An ABC Primer Project & Free Paper Pad from Graphic 45

I bought this wooden wall hanging a few months back at one of my favorite stomping grounds. It just had the small hooks at the top, so I added the hanger section.

The hanger is something I've hoarded for years....and today it was there when I needed just a "little bit more" for the top.

The papers have been sitting here for quite some time as well, they are in my favorite color combination....Red, Black, and Tan.

So here's a bit of a step-out to get you inspired....no stamps...no pen dots...just paper, glue, markers, paint, and some Distress Inks.

The papers are from the 8x8 paper pad An ABC Primer from Graphic 45.

I wanted the background to look like a chalk board..so 2 colors of paint were used and a bit of Golden Acrylic Glaze to thin them down.

Then the edges were sanded to distress.

Just the beginning of layers and layers of papers and inks.

This is the top piece with the rings taken out.

Choose your papers, cut, and lay them out. I chose to use 3 different papers here with the rulers and alphabets to frame 2 sides.

I used 6 Mini Canvases from Blick's as the center's bases.

The fact that they're raised doesn't show much in the rest of the pictures.

A glaze of Titan Buff and Burnt Umber toned down the stark white to make them more vintage looking.

Tea Dye Distress Ink always makes the colors richer....in my humble opinion.

These are the backs of the 3 hanging elements.

This boy is my favorite...his coloring is wonderful.

Three fussy-cut pieces layered onto the canvas.

I add shadows and touches of color here and there with markers.

The stack of books needed more height for the boy blowing bubbles...luckily I found another smaller stack in the the papers to add to the top.

Other elements are raised with chipboard.

Love the rulers contrasting with the red plaid paper.

This is one naughty little girl...the one spanking the other one!!!

The Alphabet is cut and trimmed to form a frame just the right size for the mini canvas.

When using canvases you must remember..they are NOT perfectly square! So just LIVE with it.

More CB to add height and another alphabet to make a frame.

I  needed another element and could not resist the blue butterfly from the Bird Song Collection.

2 more elements...raised with CB for dimension.

This sassy little gal is too cute.

Yeah, those are my initials....I am an Aries. They apparently like to sign stuff...I'm told...

And this shows you the metal hanger with the G45 Metal Tag covered with paper and the Nursery Rhymes sign glued onto it.

I needed a "more red" paper for the sign, and just added 2 colors of Distress Ink to make it what I wanted. That's the beauty of DI...you can make paper any color you want!

This shows a different angle of the dimension on the piece.

The rings were initially silver. I used Alcohol Ink Pitch Black and Metallic Mixative Silver to make it look similar to the hanger.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know what you think....I'll be adding a few more G45 projects in the next few weeks....stop back.

Now, I've got a duplicate of.... "A Ladies' Diary" 8x8 paper pad.

Leave me a comment, we'll draw and you can have this great set of papers.

If you have trouble leaving a comment...as I've heard people are...just click on email link and leave me a comment there to qualify.  Sorry for the trouble.

hummmmmmm...so many papers....so little time!

Linda