I Made Art!

Oops … I thought I had set this to publish yesterday, but it didn’t work.

But, the problem has been fixed and here it is …There are two designers in the scrapbooking world who greatly influence me … Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi. In addition to providing unique, quality products and teaching us how to use them, both artists encourage me (and millions of others) to take what we learn and make it our own. In fact, Wendy regularly instructs people to “Make Art.”

So, for a contest at Scrap Tales, I finally did.

The rules were simple … use Art Parts, Studio 490 stamps and Clearly For Art, along with a product by Ranger or Tim Holtz Idea-ology to make art, Wendy Vecchi style.

The execution was a bit more difficult.

It took me several days to think up my art. I wanted viewers to see Wendy’s inspiration, but I didn’t want it to look like a poor imitation of her work. Figuring out how to balance my style with her style was an enormous challenge for me. In fact, there were several times when I turned off the light and walked out of my room in order to prevent those lovely Art Parts from making a journey to the trash can.

But, inspired by a Studio 490 stamp that said, “Never be afraid to sit for a moment and Think,” and knowing I wanted birds (my latest obsession) on it, I persevered.

And then, on Saturday, with the base and background finally finished, it miraculously came together. The piece started talking to me, inspiring me, encouraging me and practically finishing itself. It became more fun each time I glued on another component. And, when I finished and looked it over, I was giddy with excitement. I MADE ART!

Yes, I do artsy projects all the time. And, yes, I like most of what I do, some more than others. But I have never experienced the sort of satisfaction I did on Saturday when I looked at that finished piece and realized I had made art — real art — the sort I would actually buy in a store.

I used a lot of techniques learned from my “mentors” Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi. I also used some ideas from other crafters far greater than myself. But, there are also some modifications to those techniques that make them uniquely mine, as well as the velvet, lace and bling of the Victorian era that I love.  Although my inspiration stamp didn’t quite make it to the finished piece (it was too large), in the end, I think it’s pretty darn cool!

While I won’t go into all of the products that I used in making this, I wanted to share some of the bigger ones, so you can be inspired to make your own art.

The Art Parts are from Wendy Vecchi, as are most of the stamps, the instructions for making the rose, and the idea of using background stamps to spice up simple images, like the butterfly at the base. Wendy also taught me it isn’t too much of a pain to cut out a stamped image — especially if you use Distress Ink to color it.

The paper, saying, Grungeboard, Grungepaper, dies to make the leaves, rose and bird’s wing, the Grungeboard butterfly, the flower button, the metal flower, the spinner, Distress Stickles, Distress Ink and jump rings are all from Tim Holtz, as is the inspiration (and permission) to alter buttons and flowers with paint.

As with most of my projects, I used Paint Dabbers, Alcohol Ink and Archival Ink from Ranger and ribbons from May Arts. The little crystals are from Maya Road.

The entire thing is held together with Art Institute Glitter Glue in clear and Glue Dots, with the exception of the lace ribbon. It is attached with Trio, by JudiKins. As it turns out, Art Institute Glitter Glue will hold anything and everything in place — wood, plastic, metal, fabric, chipboard, paper, etc. — UNLESS you use Ranger Metallic Paint Dabbers. It just doesn’t hold well to that, so I used my Trio.

The Glue Dots are also great for immediate staying power. I used a couple of the Pop Dots to attach the rose button, since it was such an odd shape in an odd position. I also used them to adhere the birds to each other and to hold down pieces of the vine.

While I won’t teach you how to make the Grunge Rose (there are many instructors who teach it), I will tell you I covered most of the petals in Rock Candy Distress Stickles after I put it together and then I added a very thick coating of Picket Fence Distress Stickles to look like a snowy top on the rose.

See the post below for info on the leaves …

And then, make some art, Wendy Vechi style!