Rusted Baby Doll with Angel Wings

A poor vintage baby doll endured a lot of mixed media torture in this assemblage project. But really, this project was all about making rust--both real real and faux rust.

I began by rusting many pieces of hardware and other metal. I did so by following a vinegar, salt and hydrogen peroxide recipe that is available on many online sites.

I first decided to use a wonderful metal brush thingy-ma-bob.

However, as you can see from the finished photo, I ended up using another piece of rusted metal. The reason for this change was from a hard-earned lesson. To keep the rust from coming off, I gave it a coat of matte medium. Unfortunately, this changed the piece to a dark brown.

Although I could sand the piece and rust it again, since I was on a deadline I decided to use a different piece for the base. This also allowed me to use a metal piece that could actually stand without toppling over.

The next part of the project is a little morbid. I had to saw Poor Little Baby with a Dremel and then give her a brisk sanding. Luckily, she was very brave and didn't cry once. If you do this, don't use a heat gun or your baby will suddenly develop a deformed head.

Ohhhh noooo! Mr. Bill!

Next I painted applied Distress Grit-Paste to both Poor Little Baby and the Steampunk Wings and let dry.

Once they were both dry, I painted the wings with Iridescent gold paint and the wings with layers of Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Espress Brown, Granite Gray and Raw Sienna to create a fauz rust that matched my rusty metal.

I then glued Poor Little Baby to the metal base, using both Lock-Tite Adhesive and hot glue. To make the skirt, I glued together 1.25" strips of paper from an old book and scored lines every .25 inches to create pleats.

Last, I glued on some gold trim and bestowed Poor Little Baby with angel wings.

There's a lot of unpleasant news happening around the globe this week. I hope you can find a little respite on this Saturday in creativity. All my best, -Betsy

Great Stuff

Gypsy Soul wings from Steampunk Set
Vintage baby doll
Vintage hardware
Vintage book pages
Gold ribbon
Vinegar
Hydrogen Peroxide
Salt
Acrylic paint
Dremel
Scoring board
Beacon Zip Dry adhesive
Lock-Tite adhesive

Third Time's the Charm

Having an extra hectic schedule right now, I thought I would do myself a favor and create a quick and easy project this week.

Of course just thinking that thought activated instant doom.

Due to artist error or some weird fluke (let's just go with the latter) I ended up having to recreate this artist trading coin not once or twice, but three times. So much for saving time.

Ok, I admit, the first time I had to remake the coin was entirely my fault and frankly kind of stupid. I got into the zone and forgot about some basic principles of working with distress ink. I will share what went wrong in my tutorial so that you don't encounter the same thing (though I am certain you are waaaaaay smarter than I and would never make such a silly mistake).

Mistakes aside, artist trading coins are fun and (usually) quick projects that can be completed in one sitting. Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts offers a really nice package of three artist trading coins that are perfect bases for paper, paint, ink, glue, embossing powder and more.

To make the artist trading coin, begin by covering the coin with white gesso.

Next blend yellow and two tones of blue ink onto the coin.

Use a third blue ink to stamp an alphabet background onto the coin. Heat the coin with a heat gun to help the ink dry.

While it is drying, go ahead and print the coin phrase, Vintage Children 2 and the wings (made by Gypsy Soul team Member Nichola Battalina!) on an inkjet printer. Print the wings onto acetate and the rest onto white cardstock. Fussy cut everything you plan to use for the coin and set aside.

Here is where I made my mistake. I had left the project and come back the next day. Somehow I managed to forget that I needed to seal the coin so the distress ink would not smear. I added a coat of matte medium intending to adhere the words to the coin and the alphabet background turned into a great big smudge. Before the matte medium dried, I wiped the coin with a baby wipe and started over blending the inks and adding the alphabet background.

This time after finishing the background I was careful to add two coats of matte spray sealer. This is a great technique for sealing water soluble inks and sprays before adding other wet materials.

However, while this process normally work great, for some fluke reason this time it didn't and the ink still smeared when I added the matte medium!

Let's just say that Beauregard, the new puppy in our house, might have learned some choice new words.

Repeat scene of me wiping off the coin. Then not quite sure what had caused this fluke, I sanded the coin down and started from scratch--reapplying the gesso, blending the ink, etc.

While I know that the spray sealer technique normally works, I didn't trust my luck at this point and decided to skip adding matte medium and instead just use glue to adhere items to the coin.

Back to the tutorial--To continue making the coin, glue the acetate wings to the back of the girl and then adhere the girl to the coin with foam adhesive so she stands out from the coin.

Next glue the words to the coin in a staggered pattern.

To finish your coin, draw a black pencil line around the edge of the circle and smudge it with your fingers. Hope you have a great weekend that is free of mishaps and blunders! -Betsy

Great Stuff

Artist Trading Coin
Paper Calliope Vintage Children 2
Wings by Nichola Battilana
Gesso
Distress ink
Blending tool
Alphabet stamp
White cardstock
Acetate
Beacon Zip Dry
White gesso
Matte spray acrylic sealer
Foam adhesive
Stabilo black pencil

Sweet winged dressform

I've started this blog post a million times. Trying to come up with a good explanation, a reason for this project. The truth is, there is none. It's just a fun silly thing that happens to be pretty.

And you know, that's ok. Why does there need to be a reason to create something other than the urge to do so?!

 So I've made this pretty frock using a Dressform Hang Up as a base.

To it I've added a pair of wings from the Wings Assortment

And nestled a piece of the Victorian Corners 2 set onto the bodice (it fits just right!)

I've layered silk rose petals and tulle for the dress portion, simply hot gluing them in place. A bit of glitter, paper flowers and a heart embellishment and voila! you've got a sweet little something. 

