Altered Halloween Brush - Mixed Media

 Remember that phase where mixed media artists were altering paint brushes like crazy?

Well, I finally found a store where I could buy a larger brush for $2. 

I was hugely inspired by Sanna Suomalainen's Sparkling Nights video using various shades of black. I thought her piece was just gorgeous and I couldn't wait to try it for myself.

Other than having a different theme and adding a touch of Metallique Ginger Magic to my piece, I pretty much followed her steps. Her video is just fantastic.

1. I used black gesso on the entire brush except for the tip, which I left entirely alone.

2. I followed this with Jewel Paste Sparkling Onyx using a distressed diamond stencil.

3. Then I glued the lace down.

3. I gessoed all my individual pieces black before glueing. I find this to be easier than trying

to get the brush into small spaces.

4. I saved gluing the trinkets and flowers for later, as well the the pebbles with ginger magic.

5. Once the pieces were adequately dried in place, I began the coloring process. Letting the pieces settle into place after gluing means you can be a little more "rough" with your piece when applying color. This is very helpful for me as I'm a little bit clumsy.

6. I applied colors in this order:

 Charcoal Black wax, Graphite wax, Raven black paint, Old Silver wax, more raven black paint

7. I then glued my flowers down, adding Raven Black paint to dress them up quite a bit. 

8. I then added my pebbles with ginger magic around the piece.

9. Finally, covering up the main focus (cat skeleton is hard to see), 

I then added white gesso splatters.

10. I love videos. I truly appreciate everything women and artists go thru making them. If I were to add one little piece of advice that is not shown in any video that I've watched is this . . . after you start building your layers, let your glue dry. This is a patient process but start to finish it really takes no more than 2 - 3 hours. Go fold some laundry while it's drying. You are much more likely to regret trying to rush that one step.

Supplies:

Reneabouquet products:

1. Reneabouquet Corner Web and Spider
2. Reneabouquet Leaf filler
3. Reneabouquet Lace

Tim Holtz Halloween trinkets

Creative Embellishments Spooky Tree

Straws

Prima leaf and roses moulds and time clock mould

Window from the dollhouse section at Hobby Lobby

Graphic 45 Black Roses

Finnabair Products:

1. Charcoal Black Wax
2. Graphite Wax
3. Old Silver Wax
4. Sparks Raven Black acrylic paint
5. Sparks Ginger Magic acrylic paint
6. Jewel Paste Sparkling Onyx
7. Melange Art Pebbles

Mixed Media Canvas - Reflection

Hello everyone!! As you may know, I love making canvases and have made several pieces either for my home decor (rotated every season) or for loved ones. THIS piece is for me...about me. I had nearly every element in my stash that I could think of except one. No matter cause I just LOVE how this turned out. All the supplies are listed below. I'm not really going to explain what I did so much as why a piece is on this board.

The color scheme is even one of my favorites to work with soothing browns, metalliques and a touch of teal.

Roses everywhere - My favorite flower and Rose is my middle name

Steampunk - cause I love making steampunk mixed media

Dragons (even a little guy on the left) - I have always loved any type of fantasy. I love a good book with dragons in it.

Butterfly - I do love butterflies but it also reflects my love of nature. I prefer nature over cities any day.

Single solitary rose - My favorite book is Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey and the main character has a large tattoo of a rose with thorns and blood drops on her back, reflecting her unique nature in the world.

Here is a door with a tiny fairy and mushroom nestled into the corner. I have little pieces of fantasy all over this steampunk piece.

Book - I love to read. Especially fantasy.

Playstation controller - I have always played Final Fantasy using the Playstation...all the way back to Playstation 2.

XV (behind the book) - Tribute to Final Fantasy - my favorite game

And here is my tiny unicorn!!! I love unicorns so much that my family has started buying little gifts with unicorns on them again. Have you seen "The Last Unicorn"?

Dog - I love dogs, especially Shih-Tzus. My two dogs right now are Sky and Cassie. Plus I needed something on there for my 20 year career as an RVT. I'm a medical coder now, but veterinary medicine is my first love.

Swords - Tribute to fantasy and also that I love martial arts. Couldn't quite find what I wanted for this piece but I do have swords thanks to Katy Sue Designs.

Thanks for stopping by today!!!

 Supplies:

Lindy's Sprays:

1. Opal Sea Oats
2. Gossamer Gold
3. Mission Bells Brown
4. Dark Chocolate Truffle

Stampedous EP:

1. Seasonings
2. Shabby Pink

Finnabair

Graphite Texture Paste

Chipboard

Moulds from:

1. Katy Sue Designs
2. Finnabair
3. Etsy

Waxes:

1. Peacock
2. Aged Brass
3. Bronze Age
4. Meteor Showers
5. White Gold

Old chipboard 

Distressed diamond stencil

49 and market flowers

Graphite 45 flowers

White Gesso

Black Gesso

Happy Holidays Home Decor - Mixed Media

Lots and lots of fussy cutting and layering  ..... and here we are!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

I had a huge package of poinsettias (from Hobby Lobby) that I bought years ago and I have used them on several projects. I finally used of the last of them with this creativity.

While some of the layers were pre-made poinsettias, I did fussy cut a lot from Graphic 45's 12 Days of Christmas to fill out this piece. I especially love the birds.

I didn't want this piece to be overwhelmed with texture, so I just used crackle paste only as the primary texture. I let that dry overnight and then added colors, followed by the art stones and glitter.

