Art by Amy Hill – July 2022 Guest Designer

Hello there everyone! We are so excited to introduce our July Guest Designer, Amy Hill. The lovely Amy has been our guest previously too, you can check out her previous post here. You will find Amy teaching regularly at Altenew Virtual Workshops, FB/YT lives, and also at the Craft Your Life Retreat! Let's hear it from Amy.

Get to know Amy

Hello, I am pleased to be on the Altenew Mixed Media Blog today. I am Amy and I have been an Altenew Educator since March of 2019. In real life you can find me in my garden, teaching a bit of biology, playing board games with my children, or in my craft room.
On social media you can find me on Instagram: @sevenscrafts, or on my blog at https://www.amyhillcreates.com

I began playing with paper in 2000 as a way to document my world travels. I love the medium of paper and playing with different types of paper and inks. Throughout this journey, I have been wondering if what I do qualifies as art or crafting? For today’s project, I wanted to make an art piece using my Altenew crafting supplies.

Amy's Art

I started out with a piece of 8 ½” x 11” 110lb white cardstock. I placed the Altenew Feathery Stencil on the upper right corner of the paper and sprayed Altenew Antique Gold spray. I then moved the stencil to the upper left corner and sprayed it again. I then added some sprays of Sea Glass metallic shimmer spray for some added contrast.

I cut a piece of 8 ½” x 11” Yupo paper into four quarters. On each quarter I used Altenew alcohol ink refills in different colors: Shadow Creek, Persian Blue, Rubellite, Fresh Lemon, and Hydrangea. I wanted each quarter piece to have complementary colors. I then stamped some shaped stamps from Happy Dreams in Embossing Ink in some parts of the Yupo paper and heat embossed with Antique Gold embossing powder. When heat embossing on Yupo, it is important to keep the heat tool moving quickly and not to stay in one spot too long as the paper can melt. I then cut circles of various sizes out of the backgrounds: 2”, 1.5”, 1”, .5”.

On a piece of vellum paper, I sprayed Sea Glass metallic shimmer spray and let it dry. From this vellum paper, I cut three 5”x1” rectangles from the Nesting Slim Rectangles die set and shapes from the Itty Bitty Branches set.

Using the Fine Alphabet die set, I cut the letters: Ars Gratia Artis from Altenew Gold Foil Cardstock. Ars Gratia Artis translates to “Art for Art’s Sake”.

To assemble my piece, I attached the letters to the vellum rectangles. Having the letters on the rectangles makes the letters easy to line up and move around.
I then moved the alcohol background circles around until I found the right placement for them. I wanted the piece to feel as if there was movement. The vellum Itty Bitty Branches were placed so they looked like they were growing out of the alcohol background circles.

This piece will be displayed in my craft room to remind me that the act of creating something whether it be a card, scrapbook page, or just background is art. Art is not defined by a piece’s use but rather because you wanted it to be art. I hope this inspires you to grab your crafting supplies and make art! You can watch how I created this by clicking the banner below. It will take you to my YouTube channel!

That is a wonderful thought, Amy! Thank you so much for sharing your creativity and a profound outlook on it. We will surely remember to carry it with us and apply it too! We hope you will join us again soon at the Mixed Media Blog as a Guest Designer. Until then, we will see you around at Altenew 🙂

Everyone, please leave Amy some wonderful comments to let her know that she is appreciated and how beautiful, fun, and inspiring her project is! You can also check out her blog HERE. Thank you for reading.

~SUPPLIES~

Happy Dreams Stamp Set [ ALTN ] Fine Alphabet Die Set [ ALTN ] Nesting Slim Rectangles Die Set [ ALTN ] Itty Bitty Branches Die Set [ ALTN ] Feathery Stencil [ ALTN ] Embossing Ink [ ALTN ] Shadow Creek Alcohol Ink [ ALTN ] Persian Blue Alcohol Ink [ ALTN ] Hydrangea Alcohol Ink [ ALTN ] Rubellite Alcohol Ink [ ALTN ] Fresh Lemon Alcohol Ink [ ALTN ] Antique Gold Metallic Ink Spray [ ALTN ] Sea Glass Metallic Shimmer Ink Spray [ ALTN ] Antique Gold Crisp Embossing Powder [ ALTN ] Gold Foil Cardstock (10 sheets/set) [ ALTN ]