The Wish Fairy

Hi everyone!

 My wonderful DT member Laurie invited me to be on her FB Challenge team this term. I am still so thrilled to be doing this - the challenges have been so much fun!

In May the challenge is to make something with a papermache cone

You can buy yours from Laurie's shop and the rules of the challenge can be found here.

I did struggle a bit to come up with something for this challenge - a quick peek at Pinterest for some inspiration (great way to lose a few hours!) revealed lots of Christmas decorations - it seems most of the time these cones are used for Santa and angel models, trees and gift cones. I wanted something a little bit more original....

    My first thought was this could be a dress - why not make it into a doll? Then I thought of a frame (as I always seem to do) and it then made sense to split the cone in two and perhaps make a picture?....

A fairy picture?...wings?....got to have some lace.....definitely have to have flowers.....

......now things are getting somewhere!

 I cut the cone in half and covered it with some printed paper. This paper has an iridescent embossed flower pattern which I thought worked perfectly for a magical sparkly fairy picture.

I dabbed some die cut lace with Frayed Burlap DI and stuck it onto the skirt

The face was a wooden bead painted with Nougat Fresco Paint. The hair was dark brown hemp string. The string was made of up three twisted strands and when I untwisted these and separated them to make the string thinner they had a lovely curl...giving a wavy, ringlet effect.

I covered the bead with strands of hemp string as a base for the hair and then added some of the finer, curly strands.

The fairy's arms are pipe cleaners covered with the card that I used for the skirt.

I added a strip of lace and a tiny pearl bead for the collar of her dress

The flowers in her hair are memory box die flowers - painted with Ice Blue Fresco Paint and dabbed with Frosted Lace Stickles Glue in the centers

The wings were embossed and then painted with Decoart Americana Decoart paint in Lace. I then dabbed some Frayed Burlap DI over the top.

The heart behind the fairy is burlap covered in lace that I stuck to a piece of card and then cut out

I used the word 'wish' from chit chat stickers

I used some ivory hemp string tied into bows along with ivory roses dabbed with Frayed Burlap DI

Memory Box flower die cuts were dabbed with Frayed Burlap DI and had a pearl bead attached

The background of the fairy was made with wrinkle free distress technique using Brushed Corduroy DI. I then added further effects by doing some 'spritz and flick' with water.

 I then stamped some script stamp with Antique Linen DI

For the main background I did wrinkle free technique using Tumbled Glass DI

The frame was constructed from balsa wood. It was painted with gesso and then a coat of Raw Umber Acrylic paint was used. This was sanded down and then I tinted some Ultra Matt varnish with a blob of Raw Umber paint. This tinted varnish knocked back the harsh whiteness from the sanded down areas of the wood and it made gave a wood more of a vintage aged woodgrain look...

And there is my completed Fairy Picture...

I do hope you like it and I hope I have inspired you to come along and join in the challenge - what can you make with a Paper Mache cone?

Thanks so much for being here!

Happy Crafting

Laura xxx

It's all an act

Hello everyone!

Over at Sandee and amelie's steampunk challenge the challenge this month is -

Raise the curtains

This month we challenge you to create Steampunk projects in which curtains play the main role.  

Your project can be anything that has to do with curtains (maybe being raised or pulled aside, revealing....well, whatever you can think of). I am sure you will once again surprise us all with your marvelous and imaginative projects!

When I saw this challenge my thoughts immediately were about making a theater...a Steampunk theatre of course!!!....

I constructed a theatre out of balsa wood and embossed card - here is how I made it...

I used a die cut as a template to cut out the balsa wood front. This was then covered with some embossed card.

I constructed the roof out of two pieces of balsa wood which were then covered with embossed card

The back was cut to size and all of it was attached to the base which was a much thicker piece of balsa wood to give it support. All of it was painted with Gesso, then covered with Burnt Umber Decoart Fluid Acrylic paint. It already had a bit of a tarnished bronze look already but I wanted to emphasize that, so I then rubbed it over with Iced Espresso Metallic Lustre. I thought this might be a huge mistake at first as the metallic effect was too bright....but another coat or Burnt Umber paint toned down the metallic effect really well and I ended up with the tarnished metal effect I had wanted....Happy accidents!

I stuck some buttons, a metal rose and an ornate corner onto the theatre

The background for the theater started off as a piece of card that had been swirled in Distress paints - I have absolutely no memory of what colours were used, but looking at it I would guess -Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo and Picket Fence Distress Paints. At the time this piece of card was made it had obviously not been 'right' for the project I had in mind and so had been put into the "Not useable at this time" box....I had found it and thought it was perfect for this creation.

I stamped it with Artistic Outpost stamps from French Flight and Industrial Backgrounds

Now onto the curtains...

I used some of my favourite material remnants that I had used for my dolls house - I knew it was perfect for this project. It is a printed velvet with a very subtle pattern. A two toned silky-soft velvet, it varies in shades from a gorgeous mink brown to a beautiful pale grey blue depending on which angle you look at it. Whatever way you view it there is always a hint of gold from the back of the material....absolutely stunning!

