Thursday, July 10, 2014

Love Yourself Altered Wood Block

Hi friends, I hope all is well with you! I'm sorry I've been so scarce lately. I've just been tackling some things that have been on my to-do list for a while and now that I'm pretty caught up, I should be getting back on track with my blogging too. I was all giddy when I found some wood blocks my hubby purchased for a project a couple months ago but had no clue what to do with them. Then I got some great inspiration from The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog. The July theme and 2nd challenge is "Around The House" and the translation is to create any mixed media project using items you find around the house, but not necessarily designed for crafting. I decided to grab my wood block in the hopes of being inspired by it again. It worked! I ended up making this piece which I actually really like (even though I don't typically do dark or "emo" type art) I feel like this is uplifting, not dark or strange. I hope you agree!
I enjoyed the process of altering the my block--it was a lot of fun to just let my creativity flow. I melted a bit of crayon, splattered acrylic paint and sprayed a couple of my own homemade "shimmer mists" to design the base background.   This big Unity stamp called Love Yourself by Suzi Blu is interesting and attractive in the way of mixed media art and it happened to be the perfect height for my block. I inked her up with Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black onto a piece of white tissue paper, then tore around it to create a softer edge that would blend better into the bg once it was mod podged down.  I added another Unity stamp with circles, a couple of Chic Tags rub-ons and a metal key for more interest. I colored the heart and her lips with a red Copic marker and her eyes with a white gel pen, then a tiny dot of blue Copic marker. I colored her cheeks with a tiny bit of bubblegum Gelato. I meant to color in the little bouquet of flower she's holding, but I forgot, oops! hehe : )
Here's some of supplies I used. A lot of regular ole' things from around the house like the wood block, crayons and tissue paper ended up being super inspiring!!! I also used some other things like Tim Holtz distress ink in Walnut Stain and distress stain in Antique Linen.
I'm also entering my altered wood block into Take The Challenge with Mou- July Challenge.  This month's challenge is to create something you don't usually create. It could be style, colors, theme, products, anything you don't create often. 
This was my first time working on a bare wood block surface to create a mixed media art project so I think this qualifies :)

Also entering this into the:
Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I've been up to! I hope that you are having a fabulous summer so far! I'll be seeing you around on your blogs too my sweet friends! Wishing you a creative and blessed day!

14 comments:

Tenia Nelson said...

This is AWESOME!! :)

Kate said...

Gorgeous. Love how this turned out.

Stampsnob. said...

This is so much more than stamping so artistic ............Lis

Unknown said...

Very creative! Looks like a lot of work went into this. Great job! Thanks for joining us at Just Inspirational Challenges. Holly H, DT

Donna B. said...

Awesome project! I love how it all came together and how you used the household items. Thanks for joining us at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge.

Lynn K said...

Such a fun wood block project! This came out great! Thanks for playing along with our Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!!

robinann17 said...

I love this little wooden block you made! The sentiment is wonderful and you really captured the essence of the challenge! Love your project!

TRACEY MO said...

Very cool project brill idea.

Thanks for joining us at JIC

tracey dt

sian said...

What a great project, I love the transformation from something so plain to a brilliant piece of artwork. Thanks so much for joining us over at JIC this week, I hope you can join us next week and/or for the monthly challenge. Sian (DT Co-Owner)

Carisa said...

This is gorgeous! What a great conversation piece to have around the house. Now I'm going to want to steal some wood from my hubby's shop! ;)

Lalo said...

This wood piece is so pretty! Love that little lady and the sayings. Awesome!!!

Lalo
The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog DT

Rachel said...

i love your wood block! this is such a gorgeous piece, and doesn't seem 'emo' at all to me! You rocked that Unity stamp! Thank you so much for playing Around the House with the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!
-Rachel
rwkrafts.com

Elaine aka Ellapu said...

This is fab - gorgeous thankyou for sharing with us over at Altered Eclectics this month.
Eclectic Ellapu - Owner
Altered Eclectics - Owner
Handcrafted by Ellapu
DT Crafty Ribbons

Melanie said...

Great piece. I love working on wood. Thanks for playing with Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!