/* */ Beulah Bee

October 10, 2017

Field Notes


Tinted mostly with water-soluble oil pastels, an image transfer, some stamped images, Tissue Wrap and Quote Chips came together on a support made from an old textbook cover. I've got step-out photos if you'd like to see the particulars.

(Click on the photos for a larger, lightbox view.)


I stripped the cover of a textbook which left me with a sturdy gray board that I covered with Tim Holtz Postale Tissue Wrap using Modge Podge.



I edited an image (coincidently, also a book cover) and then transferred it to the board using Golden Polymer Medium (Gloss). You can read about my technique in this post.


I used dilute gesso to obscure the background details and this also provided a good surface for applying color.


I stamped the keyboard image (Tim Holtz) on tissue paper using archival ink, tore the edges and pasted it on my support. I added a border detail/frame using a dark brown Pitt Artist Pen. They are made with india ink and waterproof with almost all mediums.



The Quote Chips (Tim Holtz Idea-ology) were delaminated because I wanted the text but not the thickness. They were later stained and distressed to blend in with the background.



The snail (Carabelle Studio) was also stamped on paper, which I tinted then cut-out and pasted on.


Most of the coloring was done with water-soluble oil pastels. I like that they are transparent, easily blended with your fingers and can be diluted and spread with a water brush for thinner coverage.



I made this to link-up with Simon's Monday Challenge Blog, this week's theme is to make anything except a card. This may be out of the box for some but if the challenge was just the opposite, I'd expect to struggle a bit as I haven't made a card in quite some time.

October 08, 2017

Choose Joy


Still keeping with the "dark" theme (only this time with a more positive bent), I'm sharing a tag made with an interesting technique that may be new to you.

Using a clay-coated paper (like Ranger's Specialty Stamping Paper) and Createx Pure Pigment Colors, a background is created that, once dry, can be scratched into to make a design.

I found a tutorial here that describes a variation of this process in more detail. If you've ever tried Scratchboard, you'll see that this technique is a close-cousin made better because the surface has color.


I used a Tim Holtz Halloween stamp (from last year) for the bird image then used the point of my Exacto knife to scratch-in the details and added shading over the marks with watered-down ink and a paint brush.

I'm linking to Simon's Monday Challenge Blog where it seems the "Walk on the Dark Side" theme was just what the doctor ordered to get me out of my recent creative slump. Go figure!

October 07, 2017

One of Many



A walk on the dark side (Simon's Monday challenge for this week) prompted a tag made from Tim Holtz ephemera and a Clippings Sticker.



Why one of many? Well, let's see:

  1. One of many tags that I make.
  2. One of many from the popular technique of attaching butterfly wings to something.
  3. One of many bones in our bodies.
  4. One of many letters in the alphabet.
  5. One of many flowers in our garden.
  6. One of many elements in the periodic tables.
  7. One of many who perished this week by the hands of a mad man.
  8. One of many prayers said for an end to this insanity.