HAUNTED HEART TAG

Greeting Andy Skinner Lovers!

Are you ready for Andy's NEW releases to hit the stores?  Me, too!

I have had such fun with a few of his newest things that I have been fortunate enough to have received already!  I wanted to share some fun tags with you!

This first tag is titled "Haunted". 

I LOVE LOVE all of the texture and depth of this tag.  

This is one of the new sets from Tando Creative that will be released SOON!  It's called "Tagtastic".  It includes the gear, heart, book plate and mixed sized tags.  All pieces are grey board; sturdy and a great base for all mixed media products. 

I got so excited to make this tag that I did not do step by step photos of the process but I will briefly share what I did.

I started by covering the larger tag with DecoArt Media White Gesso.  Next I stamped the building arch image from Andy's Newest Stamp Set called "GOTHIC" from his new line of Illusionary Artists Sets. This was done with Permament Black Ink.  

Next I randomly placed Andy's Skinner's Timewarp stencil from DecoArt and scraped DecoArt Media Modeling Paste over the stencil.  You can clearly see the time piece faces on the tag.  Heat set between each placement of the stencil.  Next I laid down Andy's Made To Measure stencil from DecoArt and scraped the Modeling Paste through the circle succession of numbers on the left side of the tag.  Heat set.  Once dry, I added black in the numbers using a small brush and DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black and a small brush.

After colorizing the tag background with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Titan Buff, Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide, touches of Cobalt Teal Hue and Blue Green Light, I painted the greyboard heart with DecoArt Crackle Paste and let it completely air dry.  Once dry, I painted over it with DecoArt Premium Americana Cadmium Red Acrylic Paint.  I then covered the heart with DecoArt Raw Umber Antiquing Cream and wiped away the excess.  This Antiquing Cream really gets down into the cracks and creates that wonderful crackled, aged effect.  I then edged the heart using my finger and DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black paint.  Then I ran a small wire onto the chain, wrapped the heart and glued it into place on the back side of the heart.  I added the little lock and glued the heart into place on the tag using raised adhesive pop dots.

Here is a closer look at Andy's new Gothic archway building in the background of this tag surrounded by all of the texture and other embellishments.  It fills the space perfectly and creates a fabulous background image. 

You will also see Tando Creative's Tagtastic book plate and gear that I have transformed from greyboard to aged patina "metal" using DecoArt's Media Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black, Metallic Silver and Gold, Quinacridone Gold, Titan Buff, Cobalt Teal Hue and Blue Green Light.   I added "Haunted" and glued the book plate in place.  

I added more chain to the tag through a little gargoyle type hanger that is a part of my "stash".  I wound the chain through the aged "metal" gear and attached a little key at the end of the chain.  That was then all glued in place.

Once again, here is a view of the entire tag.  So fun to make!

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to check out Andy's new stamps!  Tando Creative will be releasing several new greyboard sets SOON! You will LOVE them!

ANOTHER REPURPOSED LITTLE CHRISTMAS CHAIR

Hello friends!

Christmas may be over but it's never far from my heart.

I wanted to share with you another little chair that I found at a flea market that has been transformed from a sad little drab brown rocking chair.  This little chair looks to have been hand made, not store bought.  That adds even more charm to it for me.  

As I was working on this little chair, I wondered whose hands lovingly crafted this chair and for whom it was made.  I could almost hear the laughter of a small child rocking in this chair.  But over the years, it had been painted and repainted; drips of paint running down the rungs and the back legs even redone, leaving the chair tilting to one side a bit.

But no matter ... I still loved it and could see it's potential to be something beautiful again and to bring great joy!

As with the first Christmas chair that I made, this little chair was painted with DecoArt's Romance Chalk Paint. Then I sanded and sealed it with DecoArt's Medium Brown Wax. 

Santa and his reindeer is the focal point of this little rocking chair seat.  This was a Christmas napkin that was torn around the edges and glued in place with DecoArt's Media Matte Medium.  I brushed over the images as well to seal them.  Next I heat embossed some beautiful pine needles out of gold embossing powder; forming a wreath around Santa.  The little white snowflakes stamp are heat embossed using a white embossing powder.  "Believe" was heat embossed using black embossing powder.  When dry, I added Crystal Writer glitter over the snowflakes and the Santa and his reindeer image on the top band of the chair.  

Finally I added gold highlights around the edges of the chair using DecoArt's Metallic Gold Paint and wiping it on the edges with my fingers.  I painted the decorative bands on the rungs of the chair with DecoArt's Metallic Gold as well....for that extra bit of detail that just "makes" the little chair.  I also mixed the gold paint with a little water to create more of a wash.  With this mixture, I added some small shimmery detalis to the tops of the rungs and around the thick edge of the seat.  When the sunlight catches them, this little chair just glistens!

Thanks for stopping by!  The next time you might be shopping around in a flea market, you might see things a bit differently if you're looking for something to bring home, use your imagination and give something old new life!  My daughter has already called "dibs" on this little chair!  I love it!!!  Perhaps the beginnings of a new family heirloom??

SEND IN THE CLOWNS CANVAS

Happy 2018!

This year has started off very COLD and snowy here in the heartland.  

But...some really exciting news for me...I am honored to once again be one of Andy Skinner's Creative Design Team Members as well as DecoArt's Media Design Team!  I totally LOVE these products and find them so fun and easy to work with. This year's teams are SOO talented!  I'm still pinching myself!  There are lots of new products coming out; some already on pre-sale and will be shown at CHA and beyond.

With all of the COLD and gloomy weather outside, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to liven things up a bit by "Sending In The Clowns!"  No worries...even if you're not a fan of clowns, you won't find this one scary.  Here is a sneak peak at a vintage style canvas I made using Andy Skinner's really fun image transfer and colorization technique.  Talk about a "WOW" factor for your art project! 

Pop on over to Andy Skinner's Blog and check out the entire 8" x 8" stretch canvas.  There are lots of layers in the background: stamping, stenciling, texture, color. 

I also used DecoArt's amazing Media line of products for some really cool "aged" textural vintage results. 

More exciting news ... Andy  Skinner and France Papillon have banned together with Chocolate Baroque to create some absolutely beautifully detailed, different and very cool stamps for all of your journaling and mixed media artists.  These are on PRESALE now and they are going FAST!  You can click HERE to be taken to Andy's website for Illusionary Artists!

I hope you enjoy the canvas!!!  

Have a great year and let's get some inspiration flowing!!