Birthdays and Painted Papers

Happy 6th birthday Eliza!

Eliza is my art buddy....and I sent her a little box of goodies.  Since yellow is her favorite color I made her a yellow fiber bowl and filled it with stars.

I spent some time this morning painting swatches of my purchased metallic art papers. I learned from Elizabeth St. Hilaire that these fabulous papers can look more homemade and painterly by doing an acrylic wash over them. I do this with a sponge and watered down acrylics. 

Some of these were a cream color to start so you know exactly what it's going to look like.  But others were already a color....so you never quite know what you're going to get...I love the process.

This paper was a bright pink and white to start...one piece has blue wash and the other has a yellow wash.

And just a hint of it gives this little flower a little character and a big splash of color.

The gold accents in the paper resist the paint...so continue to shine through. One sheet of paper can give several colors to work with.  I love using this technique!  

These metallic papers make the perfect little edge to my torn paper flowers...and it only takes a smidgen.