I had a very thin piece of brass tube that was cut to fit the width of the theatre and I sewed the curtain tops so that the tube could be inserted. Once they were sewn I attached the curtains and slotted the tube into the theatre

Pieces of rusty wire were twisted into loops with pliers to hold the curtains open

These were inserted into the walls of the theatre

The performance is about to start....

I used the image of the three men from the French Flight Artistic Outpost stamp set. I stamped them with Frayed Burlap DI and painted them with Tattered Rose DI mixed with water. I added detail to hair with marker pens. I stamped the bodies with Black Soot DI and painted parts with water to add a shading effect.

The actors were then stuck onto a piece of balsa wood painted with Decoart Carbon Black Acrylic paint so that they can be moved along the stage...

 

I do hope you like my Steampunk Theatre...Come on over to Sandee and amelie's Steampunk Challenge to see what the rest of the team have made to inspire you for this challenge....we would love it if you joined in!

Happy Crafting!

Love from Laura xxx

I am linking this creation to Artistic Outpost this month

Pastel Shades

Hi everyone,

I would like to show you a photo collage I did...

 I have always loved these kind of creations, but lacked the confidence in doing them. One day I had some spare time, I had nothing planned to do and so I decided to sit and play. I had just printed out loads of vintage portraits and I loved this one in particular - I adored the very muted pastel shades and decided to let that lead the colour scheme

I began with two bottles of Distress stain.... Frayed Burlap and Weathered Wood. I pressed them onto the craft mat until there was a puddle of ink emerging. Then I slammed them down onto a piece of card to create a splatter effect. I dabbed the excess ink with a tissue as I wanted the ink splatter to be pale.

Then I began to arrange some tissue tape strips in horizontal and vertical lines. I knew where the picture would be placed so I just tried to place these around it. I then covered a doily with Iced Spruce and Frayed Burlap DI and stuck it onto the collage...

I dabbed some Iced Spruce and Vintage Photo DI's around the tape strips

I added some script and text stamps...dabbing them around the picture using Potting Soil Archival ink

Then I added together a collection of embellishments, roses, clock, metal filigree flower, buttons, a key, chit chat sticker, butterfly, lace and hemp string. I arranged them all beneath the photo

I decided to layer the picture. So I got some Frayed Burlap and Pumice Stone DI and wiped them onto the craft mat and spritzed with water. I swirled some card into the ink and left to dry. When dry I sanded the edges down to reveal the pale card underneath and add a distressed aged effect

This needs a frame!!! I did the usual thing - four pieces of balsa wood stuck onto card in the size frame I wanted. I painted it with French Roast Fresco paint and then covered it with Crackle glaze. I waited for this to dry then applied a thick layer of Nougat Fresco Paint.

After this had crackled I sanded the paint down to strip back some patches to look even more weather worn. I then added a layer of Raw Umber Antiquing cream which I wiped away with a damp cloth when dry.

The frame was finished off with a coat of Matt Varnish

 Brass Hinge Fasteners were used with hemp string as a hanger

And there is my Victorian Pastel collage.....it may not be a perfect example of this collage style but practice makes perfect..I had so much fun doing this I will definitely do more! ;o)

Happy Crafting!

Love from Laura xxx

Forever and a day

Hi everyone!

 Valentines day is nearly here and I wanted to share a Valentine creation with you. Not your usual red and pink hearts and flowers. For this one I tried to focus on more masculine colours and less flower power....well, except for a very tiny bit... ;o)

I made the hearts by cutting them out of balsa wood. I used a heart template to ensure they were all identical. I sanded down the edges of the hearts and then painted them with French Roast Fresco paint.

I then applied some crackle glaze with a palette knife and when this was dry I painted it with Picket Fence Distress paint. Not my usual choice for crackle effects but it is a more translucent paint and that was the effect I wanted.

 When this was dry I stamped some swirls with Jet Black archival ink - I wanted the whole effect to be rustic and tarnished and so I didn't want a perfectly stamped image -  so I held the unmounted stamp in my hand and rolled and dabbed it across the hearts. Then I painted the hearts with three coats of Decoart varnish.

The frame was made by cutting out a background of cardboard and then cutting four frame pieces. I stuck them to the cardboard back and when dry I painted both the frame and the background with several coats of Decoart chalk paint in Lace.

Then I applied a thick layer of Decoart Crackle paint and when this was dry Raw Umber Antiquing cream was applied and then wiped away to reveal enhanced cracks

A strip of twine braid was glued to the middle of the frame background. The hearts were stuck onto the twine. The letters were grunge board letters covered with Mocha Mousse Fresco Paint and then covered with Crackle Glaze. When dry the glaze was painted with Raw Umber Antiquing Cream to highlight the crackle.

Chit chat stickers formed the sentence "Forever and a day" and I stuck them onto each heart after dabbing the edges with Pumice Stone DI.

A fabric blossom was painted with a Decoart Chalk paint in lace and a pearl bead added to the center

Silver screw brads were used to attach the cream string that was used to hang the picture.

And this is the Valentines Gift I will give my Husband on the 14th - Don't tell him!!! ;o)

Happy Crafting!

Love from Laura xxx