This week we are using the Gelatos^® color of the week: Banana. It has a great tone to it that really sets it apart from other yellows.

For this art journal page I used the Gelatos Mist Maker to make my own Banana Gelatos mist! I took about 1/4" of the Banana Gelatos and placed it on a lid I like to use for mixing because it's shallow, yet has a lip around it to keep liquids in.  I mashed the Gelatos down with my pallet knife and then added 2 drip droppers full of water to it and mashed it down some more to get rid of any lumps. Next I added two more droppers of water and then poured it into the spray bottle.

I then sprayed it onto my piece of watercolor paper and blotted it with a paper towel which left a cool pattern on the page.  I then held my paper up and brought the spray mist closer to the paper to create concentrated dips onto the paper.

Next I found a picture of our 4 year old Australian Labradoodle, Willow. I trimmed the photo a bit and then sewed around it with my sewing machine. 

I then covered the background of the photo with gesso and allowed the gesso to "spill off the photo" visually.  

Now, at this point I liked the texture that the sewing gave to the photo, but I decided that I wanted to see the color of the thread so I ended up printing out another copy of this photo, adding the gesso, and then stitching around the photo. I then adhered the photo to the page and then traced around the dog with a Stampers Big Brush Pen in Warm Grey IV #273, smudging it as I went. Next I used a black Pitt Pen to draw sketch lines around her. I then added pops of color by coloring the tennis ball with a Stampers Big Brush Pen in Light Green #171 and using the Snow Cone Gelato on the background as a contrasting color.

The finishing touch was using a PITT Artist Pen with a brush tip to hand letter her name onto the page. Hand lettering on watercolor paper covered in gesso is a bit of a challenge since the paper is so absorbent and the gesso makes it bumpy, but it still has a nice look to it.

Supplies:

• 9" x 6" Watercolor paper
• 4" x 6" Photo, trimmed
• Gelatos: Banana & Snowcone
• Gelatos Mist Maker Kit (it contains the spray bottle, pallet knife, drip dropper and more)
• PITT Pens: XS and B
• Stampers Big Brush Pens: Warm Grey IV #273 & Light Green #171
• Gesso
• Sewing machine & thread

Disclosure: Erin is a paid consultant and has received  products from Faber-Castell to evaluate. However, the opinions expressed are entirely her own and based on her use of the products.

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy from these links it won't cost you a penny more but Erin will make a little bit of money (not enough for a pony). 

Yay, fall is just about here and I'm excited to welcome in the cooler weather of my favorite time of year.  Autumn always reminds me of comfort and so when I was trying to think of a project to create that symbolizes all those warm, fuzzy, comfy things, I thought what could be better represent that then a wool felt applique project!

Here's a video of how it all come together:

Supplies: 

• ScanNCut Machine and accessories
• ScanNCut Deep Cut blade
• ScanNCut Pen Holder 
• ScanNCut Erasable Pen
• Wool felt in a variety of colors (I got mine here.)
• Heat 'n Bond Iron-On Adhesive
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery needle

Instructions:

Step 1 - Write "happy" onto a piece of scrap paper and then scan it into the ScanNCut using the "Scan To Cut Data" option and then save your design.

Step 2 -  Press the home button and then open up your design by going to "patterns" and then "saved data".  Unify the letters so you're able to move them anywhere on your screen.

Prepare your felt by ironing Heat N Bond onto the backside of it. Once your design is unified you can then apply your felt to the mat and scan it into the machine so you can line up your word "hello" exactly where you want it.

Step 3 - Insert the fabric pen into the pen holder and insert that into the ScanNCut. Use the "draw" option instead of "cut" to draw the design onto the felt.

Step 4 - Choose the designs and colors of felt that you want to use and then cut them out using the Deep Cut Blade on your ScanNCut. Make sure you do a test cut first to ensure you're cutting through the felt but not through your mat.  If your mat gets too much lint on it from the felt use a baby wipe to gently clean it off then allow it to dry and it will be good to continue using.

Step 5 - Iron your designs onto your felt (the one you wrote "hello" onto) and then have fun embroidering it!

Happy scanning, cutting, and embroidering!

Disclosure: Erin is a paid consultant and has received  products from Brother ScanNCut to evaluate. However, the opinions expressed are entirely her own and based on her use of the products.

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy from these links it won't cost you a penny more but Erin will make a little bit of money (not enough for a pony). 

This week's Gelatos^® color is Red Cherry and I thought it would be really fun to use that in an autumn project.

I got started on it by decoupaging a canvas panel with a music sheet and Gel Medium. I then applied Red Cherry and Blood Orange Gelatos to it and used Gel Medium to move it around my background....I ended up layering up a few layers this way so that the colors would be intense.

Next I put on a layer of Glaze...I love how glossy that makes it! I used a rubber stamp to make an impression in it while it was still wet, however by the time my project was finished there I had covered it up....but it is a cool technique to use!

For the leaves I used my die-cut machine to cut out a leaf shape out of black cardstock and then mixed together some Whipped Spackle and Gold Texture Luxe™. Mixing these creates a different color and texture but still has a metallic shine.  After they were mixed I added some Gold Champagne Gelatos to half of it...this really bumped up the metallic look of it and darkened it some too. Before it dried I used a pencil to etch in some vein lines.

I did the same technique using Whipped Spackle, Copper Texture Luxe, and Iced Chai Gelatos to it for the other leaf.

The bookplate I used was originally silver, and I wanted it to be copper, so I took just a dab of the copper Texture Luxe and added a couple of drops of water to it and then applied it.  After that dried I rubbed ink from the Walnut Brown #177 Big Brush Pen into the recessed parts.

I then took a small piece of black cardstock and covered the front side of it with 3 layers of Chalkboard Paint and allowed it to dry before writing on it with chalk ink. I applied some Chalkboard Paint around the edge of the canvas as well to create a frame.

After everything was dry I wrapped some string and beads around the right edge to finish it off.

Disclosure: Erin is a paid consultant and has received  products from Faber-Castellt to evaluate. However, the opinions expressed are entirely her own and based on her use of the products.

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy from these links it won't cost you a penny more but Erin will make a little bit of money (not enough for a pony).