Key Wall Art Heart

Hi everyone! Barbara here today on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog, and I'm in a steampunk mood!  I just got this Key Wall Art Heart in the mail, and now I'm chomping at the bit to make something with it.  I had to first decide if I wanted to put it on a canvas or let it stand alone.  Well, you can see what choice I made below.

So, the first thing you need to do is remove any pieces that didn't fall out.  I just use a piercing tool for this step.  A craft knife works well, too.  I just had a few little pieces to remove.

Next we need to prime the chipboard, and for that, I'm going to use black gesso.  It will seal the chipboard surface and let me use less of my more expensive paint I'll be using for the next layer, which is also black on the key.

Paint key portion with two coats of Metal Smith Iron paint, letting first coat dry before applying the second coat.  This paint contains real iron particles.

Following directions on the bottle, spritz the key with the Rusty Activator while the second coat is still tacky.  Wait five minutes and spritz again.  It may take up to two hours for rusting to occur.  So set this piece aside and work on the heart piece.

Rusted patina complete

Paint the heart section with Metal Smith Bronze paint, letting the first coat dry  before applying the second coat.  This paint contains real metal particles.

Following directions on the bottle, spritz the heart with the Green Patina Activator while the second coat is still wet.  Patinization occurs gradually while drying.

To get random areas of blue patina, I painted random spots with the Bronze Metal Smith paint again, and while still wet, I dribbled the Turquoise Patina Activator over the wet paint.

Paint one of the  Propellers with the Metal Smith Malachite paint, letting the first coat dry  before applying the second coat.  This paint contains real metal particles, too.  Before the second coat dries, spritz with the Turquoise Patina Activator. 

Choose one of the Dragonflies Fancy and paint it with the Bronze Metal Smith paint and use the Green Patina Activator.  I painted both sides of dragonfly since part of it will be hanging over the key and may be seen.  After the patina formed, I decided to paint the wings with the Metal Smith Malachite paint, then I used the Turquoise Patina Activator to get a rich blue patina with a bit of the bronze patina peeking through.

I painted one end of a bamboo skewer with Bronze and used the Green Patina Activator.  The other end I painted with Malachite and used the Turquoise Patina Activator.

Glue the heart piece over the matching area on the key.  Use an awl to make a hole in the center of the key, as shown, large enough for the skewer to fit into.

Stick the propeller onto the pointed end of the skewer and trim off at around 1/2" to 3/4".  

Remove propeller and glue skewer into hole, as shown.

Glue the propeller to the pointed end of the skewer.  Gently bend two opposing propeller blades downward for realism.  I added a small gear on top of the propeller after the glue dried. See close-up photo near end of post.

Cut a piece of the Chainlink to fit behind the heart opening.  Use Vintage Gold metallic wax over chainlink piece.

Glue the chainlink over the opening on the back of the key.

Here is what it should look like at this point.

Wrap a piece of twisted wire around the key, as shown.

Cut a piece of the bronze-painted end of the skewer the size of the dragonfly body and glue it, as shown.  

Glue dragonfly to key, as shown.  The skewer adds just enough lift to adhere the dragonfly above the wrapped wires, too.

I added metal embellishments to the key, as shown.  Here are some close-ups of those areas.

Supplies Used:

GSL Key Wall Art Heart
GSL Dragonflies Fancy
GSL Propellers
GSL Chainlink 8 by 8 Inch Panel
Miss Lillian's Metal Smith Paints
  Bronze
  Iron
  Malachite
  Rusty Activator
  Green Patina Activator
  Turquoise Patina Activator
Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue
Liquitex black gesso
Metal gears and embellishments
Bamboo skewer
Assorted brushes
Vintage Gold Art Alchemy Metallique Wax (Prima)
Vintaj brass twisted wire 21 gauge

I hope you enjoyed my project today, and that you may be inspired to make one of these wall art pieces for yourself.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you have a super crafty day!

Hugs,
Barbara

You Make Me Smile Canvas by Barbara Rankin

Hi everyone!  Barbara here today on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog.  I am sharing my mixed media canvas inspired by the phrase "You Make Me Smile" chippie and this pretty little girl image.  I used Fall colors, as well, in keeping with the season.

Cut piece of wood planks paper from the 12x12 pad, use distress tool along edges.  Adhere to 8x10 canvas, and brush a coat of fluid matte medium over top of canvas.

Randomly spread light molding paste through stencil with spatula and let dry.

Mist canvas with Peony and Gilded Color Bloom (CB) spray mists.  Let dry.

Mist canvas with Tattered Angels (TA) Cork.  Let dry.

Next, brush on a wash of white gesso + water to blend colors and let dry.

Lay piece of chainlink chippie over canvas and mist with ColourArte Radiant Rain Autumn Leaves Mist, let dry.

Rub small amounts of Galaxy Gelato around the edge of the canvas, and on one side of the larger circles.  Use finger to blend gelato.  You can also wet your finger or use a damp baby wipe for easier blending.

Spray a clear acrylic sealer over canvas to keep water-based mediums, like the gelato and mists, from running.  Let sealer dry.  Dip paint brush into Peony CB spray mist bottle and color top half of circles.  While mist is still wet, add Odyssey gelato to center and blend with finger.  Let dry.

