Bird house - creative artiste April

Happy Easter to you all.

Its the first Friday of the month so time for a new challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media

Ive used a new stamp of this sparrow and made him a little bird house....its quite a long post so you may want a cup of tea or coffee....thankfully we can type these posts up little and often as my brain is still like marshmellow so i hope it actually makes sense😁

See below for how i made the background etc...

I stamped the bird 4 times onto white card and the flowers many times and watercoloured with my derwent inktense pencils, added white highlights, covered with modpodge and cut out.  I took one base image and decoupaged on top of it, 3 layers for the bird and 2 for the flowers.  I coloured the 4th stamped bird to look a bit more like a female and just cut out the body section so i could tuck her in behind and create a pair of sparrows.

I raided the drawer in which I keep die cut foliage which Ive die cut from left over inked backgrounds etc...and picked out a variety.  I then arranged the foliage and birds to the right over the birdhouse.

To finish I dug through a large pack of chat stickers by aall&create to find some suitable, I went with 'Blossom''Glow''Shine''Thrive'&'Live' as felt thats what all birds are doing and we should attempt the same in our lives.....we can but try!  I covered them with glossy accents to give an enamel look and adhered in place.

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and onto the how I made the background

I cut up a stiff cardboard box to a rectangle to start with and then cut one top edge at an angle, the offcut i then flipped over & used to draw the other side so that the angles matched for the roof - hope that makes sense!

  I then cut stripes of the cardboard and adhered 2 together to give a double thickness, these I adhered to make the roof.  I then trim the ends to the desired length.

I added grit paste through a brick stencil and concrete paste on in blotches as i wanted an old wall feeling - once dry covered in white gesso - both these  texture pastes i won last year when i won a mixed media box from tag along challenge  - i also won the chipboard frame used on this project.

I added a layer of purple, pink and green paints picking up on the colours used in the image and then added vintage white over the top concentrating on the sides, I wanted the middle to be darker to give the effect of a hole in a bird house, where its darker inside and my frame would sit over the top.  

House Sparrows love to live in an old wall, So technically they don't live in birdhouses but thats why i wanted the old brick wall effect. My mum has a colony of them living in a tumbled down building opposite her kitchen and while they aren't the most exciting bird to look at they are such happy birds always chit chattering away and good company.........certainly more melodic than 'my' seagulls - which are also always chatting away but its more like screaming and they are always company too, when im out in the garden Mr & Mrs seagull always come down to join me to see what im upto.....It always amazes me how they know my cats from the hundreds of other neighbourhood cats....you would think to them one black cat looks like another black cat🐈  ....they are the advanced warning system to strangers about - 4 or 2 legged!

A close up of the lovely texture, you can also just see the pink paint underneath showing through which helps tie it in with the pink cherry blossom...no layer of paint is a waste, even when mostly hidden it plays an important role in the end result and it all being cohesive. 

I took the chipboard frame and again painted it with the same pink and purple paints used on the background and then dry brushed on a paler lilac to soften.  I then covered the whole thing in matt mod podge to varnish and seal.

Items Used:

Carabelle stamps

Derwent inktense pencils

Folk art acrylic paints

Daler Rowney heavy bodied acrylic

Cadence dora paint - fuchsia pink

Icraft texture paste 'graphite brown'

CraftTreat Speciality paint 'concrete effect' CTMM008

Mod Podge gloss & matt

Aall&create chat stickers

Chipboard frame

Foliage dies

Brusho & pixie powders (on foliage)

Cosmic shimmer airless mister (on foilage)

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I have plenty of substrates in my stash but it is fun seeing how you can completely change a piece of cardboard box destined for the recycling bin and it shows those starting out in mixed media that you don't need alot of expensive kit to start.  I often just use cheap polyfiller as my texture paste and in the past have even used up left over grout which also worked well, once its covered up with a layer of gesso and then paint it all looks the same.  My new fav paint is folkart matt acrylic and this is great, a little goes a very long way and covers and layers beautifully - its mid range in price.  I have found matt and opaque much easier to work with than transparent acrylic, so a few little tips Ive learnt as i go to encourage you to give mixed media a go - if i can do it anyone can but you do need to accept that the middle section of working usually looks a mess but stick with it and know it is a process and you will create a little work of art that is unique to you.  Start with something small so its not overwhelming - atc's or postcard size are good for that.

Do hop over and join us at Creative Artiste to join in and for more inspiration, hints and tips from the design team, we all have our own style so something is sure to inspire you to give Mixed Media a go....

I hope you all have a good Easter weekend whatever your plans. Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://tolanythingbutacard.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-outlawz-anything-but-card-april.html

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https://craftyanimals.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-104.html

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https://2craftycrittercrazies.blogspot.com/2026/04/critter-crazy-109-anything-goes-with.html

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https://thefourseasonschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/04/spring-season-april-2026.html

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https://dd-tripleb.blogspot.com/2026/04/tb-april-2026-challenge.html

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https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2026/03/ellibelles-garden-party-no-13-anything.html

 

Natural beauty - butterflies

Good Morning

Its the first Friday of the month so time for a new challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media where the theme is anything mixed media goes, using at least 3 different mediums.

