A little art therapy during tough times

I created this piece as a little art therapy for myself. Titled "False Advertising", it is how I am feeling right now, especially on social media, where I am trying to appear upbeat, but inside am feeling a little bleak.

To make this, I began by gluing the box part of the Sunflower Niche and letting dry.

I then covered the Sunflower Niche, first with gesso, and then with yellow acrylic paint.

I then painted orange on top of the flower, placed a stencil over the paint and removed paint using a baby wipe. I completed this process by working on only a couple petals at a time, drying them with a heat gun after using the baby wipe. Otherwise, the orange paint would dry too much and become too difficult to remove. You can see in the picture below one of the petals where I still need to remove the paint with a stencil and baby wipe.

Because the stencil would not fit easily into the niche, I used a pen to freehand draw similar markings. 

Next I used the same stencil to apply different colors of non-translucent acylic paint to sections of the flower. I also used remaining paint on the stencil as a stamp on the flower and freehand added my own marks to the flower.

I then adhered the box to the sunflower and covered a paper clay moon I had previously made with silver metallic wax. Then I painted the moon with black acrylic paint and used a paper towel to rub some of it off and reveal the silver below. 

After adhering the moon inside the box, I made marks with a black gel pen to reflect a foul mood. Next I covered a piece of white cardstock with yellow paint, added my title, cut it out and adhered it to the box. Finally, I completed the box by inking the edges of the flower with black distress ink.

I hope everyone stays healthy and makes a lot of art while you shelter in place during this pandemic. Remember, this too shall pass. -Betsy

Great Stuff

Sunflower Niche
Beacon Fabri-Tac
Stencil Girl stencil
Acrylic paint
Orange marker
Black gel pen
Gesso
White cardstock
Paper clay moon made from mold
Black Soot Distress Ink
Silver metalic wax

Something Cheerful

Hello everyone! Lora here taking my turn for the amazing Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.
Just a little something cheerful to ward off the February chill. Hope it brings a smile to your face!

  And a back view.....

I began with the Little Niche Sunflower.

Using the flower head a s a template, I cut my paper and then bent the niche box into shape for gluing.

I glued the niche box and used clips to hold it together while it dried.

Using two of the same image, I cut one to be a background for inside the niche, and fancy cut the other to glue in on top to create depth.

I glued the niche box on to the back of the sunflower, taking care to line up edges and then clipped it into place until it dried.

I glued the background into the niche and added a border around where the flower meets the box. I used watercolor pencils around the edge of the paper border and gently dry-brushed the lines outward, creating a soft edge around the paper.

 I glued in the fancy cut image bits on to the background, using small beads to lift them off the base image and make the piece look a bit three dimensional.
I inked the edges of the flower petals, using a q-tip to blend with.

I added brass flower to the corners and little dots of pearly paints for extra detail.

When all was dry, I flipped the piece over and painted the back. While it was drying, I strung some beads on a pretty piece of ribbon and glued the whole thing on to the back, using a pretty fairy image to hold it in place.

Don't forget to sign your piece!

SUPPLIES
Little Niche Sunflower
Graphic 45 Fairy Dust Papers
Folk Art Pearl Paints
Lyra Rembrandt Watercolor Pencils
Brilliance Ink Pad in Rocket Red Gold
Ribbon
Beads
Swarovski Flat Back Crystals (in the center of the brass flowers)
Stamped Brass Flowers

Thank you for stopping by!