The green and red beads were found at a yard sale!!! But really, this piece is just lots of layers using Graphic 45, poinsettias, pinecones and beads.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Round wooden piece - Michael's

Graphic 45 - Twelve Days of Christmas

Poinsettia flowers - Hobby Lobby
Beads and Pinecones - Hobby Lobby
Gold Glitter - Hobby Lobby

Finnabair Art Stones

Lindy's Stamp Gang:

Starburst Golden Sleigh Bells
Starburst Rudolph Rose Red
Starburst Frolic in the Forest Black

Wooden Window

Crackle Paste

Flair button from . . . ?

Believe in Yourself: Mixed Media Artist Palette

You know how your brain can tease you with creating something fabulous?? Well, lots of different scenarios happened to get this piece out of my head and into something tangible.

First, I was greatly inspired by Ola Kohmenok at Mixed Media Place. I just loved the idea of using a paint palette. Secondly, More Than Words had a challenge last month with "costume/masks and black background". Although I'm too late to enter, I still loved the idea.

Finally, a very good friend of mine spent months planning her daughter's Quinceañera and I happily went having a grand time with friends. Everyone was lovely and the tradition behind the event was a tear-jerker. Anyway, I told my friend that I really wanted to make a piece featuring her daughter and to "give" me a photo. It wasn't quite an arm wrestling match but I almost didn't give her a choice, because my inner creative side was desperate to come out. She understood as she's an artist as well.

Without further ado, here is the piece. I hope it inspires you. I will say I made this with a purpose. I used the colors of the Quinceañera along with adding touches of embellishments that were specific to this event. Thanks for stopping by today!!!

P.S. I really miss my light box. Supplies listed below.

I layered the piece with moulds, metallic trimmings, chipboard and stenciling. I then covered it all with black gesso, followed by white gesso. Doing that can really create a wonderful contrast with your colors, even if you are using the same set.

The colors of the Quinceañera were orange and purple, matching the Mexican holiday 

"Day of the Dead". I couldn't quite make this palette gothic, as I wanted to focus 

on the daughter's feminine side.

One of the reasons I was insisting on a paint palette was that both daughter and mother are artists. It's definitely a more interesting background than a rectangle.

Her mother picked out the title, knowing her daughter's growth thru the teenage years.

I used a number stencil to bring in the significance of the 15th birthday.

The wings, crown, paintbrushes, butterfly, flowers and even the chipboard dress mannequin were about the daughter. I wanted to add shoes and a ring, but alas, those pieces aren't in my stash. I have a car-lovin' son, so no barbie shoes here.

I know many blog posts discuss "how" they actually made something. In the end, it's all about layers and having fun with the color scheme. You almost can't go wrong.

Thank you!!

Supplies:

Wooden artist palette

Black gesso
White gesso
White Acrylic Paint

Old paint brushes

49 and Market Salmon flowers
Graphic 45 French Lilac and Purple Royalty

Finnabair Colors:
Blackberry
Metallique Plum Preserves
Sparks Ginger Magic

Finnabair Other:
Moulds
Melange Art Pebbles
Art Stones
Texture paste - graphite
Heavy Body Gel
Soft Gloss Gel
Wax - Old Silver

Gilding Flakes - Aurora Lights

Tim Holtz Quote Chips

Lindy's Stamp Gang:
Fuzzy Navel Peach

Textured stencils

Creative Embellishments Chipboard

Believe . . . Mixed Media Canvas

Hello there!!! Today I would love to share with you my latest Christmas project(s). Actually, I made three of these canvases but the other two I will share later as they are Christmas presents for my mom and sister.

I follow Creative Embellishments blog and challenges every month. I think my next creation will involve more gears as this photo definitely has a lot of cogs and wheels going on in it.

Without further ado here is what I came up with. I also planned on submitting to the More Than Words mixed media challenge but I forgot to add stamping. Oh well.

However, Lindy's Stamp Gang also has a color challenge this month as well.  I do not have the exact matches of their color challenge, but I do have the Jingle Bells spray set and embossing set.

I was extremely inspired by Olga Ravenskaya's Winter Forest Canvas that she made back in January 2018. I don't have her talent, but I sure did have fun making this.

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY TODAY!

This canvas is a mixture of Creative Embellishment's chipboard pieces, dies by Sue Wilson at DiesRUs, Finnabair products, Lindy's Stamp Gang products and random collections from my stash.

The scroll is music pattern paper by Graphic 45 "12 Days of Christmas" collection. I used embossing powder Bougainvillea Red Teal on the poinsettias. The reindeer is a mixed of the red teal and Scotch Broom Yellow.

Here is a layer of the embossed dies and chipboard, all embossing by Lindy's products. Believe has Silver Moon Turquoise  and the leaves are all embossed using Fiddlehead Fern Green.

My favorite piece in all this is the frame. I had no idea that mixing Scotch Broom Yellow and Midnight Gold embossing powders would create such an effect.

Supplies:

Lindy's Stamp Gang:

--Jingle Bells Starburst Spray Set

--Jingle Bells Embossing Powder Set

Creative Embellishments (frame, reindeer and leaves)

CE Stencil

Finnabair Art Stones and Melange Art Pebbles

Straws from Hobby Lobby

Graphic 45 "12 Days of Christmas" - scroll

Ribbon

Christmas Flair

Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Sue Wilson

Poinsettia Craft Die by Impression Obsession Stamps

(can be found at www.DiesRUs.com)

Candy Cane Treat Boxes

Stopping by to share with you the treat boxes I made for my son's 

4th grade teachers.

They are a free file provided by Dreaming Tree!

Paper is Graphic 45 - 12 Days of Christmas

Thanks for stopping by today!!!