 I made this mdf plaque home decor piece for a friends birthday.  Her favourite colour is purple so I started with that.  We've had some sun this week so Ive seen a few early butterflies out, a couple of brimstones & painted ladies so spring must be here😀

This is another one I forgot to measure before posting but I think it was approx 6x10" 

See below for how I did the background.  I took the chipboard butterflies and on 2 base layers and 1 top layer 1 painted with pale and dark purple paints and then on the other 2 top layers and 1 base layer I used an interference paint which is purple until the light hits it when it turns gold.  Once dry I layered the butterflies together. 

 Inspired by my fellow DT at Creative Artiste Tracey at hotchpotchcreations who uses alot of seed beads in her creations I decided to use some of the million seed beads I have for the bodies of the butterflies - I chose beads in a mix of purples and golds, when the light hits them they really sparkle and shimmer.

I raided my stash of alphas and decided on 'natural beauty' the smaller ones are plastic ones by tim holtz which I covered with very dark green acrylic to take the plastic look away and the larger ones are chipboard which I painted with the purples used on the butterflies.  I then worked out the placement for the alphas and the butterflies and adhered all into place.

You can see the dimension on the butterflies better here and the beads give a lovely 3d effect to the bodies.  To stick the seed beads I added a good layer of tacky pva glue and waited for it to start going sticky and then added plenty of beads and pushed into the glue, once completely dry i brushed off any that hadn't stuck. 

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onto how I did the background

I first coated the background in pink and purple acrylic paints and once dry added texture paste through a large floral stencil, this is a nice big stencil so i could easily pick out the flowers i wanted.  I edged around the flowers with green paints and then dry brushed on a yellowy orange paint to just catch the texture paste flowers 

I added gold glitter paste through a foliage stencil but it wasn't very effective, i think the glitter too chunky for the stencil so switched to gold paint instead, you can just make out both here.  Once the background was finished i coated in mod podge to seal and protect.

This is how it started off - a charity shop find for £1 - I bought it with the sole intention of upcycling it.... First i gave it a light sanding with fine sandpaper and then a coat of gesso and no one would know Tenerife was there!    I also found the pack of greyboard butterflies in the charity shop for £1 so a bargain and the starting point for this project was born.  Now that im doing more mixed media projects  I do pop in charity shops more just to see what they have that I can use as a substrate and to upcycle. Its win win as it supports the charity shop and gives me affordable bases to work on..........mind you I do also have plenty of 'proper' substrates in the cupboard but it is fun to see how something preloved can be turned into something new. 

Items Used:

MDF plaque

Maya Road Chipboard butterflies 

Cosmic shimmer glitter paste 'sahara gold'

Marabu Crea texture paste

Decoart Metallic 'splendid gold'

Pebeo & Folk art acrylic paints

Folk art 'color shift' 'blue violet flash'

Thats crafty 7x7" stencil

13@rts stencil 'tiny leaves'

Tim Holtz adhesive alphas

Chipboard alphas

Gold & Purple seed beads

So hop over to Creative Artiste to join in and see what the rest of the DT created while mixing their mediums

Thank you all for popping by once again. I am still having issues with my eyes especially close up but determined to keep crafting and now using a magnifying glass that hangs around my neck so that is helping a bit but can only do small sessions but better than no crafting! Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://craftingfromtheartchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/02/february-challenge-2026.html

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https://dd-tripleb.blogspot.com/2026/03/march-2026-tb-challenge.html

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https://stencilfun.blogspot.com/2026/03/stencil-fun-march-2026-challenge.html  I used a large floral stencil and a small foliage stencil

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https://dragonflydreamschallenges.blogspot.com/2026/03/march-challenge-butterflies.html

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https://tolanythingbutacard.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-outlawz-anything-but-card-march.html

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https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2026/02/garden-party-no-12-anything-in-or-from.html

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Cherry Blossom

Good Morning everyone

Today Im sharing a little gift I made for a friend, its a wooden book shaped box which I decided to turn into a kind of shadow box which can be displayed stood up and open.  I used a beautiful paper set I got back in the black friday sales with a spring theme. I used a mix of the 12x12 and 6x6 papers and found the images work well together for creating my little scenes.  It is unusual for me not to add anything else other than the chat stickers but was nice and relaxing when I was feeling a bit rough over Christmas time to not think too much about matching things and just use what was in the sets.

I forgot to measure the box before I posted it, but it isn't very big, if i remember correctly its about 5x3" and 1" deep

I painted the box with matt acrylic paints in shades to match the papers, so ive picked out the blue, pink and soft yellow, I painted the outside blue, the inside pink and the sides yellow.  I then cut one of the papers to fit the front and decoupaged with matt mod podge.  I then cut out the little girl catching a cherry blossom, some branches and little bird.  I tore a couple of pieces of paper to add as some ground for her to stand on and a couple of smaller flowers and sealed it all with more mod podge.

