Stamps And Stencils. . . . New Kid On The Block!

Hi everyone, it is my great pleasure to announce that I am joining forces with some very talented ladies and starting a new challenge blog called Stamps And Stencils.

We will be a mixed media style blog and would like you to use stamps or stencils or both on your projects. (We won't be working with digi images however.)

We go live on Thursday so please do visit the blog, follow us by your favourite method and have some fun! Over the next two days the remainder of the team will be introduced  - I'm sure you'll recognise everyone! All the details are on the blog but if you have any questions, please shout!

Look forward to seeing you play along with us very soon!

Alteration For DecoArt Mixed Media Blog

Hi everyone. Thought I'd share a post of mine which has been featured on the DecoArt Mixed Media Blog. Of all the strangest things, it features the alteration of a teapot! I just kept looking at this old teapot and thinking 'it should go in the bin' - but on the other hand I kept thinking 'I could do something with that'. Needless to say, I eventually got round to it and here are the results: 

Completed transformation.

Teapot in its original condition including large chip and crack.

Teapot is given two coats of Multi Surface Paint to prime it.

Die cut swirls from grungeboard, die cut leaves from grungepaper and half pearls are stuck into position.

The teapot is now given two coats of DecoArt Titan Buff fluid acrylic.

Die cut swirls leaves and half pearls are coloured with a mix of Green Gold fluid acrylic & Gold metallic acrylic.

 Areas of the teapot are roughly dry brushed with Raw Umber fluid acrylic.

 Detail image of dry brushwork on spout.

DecoArt Media line products used to antique the teapot.

 The teapot is covered with crackle glaze.

 Detail showing raw umber fluid acrylic in cracks of the dried glaze.

 The blue/green tone is achieved by coating the teapot with Patina Antiquing Cream which is wiped away using a baby wipe.

Metallic gold is added to the rim of the pot over the crackle glaze.

Lid knob detail image.

Teapot handle detail image.

Spout detail image.

 Rim of spout with additional gold acrylic added. Note the glaze extends inside the spout.

Hope you like the transformation. I hate tea myself but there are some gorgeous antique teapots around which always attract my attention - this is one project which I will keep! Thanks for visiting.

Further news: I am going to show my work at Mixed Media World thanks to Donna of Inky And Quirky who gave me a heads up that they currently have a challenge going on that this piece would fit. It must eons since I last entered a challenge so I thought it would be fun to go over and have a look at MMW. Loads of inspiring art being shown both by the DT and the entries - amazing!

Springtime. . . . .

Morning all. Today sees a new challenge at Artist Trading Post Exchange. Sadly, this will be the last challenge as the blog is being closed by the owner. Keep a watch on my blog though because there will be something new starting in the near future with some members of the team!

Our host for this last challenge is the talented Annie and here's what she has to say:

'Annie here with the new challenge, which is Springtime. For this challenge I would like to see the colours of 'Spring' in your Mixed Media projects. You can include flowers/birds if you wish as longs as you have a fresh colour palette.
No special requirements other than you should include stamping in your challenge entries. As we are a Mixed Media challenge, we do not allow digi stamps.'

The winner of the challenge will receive a £10 voucher to spend at the Artist Trading Post online shop.

So, here's what I made: (products available from Artist Trading Post are listed at the end of this post)

An ATC with a matching gift box. Not very spring like I hear you say! However, I got my inspiration for this project from the following image:

I love snowdrops and where I live they are out in abundance in the gardens, hedgerows and verges. I have used the white and green of this beautiful spring flower for my inspiration but of course, I had to add a little grunge and crackle too!

The ATC is cut from foam board and given a coat of gesso followed by some modelling paste through a stencil. The box (I forgot the photo sorry!) was die cut from saved cardboard packaging and also painted with gessso.

When dry, the ATC is painted with green acrylic paint, gold acrylic paint and some stencilled white and gold acrylic paint. Finally a coat of crackle glaze is applied - you can just see this in some places on the photo.

The outside of the box is painted with white acrylic paint and a little green which you can just about make out in the photo! This is followed by some stencilled gold acrylic paint and a layer of crackle glaze. Both the ATC and the box have some acrylic paints rubbed into the dried crackle glaze to highlight the cracks. I used green, gold, white antiquing cream and a little raw umber here and there.

The sides of the box are painted with green, stamped with Versamark ink then embossed with gold powder. A layer of crackle glaze followed which is antiqued as described previously.

The front of the box is decorated with a die cut heart which has been rusted using acrylic paints and mediums.

Another die cut rusted heart is applied to the ATC.

Part of the box closure is made from a piece of waste die cut (the bits we usually throw away!). This has also been 'rusted' to keep the same theme.

Various little flowers are made using both die cut pieces and punched shapes. Each layer is painted and crackled as described previously. Some of the edges are finished with some random areas of Krylon pen. A tiny black gem is used for the flower centre.

A single layer flower prepared as before. This particular bloom is a punched shape.

Rusty wire helps to keep the box closed and the ends are curled to look decorative.

The rusty wire goes around the box.

Closeup to show the stencilled modelling paste with touches of gold acrylic. The edges of the ATC is edged with archival ink. This has also been used on some edges of the box.

I hope you like this spring inspired project! Don't forget to pop over to  the ATP Exchange to see the wonderful projects made by my Teamies!

Products used which are available from the Artist Trading Post:
*Acrylic colours: green gold; raw umber; gold; titanium white; quinacridone gold.
*Crackle Medium
*Archival Ink
*Tim Holtz Layering Stencil