Shuttered Soul by Betsy Skagen

With holiday crafting put away for the season, I am able to refocus on mixed media art.

I am a classic over-thinker when it comes to art. Okay, truth be told, I might just be a classic over-thinker when it comes to everything--but today we are focusing on art. In creating this piece I pushed myself not to meticulously plan every detail and just go with the flow. 

The driving force behind this piece was Gypsy Soul's Window with Shutters. First I covered the shutters with black ink. Then I applied a coat of embossing ink, added Rocky Road embossing powder and activated with a heat gun. 

Setting that aside, I created my background paper by layer after layer of acrylic paint, spray ink, ink pads, paint pens, washi tape and stamped images to cold press watercolor paper. 

Next I took a collage image from a magazine and layered it behind the window. I then adhered the window shutter to the background paper. 

I then adhered a couple of my favorite rusty found objects to the page. 

To create the frame, I added grit paste to the edge of a piece of chipboard that I cut slightly larger than my background page. After it was dry, I painted it with black acrylic paint and then sealed with a matte polyurethane spray. 

After the frame was dry, I adhered the background page to it and my project was complete. 

That was it! Projects are definitely easier when I don't overthink them! 

My wish for all of you is that you each enjoy a holiday season filled with loved ones, warmth, good food and good feelings. 

Love to all, Betsy

Great Stuff

Window with Shutters

Distressed black soot ink

Embossing ink

Seth Apter's Rocky Road Baked Texture Embossing Powder

Cold press watercolor paper

Acrylic paint

Washi tape

Black ink

Spray inks

Paint pens

Rubber stamps

Found objects

Chipboard

Beacon Adhesive Fabri-Tac

Lock-Tite

Grit paste