The chit chat stickers are by aall&create on the front here I added 'admire divine blossom' as thought that worked - there is something magical about the first blossoms of spring and how they lift our spirits. 

This shows it stood up open on display, it nicely stands up by itself.  I lightly added pink cadence dora paint to the edges for a little shimmer in the light 

On the inside left I added one of the papers and cut out elements of this cherry blossom wreath which I added the little cross legged girl inside and surrounded with different sized flowers.  A little birdie sits on top of the wreath.  I added a little touch of diamond stickles glitter glue to the flower centres for just a little sparkle 

Chat stickers say 'Enjoy serenity, experience enlightenment'

Just spending quiet time in the garden or anywhere with nature, sit and listen and its very calming and healing.  A kind of meditation against the hassle of life. 

I adhered the paper girl on swing to study acetate and cut around her, thus giving her stability and strength, i then added score lines at the top of the 'ropes' to adhere to the top of the box so that she actually moves and get swing forward and back.  I then added some cherry blossoms in front of the ropes to hide the workings - these I also added on acetate so nice and strong and wont damage as the swing moves. 

Below the swinging girl we have  a blossom branch with a little birds nest and bird.  I added glossy accents to the eggs.

Chat stickers read 'Achieve happiness'

Once you have done your meditation in the garden and breathed in the scent of the blossom and listened to the birds singing its is happiness and of course who then doesn't love a go on a swing😁  These bags of chat words from aall&create contain hundreds of words so I was going boggle eyed looking for some to suit that weren't too gushy! 

and the back of the box, just the same paper as the front.  Everything was coated in mod podge to varnish and protect it as it will be handled a bit. 

Items Used:

13arts paper 'Pastel Spring' 6x6 & 12x12 

Aall&create chat stickers

Wooden box

Folk art matt paint 

Cadence Dora paint - fuchsia 

Mod podge

acetate

Ranger Stickles 'diamond'

Id love to enter the following:

https://tolanythingbutacard.blogspot.com/ - anything goes option

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https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2026/01/ellibelles-garden-party-no-11-anything.html

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https://lovethoseprettypapers.blogspot.com/2026/01/atg-using-pretty-patterned-paper.html

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https://girlzcreativefunartofscrap.blogspot.com/2026/01/challenge-18.html

 

Fungi Fun

Good Morning everyone

Today Im honoured to be guest designer over at creativeartistemixedmedia with fun project using these fab toadstool stamps from pink ink designs.

MDF stand approx. size 7x6"  See below for how i made the background.....I then stamped the image onto white card, watercoloured with inktense pencils and cut out,  then arranged them on the base. Chipboard quote which i cut in half as it was too long but i thought a lovely saying, to find a little joy and cherish the little things around us like the beauty and magic of nature really does lift the spirits.  

I edged the stand with gold paint & I gave it all a coat of mod podge to seal and protect. 

Sadly the photos don't do justice to the cadence dora paints which are super shimmery which i used to highlight the toadstools and background

The background, i first stencilled texture paste mushrooms towards the bottom and dabbed on some texture paste with the spatula to give an earth/ground like effect.  Covered the whole thing in black gesso and then splodged on some acrylic paint, keeping it darker towards the bottom so that Mr Fungi would stand out against a darker background. 

I then cut a foam mushroom in half, cutting the stalk on one to make it a bit shorter and then glued them to the base on the right and a whole mushroom to the left making sure i left enough room for the stamped image.  I then covered them in black gesso and built up the colours with acrylic paint and cadence dora paints so that they were the same colour as my stamped fungi.  I also dry brushed a top layer on the background with dora paints in gold, orange and a touch of fuchsia to highlight the mushrooms.

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I then decided to decorate the back as well with the 2nd pink ink fungi stamp i have, I went with a completely different colour scheme so the recipient can flip it around for totally different art when they fancy a change

I made the background in the same way, just using a flower border that came on the same stencil as the fungi border in used on the 1st one.   After playing around i felt Mr Fungi was a bit short and lost so found this big believe chipboard in my stash which was ideal for him to stand on and help him stand out.  2nd smaller chipboard reads 'today is full of possibilities'

Items Used:

Pink Ink Stamps 'shitake happens' & 'Oyster frills'

Paperartsy stencil 'PS179'

Cadence Dora paints

Pebeo acrylic paints

Texture paste

Black gesso

Derwent Inktense pencils

Chipboards 'art by marlene'

Please do hop over to creativeartistemixedmedia to see the other creative creations and join in - you can join in with cards as well - anything as long as you mix your medias

Thank you all for stopping by once again, i hope you all have a great weekend, Its scary that we are now into February - im not sure where January went too!   Hugs Emmax

Id love to enter this in the following:

https://do-allkreatives.blogspot.com/2024/02/86-alles-geht-opt-mystical-or-vintage.html

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https://mixitupchallenge.blogspot.com/2024/01/miucb-69-anything-goes-optional-mixed.html

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