Draw around circles with a black watercolor pencil.  I used a Stabilio All black pencil, but use whatever you have.  Wet finger and blend pencil to add shading around circle.

Center and trace rectangular inner edge of filigree frame over collage sheet image and cut excess away.

Use flesh colored pencils to add a bit of pink to girl's face and cheeks.

Paint "You Make Me Smile" and large rectangular Filigree Frame with rich espresso paint and flat edge of makeup sponge.

Glue frame over collage image. 

Glue inner piece of chipboard from the frame to the back for added dimension when adhered to canvas.

Brush a coat of clear crackle glaze over image; let dry.

I added random patches of the Silver Spark metallic lustre over the phrase and frame to help it stand out a bit from the background.

Adhere chipboard frame, phrase, and embellishments of your choice around frame, as shown in final photo at top of post.

Here are a few close ups of the canvas.

silver spark metallic lustre added to chipboard frame and phrase

crackle glaze over image

shading around circles with black pencil

Supplies Used:
GSL Filigree Frames Shape Set
GSL Words and Phrases 2
GSL Chainlink 8 by 8 Inch Panel
8x10 canvas panel
Chubby Cheeks Collage Sheet (Altered Pages)
DecoArt Dazzling Metallics - Rich Espresso
DecoArt Media Clear Crackle Glaze
DecoArt Metallic Lustre - Silver Spark
Altered Pages AP-302 Chubby Cheeks collage sheet
Golden Light Modeling Paste
Prima Orbs Stencil (Finnabair)
Prima Color Bloom Spray Mists
  Peony
  Gilded
ColourArte Radiant Rain Autumn Leaves Mist
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist
  Cork
Faber-Castell Gelatos Iridescent Set
  Galaxy
  Odyssey
  Stardust
Krylon clear acrylic sealer
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Various floral and beaded embellishments

I hope you enjoyed today's mixed media canvas and that you may be inspired to make one for your own home decor or even as a gift.  Use colors to match the season or your home.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a beautiful Fall filled day!!!

Barbara

My Steampunk Muse

Hello everyone!  Barbara here. I am really excited about my project today.  Okay, I know I am easily entertained, but when it comes to steampunk, I really am, easily entertained, that is!  I could not wait to work on Gina's Steampunk Cage Dressform.  And here she is!!!

Directions:



I painted the cage portion (front and back) with the Iron paint from the VerDay kit and let dry for one hour.  Then, following directions with the kit, I painted a second coat of the Iron paint and sprayed with the Patina Solution while the paint was still wet.  You will probably need to work in sections if your paint is drying quickly.  Here are the rusted pieces after the Patina Solution was allowed to sit for 24 hours and do it's thing.

Use the same process to paint the dressform pieces, but use the copper paint instead of the iron paint.  The Patina Solution gives a bluish green patina to the copper. 

I used Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue to put my dress form and cage together.  I have found it to be the easiest glue to use, and it really does "grab" the chipboard nicely.

• Very Important Tip:  I discovered that my chipboard had swelled from the Patina Solution and I was not able to slip the chipboard strips through the holes in the base and top.  What I ended up doing was using a craft knife to trim the little extender pieces so I could push them into the holes.  So, you may prefer putting the cage portion together before painting and adding the patina solution.

I wanted all of my remaining chipboard pieces to also have a metal look, so I heat embossed the floral border and scrap pieces of the Chainlink with Silvery Shimmer ink and silver embossing powder.  I wanted the chain link to look weathered, so I used a Versamark pen randomly, mostly where the links join, and heat embossed with Black Soot distress embossing powder.

The floral border and some metal embellishments were adhered to the top of the cage, as shown.

The bird cage was inked with Golden Glitz ink and gold embossing powder.  Metal gears, bird, and resin flower added to cage, as shown.  I added a small piece of jewelry chain to hang the bird cage.  The chain link was adhered to the cage posts.

Some metal clock hands were adhered to each post, as shown.  Square metal jewelry pieces and tiny metal beads were adhered to each gear "tooth".  

I glued some tiny watch parts to the body of the  dress form and found these tiny metal bird beads in my stash, adhering one to the shoulder and two to the top of the cage. 

Front

Back

Gina's Designs Products Used
Steampunk Cage Dressform

Ornamental Birdcages Shape Set

Chainlink 8x8 Panel

Border Sticks Floral

Other Products

VerDay Paint Kit (TenSecondStudio)

Silvery Shimmer and Golden Glitz Delicata ink pads

Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue

Black Soot distress embossing powder

Silver embossing powder

Gold embossing powder

Watch parts

Metal jewelry bits and pieces

I absolutely love how this turned out and had so much fun embellishing it.  I want to do another one and see what other ways I can come up with to embellish a "sister" piece. What great "things" do you have in your stash to add to her? 



I hope I have been able to get those creative juices flowing and inspired you to try making one of these for yourself or a friend who loves steampunk.  It will make a wonderful inspiration piece to sit on my desk and admire, and hopefully keep the mojo going.   So, head on over to Gina's Store, Blog and Facebook Group to keep up with all the fun things we have in store for you!!!


Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, creative weekend!!!



Barbara