CC3 Challenge 1: This Is a Happy Life!

I managed to squeek in some time to play with paints this week in between giving final exams, grading and getting ready for a major surgery in NY (in less than two weeks).  I loved every minute.  I found myself humming a lovely melody and smiling as I painted and spritzed.  Thank you Linda Ledbetter for this amazing Compendium of Curiosities challenge over at Studio L3.  So much fun!!  (And if you haven't gone over and looked at the Curiosity Crew's incredible projects, you need to go now.  Gorgeous!!  Love how each person took the Paint Marbling technique and made it their own.  So much personality :) ) I too had a great time exploring and playing with Tim Holtz's Distress Paints.  I wanted to see how the Paint Marbling technique worked on different paper.   I created this wall hanging by applying the technique to Tim's Kraft Resist paper and also on some watercolor paper.  

The Kraft Resist experiment was interesting.  As you might expect, the Distress Paint didn't really seem to be resisted by the "resist" designs on this gorgeous Ideology paper.  I used a kitchen sink assortment of Distress Paint Colors: Spiced Marmalade, Salty Ocean, Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint and Seedless Preserves.  They really were absorbed by the kraft paper.  I am sorry I don't have a picture of this part of the process.

I actually like watching paint dry; it gives me time to think "I wonder what will happen if I ..."  This time, I wondered if I could actually use something to bring out the resist pattern through the marbled paint.  I immediately thought about Distress Stain.  I quickly grabbed my heat tool in one hand (to help the paint to dry faster) and my Vintage Photo Distress Stain in the other hand.  As soon as the paint was dry, I began applying the Vintage Photo Distress Stain directly from the bottle onto the painted kraft resist paper.  I grabbed the heat tool again and started to dry the stain.  Oh my ... it worked!!!!  And I love the effect.  In some places, the resist ended up picking up the color of the paint.  Wow!!  This two-stage technique on kraft resist creates an amazing muted backbackground.   Here are some close-ups:

Then I decided to play with Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade on Watercolor Paper. Oh my ... so much fun to see the paint marble on this paper.  Love it!!  The colors are so intense.   After I dried the paint, it was almost perfection without anything else on it.  I added just a little Walnut Stain Distress Ink around the edges and then one of Tim's Remnant Rubs (because these colors really did make me happy :) ) .  Finally I added a butterfly embellishment.

 Really ... check out this color ... soooooooo amazing!

To add some dimension to the wall hanging, I used some Black Soot Distress paint on Grunge Board elements and then covered them with Glossy Accent.  I also used Antique Copper, Brushed Pewter, Broken China and Black Soot Distress Paint in layers on this Grunge Board keyhole.  It too was covered with Glossy Accent.  Aren't the wings behind it fun?

 I used Tim's tissue tape around the edges of the wall hanging and took my Distress Marker in Gathered Twig and Rusty Hinge to add some dimension around the edge of the Kraft Resist Paper. 

Well I hope you enjoyed the results of my experimentation with Paint Marbling.  Hope you get a change to try out all of Tim's techniques in his new book Compendium of Curiosities 3.  So much to learn and inspire you!!!

Thanks for visiting.  Have a fabulous weekend. -- Mary Elizabeth