Their Love Blossomed

 

Time to celebrate with a gift for friends in love. For some reason I kept changing my mind about color, theme, etc. But I want you to know that it is just fine to do that and the art may come out better. Working on this art project has given me ideas for future projects. So, I have a lot to look forward to.

SUPPLIES
Creative Paperclay® 
Stamps
Acrylic Paints
Hand cut gold paper
Ring
Wood panel

I started by rolling the clay out flat on a wood panel. I then used a ruler to make tile shapes. I am not a perfection kind of girl so my tiles aren't perfect but I like it. I always look for that happy accident.

Next, I stamped and made marks in the clay. Originally, I was going to put a star burst in the middle but that changed as my "story" changed. It was originally for a family member that just had a baby but then I found out about an upcoming wedding.

The background was painted multiple times as the colors never seemed righ. My color changes ranged from warm to cool and then I added a touch of gold leaf and a dark wash. I was open to color changes until the very end.

The next step was to roll out a sheet of clay, stamp it with my heart stamps then trim the heart shapes from the clay. After it was dry, the edges were sanded.
 

The hearts were painted with red acrylic paint then a deep red acrylic wash was applied after the first color dried. This color sank into the low points of the clay and showed off the detail of the stamps. One of the hearts is raised from the surface with a small block of wood, giving it depth.

It was missing some "pop" so I added some metallic gold paper that was hand cut and glued down a faux diamond ring I found in my box of old jewelry parts. These really completed the story and made it special.

Remember, changes are always OK to make.

Dream in Color!

Darlene Olivia McElroy

darleneoliviamcelroy.com