GPP Street Team Crusade #44

I've always loved Michelle Ward's art and fondly peruse her "Street Team" blog and the monthly "Crusades" or challenges she posts there. Well this month, my hands were itching to do something different and this looked too cool to pass up. The challenge this month is "In a Scrape" -make a painting but NO brushes allowed! She shows tutorials and examples to help everyone along.


I started with a gessoed canvas (gesso applied with a palette knife of course!) to add a bit of texture to the base, then I just started scraping layers on. I grabbed my little bottles of Stewart Gill Colourise paints at first, to add matte base layers, then I came in after it was dry with my Byzantia colors to add a little shimmer. Then I took my palette knife and scraped a little bit of Black Soot Crackle paint by Ranger. After it cracked I came in as a last layer and added Metamica Silver to highlight some areas. It still didn't look "finished" (I doubt it ever will!) so I took an old credit card and with the edge made some lines. I can't say it's a "pretty" picture, LOL. It's grungy, and peeling and has so many layers I think it may have a personality disorder.  But you know what? I like it. And I actually completed my first challenge at GPP. I think after I post it to the group and it sits for awhile I might give it a focal point by adding some big stenciled numbers on it, spray paint style, to commemorate Crusade #44. 


Happy Autumn Equinox everyone! The Chicago area celebrated fall with 90 degree weather! BLECH.

When to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.

I'm not a poker player but this came to mind. What to do with this 100/100 project? I'm having a really hard time keeping up. Actually I'm not keeping up. I'm about 15 days behind. Between taking care of the business and taking care of prior art commitments, I'm just wiped out. And of course that's all on top of taking care of the family and house... sigh. It seemed so easy at the beginning. Just a little index card a day. Doesn't take a lot of time. I think I'm making things too complicated. Well, I'm not giving up yet, but I'm thinking about it... do I need the stress? Maybe this is a lesson in letting go. Learning to say "no" or "I can't". Or can I? Originally I challenged myself to use products from Stewart Gill/Artistcellar.com on each card. Most of my cards follow that rule but I decided I'm not going to beat myself up about it anymore. If it happens, it happens.


Well, I have a few more to show you anyway. Who knows what'll happen in the next 50 days? Here's number 10, done on canvas, graffiti style with different colors of Stewart Gill True Colour paints.

 Number 11 is also SG paint on canvas but I used the Mini Cosmic Bubbles Stencil to make the pattern. 

Another painted canvas base for number 12 but this time I used a brass tree stencil over the SG painted background. I bought the stencil at the CHA craft supershow. I used dimensional glue and glitter to glitz it up. Yes, those blobs are really sparkly!

I was feeling good when I made number 13. I was caught up and decided to tell the world! Painted canvas background but I used another brass stencil with Stewart Gill Galactica glitter paint for the design. These really don't photograph well. It's really pretty and sparkly, I promise!

I went back to paper with number 14. I think I was working on a Marie Antoinette project at the time and had some leftover scrap paper. I dribbled Fresco Flakes on the background.

Number 15 has NOTHING to do with using my store products. My friend Arlene was drawing all these fabulous faces and I was inspired to try to draw a face from a picture. This is what happened. Drawing faces is not a strength of mine. It's an act of desperation to actually use this as a page and show you. A prize goes out to the person who can tell me who this is supposed to be a picture of! 

Numbers 16 and 17 are experiments in felting. My daughter got bit by the wool felting bug and showed me how to do it. Number 16 is an under the sea theme, I used some Glitterati fibers in there, and some hand beading. Number 17 is an abstract. 

I found a foam kitty stamp at the resale shop and tested it out for number 18. I normally don't do "cute" but I was feeling fond of "Skitters" the neighbors kitten that came to visit and catch gophers. I think the background is a wash of Pearlise paint while the cat is stamped with Byzantia.

For number 19 I wanted to try something different. I started out with a Byzantia, which is shimmery and wanted to drip some matte True Colour paint over it to get some visual texture.  I like the way it turned out.

Numbers 20 and 21 are simple collages using magazine images. Backgrounds are painted with my SG piants. I love the fish image. Number 21's background I used an old security envelope painted with a wash of color. You know those envelopes with the interesting patterns inside? I figured there must be a use for those somewhere!

That's enough for now. I've got about 10 more done but have to add numbers to some of them. But by the time I actually get around to photographing them and posting them I might have another 30 done and be completely caught up. Or maybe not. Only time will tell.