Watercolor Collage Canvas for AVJ

Today I have one of the greatest blogging honors, to be featured at A Vintage Journey as a Pinworthy Guest because of my Poinsettia Triptych from the A Vintage Christmas challenge.  The AVJ group of ladies never ceases to amaze and inspire me and I am so thankful for the invitation.  You can find my guest post HERE.  AVJ is celebrating a birthday and for this month's challenge we are all asked to use the same Destination Inspiration travel bag, consisting of:

Substrate – Board (eg - grey board, coaster board, cardboard, chipboard) 

Main Colour – Lilac or pale purple 

Technique – Rust Effects (perhaps using rusting or embossing powders or rust coloured paints) 

Product – Something metal 

So let's get started with my interpretation.  Pardon this night time photo from my studio, but I wanted you to see the watercolor base I created on my canvas.  I puddled color, then spritzed it to move it around and eliminate any hard edges.  I plopped and flecked as I went, letting some areas dribble down and also heat setting between colors.  I used a mix of purples and browns.  I could literally do this all day!

Then I got really excited and took no more photos until the after.  Ha, sorry!  But a lot of closeups should explain...  I embossed in white a text stamp randomly, not pressing the stamp fully and brushing off any powder where a "hard line" formed - these are my highlights.  I also stamped a script stamp in lavender ink to create my lowlights, as well as the black flecks. 

Next I mixed sand based texture paste with rust colored acrylic paint and spackled through Tim's new mini layering stencil.  I really love this floral pattern, especially the dots around the various flowers.  I sprinkled three shades of Distress embossing powder into the paste lightly, just for the gritty texture, then heatset.  This powder doesn't react to heat the same way that regular EP does, so the result was grainy, and rustlike.

For my focal point, I chose Tim's sweet little girl and layered her over a burlap panel and a rusty corrugated panel.  I painted it with brown and rust acrylics, then tapped with embossing ink and lightly sprinkled with the same Distress EPs.

The little girl and her curls reminded me of myself somehow...  I added a section of vintage hymnal, a song that my Grandmother and I would sing together on long nights when I had terrible nosebleeds that seemed endless in those wee hours.  She always helped me and was always cheery and loving in doing so.  Those nights singing with her are some of my fondest memories now.

I went back and added some more flowers through the stencil in white for a little more contrast.

This rusted cardboard reminded me of Sara Emily's fabulous "tin roof" from her AVJ guest post HERE.  Thanks Sara Emily for the awesome inspiration!

Lastly, I attached a few embellishments.  The darkest flower was made using Tim's Tattered Florals Die and kraft paper.  I brushed it with a watery mix of rust paint to give it a little dimension.

I'm also sharing with:

Creative Carte Blanche: Triple Trouble
Altered Eclectics: Mixed Media
Rhedd's Creative Spirit: Altered Art or Mixed Media
Mixed Media Mojo: Spring Watercolor
Happy Little Stampers: Water
Love to Create: Anything w/a Medium