"Angel" Mixed media canvas tribute

 "Though we cry tears of sadness
for the loss of our loved ones,
So the angels weep tears of joy
For the return of their's."

Hey everyone,

I'm back to show you a canvas I made for many reasons. One of the reasons is that it is the tenth 'anniversary' of my mother's death today. I can't believe how fast time goes by. Some memories fade unfortunately, while others stay put in my heart forever. I still miss her so much. Her warmth, our bond, her laughter, her naughty, funny and vibrant nature, her creativity, her advice, her hugs, our talks on the phone, our shopping trips. 

So when I saw the 'Angels' challenge' from the 13Arts blog come by, I knew I wanted to create something for/about my mom. (I even miss that I can't make gifts for her anymore...)

My mom loved angels so much, she actually became one. The poem above says it all. She believed dearly in angels, and she found comfort in knowing she was needed in heaven even more, than here on earth. Though she had a really hard time leaving us behind. She fought her battle against cancer for as long as humanly possible. And then some more.  

Watching slip her away into heaven is something I will never forget, for as long as I live and breathe. 

You still have until the 27th of March to join in their challenge!

Also, the March challenge over at the Words & Paintery blog really spoke to me. You still have until April 15 to join in! The colors really inspired me to use them on my angel canvas. My mother was a very feminine woman. 

And the words? They are the words my mother used to live by. She tried to make her dreams come true and enjoyed all the little things that every day brought. She had had a rough childhood and knew she had to make her own happiness. 

Sadly these words have become even more true when she passed away at age 52. Her early death has made us realize to seize the day. Nothing lasts forever indeed.

So... where to start? 

I wanted to try to use a picture of mother collage style. So I made a copy and applied it to the canvas with gel medium. Let that dry and worked around it in the meantime.

Recently I purchased this 'wings stencil' from Sandra's Hobbyshop and thought the wing shapes would fit nicely into a heart shaped canvas. I applied gesso to the canvas first after having read that someone had had trouble with the crackle paste. Unfortunately, the gesso might have been the source of that same trouble I also experienced later on: the crackle paste was so immensely cracked, the bits were practically standing upright! I could flick them all right off. I decided to put a coat of gel medium on the canvas first, then applied the texture paste once more. This time I kept the layer thinner as well.

Luckily, the paste stuck this time.

Below you can see the result of the cracked wings. Some bits are still almost chipping off, but I sealed everything with gel medium. Which I did whilst blending it a bit with Finnabair Art Ingredients Opal Mica Powder, peach colored.

The picture came out okay, and I coated it with a clear crackle medium. Unfortunately I applied it too thickly, cracking up my mother's face too much, so I tried 'collaging' the same picture over it, in the hopes of a better result. (I can already tell you it didn't work. I could peel the picture right off, revealing nothing but the deeply cracked picture once more.)

Around the top and sides of the wings I stenciled little stars with modeling paste. I wanted the wings to stay in focus, not clutter them. 

So I decided to put the emphasis on the bottom half of the canvas, by embellishing a skirt-like shape. First I adhered a bit of lace, but I might as well not have, since it's not showing anywhere anymore, LOL. Then I added some more embellishments.

Not shown on this picture yet, is the bit I added later, above the 'waist' of my mother. I wasn't happy with the outcome of the blouse, so I covered that up mostly.

Then it was time to cover everything in gesso.

Once the gesso had dried, I sprayed, using 3 different colors. I used 2 glimmermists: pink poodle and crimson.

And for the lighter shade of pink, I used Lindy's Stamp Gang: Sunset Pink.

I set off the stars from the background with a bit of Silver Inka Gold.

I added some Prima Art Stones here and there with gel medium, and sprayed those too. For a bit more glitter I added Glimmerglam: Chandelier over the wings, the picture, the shirt and wherever else it was needed.

I'll leave you with some more shots, and hope you like it. My only regret is adding the too big cracks to my mom's head. Also I have to admit I found it difficult to embellish this one, because I wanted the wings to remain uncluttered.

Comments and questions are always welcome!

You can also follow me on Facebook: Less is bore!

Or find me on Instagram: mandylessisbore

Happy scrapping!

"Stoer (cool)" Mixed media layout

Hi all!

After a few busy weekends (and evenings in which I was too tired to do anything but reside on the couch) I finally had some time to create something again. I was in the mood to try some of my recently purchased goodies such as Finnabair's Opal Mica Powders and Prima's Graphite Texture Paste and Artstones.

And I knew just which picture and paper I was going to use for it!

Connor looked cool and sweet at the same time in this picture. I edited it a little to give it a more tough and vintage look. The graffiti paper called Hip hop  has been in my stash for a long time and is by a Dutch brand called Creamotion. It suited my idea perfectly.

