color with a wet finger. I used a Stamper's Big Brush Pen to add some green leaves and added a pop of orange with some homemade mist.

I used the Perfect Alphabet Clear Stamp Set to stamp my quote. There are several copies of each letter in this set so stamping out a full sentence was quick and easy! I also stamped a gorgeous bird using the Bird Melange Cling Stamp Set.

To finish the piece I attached my half bird nest with some hot glue and embellished the base with some moss and colorful ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope I have inspired you to use your journaling stamps in a fun new way!

We would love to see what you make with Paper Wings Productions Stamps so add your projects to our Flickr Group or our Facebook page. You can also find Paper Wings Productions on Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube!