Crayon Batik Background Technique

The latest background technique posted on the Yahoo Group: Arttechniques is:

Crayon Batik (by Glenda Bailey) It looked quick, fun, and colorful!! :)

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Here is my version!

Supplies I used:

Inexpensive Acrylic Paint

Foam Brush

Disposable Paper Cup

90lb. Watercolor Paper

Wax Paper

Crayons

Iron

Text Paper

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I started by randomly scribbling colors onto the Watercolor paper. Obviously, you could work with a pattern or specific color scheme...... use your imagination and have fun! :)

Crumple the paper over and over and use your muscles......even step on it! Get some good cracks goin' on here! :) Flatten out and lay onto heat protected/paint protected work surface. Cover with text paper and iron with hot/dry iron until crayon is melted.

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Mix a "dollop" of acrylic paint (I used purple......the darker the color, the more dramatic the veins) and a "smidge" of water. Mix with a foam brush. Slap on a good coat of the diluted paint over the entire piece. Allow to soak in for a minute. Cover with wax paper and iron until the excess paint has "evaporated" off........

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If desired (I did) you may cover with another light coat of the diluted paint and allow to air dry.

Here is what my wax paper looked like after I was done! Cool!

Here is the wax paper over text. Will be fun to play with as texture and overlays! Yeeha!

Other ideas:

Instead of Watercolor Paper use:

Mulberry paper, text weight paper, construction paper, text pages from dictionary or other books, deli paper, heavy duty paper towel, brown paper bag......

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In place of diluted acrylic paint use:

diluted dye reinker, diluted watercolors, diluted calligraphy ink.....

HAVE FUN!!!!!!

It's NOT just your Hubby's Garage!!

I was inspired by the show "B. Original" on DIY. They make some really funky stuff on that show, but I liked the epidsode when she worked with washers. These are really great for all sorts of things!! Check 0ut the episode for more fun ideas:

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_dbor/episode/0,3110,DIY_27276_45352,00.html

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I decided to do the Washer "Stencil" Technique with my Color Mists and watercolor paper. Now, you can use your imagination and think of all sorts of mediums and papers to use with this technique!!!! FUN!

For the first side of the paper, I decided to stencil directly over the white paper. I just laid the washers out in a random design and sprayed 2 colors over them.

On the other side, I sprayed down a layer of 2 colors first and THEN applied the washers over the Color Mists.

After the first side (with the white base layer) was partially dry, I sprayed some Copper Kettle over entire side. (My son helped me! :)

On the opposite side, I sprayed some Lemon Yellow over the washers. Some of the washers I laid down on this side "ink" side down and some ink side up. (these were the same washers I had covered with spray on the first side.....I did not clean them off!)

My son's comments were: "The pink and green one is pretty, Mommy" "The blue and green one is not pretty, but it's COOL! Look at all of the spots!" (LOL)

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Some other ideas for mediums:

Any color wash spray

Acrylic paints

Stamping inks- Dye and/or Pigment (use the washers as a stamp for some of the images and emboss them!)

Watercolors

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Other ideas for paper:

Glossy and/or Matte cardstock

Freezer paper

Mulberry paper

Deli paper

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Also.......check out your garage or hardware store for all sorts of stencil ideas. There are all sorts of washers, nuts, bolts, fixtures and gobs of other little gizmos that are cheap and would make interesting patterns!!!

Ann Baldwin Inspired Collage

I have the Ann Baldwin DVD - Telling Stories with Collage and Paint. (a birthday present to myself back in April! :) I really enjoyed the DVD and decided that I wanted to make an "Ann Baldwin" inpired collage for my In-Laws 50th Anniversary.

Thier party is in August and I'm waiting for some photos that I requested from them. In the meantime, I decided that I best do a couple of "practice" collages so they don't get my first attempt at this technique!! LOL!!

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Here is my first run:

8x10 stretched canvas. All of the images are from Twisted Papers. (the only exception is a very tiny image that you can't really see at the bottom of the canvas).

I pre-painted my canvas w/ a greenish acrylic base coat. I copied and cut out or tore out my images. (all inkjet printed on matte photo paper.) Then I glued all of my images down using Matte Medium.

I did some highlighting of the images with colored pencils. I added a white outline to the main image on the left. I think it makes her pop out a little more. Also added some color to her lips.

The blindfolded women and all of the wording come from one Vintage Ad image. These particular images were the ones that jumped out at me and screamed - USE ME!!! :)

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I have lots of layers of glazed acrylics and Titan Buff. I added textures with a crumpled kleenex and some molding paste, scratching with my fingers, and I also did some paint splattering. I sealed the final collage with some of my new PYMII.

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In person you can make out the words much better. They just don't show up well in the photo. You can see more detail, of course, if you click on the image to enlarge it.

Close up of men looking down on the woman on the left. The words say: "Now that her eyes are wide open"

Close up of the image on the upper right. Words: "She can't believe" "She can't see how she ever did"

Close up of the image on the lower right. Words: "Doubtful Woman"


Overall I'm pleased with my first attempt. I know I will do some things differently next time. I'm hoping to get one more practice collage done before I work on my final project! :)

I would very much appreciate any constructive feedback on this piece. I'm really trying to smooth out the look a little and I plan on my final collage for my In-Laws to be a little "cleaner". I don't think they would appreciate the excess "grungy-ness" of this particular piece. (although, I rather like it...........)

Please include your email address so I may contact you after you leave your comments! Thank you!!! :)

My Art Journal Collage..........

I signed up for an Art Journal Card swap with Belinda over at the Arttechniques Yahoo group. She generously sent out these really cool 5x7 inch playing cards to use for the collage. We are to do some personal journaling on the back of our cards for Belinda to read. I have not completed my journaling yet, but I know what I'm going to write about! :)

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This particular collage is a personal representation of my personality. It is my 2nd "life-of-its-own" collage. I knew I wanted to use the 2 main images, but the rest just sort of developed as I went along.

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Ms. Janet Leigh is my first Omin Gel Transfer. I left the "white fuzzies" on the back on purpose and glazed some acrylic color on the back before I attached her to the card. I just printed her image onto plain ol' white text paper with my HP inkjet printer. Overall, I'm very impressed on how the transfer turned out! (Thank you Queen Katherine!! :)

I used some paper towel for texture--this was some that I had used as a protective layer while spraying some Color Mists on other pieces of paper.

The funky metal object on the upper right corner is one of my treasures I found during my "shopping spree" with Sherre at the salvage yard. I just painted it with a few layers of acrylic glaze.

I finally spayed 2 light coatings of PYMII over the entire collage for a nice protective layer. (Great stuff! Check it out!)

Vintage Hawaiian Collage

Well, hello there!! :) Whew.....got the kids out of school, back from vacation, quit my job, and I'm ready to create! :) (with the kids home all summer, however, my creative time has drastically been cut until mid August) I'm looking forward to working on a few scattered projects throughout the summer and will hopefully have a little more creative time come this Fall.

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I adore Hawaii and have wanted to do a Hawaiian collage for a long time. I have been working on this off and on for several months...... I think I'm finally done! :)

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I found the main image surfing the web and I just love him! I have oodles of layers of acrylic paint, a few botched gel medium transparency transfers, and a few stamps (I have a great rubber stamp of vintage Hawaiian men......a bit of it shows on the upper right corner.) Believe it or not, there is some textured text pages hidden underneath everything........

I worked on an 8x10 inch canvas board. I mounted the canvas board to a bamboo placemat that I got at the Dollar Store! :) (I removed about 12 of the sticks and retied it) I added a few seashells and some sand from my son's sandbox.

(cat free!! Dont' worry!)

This is really my first freeform collage that went WAY beyond it's original design. I would really like to become more comfy with a more "free" syle of art/collaging.

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Here are a few close ups to see some of the detail. :)

I'd love feedback from you....... Let me know what you think! And, as always, feel free to ask any questions! :)

Don't forget to include your email address so I can post you back!

Toods for now.......off to cook some Mac 'n Cheese! :)

More UTEE and Sea Glass--Mama-Style! :)

Okay......Suze Weinberg posted a challenge on her Yahoo Group to "do something a little different" with Sea Glass and UTEE.

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Here is Sea Glass ala Artful Mama:

1) Pick smaller pieces of glass (varied colors, shapes, and finishes) that will fit inside a silicone ice cube tray. (shape of your choice. I have no choice...... I have square! :)

2) Paint the flat side of the glass with metallic acrylic paint. (one color or a combination of colors) I used some Adriondack Acrylics and some Golden Interference and Irridescent Acrylics.

3) Pick some miscellaneous "doo-dads" to put under your glass or glue on top of your glass. Some of the items I used: Beads, findings, charms, punchinella, Angelina Film, and Beadazzles.