Since it felt very flimsy I decided to stick it onto a piece of currogated cardboard, tearing open the middle section.

 Like almost every time, I distressed the edges and inked them. Later on I painted them some and applied some more Art Extravagance Graphite texture paste.

First I stenciled some rays using a Tim Holtz stencil, and some hearts in brick pattern with another stencil. I used the Art Extravagance graphite texture paste to do so. Wow, it's great to work with! Despite its grainy texture it is very flexible. I had no trouble applying it through the tiny bricks of the stencil. And the result is totally amazing texturewise and in vibrancy.

Now it was time to fill up the creases of my currogated cardboard. I applied gel medium first, then added Art stones in both sizes and Glass Glitter in two colours : sterling and platinum.

After that I mixed 2 shades Finnabair's Opal Mica powders with Tim Holtz clear crackle medium. I added this on top of what I had just done, thinking the opal powders would be sort of translucent. Turns out they aren't. LOL. (So after this step I sprinkled on some more glass glitter.)

The Dutch word 'Stoer' (it sort of translates into 'cool/tough') was painted with black gesso first, then I put my opal powder mixture on top of it. Later I decided the word didn't stand out enough, so I coated it with some Tattered Angels glimmer glam: Tail Fin. I bet you still can't find it now, though ;)

As a hoarder... wait, I mean scrapbooker ...;) I had kept some clothing tags I wanted to use. I altered them a little with ink and crackle medium.

Here and there I added some cheesecloth like fabric, which I stained a little at first by spraying Boardwalk glimmermist onto it.
By the way, I sprayed this shade of glimmermist a bit over the page to make it more playful and soften the contrast of the cream background and black printing. 

On the left side next to the picture I added a little piece of brick pattern chipboard, which I coated with Art Extravagance Graphite texture paste first. The gaps were filled with both sizes Art stones later.

Added my embellishments like a zipper, wooden stars, swirls, dominoes, metal hearts and lamps (from Prima marketing ) until I liked my composition.

I hardly ever leave anything 'as is', so I inked and crackle glazed some items. (Lately I have noticed that the crackle glaze doesn't stay put very well. Could it be of old age? Anyone out there ever had this problem?)

Once everything was in place I splattered black gesso all over the page.

Hope you like it, as my own toughest critic I have to admit even *I* do really like this one!

Comments and questions are always very welcome.

You're also welcome to follow me on my Facebookpage Less is bore!

Or come find me on Instagram: mandylessisbore

HAPPY SCRAPPING! 

"Live, Love Laugh (Almost 3)" Mixed media layout 'Finnabair style'

"Live, love, laugh (Almost 3)"

Hi everyone,

I'm here to show you the first layout that is published upon the Canvas Corp Brands blog! I am so proud! 

When I made these pictures of Connor to use for his upcoming 3rd birthday invitation, I already saw a lovely layout in my mind, with emphasis on the brown and mint. 

Soooo, this "Live love laugh" paper from Canvas Corp from their Kraft series, went perfect with the merry picture! Don't worry about all the black gesso, you won't even know it's there once it's finished. I hope ;)

The embellishments were picked out to suit Connor at this age: numbers, cars, planes, trains, gears, puzzle pieces (I actually used a cheap puzzle of Connor, ssshhh, don't tell him!) and some quirky arrows, stars and feathers because what else can you use for boys that isn't girly like flowers?

Also, I drew some quirky lines with my glue gun.
You may wanna skip the next step I took though... I burnt my fingers terribly when a star covered in hot glue fell and I picked it up. I do burn myself occasionally while using the glue gun, but this time it was different! My finger felt like it was on fire and even after holding it in lukewarm running water, it kept burning. I had to delay my layout  (and almost everything else!) for hours. By then it was evening and I was too tired. The day after I approached my glue gun with new feelings...

My colleague gave me the hint to put a bowl of water near while using my glue gun. If anything happens dip your fingers straight into the bowl! 

So finally I was able to piece all my embellishments together.

Next came the time-consuming gesso'ing. Turned all of the embellishments white.

Oh dear, what's she doing now? I had a brilliant idea you probably shouldn't copy, because it didn't really work out anyway. I wanted to 'gesso' the edges black. And the edges of the embellishments too. But that didn't go smoothly, so I just dabbed some more black on the surfaces.

Then, against better knowledge, I sprayed the whole shebang with glimmermist. At first just the 'Verdigris'. VERY shimmery indeed. But it didn't cover up the fugly, harsh black spots I had made. What to do? 

Let's give the white gesso mixed with 13Arts Magic Powder (for more texture) a try, by dabbing it on with a foam brush. Like I learned from someone the other day. 

