Monday, April 20, 2009

Oh, my gesso!

A Monday hello to you. After such a nice warm day on Saturday, today was only 45. And drippy. Not really raining, just sprinkling most of the day.

The technique challenge on SCS today was gesso resist. After checking the gallery and seeing all the wonderful cards, I really wanted to try this technique. But... no gesso. There might be some in the house -- in DD's art supplies, but she didn't know where it was and didn't have time to look before she left for work, sooooo.... I did a Google search and found a recipe for an alternative made with water, white glue (PVA recommended) and talcum powder. Since I do have all of those, I thought I'd give it a try. Of course, being the rebel that I am, I decided to use Elmer's school glue instead of PVA, since we still have many bottles around from when the kids were in school, it's a fraction of the price, and it really doesn't get used for much else.

The recipe called for 2 parts water, 1 part glue and talc to make a batter consistency. I made about 1/2 cup. I mixed and mixed and mixed in the talc (a LOT of talc) and also added more glue, so I think it was more equal parts glue and water. Now I've never actually worked (or even seen) gesso, so I really didn't know what I was striving for, but I finally came up with a mixture that seemed workable.

The first step was to paint the gesso on a magazine page -- text seemed to be best. Then you needed to let it dry and add a couple more coats so you had a milky, translucent covering. Drying time took forever. I got impatient and helped it along a bit with my heat gun. Then I stamped the flourish with versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. And then I sponged certainly celery ink over the image. The gesso gives a nice texture that the ink brings out.

I stamped the flowers and leaves on white, cut out and sponged the edges. The flowers have white brads in the center and are popped up. Even though the darker ink on the flowers is rose red, it seemed to match the ruby red card stock better, so I used that for the mat. The faux piercing was done with a rose red marker.

What's in it?
stamps: petal pizzazz, baroque motifs (SU)
ink: regal rose, rose red, certainly celery, versamark
paper: certainly celery, ruby red, whisper white, magazine page
other: clear ep, heat gun, sponges, white brads, gesso, foam tape

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'd love to hear what you think. Be blessed.

10 comments:

Sherry Cheever said...

Melody this is so cool! I didn't have gesso either but sure as heck didn't think to search for an alternative!

trudelmj said...

Very nice, Melody.
And thank you for your comment on SCS about my "Teenager-style" card...

Denise ~ Paper Ponderings said...

Wow, I'm totally impressed that you made your own!! You go!! I didn't think of that...instead I searched the stores until I found some! Love your card!

Starla said...

DUH!! Never even crossed my mind to make my own Gesso!!
I like how you did the bg....with the inks fading....great job!!

Diane said...

Oh this is so lovely!!!

Juanita B said...

Beautiful! TFS.

Susan (rainy) said...

Oh my gosh this is gorgeous!! What a fabulous card!

joeyandaleethea said...

Melody, thank you so much for the birthday wishes! How completely sweet of you. I also really enjoyed the verse which was in your signature. Thanks again. :)

Judith said...

Hello Melody, I am a new person to blogging (and I have one myself, called Pelikanbeach.blogspot.com!)
and am just feeling my way around the online stamping community, which is HUUUUUUUUUGE. I wanted to visit your blog because of your radiant smile and friendly demeanor, which I saw on SCS just a short while ago. Anyway, what I came on here to say was, you do very beautiful and tranquil artwork, and although I like everything, the one that knocked me over was the card with the monarch butterfly (maybe April 9?)
It is fantabulous!
Thanks much for the looksee - and I'll surely be back! You are one talented lady!
Judith

Sue said...

What a gorgeous card. I love it. I would like to try this technique sometime now that I've seen a few cards others have made with it. Thanks for sharing! Have a great week.