4) With Brilliance Ink, stamp a design on the UN-PAINTED side of the Sea Glass. This can be a distinguishable design or just an abstract element.

5) Using super glue, attach whatever "doo-dads" you desire on top of some of your pieces of glass.

6) Layer your creations into the different sections of your ice cube tray.* (Make sure you put your sea glass in paint side down.)

7) Melt clear UTEE in your Melting Pot with a little dash of flex. Once it is completely melted and the flex is gently mixed in, pour SLOWLY over each cube compartment.

8) Allow to harden. If you have some bubbles, you can use your heat gun to gently remove. Or you can leave them for a more interesting design.

* Here are a few "recipes" that I used layered from bottom to top:

a- punchinella, Angelina film, sea glass.

b- Beadazzles, sea glass with charm.

c- Beadazzles, Punchinella, sea glass.

d- Findings, seaglass.

The possibilities are endless!!!

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Here are my results! I think they would be really cool in the middle of a small diorama frame with a white or light metallic backing....... Another use-- to fill a niche in an altered book. Maybe a unique pin! Yah! :)

and a close up!:

Here are a few held up off of the paper so you can see the light come through........

Thanks for the challenge, Suze! This was fun! :)

Okay, now don't lie, don't you expect to find a beetle or some other insect inside one of these?? LOLOLOLOLOL!!

Sea Glass and UTEE fun! :)

My crafting bud, Sherre, and I had a day of Melting Pot play! We viewed a segment from the second Tim Holtz DVD and also a segment from the new Suze Weinberg DVD on Faux Dichroic Glass. We fueled up with coffee and muffins (Thank you, Sherre!! YUM!) and then went to play!

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We used Sea Glass in all of our creations. For these samples below we based our play on the Tim Holtz version of Faux Dichroic Glass:
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1) Heat Melting Pot on high -- empty!!
2) Place Sea Glass in pot and allow to heat through. This doesn't take very long!
3) Sprinkle some clear UTEE over glass. Allow to melt.
4) Scoop out of pot (this is the tricky part! The glass is a slippery little fellow!) and flip UTEE SIDE DOWN onto craft foil*. Press the glass (using the handle of your spatula NOT your fingers) into the foil and allow to cool.
5) Peel glass off of the foil and the foil pattern is now adhered to your glass.
6) Place the glass back into the empty melting pot (still on high) foil side UP.
7) Here is where you get to experiment...... sprinkle some metallic embossing powders on top, then add some other fun opaque colors, and then put on some Alcohol Ink Colored** embossing powders. (These are really great because they are transparent and you get awesome effects)
8) Once your are done applying your embossing powders, place a very generous heap of clear UTEE over the entire piece and let it melt. It will "bleed" out and spread the colors and give your glass a nice smooth finish.
9) Carefully remove your piece with a spatula (tricky part number 2.......the UTEE likes to slide off of the glass ...... try to be quick and careful!!)
10) Place on your craft sheet to cool..........TAAADAAAAAAAA! You are done!
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Here are some sample pieces that I made during our play day. As I always say........ experiment, experiment, experiment!!! Use different glass, foil, and embossing powder color combinations. You just never know what you'll end up with.......and I LIKE it that way! :)



Close up view of a few of the pieces.
On the blue piece on the left, you can see that I sprinkled just a tiny bit of silver metallic embossing powder over the top of the clear UTEE. It sort of looks like it's floating on top.
I tossed in some microbeads on the piece on the lower right.
You can see some breaks in the foil underlayment in the piece on the lower left.


*You can find craft foil in many places. Here are a few:
http://www.schmoozewithsuze.com/product/product.php?pID=060301002342
http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/3747394-AA.shtml
http://www.clayalley.com/jonestones.htm

**You can make the Alcohol Ink Embossing powders by mixing Alcohol inks into Clear UTEE. For rich earthy colors, use the Adirondack colors. For bright colors use the Pinata colors. Just keep mixing up the UTEE/ink mixture until all of the lumps are gone and you have nice smooth BEAUTIFULLY colored UTEE.
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The next toy I played with was my Angelina Fusible Film. I followed similar steps from above, but instead of placing the hot glass w/ UTEE onto craft foil, I placed it glass side down on my craft sheet.
Then I layed some Angelina Film over the hot UTEE. I layered a few different colors. I carefully pressed into the melted UTEE (yes, with my hands.........DON'T TELL! LOL!!!) I let it cool and then trimmed film around the sea glass. (to about 1/4 inch from the edge or so........)
Then I placed the glass back into the hot melting pot (still empty! :) and covered the film with a glazing layer of clear UTEE.
After the top coat of clear UTEE is completely melted, remove from the pot with that tricky spatula again. Lay onto your craft sheet and quickly press a design stamp gently into the hot UTEE.
I tried inking the stamps with metallic pigment ink and just clear embossing ink. I think I like the effect better with the clear ink. I do, however, like how my flying kitty turned out with the metallic gold ink! :) (Third Coast Rubber Stamps)

