Making an orderly mess

I make mess daily - or at least try to. Since March I have been on a mixed media bandwagon, trying to understand the different media. But oftentimes it just feels so daunting and I resort back to my trusty gesso and easy colors.

I was paired with lovely Monika at a recent swap. She sent me a youtube video of how the card I received was made. Just to say - I followed her method step by step with totally different results. Color makes such a difference. And I am on one of my colorless, pale moods again. I get bouts when I need to clean my inner color palette and just make something very pale and monochrome.

This pair of girls - twins by the appearance of it - really intrigued me. There is the sun and there is the moon, you know what I mean? If you just see the moon you think she's pretty, but as soon as the sun appears moon fades.

 I am noble  -    I am bad.

There are lots of layers piled up on a patterned paper. You might recognize some red and blue air mail striping on some of the cards. I added stamped postage circles, they can still be seen faintly behind all that gesso and color.

Your eyes alight with laughter and play -- Your eyes inhabited by disease and death

I was exploring the dichotomy of good and bad and how it is accepted as a certain truth that the character is involuntarily showing itself through facial features. Now then, the pretty girl must be good and the other, not so pretty must be bad.

Victorian came up with this idea of 'facial profiling', reading the character out of a person's face. (I know I have been referring to Victorians a lot recently. They were such a fascinating bunch.)

I remember thinking I should really explore the good-bad dichotomy a bit more and make the second pair opposite: the pretty girl would be bad and the other good. But I really don't know how it happened, it must have been my unconscious working - but now the pairs are the same: sun is good, moon is bad.

entering this set into:
Our Creative Corner: A beautiful mess
Simon Says: Add some shimmer
Steampunk challenge: Anything goes. I say this goes: it's the dark side of Victorian era, not dark in colors as Steampunk usually likes to do it, but dark in thought, and all the more eerie because of the light colors used.

Of Time and Moments

I should really pay more attention to what I read. I saw More than Words having a lovely challenge this month - the word Moment and picture of clock has to be included. ...but... the challenge is not open for ATC cards.

But never mind, it got my creative juices flowing and I spun a whole story of a couple who get engaged in the midst of WW1.

The man is an officer, he has to return to the front, so they promise each other to cherish each moment when they are together.
But for all we know there was no happy ending, he leaves for the front never to return. Double lesson learned: DO cherish each moment for it may well be the last of that kind.

I am celebrating some small victories here: finally I managed to get some nice transfers. They are: numbers on first and last card, clock (without hands!) on the last card. Those were made with Modge Podge. Thanks for the tip, that really worked well. The middle card is made with that other stuff expressly called transfer glue. It leaves a shiny residue which is not always called for. And for that card I printed out the sentiment in the reverse so it appears right, for the numbers I didn't as they should portray the wish of the lady that time might go backwards. Also the clock without hands is used for the same reason.

I am entering these into:
Moo-mania: Quotes
Creative Corner: Hit the books - I used illustrations from a Victorian novel I bought on the flea market, then colored them in.
Simon says Wednesday challenge: Stencil it - the backgrounds are stenciled, best seen on the Butler card in the middle.

Näihin kortteihin on taas käytetty KK:n kiertävästä materiaalikuoresta tulleita Timantteja. En niitä juurikaan harrasta, joten pitipä kokeilla. Sainkin miehen takkiin aika komean rivin kiiltäviä nappeja, kukkakimppuun on piilotettu myös muutama sekä naisen kihlajaissormuksessa on aika iso kiiltävä kivi.

Spring flowers with Josef Frank / kukkia kukkia

Josef Frank was an Austrian architect who later moved to Sweden, designed fabrics there, and whom Swedes now regard as one of their own. I visited an exhibition some time ago and purchased some gorgeous wrapping paper - a reprint of one of his sketches. He worked in watercolor which of course has a luminous quality, you can always see the paper. And he mostly did flowers - though he didn't follow the natural shapes but instead created his own flowers.

Those flowers were my starting point. His colors are 1930's muted. I created backgrounds that highlight the flowers (I hope). The background started off with old book pages. First I applied some texture  with clear gesso through a word stencil. Next came chalk spray in a wonderfully deep and rich turquoise. When it was dry I rubbed in golden ink. This is also a really thick and creamy product, easy to rub in with fingers (like I did).

It's time

Josef Frankin palvonta Ruotsissa yltää kotoisen Marimekon mittasuhteisiin, sillä erotuksella vain, että Frank oli itävaltalainen kun taas Marimekko on ehtaa Suomea. Svenkt Tenn myy Frankin joitakin kankaita. Minulla oli tilaisuus päätä näkemään kankaiden luonnoksia täällä syksyllä pidetyssä näyttelyssä. Frank piirtää enimmäkseen kukkia - mutta ei sellaisia kuin luonnosta löytyy (ehkä tulppaania lukuunottamatta), vaan fantastisia keksittyjä muotoja. Näyttelystä sai ostaa vesiväreillä piirrettyjen mallipiirrosten kopioita lahjapaperin muodossa. Näin niissä hyvää kortteiluainesta, joten muutama kotiutui.

Imagine

 Pohjat tein kirjansivujen päälle. Ensin levitin läpinäkyvää gessoa tekstuuriksi sapluunan läpi. Seuraavaksi suihkin mistillä ja lopuksi tipautin muutaman tipan kultaista mustetta ja levitin sitä kohopaikkoihin. (Panin nämä linkit siksi, että olen hurjan tyytyväinen näihin, ja hinnat on todella enemmän kuin kohtuulliset.)

Take a risk

I am entering my flower cards into following inspiring challenges:
Emerald Creek: Ring in Spring
Try it on Tuesday: Nature
Our Creative Corner: The Return of the Challenge. I revisited May '15: April Showers bring May flowers

Live

Olen päivittänyt vaihtosivuani... jos ketä kiinnostaa.