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.

Song birds in a forest / Metsälintuja

A while ago I told you my biggest wish and fear concerning mixed media. It is to be able to make picture transfers. I got lots of encouraging comments - thank you guys! So I said to myself, do stop being such a ninny and just do it! Just do it!

These started as a pale blue page from a magazine. It had a story printed on it, which adds nice visual texture, you can still see some words on the leaves.  I stenciled it with latte brown acrylic paint using a leaves stencil. It looked a bit pale, so I went over with clear gesso through the same stencil, just positioning it differently.

After that I went over with distress inks in China blue and Crushed Avocado. I loved the effect they created. The paints flower freely on the clear gessoed background and seeped into the leaves that were still the original paper.

Then I placed some copied text in each card - this was the transfer part. Did it work? (A hint: do you see it anywhere?)

Only partially. I think the background was already too saturated with all kind of product and the text didn't really adhere. Some of it came off, some of it stayed. The transfer medium is rather plastic-y and it didn't come off, but left another layer. This could of course be because of the clear gesso, they might not just play along. I will clearly have to make more experiments on different backgrounds!
           Lastly added some flowers I had made on newspaper and cut-out birds.


entering this set into:
Unstampabelles: Flora and Fauna, with a twist of texture
Simon Says Wednesday: Anything Goes
CountryView Challenge: Spring