Wowzers! That worked incredibly well! 

But it became a bit too boring for my taste, so I sprayed some more glimmermist. Verdigris, Rolling Tide and even some Boardwalk to darken it up. Still not satisfied, I brushed everything with a bit of Goldenbrown Inka Gold

There. All done. Gave the (already distressed) edges a little spray too and then I wrapped some iron wire around my embellishments. To spice it up a bit.

So here you have it. Hope you like it. I for one am happy with the outcome. And believe me, I am not always.

Comments are very welcome, questions too. Hop on over to my facebookpage too, I'd like that! 

Less is Bore!

Or come and follow me on Instagram!

Happy scrapping!

"Treasure" Mixed Media layout

Hi all,

For some time already I had my mind set on the 7dots papers. I hesitated on the "Cold Country" collection, though. On second thought the colours did speak to me. Once they arrived the colours weren't as intense as I'd hoped. That's okay though. Paper is just a background you can adjust, after all. 

Furthermore I had seen the deliciously intense colour scheme with rich purple, green and bright blue from the February challenge over at the Words and Paintery blog. But I simply had to add some cobalt blue and gold to make it a bit more 'peacock'. Yumm...

To make those intense colours even more intense, I wanted to use Inka Gold metallics. The challenge asked for glitter and shine, so they can have it!

After working with these creamy pastes I am totally in love. I cannot imagine life without them anymore :P

Velvet flowers, Prima star vines, metal embellishments coloured gold, feathers and Inka Gold applied through stencils, and there you have it...

A creamy, rich, intense, velvety, luxurious, warm layout that makes Connor's eyes POP! 

The radiance of a treasure cave filled to the brim. The way I feel about my little boy. He's my greatest treasure.

Like it? Leave me a note!

You can also stop by my facebookpage "Less is bore!"

Or check me out on Instagram: mandylessisbore

Take care!

"You're a rainbow full of possibilities" Mixed media layout February inspiration board Scraps of Darkness

Hi everyone,

How have you been? 

Despite my silence I have been busy! If all will go accordingly, my first layout ever will soon be published on the Canvas Corp Brands Blog! Can you imagine how proud and excited I am??? 

The layout I am blogging about is not that layout however, of course ;)

This particular layout was inspired by the moodboard over at the Scraps of darkness and scraps of elegance mixed media scrap community. It's their February Inspiration board Challenge!

I had been wanting to scrap a particular picture of Connor and his dad in the swimming pool already, where they sat leaning against all sorts of rainbow colored slides and structures. Connor was about a half year old then, I think.

Because of the rainbow I had in mind, I needed a rather white background paper. This one from 13Arts, called Fly Away "Imagine", suited my need perfectly. 

The circle in the background is also from 13Arts, however I have recently bought whole rolls of this decor fabric at a local store that sells everything and anything (it's called Action). I used gel medium to glue it to the background and let it dry overnight.

The next day I added a layer of gesso all over the circle, then sought out some stencils to use with modeling paste. 

Hardly worth all the effort, because the shapes that were large enough still vanished in the fabric, and the smaller shapes became sort of a blur. But whatever, I created some texture ;)

Threw in some nail caviar (micro beads) assorted beads from my jewelry making stash also.

Time to add some chipboard. Among my chipboard shapes there is also the Scrapiniec Monograce "R". (Of the entire alphabet I won and am slowly but steadily scrapping away.)

I wanted to emphasize the idea that Connor still has endless possibilities, so I used some arrows to indicate him moving forward, etc.

Once all my embellishments were in place it was time for some more layers of gesso...

Then the spraying started. I just used the colors in my stash, not really regarding what brand they were, just picked them because of their color. After everything had dried overnight, I did notice differences. 

Tattered Angels glimmermists dry very nicely (noticed that on my little canvas too), but the Maya Mist and Dylusions tend to stay very wet.

Which does not come in handy if you want to coat everything with gesso, by dabbing it with a sponge brush. Something that succeeded very well I might add, while I was creating the layout I made before this one. (The layout that I mentioned before at the top and will hopefully be on the Canvas Corp Brands blog!)

However this time the gesso simply picked up the colors, especially the red and blue. The wet inks. Well...

So...

I just played some more and re-added some spray inks, and even coated the whole with a pearlescent glimmermist for more glimmer.

Once I had settled on the best and most clear way to add the rest of my quote "You're a rainbow full of possibilities" I gave the Scrapiniec Monograce "R" a few dabs of black gesso. 

Hope you like it! Comments are always most welcome, followers on my facebookpage Less is bore! and my Instagram mandylessisbore even more.

I'll leave you with some close-ups and wish you

Happy Scrapping!