Monday, April 23, 2012

Watercolor with silk ribbon and flower pot buttons


This is a watercolor sketch creating a simple landscape to feature the flower pot buttons. I used a bit of glue stick on the back of each button and then stitched silk ribbon flowers for each pot. I worked from two different silk ribbon combo packs using ribbons from the Fucshia and the Smokey Blue packs and added 2mm silk ribbons flowers near the fence. Straight stitches using Scalamandre threads

were added. Once the flower pots had been "filled" with silk ribbon flowers, they were stitched to the fabric ground.

In assembling things to play with, I thought I had packed a piece of white fabric, packaged in a poly-bag, but discovered that I had a pair of white cotton pillow cases instead. I cut a piece out of a pillowcase and taped it to an acrylic cutting board. I "quick sketched" a simple landscape onto the cotton with a pencil. I wanted the pencil lines to show through the watercolors. This little 10-inch piece could be a shabby chic pillow.

3 comments:

Marian Hertzog said...

That is really pretty! I am rolling around some thoughts of mixed media with a canvas using paint, beads, and fabric... I just haven't done it yet. I love the idea of a cottage pillow and would not have thought about a watercolor look. I love it!

Victoria Adams Brown said...

Thank you Marian! Create your collage first and then adhere it to your painted canvas. I'm working on a mixed media design featuring a dog and a quote, for a friend that lost her beloved pet. Can't wait to see the end result!

Unknown said...

I'd like to try painting on fabric to highlight the silk ribbon flowers. What kind of paint is it, or is it dye. It must be dye, right? Can I use the microwave dyes for this?