Magical Misfits-A Peek-a-Boo Project

This project grew out of a pile of mismatched and discarded items. I had leftover hummingbirds from a decorative napkin, a back portion of a triptych tower top, an arch top house silhouette piece, some fern fronds, and honeycomb, all parts from previous installments. I’ve long been fascinated by hummingbirds and Vintage Audubon Prints. These are the inspiration for this installment.

1.    Look through your treasure trough of misfit art supplies and be inspired. I found part of a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Arch Top House Silhouettes,  and part of a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Triptych Tower Top to use for this project.

2.    I painted the GSLC Arch Top House Silhouette with black ink and a paintbrush.

3.    I had leftover hummingbirds from a decorative napkin.

4.    After taking off the two plies I realized they were too thin, and I would not see their gorgeous details, so I painted the back of them with white gesso.

5.    Once dry I arranged them onto the prepared GSLC Arch Top House Silhouette using matte medium.

6.    I layered several of the hummingbirds to assure clarity of design.

7.    I next painted the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Triptych Tower Top with halo blue gold acrylic paint.

8.    I used two different shades of fingernail polish to add details and interest to frame.

9.    Using Embossing ink with a roller applicator I added some script to the frame. Using Allure Mercury Rising Embossing powder and a heating tool.

 

10.                   Glue the prepared hummingbird piece to the green frame. Offsetting leaving space at the bottom to create a small assemblage.

11.                   Hold pieces together with metal clamps until fully adhered.

12.                   Go through your stash of embellishments and choose some interesting pieces to add to the bottom portion. I am using fern fronds, honeycomb, leaves and flowers to build up the bottom portion of your project using Ultra Thick Gel Medium.

13.                   While still wet sprinkle with mica flakes and microbeads.

14.                   Allow to dry fully.

 Some Final Thoughts.

I love happy mistakes, magical misfits or what Bob Ross called “happy little accidents”. This project surprised me and allowed me to be fully creative as I had no idea what the final project would look like.

Other Bob Ross Quotes.

“I guess I am a little weird. I like to talk to trees and animals. That’s okay though; I have more fun than most people.”

“I can’t think if anything more rewarding than being able to express yourself to others through painting (art). Exercising the imagination, experimenting with our talents, being creative; these things, to me, are truly the windows to your soul.”

“Let’s get crazy.”

“this is your world, you’re the creator. Find freedom on this canvas. Believe, that you can do it, ‘cuz you can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!”

 

 

 

 

Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Arch Top House Silhouettes, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Triptych Tower Top, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Fern Fronds, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Honeycomb & Queen Bees ATC Sized, Black Ink, Paintbrush, White Gesso, Decorative Napkins, Halo Blue Gold Acrylic Paint, Nail Polish, Embossing Ink Roller Applicator, Script Stamp, Allure Mercury Rising Embossing Powder, Heating Tool, Weldbond, Metal Clamps, Ultra Thick Gel Medium, Embellishments, Mica Flakes, Micro Beads

I cannot wait to see your interpretation of this project. Share it on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Craft Group Page on Facebook. I would love to see what new creations you are working on!

An Elegant Something-or-other

Last month when I made this Mermaid Silhouette Luminary, I had an extra frosted vase that demanded a little attention.

I grabbed a few supplies and ended up creating something very pretty and elegant in no time at all.

I simply painted pieces from the Mini Birds & Nests Shape Set, Scribble Frame Leaves, and a sentiment from the Word Tags Travel set, with a healthy layer of white acrylic paint. Then I added three white paper flowers.

Self adhesive foam squares provide a bit of depth to the layering of the different elements.

Now, I've called this a 'something-or-other' because you could use this as a candle holder, vase, center piece, and I'm sure a slew of other things. I think they'd be super pretty for weddings or showers, christenings, or even as a hostess gift. And while I love the all-white look, you could totally change this up to match your colour scheme.

Here's what you'll need to recreate this look:
• Mini Birds & Nests Shape Set
• Scribble Frame Leaves
• Word Tags Travel (coming soon)
• prepared glass vase
• paper flowers
• self adhesive foam squares
• glue

Note: if you'd like to see the vase being frosted, pop over to HERE to see last months tutorial

Fly Away Art Journal Cover

Today I have an altered book cover or in my case, an altered art journal cover, as this particular book is one that I am going to use for that purpose, but first I wanted to decorate the cover!

I'll be using this hardback sketchbook.  I think it might be a Derwent sketchbook but there is no label on it any more so I can't be sure.  It is also approx A4 size (21.0 x 29.7cm, 8.27 x 11.69 inches).

I will also be using this chipboard set - Collage Frame Birds & Ivy - which I had originally thought of using on something else (a tag) but then decided to make it the focal point of this cover instead.  I cleaned off the edges and then painted it with white gesso.

