Mixed Media Morsels & more

A few days ago, I had fun creating in the old book I’m altering, making a page that featured a large, colorful butterfly. This page came about because I had some small, water colored paper scraps that I just couldn’t throw away. I had saved these beautiful scraps to hopefully use in a mixed media art project, but for several months I kept moving them around my desk because I was working on other things and hadn’t had an opportunity to get to the scraps project yet. So, as I was tidying up, I came across them once again and decided to just sit down and create something with all that color. I turned on my camera and you can check out my YouTube video here if you’d like to see my process.

I received a few questions about how I had created the butterfly, so I’d like to share that information in this post.

I drew half of a butterfly on a piece of printer paper, then drew some shapes inside the wings. I cut out the butterfly and the shapes and then transferred the image to a piece of slightly glossy black paper that was included with a stencil I had purchased. I used a white china marker to outline the butterfly on the black paper (a white crayon can also be used) and then I cut it all out again. I was able to use my fingernail to easily scrape away any of the remaining white wax from the slick, black paper I had used.

I lightly traced the butterfly onto my book page before I painted the background color. As you can see in my video, I added some stenciling to the background and collaged the colored scraps inside the pencil lines I had drawn on the page. Next, I used some gold paint and stamped some floral images on the black butterfly outline, then adhered it over the top of the collaged pieces.

This was a simple page, but it had a very dramatic effect, as the black outline of the butterfly made all those little scraps burst with even more color! I don’t think I will ever tire of experiencing the joy of seeing what can be created with scraps – it just never ceases to amaze me!

I would like to share a little of my joy with you, so I’m offering a free template of my hand-drawn butterfly so you can create your own project. Click here to print it out. Be sure to print “actual size” if you want your butterfly to be the same size as mine.

Also, stop by and check out my Facebook group, Random Remains REVIVED! and share what you create with your scraps. You’ll find lots of inspiration and some really nice folks there, too! 😉

Until next time,
Cat