Thursday 29 August 2013

HAPPY DAZE



...this world is but a canvas to our imagination...
- Henry David Thoreau -


...hi everyone, just a quick posting fro me today to share with you a little book I made for my dear friend May of mayshappydaze who had her Birthday on Monday...

...now, i've never made one of these books before but always wanted too and have greatly admired ones I've seen other crafters make, so thought I'd start small...


...the outer cover is extra thick art card, painted, distressed, crackled, sanded...


...a Tim Holtz bookplate was given the Andy Skinner  timeworn touch, you can sign up to his amazing on-line classes here ...



...all products used on the cover of this mini book are by DecoArt ...



...the inner pages were crumpled and soaked in tea for half an hour, dried then ironed flat...


...this is the back...


...May loved her mini book keepsake, I hope you like it too...



...thank you for dropping by today...
XXX











Friday 2 August 2013

FLUTTERBIES



...this world is but a canvas to our imagination...
- Henry David Thoreau -

...hello everyone, today I'm sharing with you a chunky canvas, that was a lot of fun and very easy to create and so much cheaper than buying one from a designer store...


...most of the products used to create this piece are from DecoArt you can see the products below...
 
 

...the canvas given a rough coating Burnt Umber, once dry I went over with Titanium White...I had a piece of plastic ribbon in my stash (stuff they use in flower shops) full of tiny holes, I placed it randomly and smoothed over with Stucco and was left with tiny pimples...

 



...next up I took some mini mister bottles and added 1-1 with paint and water...the colours used are Aquamarine & Blue Green Light from the Traditions range, the 1-1 gives a nice light colour wash which I sprayed on the canvas randomly and evened out with a brush...




...I added a few fleur-de-lys around the edge, again with Stucco (I love this stuff it's amazingly versatile)...

 
...once dry I went over with a watered down crackle glaze and left over night...


...I used the gorgeous classic stencil designed by Tracy Moreau named 'Flutterbies' below...
 
 
...the stencil was the perfect size for the canvas and I roughly applied the Stucco, which I left a good couple of hours to dry...I painted all the butterflies in Antique White and while still wet brushed over with Burnt Umber and a tiny touch of Transparent Red Iron Oxide (this has an amazing colour and texture!) once dry a added a very thick layer of One Step Crackle...


...the bodies were rubbed and buffed up with Metallic Lustre in Black Shimmer, which gives a soft charcole shimmer...the same was done to the fleur-de-lys and then to finish off i went over randomly with Champagne Ice Metallic Lustre, again this gives a gorgeous soft white gold finish (be perfect for any Christmas pieces)...


...I hope you like this piece as much as I do...
...thank you for stopping by today...
XXX