Shuttered soul

With holiday crafting put away for the season, I am able to refocus on mixed media art. 

I am a classic over-thinker when it comes to art. Okay, truth be told, I might just be a classic over-thinker when it comes to everything–but today we are focusing on art. In creating this piece I pushed myself not to meticulously plan every detail and just go with the flow. 

The driving force behind this piece was Gypsy Soul’s Window with Shutters. First I covered the shutters with black ink. Then I applied a coat of embossing ink, added Rocky Road embossing powder and activated with a heat gun. 
Setting that aside, I created my background paper by layer after layer of acrylic paint, spray ink, ink pads, paint pens, washi tape and stamped images to cold press watercolor paper. 

Next I took a collage image from a magazine and layered it behind the window. I then adhered the window shutter to the background paper. 
I then adhered a couple of my favorite rusty found objects to the page. 

To create the frame, I added grit paste to the edge of a piece of chipboard that I cut slightly larger than my background page. After it was dry, I painted it with black acrylic paint and then sealed with a matte polyurethane spray. 
After the frame was dry, I adhered the background page to it and my project was complete. 

That was it! Projects are definitely easier when I don’t overthink them! 
My wish for all of you is that you each enjoy a holiday season filled with loved ones, warmth, good food and good feelings. 
Love to all, Betsy

Great Stuff

• Window with Shutters
• Tim Holtz Distressed black soot ink
• Embossing ink
• Seth Apter’s Rocky Road Baked Texture
• Cold press watercolor paper
• Acrylic paint
• Washi tape
• Black ink
• Spray inks
• Paint pens
• Rubber stamps
• Found objects
• Chipboard
• Beacon Adhesive Fabri-Tac
• Lock-Tite
• Tim Holtz Grit paste
• Stamps