Butterfly suncatcher

Good Morning everyone

Its the first Friday of the month, so time for a new challenge over at Creative Artist Mixed Media challenge where the theme is always anything goes as long as you mix your medias

Ive had these empty mini perfume bottles for years, with the idea of using them for a project so the time had come to have a go......Ive made a butterfly suncatcher out of printed acetate & alcohol inks and used the mini perfume bottle for its body.

Approx size 6x6" (15x15cm)  I used a lovely printed acetate by stamperia which is really thick & strong.  I made a butterfly template from paper, drew around it with alcohol marker onto the acetate and cut out....removing any access pen marks with blending solution.

I then coloured the back of the acetate with Ranger tim holtz alcohol inks using a rainbow of colours.   Once dry I used a alcohol marker blender pen to remove some of the colour from some of the patterned areas which I then coloured with contrasting colour alcohol marker....this helps the pattern stand out a bit more and makes it more interesting to look at than block colour.

I added chuncky gold glitter paste around the outside edge of the wings - this really is glittery when the light hits it.

I filled the perfume bottle up with mini gold tube beads, wrapped with a little gold craft wire, adding a loop to the back to hang it up from.  I then adhered the bottle to the wings with some pinflair glue gel which I know lasts well in a hot sunny window so won't fall apart as the little glass bottle is quite heavy in weight.  To finish I added lime green cabochon gems to the top and bottom wings

You can see the colours better here.  What with the glitter paste, gems and gold beads the light really dances around and sparkles.

Not the best photo but this is showing it in a window with the light coming through.  With the weight of the bottle it hangs forwards a bit which actually looks like a butterfly in flight

Showing the first stage of colour with the alcohol inks

and the little bottle

Items Used:

Stamperia 'clear print' acetate 'sleeping beauty' range SBA410

Ranger Tim Holtz alcohol inks

Promarkers

Cosmic shimmer Ultra sparkle texture paste 'sahara gold'

gold tube beads

Gold soft craft wire

Mini glass bottle

Hop over to Creative Artiste Mixed Media to join in with your anything mixed media projects - cards, atc's, Journals all welcome as well as assemblage pieces - as long as you use at least 3 different medias.

Thank you all for stopping by once again.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2025/04/ellibelles-garden-party-no-2-anything.html - #2

**

https://creativecraftinguncles.blogspot.com/2025/04/64-anything-but-card.html

**

https://lovetocraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/ltccb-86-anything-goes-ltccb-85-winner.html

**

https://paper-rocks-scissors.blogspot.com/2025/05/may-4-challenge.html - I used scissors to cut out the butterfly from acetate

 

In the birds nest

Good Morning everyone

This is one of those projects that turned out nothing like what i had in my head😀 

 I don't use much double sided tape, but i do use red liner for my envelopes and have been keeping the plastic rings that come in the middle, as thought i could use them instead of adding to landfill as our council won't take them for recycling......so a birds nest seemed a good starting point.....then these rainbow birdies turned out to be real magpies adding everything in sight into their nest😂

Canvas size 6x6".   See below for step by step of my background and nest building.  Once that was finished I stamped and coloured tim holtz crazy bird stamps and cut them out. 

I found a nice dry twig which i cut in half and adhered either side of the nest to give the effect of it being on a tree branch and surrounded with paper flowers picking up on the colour of the birds rather than true spring blossom colours.  

Creative expressions chat stickers which i backed with black card and covered with glossy accents 'Be real not perfect' 'choose happy' 'be unique' & 'dream'

To finish I edges the canvas with black which frames the scene nicely.

To adhere the plastic ring to the canvas i first glued it with glue gel and once that was dry, I tore old tissue paper into small pieces and used mod podge to adhered it, adding plenty over the top and sides of the hoop, i added 3 layers so that i had a good surface for my mediums to stick too rather than the plastic (pics 1&2).

I then took texture paste and smoothed it over the ring with a palette knife, I put some slight grooves in it to give it a look more like twigs (pic3)  I then used the texture paste through a splat stencil on the rest of the canvas (pic 4)  

Once the texture paste was completely dry I dabbed on acrylic paint in the same colours I used to colour my birdies - yes at this stage it looks a right mess (pic 5)

I then dry brushed on white gesso on the canvas and back gesso on the nest area.  This softens the 'mess' but you do still get the colours coming through (pic 6)  Doing layers like this really does make a difference to the finished artwork, rather than just having flat colour.  

I then dry brushed white gesso over the nest to soften the black (pic 7)

I filled the nest with reindeer moss & twine and then feathers in the same colour as my birds.

