Monday, November 27, 2017

"A Christmas Scene"

Good morning everyone!!!
I hope you had an amazing weekend.  Today I am going to show you a Christmas Scene that I created using a paper mache house that I found at Michael's.  It actually was meant to be a gift box and the roof actually came off.  So I glued the roof down to secure it.
Here is the scene which does look like a gingerbread house.


To start I painted the house inside and out with a good coat of white gesso.  To start the roof I applied a very thick coat of heavy white gesso making bumps and ripples as I went.  I wanted lots of texture on the roof.  I then sprinkled a fluffy snow product and lots of sparkly glitter all over the wet gesso.  I let this dry.  I let it dry overnight because of the thickness of the gesso.  After drying, I applied a product that I had for some time which was a snow texture paste.  You could actually make your own as the paste contained a granular product, probably a fine sand.  Mix some fine sand or a granular material into white texture paste and you will have the same product.  I put the snow paste heavy around the edges of the roof and built it up and again sprinkled lots of glitter onto the paste.  I then let this dry which took about half a day.  Here is a picture below and one of the roof in the beginning process.



The completed roof.  You can see the glitter.


For the upper front of the house, under the roof, I cut and applied some grunge board that made it look like aluminum siding.  I painted this red with a metallic kraft paint.  A couple of coats did the trick.  I did this on the sides of the house and the back of the house.
For the house itself I painted the main body of the house using Art Basics (Finnibair) brown rust "rust effect paste" which has a granular feel.  Using my finger, I applied the gold "rust effect" lightly onto the rust colour.  It is difficult to see in the picture but it gives it a nice very light gold glow.  I also sprayed very lightly, and only here and there,  the Colour Bloom spray "tea stain".
For the front of the house I applied a resin door that I found at Michael's along with all the other miniature pieces. For the base I used a 12 x 18 piece of canvas board.  I covered the surface of the board with white very wrinkled tissue paper, painted the tissue with heavy white gesso (again thick but not at the front of the house where the sidewalk is), more of the snow texture paste here and there and then lots of sprinkles while still wet.  I let this dry.  When everything was dry I adhered the house down with matte medium which is an excellent adhesive (lots of it to give a good grip).  I added the fence around the entire outer edge of the canvas board. 
 To begin my scene completion,  for the sidewalk, I used coloured glass blocks that I had in my stash for some time.  I then applied kraft moss onto the base around the front and sides of the house.  And the rest is the miniature pieces that I also found at Michael's.  I made  a scene around the house with the trees first.  I added a lot of heavy gesso to the trees to look like snow.  I added tiny wreaths to the front of the house and at the sides.   I also put some lighter coloured moss along the front of the house and added some white tiny stones and miniature pine cones.  Below is a picture of the front of the house.  When everything was done, I added some more snow texture paste around the edges of the house and fence, as well as across the top of the door.


And a picture of the left side of the house.


And lastly, I added some very tiny mini lights which really made everything come together.  I put the lights around the front of the house and wrapped them around the two larger trees in the front.
Here is a picture with the lights on.


I was thrilled with the way everything turned out.  It took some time but the end result was worth it.
Until next time, this is Donna wishing you a safe and happy week.
"HAPPY SCRAPPING"
Christmas Cheer Recipe:  Combine loads of good wishes,
heartfuls of love and armfuls of hugs.  Sprinkle with laughter
and garnish with mistletoe.  Top off with presents.  Serves everyone.

Thursday, November 02, 2017

"Cherish" Layout

Good morning everyone!!!!!
I have a very simple layout for you today.  I created this using Blue Fern Studios paper, a chipboard decorative panel and a bit of background stenciling and of course some flowers and pearls.
I first stenciled some white texture paste at the upper right corner and left side edge onto the background paper.  Just enough to accent the paper collage in the centre.  For the collage I took several pieces of matching paper, cut them in different sizes and created what I call a collage.  One of the papers I cut into a strip and cut out the bottom edge to look like a banner.
I tore off a section of the background paper at the outer edges on the right side and left side.  I added a piece of white corrugated paper onto the back of the torn areas.  Added some flowers and small accents to each section.  I embossed the chipboard decorative panel with a sparkly pinkish-purple powder, added decorative pieces and flowers.  Then to finish I added a collage of flowers and decorative pieces to the bottom right side along with an embossed title.  And there you have it.  Very simple and quick.


Here is a second layout, again using Blue Fern Studios paper.
For this layout I created a paper collage for behind the picture, this time I inked the edges lightly for more accent.  I also inked the outer edges of the background paper adding a shadow effect in each corner.  I added a decorative strip with some lace to the right side of the picture.  And again chipboard vines inked with green ink and a flower collage at the left bottom corner of the picture.  Simple and pretty.


Until next time, this is Donna sending you wishes for a safe and happy week.
"HAPPY SCRAPPING"
"Be what you are.  This is the first step toward becoming better than you are."
                                               Julius Charles Hare