Today is the tenth Second Floor challenge! Are you ready to take it to the second floor?
The challenge this time around is to use white cardstock. Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you. The prompt is simply meant to get you started. The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.
Click here to see what Nat did.
As for me, I followed the shiny ball. If you're a long time reader of my blog you've heard that phrase before. What it means is to let go of pre-planning and follow the path of whatever is interesting to you at that moment.
Follow the shiny ball with me, will you?
The first thing I did was to mull over the challenge.
Then I decided to grab hold of one idea: paper flowers and start running with it.
I pulled out a punch that I've been wanting to use ever since I bought it, but never got around to. It's the Dahlia Dimensional Flower Punch from EK Success.
As you can see from the photos, it's a border punch that when rolled, creates a flower.
So, I punched and I rolled, but I didn't like it. So I stared at it.
And I started thinking that maybe I'd do a cool textured white-on-white layout or collage. I pulled out some stencils, some white cardstock, a bit of used deli paper, and some Super Heavy Gesso. And I just started adding texture to things.
As a lark, I decided to grab the punched strip that I had abandoned and embed it in some Super Heavy Gesso. Then I started embedding all sorts of stuff -- book pages, lace, buttons, flowers, die cuts, glitter, and something interesting started to come together!
I went to bed -- the Super Heavy Gesso needs to dry overnight -- and in the morning, a super cool white-on-white scrapbook page came together in no time at all.
All the little details on this layout make me swoon with delight.
There's that original cardstock punched strip that started it all!
What I'm taking away from this challenge:
- It's always a good idea to follow the shiny ball. My favorite art work is always the result of a series of random events where I stopped trying to control the outcome and just let it be.
- Texture, baby. I had so much fun trying to see how much variation I could get with one single color. It's all about the texture. I love that the white-on-white action allowed the texture to shine. Sometimes I feel like color can be distracting and color + texture can be overwhelming.
- Super Heavy Gesso is an excellent adhesive. All acrylic paints will work as adhesive in a pinch, but man, this Super Heavy Gesso is like cement. There is nothing on that layout that is going anywhere at all -- at least not without a pickaxe.
- Thank goodness I'm an organized pack rat. I dug into my stash to find that crepe paper (saved for almost a year, knowing there would be a "right" moment for it), the buttons, that bit of lace (saved for two years), the pearls, the glitter, the flower, the die cuts, that cool star head pin -- all of it came out of my vast color coordinated stash. I organize my supplies by color, so it was easy to grab the drawer of white buttons, the container of white embellishments, the stack of white papers, the ring of white ribbons and start throwing stuff down.
- I pushed myself and yet it felt comfortable. I've never made this kind of layout before, never used Super Heavy Gesso in this manner, never used that punch before...and yet it all felt good and easy. Pushing yourself doesn't have to mean doing something uncomfortable. Sometimes it just means going somewhere you haven't been before. Getting out of a rut. Not every adventure has to be skydiving. Sometimes it's enough to wander into that little shop that you always pass, but never go into.
If you'd like to jump in to the white cardstock challenge, here's the linky list:
Thanks for stopping by!
---
P.S. I'm part of an all-year online art journaling class in 2013, called "Life Book" and registration is now open! The lesson I'm teaching is all about using nature in your art journal.
Please Note: Each of the teachers for Life Book is given an affiliate code for registration. If you purchase the class through my page I will get a percentage of the enrollment fee. That's how we each get paid for teaching. :) So, of course, I would appreciate it if you would use this link if you're planning to register for the class.
Thank you!
