Rustic Clematis – Mixed Media Wooden Board

What happens when inspiration is nowhere to be found? Don’t despair!
There’s always a way to make it come back!!! Our Crew member, Karen Crossen shares her ‘creative struggles’ and the outcome of dealing with them in today’s project…

Between being busy at work, Thanksgiving and Christmas – it has been hard to find any time to spend creating! So, after everything was tidied up and things have calmed down at the end of the holiday vacation, I just sat down and closed the doors! But then I had no inspiration to create …. ugh. I painted board with gray stain …. it wasn’t going anywhere. Then I pulled out my favorite flower book, Wild Flowers of America! I randomly picked a page and then recreated the flower. Sometimes, when I can’t seem to get started, having an image to create really helps!

Products used for the project:
Wooden Board
Tattered Angels High Impact Paint – White
Tattered AngelsPlain Jane Stained Glass – Lavender
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists – Dragonfly, Key Lime Pie, Limeade, Silver Sugar, Cork
Tattered Angels Chalkboard Mist – Clover
Tattered Angels Baseboard Mist – Leaf
Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze – Java and Mercury Glass
Tattered Angels Pure Mistable Paper – Crepe and Corduroy
7gypsies Architextures Parchment Rub-ons
Crackle Paint, Matte Gel Medium
Tissue Paper, Washi Tape, Black Chalk Paint
Scissors, Paintbrushes

Start with a wooden board cut to about 12×12 inches. Cover the board in gray stain and let dry. Mix cream colored paint with crackle medium and spread over the whole board. Use a credit card to pull some of the paint off to create a little bit more texture. After the cream paint is dry, rub Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Cork over the whole board to give it a more vintage look! Add on 7gypsies Architextures Parchment rub-ons randomly over the board for visual interest! Then spray away with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Dragonfly and Cork! Tip your board side to side to move the product around. I also sprayed a tiny amount of water to thin out the color just a little bit!

Next create your stems and leaves! Use Tattered Angels Mistable Paper in Crepe! First spray on Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmer Mist in Clover. Then use an olive green paint over the Glimmer Mist and after it is dry spray on Tattered Angels another layer of Chalkboard in Clover and when it is dry spray on a layer of Glimmer Mist in Key Lime Pie! Seems like a lot of green, but the paper holds up so well and you can really create a lot of color variation with all the different products!

While the green is drying, pull out a piece of Tattered Angels Pure Mistable Paper in Corduroy and cut into the shape of the flower. Spread on Tattered Angels Stained Glass Paint in Lavender. Then after the Lavender is dry, use Tattered Angels High Impact Paint in White and various purple paints to create the look of the purple flower. While the flower dries, cut the green paper to create the leaves and stems of the plant.

Continue to add texture and distress to the background. Paint the edges of the board with black chalkpaint. Use a little more  Lavender Stained Glass in the corners for a little purple in the background. Add 7gypsies Architextures to the background and finish up! And finally, doodle a little bit on the leaves and flower!

Here is my inspiration page, from the ‘Wild Flowers of America’ and the finished project! So much fun to create when I was really struggling to come up with an idea all day!

I hope next time you struggle with creative ideas, you will also find a ‘way out’ and end up making some inspiring art!

Happy creating!!!

Karen Croseen
blog and Instagram

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