Swirly and Sparkly Ornament

Wishing you all a holiday season of joy and time to spend with family and friends and unwind! 

We celebrate Christmas, and I was inspired to make one more ornament for our tree.

I found this great wood ornament from Kaisercraft in my stash, which inspired me to create.

I love my new DecoArt Premium Acrylic paints! As you can see here, the colors are rich and deep. I painted all sides of the ornament with Ultramarine Blue.

Next, I dabbed on lighter blues in Cobalt Teal hue and Cobalt Turquoise hue, along with Titanium White.

I wanted to go over the under layers with transparent paints, and used Quinacridone Violet and Cobalt Teal hue. I like how they are mixing.

Next step was to spray the White Shimmer Mist on both sides.

Then, I took the Metallic Shimmering Silver and wiped around the edges and on the top, just using my finger.

Time to add the sparkle! Decoupage and Crystal Glamour Dust will do the trick!

I finished the ornament off with a piece of sari ribbon.

Closeup of my swirly, sparkly ornament on our tree!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Maura

Happy New Year!!

Steam...or Iced?

Hello my steampunk friends! Welcome to our March challenge - Anything Goes Steampunk/Industrial! I was inspired recently to do some work with numbers, well, we are kind of deep into tax season in the USA, and mine are due in a month...since I haven't started working on them yet, these kinds of numbers are much more fun!! 

I was thinking of thermometers since our weather keeps changing here, and wanted to make "make" one to compare Celsius and Fahrenheit degrees. So, time to play in the big art journal!

I pushed myself out of my color zone to work in reds, oranges and yellows. I started the first layer with the Americana Acrylics as they are thicker and make a nice base layer. The yellow went on top, worked in with my fingers (my favorite tool), and then I laid the crackle stencil on it and took a baby wipe and scrubbed out some of the yellow.

Next layer up - fluid acrylics in similar colors, with some added magenta.

Thinking steampunk, I stamped in some gears and atoms with the Kaisercraft and Seth Apter stamps with the Watering Can ink (grey).

I wanted a semi opaque area in the center for my main images, so mixed the Hansa and Titan Buff together, then wiped it on with a palette knife.

From here, it was stamping, and stenciling and writing to create my "thermometer".

I used Birgit's mixed media strip, and Seth's borders and ink spots here. Thinking about the lower end of the scale I wrote the word shiver, then in a bit, a song popped into my head with the lyrics a shiver in my bones, and of course, I had to add that! 

At the higher end of the scale, I was thinking Whew...hot stuff. Can you imagine in Victorian times wearing all that get up in the heat, especially if you were female? Corsets, layers upon layers of clothes, from neck to ankle...yikes!

I feel like the pressure is on when it starts getting hotter...in many ways. Melting glaciers, big storms, people getting cranky - I know I do when it gets hot.

And here you have it - my thermometer with a steampunk twist!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will join us this month for our challenge!

UPDATE: Thanks so much to Seth Apter for sharing my piece on his blog The Altered Page! You can check it out here and see some awesome work by other artists.

SUPPLIES

DECOART

Americana Acrylics: Razzle Berry, Shrimp, Canary, Red Hot

Fluid Acrylics:  Pyrrole Red, Cadmium Orange Hue, Quinacridone Magenta, Hansa Yellow Medium, Titan Buff

Misters: Turquoise Shimmer, White Shimmer

Stencil: Industrial Elements 

Other Materials

Stamps:  Birgit Koopsen Mixed Media Strip (Carabelle Studio); Impression Obsession- Seth Apter: Spot Lights, Ink Spots, Border Lines; KaiserCraft Time Machine; Paper Artsy EEA 05; Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Worn Text

Stencil:  Stencil Girl - Nathalie Kahlbach Crackle

Inks: Ranger Archival Watering Can and Jet Black

Miscellaneous:

Dylusians Art Journal, palette knife, sponge, brush, baby wipes, pens - black and white, heat tool

Much appreciation to our sponsors who keep the gears turning! 

Yay for IKEA! Another Long Distance Project

This summer while Sheila and I were visiting in person, we went to the IKEA store (WOW! what a store!) and found these great "boxes." We both loved the drawers and started to think about how we could use them (of course, I really haven't figured out yet what is going in them, but hey, love the way they've turned out).

