A Challenge Just for Fun- 'Texture'

Hi Everyone!
It is the New Year and most of us are back at work, kids are in school, and 2015 is underway.  The beginning of the new year often brings resolutions and changes and that is the case for my stampy friend, Giovana and I.
We have been discussing challenging ourselves to be better card makers/crafters.   In the process, we decided it would be fun to let you join us.  We like variety and no pressure, so we will run our challenges for 1 month.  The 'challenge' will vary from month to month; this month we are looking at the trendy technique of Mixed Media in addition to using something new.  You may have just gotten it for Christmas or you may have had it in your stash for two years and never used it.  
As I said, we do not like pressure!  We want you to play along if you want, regardless of how long you have been crafting.  Love mixed media?  Great!  Join in.  Don't even know what embossing paste is and never heard of mixed media?  No worries!  This is your time to experiment, play, and have fun.  You can even ask questions if you want.
We have a mood board for you; we are depicting 'texture', as mixed media is all about texture.  You may use the mood board for inspiration but it is not required.  You may pull colors from the mood board but it is not required either.

Mixed media.  What is it?  Well, I am NOT a mixed media expert; I am only repeating what I have learned from various tutorials and stampy friends.  Mediums are any materials that we use in our art work.  Most of us use ink.  Other mediums include colored pencils, acrylic paint, embossing paste, and gesso. Mixed media means you are using more than one medium on your project.
Texture is created by layering mediums.  A couple of the common ways to do this is with stencils or with stamped images layered under paint, gesso, or embossing paste.  Spray mists are another good way to do this. 

In our project, we challenge you to use at least two mediums from this list~

ink, acrylic paint, gesso, gelatos, spray inks, embossing paste, colored pencils, 

watercolors, chalks, pastels

And one or more from this list~

fabric, glitter, chipboard, metal, ephemera, washi tape, wood/wood veneer, cork

I went through a lot of trial and error making the background to this card.  You do not want to see the backside of my panel; talk about ugly!  I started by brayering some white acrylic craft paint onto the entire panel.  Once dry, I stamped a text image in several places on the panel.  It does not have to be perfect; it is actually better if it is not.

This is the background stamp that I used, just to give you an idea~

I spritzed some Fire Works ink spray in Lady Bug Red in a couple of places.  Next, I brayered some acrylic paint in a color much like SU's Coastal Cabana.  I stayed to 1/2 to 2/3 of the side of the panel.  It was a bit intense, so I brayered white paint over the other side of the panel, overlapping into the blue/green area.  It still allows the stamped text and the red spritzing to show through.  Lastly, I added texture and interest with some white embossing paste and my Harlequin stencil from Crafter's Workshop.

My sentiment panel consists of layers, using Poppy Parade and More Mustard cs in addition to Nature Gmund Savanna textured cardstock in white.  The fun heart/sentiment is from MFT and stamped in Island Indigo.  

Final details include washi tape strips in the top right and lower left corners, in addition to wood veneer stars and enamel dots.  

My sketch inspiration came from Sketch Saturday Challenge~

Finally, what is new in my project?  I have had the stamp set a couple of years and never used it; the veneer stars and the woodgrain enamel dots are also new.  

Now it is your turn, should you take the challenge!  You have until February 4th, noon ET to add your link.  If you have any questions, just leave a comment and we will try to answer to the best of our ability.

A special thanks to Lucia, who created this fantastic logo.  You can check out her blog here.

Happy Crafting and have a Blessed day!

Lee Ann Barrett-Greytpapercrafts

Giovana Smith- Stop by Giovana's blog, Believe, for more mixed media inspiration!  You will be glad you did!