Here is a photo of the Angelina Film Glass flat on white paper. These are difficult to photograph, but here you can see the different colors and layers of film.

NOW you can see the fabby effect from this film. These next 2 pics are the same pieces tilted slightly so you can see the irredescence from the film under the UTEE. The stamping is a key element here......the patterns in the UTEE break the light against the film and create an incredible effect.

.....cooooooooooooooooooool!!!!

I always welcome comments!! I would love to respond back to you......so, please leave me your email address on your comment!! :)

Trash or Treasure......WE know the answer!! :)

Gizmos and Gadgets and .........huh, what the heck is THAT???? Oh, My!!!!

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Well, I don't think I could have had more fun if I tried!!!! LOL.

My friend, Sherre, and I went "shopping" at the local Scrap Yard! It was an absolute hoot, and we both plan to go back!!

What a riot we had scrounging around barrels and barrels full of ......well, we aren't sure what! Not to mention all of the "ground" finds we had!!!! But check out some of the stuff we totally scored on! Sherre also got some REALLY cool large metal pieces for her garden......!!

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I have to tell you that as we were purchasing our stuff, we were saying things like "well, how much is this?? How much does this weigh?? I'm not sure I need all of those, then" The guy in line behind us was a bit ticked and I'm SURE he felt that his "manly" domain has been infected by "girl germs" LOL!!!!!!!!! Lots of eye rolling and heavy sighing as we sorted through our treasures!! LOL!

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All of these little envies have 1 piece of optically coated glass. We found these pinkish ones and some yellow toned ones.

Computer boards, weird doo dads, and rusty things.

Awesome bent metal circle thing, copper wire (great hair!), patterned copper strips, and weird metallic disc thingies.

Ahhhhhh, yes. Brass findings and such. We found 3 HUGE boxes of

these brass do-hickies outside the main building. As we walked through the

main building, we saw they had at least 3 more inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was the most fun I have had spending $11.00 in a LOOOOOONG time!!! :)

Stazon Technique ATCs

Ok......first let me explain that I don't "do" ATCs. Don't know why, but they have never been my thing. LOVE to look at 'em, don't make 'em.

So, I have been reading about the "StazOn" technique. Had to try it......got my new Sailor White Pens in the mail today and here we are!!!!!

Susan's ATCs! Take a loooooooooooooong look. You may not ever see any more! LOL!!! :)

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Simply sponge StazOn ink randomly (or at least I do it randomly) over a stamped image. Highlight with your white pen........voila!

I do love easy..........uh, art-wise, you know...............

String Challenge!!

I have been so busy playing with leaves, that I decided to take a little diversion and join a challenge posted on one of the Yahoo Groups I belong to.

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"Make some art using string!"

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Well, since I LOVE making backgrounds and have been quite smitten with watercolors and spray bottles lately............here is what I came up with! :)

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I started with a piece of watercolor paper and folded it in half. I cut up bits of nylon string and laid the bits over 1/2 of the page. I then took some other pieces of the string and seperated the individual strands. I laid the strands randomly over the other pieces of string.

I then sprayed watercolors over the string. (I just mixed up tube watercolors with water in a spray bottle) I made sure the string and paper were very saturated.

I then folded the watercolor paper in half and weighed the paper down. (you like my very specialized "watercolor paper monoprinter"??) By folding the paper over, I'm hoping to get a negative image on the other 1/2 of the paper. (A negative monoprint)

Taaaaaa Daaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Hey!! It actually did what I was hoping for!! How crazy is THAT?!? LOL!!! So, I see the left side as a background and the right side as a piece to stamp over. Pretty nifty!!!!!!!!!

Well, this was a fun challenge........I don't think I would have done this w/out the push to use string!!! I see lots of possibilities ----- using different strings, combining strings, using different colors and mediums! FUN!!

Size may not matter............

