The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #14! - Summer Days!!

Ah, Summertime!!  We are definitely in the middle of a Hot'Lanta summer here in the south!! Humidity and heat can really start to get to you ... but cooler evenings with the sound of cicadas humming makes the days heat just melt away!!  (And luckily, so can sitting in my air conditioned house playing with mixed media!!)
  So here is July's Mixed Media Monthly Challenge ... #14 Summer days!!  Come and PLAY with us!! 

 This month we have an amazing sponsor!! I think Butterfly Reflections Ink, is a wonderful online store to buy a huge variety of supplies for my mixed media!! So be sure to click on over to the store and check it out - you will be pleased you did!!

And here is my Summer Days Challenge Piece! My ideal summer day - a picnic!!

Started it out with a scrap of wood board and a brown paper bag.

 

I started thinking about summer and all the things I love about it ... the pool, sprinklers, fireworks ... and all the picnics we have!! Love picnics! I am a foodie - I'll admit it - so picnic food! Yummy - makes me SO happy!  Then I doodled on the board as I imagined my perfect July picnic!

For the background, I  used blue and white paint smeared with a credit card.  Then for some dimension, I used a text stencil with more white than blue.  I liked the words, but I really wished that I had this is in a 12x12 stencil.

I ripped up some brown paper bag for the trees.

  

 A couple of weeks ago I did another tree project and had created some tissue paper leaves with my gelli plate. Luckily, there were a few extra gelli prints still hanging around! But when I laid them down into the trees, the placement of the text stencil looked odd.  It looked like the words were framed and they were the most important part of the piece.

So, using the stencil repeatedly, all over the background, it faded in more like texture.  Much better.  Then I coated the letters with blue paint.  

Then back to the leaves and onto my picnic!! I cut out all the little pieces I wanted to have at my picnic plus a festive bunting for decoration!   I watercolored the pieces for the table and used gel medium to put them all in place.  

Doodles, highlights, Stamps and rub-ons .... to complete the piece!

 Now, really, come and play with us at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!! We are super nice and we just love seeing what other artists create!!!  You know you want to come and join us with this 14th challenge!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! And I love it when you leave me comments - they make me smile!!!

-Karen