Thursday, May 22, 2014

Molossi Mood Board Challenge

My snarky sister Lee recently joined the Molossi DT, and they're hosting a Mood Board challenge - and as soon as I saw it I knew I would have to play along. I've already created two projects, and I can see me giving it another crack before the deadline of May 31. There are so many inspiring details!

 

This will be a picture-heavy post :) I created a mixed-media journal for my friend Denyse. We were talking a few weeks ago about them, and so I decided to surprise her with one! First I'll show you the completed project, and then tell you a bit about how I was inspired by the mood board.


There are so many supplies that I'm sure I'm going to miss some.
Supplies: spiral-bound journal; digital stamp (fairy with raven) from Sweet Pea Stamps; Spectrum Noir and Bic markers; Distress Crackle Paint in Antique Linen & Broken China; Memory Box sunburst stencil & leaf die; Tim Holtz bubble stencil; Dreamweaver Embossing Paste; flourish & bird stamps from PTI; Barn Door & Antique Linen distress ink; Versamark; Black detail, Clear detail, and Carnelian opalescent embossing powders from Stampendous; Dylusions purple spray; May Arts twine; Making Memories leaves; Jolee's daisies; Fancy Pants chipboard; Studio Calico butterfly veneer; ribbon, sheer fabric, buttons, beads & wire from stash

A special thanks to Glenda for the Making Memories leaves & that fabulous 'remember' veneer piece! 

I chose this particular fairy & raven image because Dee LOVES ravens, and she's really liked the other things I've created with the fairies & mermaids from ching chou kuik. Alrighty, so here's how I did it: first I painted some extra-thick card stock with the Broken China crackle paint, and the big chipboard piece with Antique Linen. Once they were dry, I applied embossing paste to them - the chipboard piece has the Sunburst and plain white paste. I used the Memory Box leaf die to make my own paper stencil for the purple leaves. I mixed wayyyyy too much Dylusions spray into the paste, and so the leaves didn't come out as sharply as I'd hoped - the paste still gave it texture, but the ink bled out around the stencil part itself. Never fear, unintended results are just an opportunity for embellishment, right?


I used the Carnelian embossing powder on the flourishes because on white it gives a nice orange-ish red colour - on blue it comes out more coppery. I then stamped the same flourish around the edges of the page with Barn Door distress ink, which is more muted - you can see in the right-hand corner where the truer red shows up. I just used a tissue to wipe the excess ink off the embossed areas. I then stamped & embossed the bird. At this point I hadn't added the white bubbles yet! The flourishes & crackle paint were inspired by the third picture, which seems to be of a door with some ornate detailing. My colour choices were also inspired by the board - purple was definitely necessary because it's Dee's favourite colour. There's a smidge of purple in the beautiful heart bubble in the first picture :)

To highlight the single word (I was going to use Thickers to say "daydream" like the photo, and then found this perfect veneer in the goodies Glenda sent me!) I swiped it across the Barn Door inkpad, and then embossed it with 3 layers of clear embossing powder. 


I just couldn't get the detail that I wanted on the raven - it's hard to colour something iridescent black after all :) I used gray & navy markers, and then painted it with Sapphire glimmer mist - which completely obscured all the feather details in the illustration. White Sharpie pen and a dampened finger to smudge it helped - and then I found that perfect little feather! I highlighted the eye & beak with a Sakura Black Glaze pen. 

The flowers were originally a sort of tan colour, and had doo-dads in the centres that I didn't really care for. I pulled those off, and dyed them with water & some reinkers....and after that, gave them a healthy spritz of Dylusions. The sheer fabrics were frayed & then zapped with the heat gun to melt them. The red feather I found in the bottom of a drawer when I was getting out a new bottle of Tombow glue. Score!



Once I was finished embellishing, seriously, the very last step (I do not recommend this, lol) I decided I needed to cover up a bit of the purple leaves. Trying to get a stencil to lay flat on an essentially finished piece? Not so much. It still provided the bit of extra "something" I was going for!


Here's a shot that gives you an idea of the dimension - the fabric & flowers really pop! 


To decorate the binding, I used plain jewelry wire & a variety of beads. I don't have any special pliers or anything for using the wire - I just looped it around a coil, twisted it several times, and then used large beads to cover up the twists. Every few inches of beads I would wrap it around another coil, looping back & forth to anchor it & give it a random pattern. I find it easier to work with shorter pieces of wire, so there are 6 altogether. To anchor the ends, I twisted it back on itself & then tucked it into the already-strung beads to hide the end. The wire lets the beads move on the binding so that you can still use the journal functionally. 

I had so much fun making this - my fingernails are still purple ;) and the best part? Dee LOVED it! Thanks for the inspiration, Molossi!

xoxo,
Jessi



18 comments:

Honor said...

What an amazing entry for the mood board challenge!! I absolutely love it. Thanks for playing along with us at Molossi :)

Cathi ONeill said...

Wow, I am loving this, and the beads are amazing, so many great details!! So glad you have joined Molossi for our first Mood Board Challenge!!

Unknown said...

Wow the details are amazing and masking... Thanks for much for entering... Sara

Rikki Graziani said...

This is stunning, love every detail!!! Thankyou for playing along with Molossi

Unknown said...

I can't believe the work that went into this! Wow! its just amazing all the steps to create this beautiful piece of artistry.

I love it so much, I hugged the stuffin' out of her when she gave it to me <3

XOXO Dee

Marie said...

SPECTACULAR, Jessi!

Annette Allen said...

wow wow wow this is amazing.. you go girl.. totally love this.. so bold and just awesome..

Angela said...

Wow, Jessi, this is amazing...I love all the embellishments...especially the beads!

jimlynn said...

How loud can you shout WOW!!! Amazing and so beautiful. So much going on with this and it all fits just perfect. Gorgeous!
Lynn

Lee aka Violent Kittie said...

Gorgeous work, Jessi! This is one busy book. I think it has everything. I'm not sure which part is my favorite: all your embossing, your colored images, or that amazing beadwork. Now because I'm your snarky sister, does this open? Thanks for joining in the Molossi May Moodboard challenge.

Lindsey said...

This goes beyond even your usual awesomeness, Jessi! Wow, so much love and talent and STUFF went into this!

Dana Tatar said...

Wow! This is amazing! I love all the color and the bead work is amazing! Thanks for joining the Molossi Challenge! :)

Donna said...

Gor-geeeee-ous!!!
What a beautiful and thoughtful gift!! SO many details and awesome things to take in!! Fab work lady!

Dana said...

Holy cow!!! This is gorgeous!! The colors, details, the BEADS!!!!!! Wow!! I am Blown away!!

Unknown said...

WOWSERS
Adore this amazing - thank you so much for entering our first Moodboard challenge at Molossixx

Unknown said...

WOWSERS
Adore this amazing - thank you so much for entering our first Moodboard challenge at Molossixx

Unknown said...

WOWSERS
Adore this amazing - thank you so much for entering our first Moodboard challenge at Molossixx

Greta said...

Absolutely amazing, Jessi! What a lucky friend you have!