You start off with a box of wooden parts and everything you need to construct the box of drawers.



It really is not that hard to put together either. A hammer and screwdriver are the only additional tools needed for the project, and some sandpaper to smooth off any rough edges. I found it interesting that it is made in Russia.

I made a template of the drawer and then cut out the pattern papers I wanted to use and inked around the edges of the pieces. I used mod podge directly on the drawer front, adhered the paper, let it dry and applied another coat on top. I chose the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird collection.

I love the vintage look you get with these papers. Check out Sheila's and you'll see that even though we live hundreds of miles away from each other, we often think in the same creative vein.














Then, because I am a girl of many moods, I thought, hey, why not do the back of the drawers and they can become the fronts when I want a change! So, for version #2, I used the spirograph designs from Kaiser Craft. I then added some white rub ons for a bit of flair. I can see using side #1 for the fall and winter, and side #2 for spring and summer. But, no matter which way I set it up, I love the way they've turned out.












OK, NOW you have to see Sheila's!

Sheila here--I love how Maura's box turned out! Especially the two totally different looks that she achieved. A few things that I did differently was that I painted my drawers in three complimentary paint colors.



It's a bit hard to see but I added a line of text stickers from 7Gypsies around the perimeter of the box.



I plan to keep this handy on my craft space so most likely it will be filled with my "go to" tools and my latest favorites.

Another long distance project where we both started with the exact same item, but we end up with two different looks to it.

Stay tuned....we're working on an idea for the next long distance project. We'll be sure to share.

Maura's Christmas Tree- oh! class

Creativity abounds at the class at Captured Moments! Friends gather to try out something new, and share ideas at the class I just taught at the store.




You can make a "trio" of Christmas trees in about 3 - 4 hours, once you have prepared your materials. These make a cute decoration for the holidays, perfect on your mantle, and what better time than July to start getting ready for Christmas! Hey, you know how busy you are at the end of the year!


Materials needed: scissors, paper trimmer, adhesive, coordinating holiday paper(Basic Grey and Kaiser Craft), 3 sizes of scallop punches, paint, fibers and ribbons, embellishments, ruler, and a set of trees from Oriental Trading Company (Christmas Tree Kit). (Check your local craft store for paper mache or styrofoam forms as an alternative.)

Three Easy Steps to Prepare:
1. Paint the bases and the bottoms of the trees. Set aside to dry.
2. Cut out about 5-2" strips of different papers. Cut out 8-10 2.5" strips.
3. Punch out 12 large scalloped circles, 12 medium, and 12 small.

Small Tree:
1. Using the 2" strips you cut, now cut them into little pieces about 0.5x2". Curl with your scissors (closed - those scrapbook scissors are sharp!) or use the dowel in your kit.
2. Always start at the base of the tree, and adhere a row of curly strips around the base. The next layer goes above it, and stagger the strips.
3. Continue to the top. Add an embellishment and fibers and ribbons, and voila! you are done!

Look at how proud Lynda is of her beautiful tree!

Medium Tree: Yes! This will be a lot faster than the little one - I promise!
1. Now, you are going to use your 2.5" strips and fringe them. Keep about a half inch at the top to adhere it with.
2. Start at the base with the first strip and adhere. Overlap the next strip so about a half to an inch of the layer below shows. It is your personal preference. Work your way to the top.
3. Embellish the top, add fibers and ribbons, and tree #2 is done!
Heidi, hard at work. Look at those fringed trees!

Large Tree:
1. Cut your medium and large scallops in half. Ink the edges if you like.
2. Start at the base with the large scallops. Layer them, alternating placement with each row, and do about a third of the tree.
3. Cover the middle third with rows of the medium scallop halves.
4. Top off the tree with rows of the smallest scallop circles.
5. If you would like to add a bit of dimension, turn the scallop edges up carefully.
6. Add a decoration to the top, fibers and ribbons, and there you go!
A beautiful sample! I like the garland she added.

Ok, several hours have gone by while you have been immersed in your project, but you now have three beautiful Christmas trees ready for the holidays!There's one in every class! Tiffany (one of the store owners) takes it a step further!
Happy scrapping!
Maura