Théâtre de L'Amour
Project & Instructions by Jessica Rich

Let’s make one thing clear - I’m not much of a “follow the directions” kind of person.  I don’t sew (too deliberate), I don’t cook with recipes (too rigid), and I certainly don’t follow any set of instructions to the letter (it’s a good thing I don’t work on nuclear reactors).  With that said, it’s easy to understand why I went into this project with a rather cavalier attitude.  And it shows.  There are places where I certainly did things a bit out of order.  I think this is a good opportunity to learn from my mistakes (a very loose term) and do things in a better order.  After all, this is art, and contrary to what a cranky 12th grade art teacher once told me, there are no real “mistakes”.

First problem: I painted last.  Maybe it seems obvious to you, but in my zeal to turn my ideas into reality, I got a little overexcited.  As a result, you’ll see places where the paint doesn’t run right up to the edges of the fabric, or maybe it ran over a bit.  Oops.  Note to self: Paint first.

I love Lumiere.  It has a wonderful consistency.  Viscous and sheer, it applies straight out of the bottle in a manner that allows you to still see what lies beneath.  With a couple of coats you’ll see complete coverage, or you can further thin it out to create beautiful, shimmering washes that age and antique. 

The true first step in this was applying paper to the outside.  I chose a 7 Gypsies pattern (Latium #19202) that reminds me of old wallpaper.  I tore the edges in a haphazard way and applied it to the case with Uhu’s All Purpose Twist & Glue.  I painted over everything, including the hardware, with a 1” sponge brush and I intentionally left the strokes random and visible.

I never knew what scene I was going to depict.  My art is often a mishmash of whatever bits and leftovers I cull from the piles at Joggles, or whatever I can swipe without Barbara giving me dirty looks.

I knew I loved the newer 7 Gypsies papers, so that was one of the first things I swiped (not a dirty look, but maybe a raised eyebrow).  The background is St. Martin (#19228) and the stage floor is Boulogne (#19222), both more old wallpaper patterns.  It’s hard to see unless you peer up into the stage, but the ceiling is taken from Sandra Evertson’s Fanciful Paper Projects.  I think her work is wonderfully inspiring and was thrilled to use some of her elements.  The Man in the Moon was taken from the same book.  He was mounted on cardstock to make sure he didn’t wilt in the New England summer humidity.  I found the Eiffel Tower on a sheet of Tim Holtz cardstock (#0737).  The rest of the paper elements (like the little naked cherub above) were taken from various ATC Paper Pads (Love, Weddings and Winged Things).  I foresee a dirty look coming.

As for all the fabric and trims, those are mostly culled from the piles.  I did, however, want to ensure the stage curtains had that regal, luxurious look.  As a consequence, I did swipe a fat quarter of AEE Silk Velvet (flat-out evil eye for that one).  I used Sobo Glue to affix it and the rest of the trims.  If you can’t find a color of the velvet that you love, lots of other fabrics will provide a luxe texture: Dupioni Silk (yum!), Crinkle Organza, or Metallic Crinkle Organza, even Deer Suede or Craft Velour.  The curtain tiebacks are Joggles Tussy Mussies in Wild Iris.

For the most part, I recommend working from the back of the stage toward the front.  In another over-enthusiastic move, I hung the curtains prior to adding in the Eiffel Tower and the landscape.  You can do it; it’s just that you have to fight with the curtains.  What it will do is ensure that you don’t spend time placing elements where you’ll never see them off to the side.  So, it’s a trade-off, and you’ll have to choose your poison.  One thing I do recommend doing very near the start is adding the fibers that hold the case open at a 90° angle.  Without it, there’s nothing to keep the case from opening flat.  Adding those sooner rather than later means you can easily cover them later on.  Mine are made from a fiber included in the Joggles Truffles Assortments (Peacock).

Its not perfect, but I’m still happy with my results.  Art is a lifelong learning process and you can’t get better until you start.  I've taken away a better knowledge about the process I should use (in spite of my abundant enthusiasm), and I hope that you will, too.  Go create and learn!