Mixed Media Panel Using Seth Apter's New Baked Texture Embossing Powders

Hi Everybody,

For me, January has been a month of pure inspiration.  So many new tutorials to watch and exciting new product releases to drool over.  A few of them are sprinkled throughout this post for Gwen Lafleur's Artist Tribe. 

The seed for this 4X6 7/8" cradled panel germinated from a fun little swap organized by my good friend Lisa Dobry for StencilClub.  She came up with the theme “My Wish for You in 2018 is…” So far I've only seen a few projects but they have all been incredible.  You can just tell that everyone is putting their heart and soul into it as did I.

Since my WOTY for 2018 is Clarity, I decided to expand upon the thought and wish my swap partner Insight, Clarity, and Vision.  Once I decided on the theme my vision became clear and everything fell perfectly into place.

Here’s how it all came about:

First I started a background on bristol paper with a collage of German text from an old book and vintage wallpaper.  Then I added some stenciling using Archival Ink through June Pfaff Daley's 9x12 stencil from her Lock and Key Collection.  

I added another layer of stenciling. This time with gesso and the 6x6 stencil from June's Collection.  A girl can never have too many layers, right?

 I found my focal point with Gwen's Ornamental Circle Cluster Stencil.  Doesn't it remind you of an eye when you lay it on its side?

Gwen's Ornamental Circle Cluster 

June Pfaff Daley made a video for StencilClub members showing how she used her stencils with Paper Clay. I instantly knew that I had to try this!

And then finally Emerald Creek released Seth Apter’s new Baked Texture Embossing Powders and I found magic in a jar! (Gwen’s got them all in stock.)

I used the Vintage Beeswax Baked Texture Embossing Powder to mimic a layer of encaustic wax over the collage. It’s so easy to do and the results are incredible.

First I covered the whole thing with a layer of Versa Mark Ink.

Then I sprinkled on some magic dust, (aka Vintage Beeswax).

And then fused the whole thing with my trusty heat gun. Honestly, this technique reminded me so much of my encaustics that I was tempted to get out my torch. (But thankfully I came to my senses and remembered that torches and paper don't play nice together before burning the house down!)

Concentrating back on my focal point, I painted my paper clay eye with acrylic paint and glazes  Then I auditioned it on the background after it had been fused with two layers of Vintage Beeswax.  I was giddy with the result and found myself smitten with this magic embossing powder.

To prepare the cradle panel I cut strips of the same vintage wallpaper, adhered them to the sides and then edged them with Archival Ink, Then I applied texture paste through Gwen’s Ornamental Circle Cluster Stencil.

And then I sprinkled it with another kind of magic dust, Baked Texture Patina Oxide.  Out came my heat gun and I started heat embossing it.   I love to watch it bubble  

I adhered my collage to the panel.

And then added another layer of dimension. I used texture paste instead of Versa mark for this layer and used a lower setting on my heat gun to keep the image from melting into the previous layers of Vintage Beeswax.  This is how the embossing looked before I fused with the heat gun.

And this is the layer after fusing and After I added some text.  I was impressed with how well the the stenciled images held their form using the powders with texture paste.

Next I stenciled the Ornamental Circle Cluster onto the background.  I wanted to create a shadow for my paper clay eye. You can really see depth in the layers.

I added feet to my paper clay eye for it to stand on and then adhered my focal point on to my background.

And finally I decided to ramp the eye up a notch by adding just a little more dimension.  This time I used an embossing pen to lay down the base for some Deep Sea Baked Texture Embossing Powder.  Deep sea is a semi-translucent powder that can look either blue or green depending on the base color.   Afterwards  I added several layers of Vintage Beeswax to create a three dimensional eyeball.

Here’s a side view of the finished panel.

 

And a few final pics.

Do you participate in any art related swaps? Its a great way to get to know online friends. I’ll be sending this one out to my swap partner tomorrow. I hope she loves it as much as I do. But now I’m thinking that I need to go make another one for myself…

Hugs until next time, Jill

Stencils Used for this Project
Ornamental Circle Cluster designed by Gwen Lafleur
Under Lock and Key, 9X12 and 6X6 both designed by June Pfaff Daley

Seth Apter Baked Texture Embossing Powders by Emerald Creek (Gwen's got them!)
Vintage Beeswax
Patine Oxide
Deep Sea