Repurposed canvas and bandage dressing

Hi all
I made this fun canvas to join in with the Creative Expressions Mixed Media Challenge day 1 with the theme of 'Bright'.

I took an old canvas I no longer liked and covered it with vintage book pages then a coat of mixed media paint. 

Then added Intense Pigment Stains in Bluebell, Emerald and Citrus Lime, layering up until I liked the colours.

I then used the same products to colour an old field dressing/ bandage and that had been in my stash for years (not useable as no longer sterile due to damaged packaging) and a piece of hessian fabric. I spritzed water to help the bandage and hessian soak up the colours.

Taking the Smashed Glass Andy Skinner stamp, I used my stamp platform and Versafine Jet Black ink to stamp onto a piece of calico. frayed the edges and stuck it down onto the hessian. I had to use red liner tape as wet glue would have seeped through, activated the colours underneath and stained the stamped calico.

 Glass gems and fabric roses gave a pop of red to the canvas. But it needed something else. So I wrapped wire around my spritzer bottle to form loops, then stuck these underneath the focal point of the layered bandage and fabric.

 You can see some of the text through the colours here and below.

 Love how colourful this is.

Thanks for looking.
Suz
x

HIDDEN - my DT project for Andy Skinner

Hi all

I was feeling pretty reflective when I made this just over a week ago after hearing some bad news....and the weekend that followed made this keep resonating in my head....we are all dealing with so many things that we keep hidden. I hope you have the strength to cope with yours, or even get help to do so.

I've also included a bit of upcycling and altering which always makes me happy - not throwing something away to add to landfill!

Here's the project and how I made it.....

I gathered loads of bits together from various Andy Skinner kits....

Used modelling paste through Andy's Sunburst stencil... 

 Chucked on a bit of Crackle paint.....

 Used Heavy Gel Medium to stick on the tape runner and elements.....

 Added the sequins and lace.....

 Painted with DecoArt Gesso and then Titan Buff......

 Next came the grungy colours...…

Metallic gold on the roller bit from inside the tape runner, which had 

melted beautifully into this flower like shape when I put the heat gun to it!

 More layers of the grungy colours (pic below of colours used) and then all edged with some of my fav Prussian Blue Hue...and of course a bit of Metallic Lustre!

Stamped out words from Andy's Word Up stamp set...

Added some rusty wire in the shape of a flower, the blown light bulb and a large paper clip I had rusted at home (there re loads of tutorials on how to do this on youtube).

Here's a close up of how I stuck the wire flower into part of the tape runner.....

A few more close ups.....

 Here you can see the heart, gem (coated underneath with glitter!) grunged words and the paperclips I put the words in and attached to more rusty wire....

 Thanks for looking.
Suz

Upcycled Dolls House Furniture

A super quick post today. I found a little dolls house in a charity shop a few weeks ago and had to buy it just because I had exactly the same thing as a child, for my Sindy dolls! Here is a pic of how it turned out - sorry about the lighting, it doesn't capture the metallic sparkle at all sadly!!!

The dark patches are actually shiny and golden!

This is how it looked after a good clean and before I painted it; a bit sad, the plastic was yellowed and patchy which you can't really see and the definition on the doors and drawer fronts was faded. And look at that original box! It had most of the items in the pic except some of the cutlery and the candelabras.

I mixed some DecoArt Chalky Finish Paint in pale pink (Pink Chiffon) and white (Everlasting) to make a really pale pink. Having given all the pieces a really good wash with hot soapy water, I gave it all a coat of the mixed paint. You have to be really careful with any furniture, but especially with miniature pieces like this, not to leave paint along edges where doors etc fit. Just a thin layer of paint where things slide in can stop doors closing and drawers closing. So once it's all painted go around where things meet with a bit of sand paper.

I used a sponge to paint most of it, the 4 sides and the legs, this makes it a lot easier to minimise paint runs and give a consistent coverage. And along the top where I did want it smooth, I used a wide brush.

Once completely dry, I used metallic lustres in Iced Espresso and Champagne to highlight the doors and drawer edges and handles and raised decorative areas. I also added a few streaks along the smooth top of the furniture for a little bling!

I was very lucky that I knew of someone who wanted the upcycled piece, who gave me a little more than I paid for it (which is all I asked) as a donation to the Princess Alice Hospice as I am taking part in a Charity Fundraising Abseil on 24th March down Spinnaker Tower!

Thanks for looking!
Suz