N*Studio Creative Squad: Today We Smile

Today I am over at the N*Studio Creative Squad sharing how to make these fun little notebooks. You can read all about it HERE. 

 

In case you missed it, here is my January project.

My Home is my Castle

Kokopelli

We are focusing on home decor this month to brighten our personal “castles”. My husband drew a Kokopelli design years ago, following one of our epic summer camping trips to the Southwest, and then cut a number of them out of wood. I decided to use one of these figures and alter it with paint and stencils. I chose Kokopelli for a couple of reasons - one, he carried his “home” on his back as he traveled between pueblos, and two, we grow a number of cacti and succulents that have to come inside our home each winter, and they remind me of Kokopelli. 

I started my project by painting the wood with gesso, and once that dried, painting him turquoise, a color I associate with the southwest. (I love the turquoise jewelry from this region.) 

I laid the Crackle stencil onto the figure and using a cosmetic sponge, lightly dabbed Ultramarine Blue all over the front and back and edges. The edges were tricky to do, I had to wrap the stencil along the edge, hold it with one hand and dab the paint. It might have been easier to tape it on, now that I think about it. 

I wanted to use stencils with designs that remind me of the southwest, and Nathalie has several. I chose to use the Toledo stencil next, and mixed Titanium White and Cerulean Blue, then dabbed that on with the sponge.  

Now that I have all of my blue layers on, it’s time to add the gold. I used the Mesa Verde stencil with Pale Gold. 

Kokopelli needs a bit of contrast, and I chose to add copper and gold to his hair, flute and loincloth. I started by rubbing on the Copper Metallic paste with my finger, and then rubbed on some Quinacridone Gold to bring out the color, and decided to add a bit to the base too. 

I went back in to add more design on the loincloth area with the pale gold and the Downtown stencil. 

I decided to add a bit more contrast, and went back in with some embossing powder on the flute, hair and back area. When I did my final look at my project, I still felt like it needed a bit more definition, so took a small brush and edged the figure with Payne’s Grey. 

Kokopelli is playing to the sun among the cacti in our front window. Listen for the song of his flute! Maura