Once it was dry, I painted it with Paperartsy Fresco Chalk Paints in purples and greens.  Here's how it looks against the sketch cover - just a final check of the position to make sure it fits the way I want it to.

Then I painted the sketchbook cover with white gesso and left it to dry.

My plan for this cover was to use some of my gelli prints as the backgrounds.  I have two full A4 size prints that I can fit one on the front (shown below) and one on the back cover.  They are not the same colour, but they are in the same colour family, and the technique used creates a wood plank background. 

I glued them both on to the sketchbook cover using collage medium.

To add more interest to the background, I added some texture paste through two different stencils from Finnabair's collection.  A text stencil in the centre and a wild berries stencil around the outside.

Here's a closer look at the scripty word stencil.

And here's how it will look with the chipboard frame over the top

I decided I didn't like the white edges, so I painted around the edges with more Fresco paint in a combination of purple shades, just using my fingers instead of a paintbrush.

Here's a look at both the front and back covers - I did have to use a small paintbrush to touch up the edges under the spiral binding since my fingers are not that small!

Here's a closer look at the spine, looking very gritty and textural, just the way I like it.

It was now time to adhere the chipboard to the cover and I did this using soft gel and to ensure that it stayed in place while it was drying, I put some heavy objects on top to hold everything down.

This little frame comes with extra birds and extra ivy, both of which I wanted to add on top once the frame was attached to the cover.

Once the frame was attached it looked like this, so now all I needed to do was plan out where to put the extra bird and ivy pieces that I wanted to use.

I positioned the bird in the middle and added the ivy pieces on top and bottom, with the two single leaves in front of the two lower birds, as though they were perched on the leaves.

I glued them down using more soft gel and some heavy weights to hold them in place while they dried.

Make sure to leave plenty of time for the glue to dry and it will hold everything in place beautifully, but until it is dry, be careful not to move anything accidentally!  Here's my finished frame layout.

I felt like my cover could use some words so I used some of these Finnabair word stickers and stuck them on the frame.  These stickers were originally a cream colour so I painted them with the same paint as I used on the frame, only diluted a little with some water to allow the text to show through.

And that was my art journal cover finished and ready to use!

I hope that you found this tutorial useful and inspiring, if you are looking for ideas for your own book covers.

Elle

Empire of the Cat

PROJECT RECIPE:

Collage Frame Birds & Ivy
A4 notebook (or book of similar dimensions)
White gesso
Collage Medium
Soft Matte Gel
Fresco Chalk Paints
Texture paste
Gelli print backgrounds (already made)
Finnabair word stickers, stencils

An ATC Trio of Royal Birds

I can tell spring has really arrived. Suddenly my garden is full of birds...all shapes and sizes, from petite purple finches to bright blue jays, they've all flocked to the feeders and have been feeding up for the arduous task of caring for nestlings.
Certain birds seem to have dominance or priority over others. I've seen this in all the species we've got at the feeders.
Maybe they paid the extra money for the executive lounge.
Or maybe they're royalty and all the other birds let them have first go.
Either way, there's enough for all.
A whimsical trio of ATC's inspiring by the birds I see at my feeders.
Except the owl.
He's there because he's so handsome.
And he makes me smile because he's very pope-ish.

I began with the ATC Stand. this comes in a package of three which is super handy because mt favorite Chunky ATC Blanks come in a set of three. What a coincidence! Naw, that Gina is pretty smart. ;-)

After gluing them together, (easy-peasy) I gave all three a good coat of white paint.

Then I started working on the ATC blanks.

I cut the papers for both sides of each ATC and glued them on.

I sanded the edges and inked them up. Then I started working on the bird images. Using colored pencils and a couple of Copic markers, I juiced up the color on the birds a bit.
And started adding glitter to the crowns.

It's a bit hard to tell, but a lot of Stickles Glitter Glue was used...

I wanted the birds raised a bit off of the ATC, so I glued some scrap chipboard to the backs of each bird.
I also wanted a bit of exaggerated shadow under the birds, so using the birds as templates, I did a light outline around the inside of each bird cut-out on the ATC where I wanted them placed and then using pencils and a blender stick, I made a 'shadow' around what will be the outside edges of the birds.

I added my favorite dots to each ATC for some delicate detail.

And maybe a little extra glitter.

The stands are a great way to show off the ATCs and I like the fact that you can rotate a collection out depending on mood or season/ holiday. Or you can get a bunch and put your whole collection out.

SUPPLIES:
ATC Stand
Chunky ATC Blanks

Additional Supplies:
Birds and Crowns Collage Sheet (from Gallery Cats)
Stickles Glitter Glue in a variety of colors
White acrylic paint
Gold Ink Pad
49 and Market Scrapbook Paper

Thank you for stopping by!