Guest Star Paula Cheney!

Today's guest star is Paula Cheney who brings us two lovely pieces of altered art. Paula says, "I was drawn to Jenni’s paper with the school children and knew right away I wanted to create a small canvas featuring the little girl in the white dress.

To prepare the 8 x 8” canvas I gave it a coat of gesso (let it dry). Then added a coatof Aqua Adirondack Dapper paint. Once the paint was dry I added a coat of Espresso, then wiped it away with a baby wipe while the paint was still wet.

Now comes the fun part...I just started layering paper onto the canvas using gel medium. I added the ripped paper at the top to mimic the shape of a tent because thelittle banner flags reminded me of something you might see at a circus. The Affection card also mimics the doorway into the Big Top. I just kept adding pieces of Jenni’s paper and old music until I had the right balance, because in my world there should always be a bit of old to balance out the new. I added a piece of dyed cheesecloth, mostly because it was on my desk and I like using things I have arms reach. I always think of it as a challenge to see what I can do withthings that are already on my desk. Once I got all the papers in place, I used watercolor pencils to add detail to the little girls' dresses. Then finished it off with oil pastels and a graphite pencil for shading.

I love how it turned out. It really reminded of my older sister and I so I decided to add the star to the older girl since my sister is someone who I have always looked up to and tried to be like. She is a star.

This project uses a 7 Gypsies Receipt Holder that is available at JBS Mercantile in the General Store.

Gather JBS 12 x 12 paper.
Cut pieces to fit sections.
Rip each paper across the top and ink.

Insert paper into the receipt holder and start filling with photos and vintage treasures. I used black and white photos taken of my parents older siblings taken during the early 50’s.

For the large picture of my parents I cut a piece of heavy book board about 4 x 7”, then adhered JBS paper. I made an enlarged toner cartridge copy of the photo (the original is only about 2 x 3”), then followed the following steps to create a tape transfer:
1. Make an toner cartridge copy (ink jet will not work) of a photo.
2. Cut a piece of clear contact paper (matte finish) the size of the photo.
3. Cut around the picture to remove as much white space as possible.
4. Lay the copy on the table top face up and lay the contact paper over the top sticky side down.
5. Burnish well with a bone folder (do not skip this step).
6. Immerse image in water for at least 5 minutes.
7. Remove from water. Use thumbs to roll away the wet paper leaving the image on the contact paper. Run under water from time to time to facilitate removing the paper.
8. Cut away any excess contact paper. Let dry sticky side up (It might not be sticky when you take it out of the water but as it dries it will get sticky again.
9. Add a bit of glue stick to the back, then lay the transfer over the JBS paper and burnish well.

I added other bits of JBS paper, embellishments and stickers to the receipt holder. The paper mixes so well with the vintage items from my stash it’s hard to know what is old and what is new.