Celebrate Earth Day

     Greetings and happy Earth Day from all of us at FotoBella! Earth Day has been celebrated since 1970, and is an annual global event recognized by over 192 countries. 

There are so many different ways to celebrate, and things we can do everyday to protect our planet!

Drea from the FotoBella Design Team, and I scrapped this photo that I took of beautiful Big Sur, CA onto a leftover piece of cardboard from a frozen pizza, using lots of other recyclable items.

     Yes there were grease stains on the cardboard, but I ripped off the top layer and gave it a coat of Prima Marketing Heavy White Gesso. 

Wanting to extend the water from the photo onto my background, I used Prima Marketing Clear Gesso to attach ripped pieces of leftover tissue paper. I started with colored tissue, but it was too dark, so I added a few more layers of white tissue paper to tone it down. Then I went over it with Distress Crayons, using Peacock Feathers and Mermaid Lagoon from Set #1, and Chipped Sapphire and Peeled Paint from Set # 2, blending the colors with Prima Marketing Water Brush Pens. To attach the torn white strips, I used a heavy coat of Prima Clear Gesso again, and sprinkled it with Prima Marketing's Glass Glitter (Pearl) while wet.

     I simply added some twigs to extend the trees along the bottom, adding some Petaloo Burlap Flowers (Teal) and a Petaloo Darjeeling Mini Mix (Teastained Cream) flower colored with Distress Spray Stains (Lucky Clover and Broken China).

     The same sprays were used to color the other Petaloo Darjeeling Mini Mix (Teastained Cream) flower that's in the center of this cluster.

     When I printed this photo out, it cut off the best part of the view which is the McWay Falls, a stunning 80 foot waterfall that falls onto a beach in a cove, and the main reason why I wanted to extend this photo. So I crumbled up pieces of newspaper (which I had to dig into my trash can for) to make my rocks, and covered them with Prima Marketing Heavy White Gesso. Once dry, I used my finger to paint them with Ranger Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Paint (Slate Grey), and used a toothpick with Ranger Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Paint (White Linen) to give them some detail. Tucked among the rocks are some green fibers to mimic the grass and trees.

     I sprinkled real sand to a wet coat of Prima Marketing Heavy White Gesso mixed with Distress Spray Stains (Antique Linen and Vintage Photo). The waterfall was made with a torn strip of white tissue paper applied with Prima Marketing Clear Gesso, and covered with Prima Marketing Glass Glitter (Pearl) which I also added to the bottom of this pool of water I made with Ranger Glossy Accents.

          After coating the top with white gesso, I used a paint brush to apply Distress Spray Stain (Broken China). Once dry, I used my finger to create clouds with Ranger Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Paint (White Linen) before adding the recycled netting. I finished it up with a piece of rope that was once wrapped around a glass pillar candle, and was almost the exact size that I needed.

     I had so much fun using recyclables, most of which would normally be trash, and turning them into treasure with some mixed media supplies from FotoBella!  Thanks for looking!