Dragonfly

As artists I think we all have our preferred techniques and projects that we go to when we feel the need to be creative but also want a dose of zen. For me, it is making simple little books. With some hand painted papers from my stash, a few sheets of watercolor paper, scissors, thread and a needle, I have a mini-book.

I can make dozens of these at a sitting, all of which I leave in a pile so I can come back another day to decorate the cover. Today's cover inspiration was a new set of dies from Spellbinders called Distressed Edges. With a name like that you know I had to give them a go.
I grabbed two different colors of hand painted paper and one of the dies out of the set of seven. I ended up with two rectangular die cuts and used the scissors to form two frames with the left over paper. I chose one frame and one centerpiece from each color family for contrast to use for my book cover. I will save the other two pieces for a future project.

I chose a different color of hand painted paper and made one more die cut using a different die from the Distressed Edges set. I cut that piece in half.

I used a stamp pad to add a bit of shadow and contrast to the edges of all the die cuts.

Given that spring is doing its best to come to NYC, I decided to incorporate a bit of a nature theme. I selected a branch die from Spellbinders Mix'd Media Elements set and matched that with some hand painted paper in a rich brown with green tones.

Using one of my favorite rubber stamps and ink, I stamped an image of a dragonfly on parchment colored paper.

I highlighted different sections of the image using bright colors that remind me of spring. When I add it to the book cover, I will draw in the dragonfly's antenna.

My next step: putting it all together.





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Supply List
Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:
GC-001 SpellbindersTM Grand Calibur® MachineS5-174 SpellbindersTM Nestabilities® A2 Distressed Edges S5-085 SpellbindersTM Shapeabilities® Mix'd Media Elements
Preferred Promotional Partners: Tsukineko StazOn Ink Pad, Imagine Crafts Inkblushers sponge
Other: watercolor paper, gesso, watercolor paint, acrylic paint, paint brush, water brush, rubber stamp, pen, thread, needle, scissors, adhesive