If you need some guidance to create this piece, I have a video walkthrough HERE, but rest assured it's easy as can be.

Here are all the bits you'll need:

Dressform Hang Up
Wings Assortment
Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25
Victorian Corners 2

acrylic paint

paper flowers

silk flower petals

tulle

glitter

glue

Evolve

Hi Everyone,

Jess here today with a masculine project for you. 

 I have been on a kick lately doing more masculine and grungy projects.  This one evolved into one too.   

I used an Extra Large tag and scored the bottom to create the shelf.  I used a piece of mixed media tape to hold the bend since I knew I would be adding some weight to it. 

I used a piece of paper from Tim Holtz that had a blueprint type feel to it and added some stamped elements.

I wanted there to be more wings on it, so I found most of my wings stamps and added them all over.  I liked the man wearing goggles too, just in case my guy is worried about something getting in his eye.  

I used the Butterfly of Gears and cut it in half.  This side I embossed using a metallic gold.  I added different colors by dripping on alcohol inks. 

I added some metal gears and brads.  I used the chipboard gear from the Miniature Guy Things Set too.  

The other side was embossed and backed with paper to make it look like a monarch wing.  

I added a jar of gears for him to stand on and the rest came down to details.  

There are more wings with blueprint details over them.  Tiny blueprints are rolled up.  There are some failed experiments down there too.  

The letters add the finishing touch.  

Enjoy!

Jess

Free to Fly Folding House Shrine

Hello and happy Friday!! It's Jennalee here today with a variation on the Folding House Shrine. I had pulled out the house shrine a couple weeks ago to make but at the time my vision for the piece was not working the way I had envisioned. For some reason, I thought it was supposed to be a box. So my original plan was out. So there sat the Folding House Shrine. Then inspiration struck!! Instead of using the original chipboard "hinges" I decided to use ruler pieces.

I started by coloring the 3 house pieces with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I colored both front and back. 

While I had my ink out I added a bit of color to Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ruler Pieces. I cut one Ruler Piece down to size to fit the shrine pieces. 

I covered the front of the house pieces with vintage shorthand text. I cut to size and ran thru my Xyron. I applied the collage elements to my background pieces at this point. 

Once the backgrounds are adhered to the house pieces. I heat embossed all 3 pieces using Seth Apter's new Baked Texture in Vintage Beeswax. I used a Versamark pad to coat the background and then apply the powder. I did one layer. This picture shows the before (on bottom) and after of the paper. Once the piece has cooled add some depth and detail using Tim Holtz Distress Crayons. 

The wings are printed on dictionary text with a layer of Distress Crazing Medium. Once the Crazing Medium air dried I added some depth to the crazing with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and Tarnished Brass Distress Crayon. Not shown here I added a gold heat embossed edge all the way around each wing. 

The center panel of my shrine features an Idea-ology key that I colored with Vintage Photo Distress Crayon. I added a few drops of Seth Apter's Baked Texture Patina Oxide. I wrapped the key with a length of Tim Holtz Craft Thread dyed with Twisted Citron Distress Oxide. 

I then measured out my holes on each of my house pieces and punched the holes with a drill punch. 

To attach the Ruler Pieces to the Folding House Shrine pieces I cut a 16 inch length of  20 gauge craft wire in Antique Brass. Start on the left and work across. Begin by threading wire up from back about 3-4 inches and wrapping a messy spiral. Once knot is desired size wrap around Ruler Piece making sure your wrap is tight enough to hold the Ruler Piece. Be sure to leave 3-4 inches for a messy knot on the next panel. Wrap wire the same way for the remaining holes. 

Attach the key to the middle panel using a strong hold glue. 

I adhered the wings at the base leaving them loose enough to have a flutter effect. I then cut a length of black sewing thread and rolled between my hands to get a messy look. Using an embossing dabber add a random bit of embossing ink and sprinkle on some gold embossing powder and heat set. While the powder was still hot I used  tweezers to apply the thread in the powder. I then added a bit more embossing ink and another sprinkle of gold powder and heat set. 

To finish off the back of my piece I tried out a new technique Eileen Hull shared a couple weeks ago. Using a sponge apply matte medium to an embossing folder and insert paper. I used a brayer to roll the folder to transfer the medium to my paper. I then applied my foiling. Set aside to dry. Once dry peel away foil sheet. 

 

I really love all the different textures and mediums I was able to incorporate into this piece. The finished project is a perfect size for displaying on a shelf. Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me today. I hope you have a weekend full of creative inspiration!! Happy Creating ~ Jennalee 

Magic House Box Shrine

Small things are often jam packed with magic. Take buttons for example. I am 100% certain that buttons contain infinite amounts of magic. How many of us have memories of grandma's button tin? There simply MUST be magic in those little wonders.

This month I've used Gypsy Soul's Mini House Room Box to create a space to celebrate these small bits of magic. A place to tuck away thimbles and stones and buttons, all those precious tiny things that hold big memories.

There's LOADS of room for personalisation with this project. 

My Faux Typewriter Keys spell out MAGIC but you could order keys to spell out a name create a personalized memory shrine or choose to spell out a word that is particularly sentimental to you and really make this project your own.

I've put some tiny feet on my shrine but you could easily add hanging hardware to the back, or a length of ribbon or twine for hanging.

And check out the roof detail! If you make mini houses the Chipboard Shingles are a lot of fun to play with.

The assembly for this piece is super simple, but just in case you'd like to see how I put it together, HERE is a video walk through to guide you.

Products used in this piece:
Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler
Mini House Room Box 4 Cubbies
Faux Typewriter Keys Gold
Victorian Corners 1

Winged Heart**