.......but EQUIPMENT does!! :)

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MORE COLOR WASH/LEAF PRINTING EXPERIMENTS .

I decided to recreate my "leaf print" using my homemade color washes. "Ha-ha", I thought to myself. I'll just repeat that cool leaf I got with the Color Mists (from Outside the Margins) with my OWN color washes.

Well, sometimes you get what you pay for.........

I don't know what "mojo" Aileen has got goin' on in those little bottles, but it isn't what I have in my homemade color washes!!! :) I followed the same steps that I did before (see entry from April 27) and THIS is what I came up with. Now, they aren't "bad", but, they were NOT what I was going for!!!!!

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ALL OF THE SAMPLES I HAVE DONE FOR THE LEAF AND FLOWER PRINTS HAVE BEEN DONE ON CANVAS BOARD.

These are daisy-like flowers I have in my yard. A neat background, but not defined or crisp like my first leaves. I like the colors, though...............

Here I used some grape leaves and a plastic bunch of grapes. You can sort of make out where the leaves were. And, you can definately tell where the grapes were..........again.........not bad, but not what I was going for.

For whatever reason, my homemade washes did not "dry" under the leaves/flowers like the Color Mists. This allowed everything to bleed together and not hold any lines.

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SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..........back to the Color Mists for more experimentation!

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Now........that's what I'm talkin' about, baby!!!!! THAT'S what I was going for:

Lime Jello, a little Lemon Head and a hint of Magenta on the "underlayer". Bordeaux Burgundy, Copper, Lime Jello over the top.

THOSE are grape leaves! :)

Here is one in Cobalt Blue: (I think this is now my favorite!)

A "negative" look. White/Pearl with a hint of blue underlayer with copper, burgundy, and bronze over the top. (You can also see some blue and green sneaking in there.......)

Here is one more of the daisy-like flowers in my yard. (Osteosperum) NOW you can see the petals!! :)

This was done with a "potpourri" of the Color Mists! :)

So, look out Aileen at Outside the Margins, I'm comin' in for more Color Mists!!!!!!!!!

Oh!!! I Made Something I Really LOVE! :)

Ok!! I was playing around with my new Outside the Margins - Color Mists (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!) I had a brain jingle.........GRAPE LEAVES!!!!!!!!

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I sprayed some Lemon Head and Lime Jello on the "nekkid" canvas board. I placed 2 grape leaves onto the canvas and pressed them into place. Then I sprayed some Bordeaux Blush over the entire canvas. Allowed it to dry. Sprayed around the edge of the leaves with more Lemon Head and then highlighted the corners and edges with Margarita Magenta.

I let it dry for a while (until I knew that the colors would not run) and then removed the leaves!!

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LOOKIE! LOOKIE! I'm so happy with how it turned out!!!!!

Now, help me out here......do YOU think I should leave as is........or.......do more with it???? My inclination is to leave it alone. But, I would really love to hear what you think!!!

I'm so thrilled with this little experiment.......I do believe I'll be picking more grape leaves tomorrow! :) :) :)

Don't forget!! Leave me your email address so I can comment on your comment! LOL!!!!!

Altered Book Tip In Swap

How about some artwork for a change???? :)
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Earlier this year I joined my first "Altered Book" swap. This is a "tip-in" swap. Each participant in the group has a theme. We make 2 - 5x7 pages for them (using thier theme) to put into their own altered books at home. They can add the pages by gluing, sewing, stapling, using eyelets, or ....???? This has been a great way to get my feet wet in Altered Books. It has been fabulous fun and I have really enjoyed all of the themes I had to work with. I have 5 of the 6 done.... I'll post number 6 later! (Like, after I DO it! LOL!! :)

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Here are the themes and what I came up with:

Beatles:
Lyrics are printed on a transparency. Background papers are dyed paper towels sewn onto cardstock.

Bad Girls:

Mesh veggie bag used on the background. Quotes printed on transparency.

Vintage Girl Scouts:

Distressed cardstock background. Right page overlaid w/ transparency attached w/ brads.

Blue is Beautiful:

Used one of my Faux Soldered UTEE pieces on the left page.

Pirates of the Caribbean:
My first sucessful Gel Medium transfer (Skull on the upper left). Background painted and sponges w/ acrylic paints.

By the way, MY theme is: Fanta-sea. (Fantasy Sea Creatures and Water Gods and Goddesses) I have received some WONDERFUL pages for my book! :)