Then i dry brushed cadence dora paint in 'diamond' & 'gold' over the top to give a lovely shimmer to the finish when the light catches it - these paints give a similar effect as gilding waxes but i personally find them easier to use and of course being an acrylic paint they are far more versatile than some waxes..

Now this was my finished nest for my eggs but once I added the birds It just wasn't working and after days and days of thinking & looking and adding more and more it ended up like the finished result - very eclectic😁

and how i made my bird eggs.  A pack of foam eggs from poundland to start with, so that they were easier to handle i stuck them onto cocktail sticks which i could stand upright in a piece of polystyrene... I first coated them with white gesso, then mixed up the shade of pale blue i wanted in acrylic paint and gave them 2 coats, once dry splattered with brown and blue paint to give the speckled effect............for a first attempt at anything like this I was very pleased with the outcome....as the bag of foam eggs was quite large I will have to make some more in the future.

This just shows the plastic centres from the red liner tape, they are different depths, for my birds nest i used the deepest one of 8mm

Items Used:

Tim Holtz crazy bird stamps

Woodware mini splat stencil

Golden texture paste

Candence Dora paints 'diamond' 'rich gold'

Derwent inktense pencils

Black & White gesso

Pebeo acrylic paints

Creative expressions wordies sheets 'CEW003'

At the bottom of this post is some bead suncatcher ive also made using the plastic hoops if you fancy a peek.   Thank you all for stopping by, I hope my eclectic birdies have brightened your day with a smile and wishing you all a great week.  Big Hugs Emmaxx

Id love to enter the following:

https://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.com/2023/04/april-2023-things-with-wings.html

***

https://art-journal-journey.blogspot.com/2023/04/recycle-reuse-repurpose.html - i have repurposed the doublesided tape ring  & used tissue paper from a shoe box in the background

***

https://dd-tripleb.blogspot.com/2023/04/april-challenge.html - Ive gone with birds and blooms

***

https://daranddiane.blogspot.com/2023/04/things-that-fly.html

***

https://www.welovestamping.co.uk/2023/04/april-challenge.html

***

I also thought they would make great bases for some wire & bead suncatcher, i used the 4mm plastic inserts for these

This first one is a little garden scene with yellow, orange and red flowers, a little dragonfly is flying by too.  Approx 3" (8cm) in diameter 

I first wrapped them with 1mm craft wire, this one in 2 shades of green.  I often use metal base hoops for my suncatcher so the bonus of these plastic ones is they are so light to start with, so i definitely be keeping them all from now on.  Great to keep them out of landfill and make something pretty with them.  

 

Version 2 is the sun,using gold and orange wire and beads with a large crystal prism in the centre to give off rainbows when the direct sun hits it.

and version 3 is very blue, I found this butterfly broach in the charity shop and its the ideal centre, it is full of crystals that really shimmer in the light, i then used blue wire and beads to give the effect of a blue summer sky the butterfly is flying through. 

Suncatchers

Morning everyone.  Thank you for all your amazing comments on my mums birthday bee card.

Today im sharing the beaded suncatcher i made for her birthday

5" in size.  I thought these yellow beads looked a bit like daffodils which are one of her fav flowers, i teamed them up with some little blue beads for contrast which i also thought looked a bit like forget-me-knots and a little swallow charm to finish - Bring on Spring😁

I started with a metal dream catch base hoop to wrap with wires around, blue for the sky and green for the ground.  I used half-hard wire for the flowers so they stand up well.

This one i made for my Uncle for Christmas - its a small 3" circle.  A little poppy field with blue raindrop beads.

 I was pleased with both of them as was something a bit different using the craftwire and beads for me and kept me busy/quiet last lockdown.  This lockdown im still awaiting my mojo to return from its Christmas holiday😊

I hope you all have a good end to the week and weekend.  Stay safe. Hugs Emmax

 

cat suncatcher

Good Morning everyone. 

I hope the storm didn't cause you too much trouble, we did loose the electric for a few hours but otherwise not too bad.

Today is a wire and bead suncatcher.  I was given this lovely handmade cat brooch for Christmas and as im not really a big brooch wearer i decided to make it into a suncatcher so that i can see it daily each time i look out the window.  The brooch is made from polymer clay i think and has a lovely iridescent finish when the light hits it.  Sadly with all our rainy weather can't get a really decent photo of it, you will have to imagine the beads shimmering in the sun😁

Approx size 6x6"  I first took a metal circle dreamcatcher base, this gives me the perfect circle shape to work on and a solid base.  I got wire wrapping with wire in purple & blue to match my cat and beads.  I first tied my brooch to the base with wire tying it onto the brooch back to stabilish the cat in place.  I then just got busy tying in lots of different light catching beads and acrylic leaf beads - i wanted the effect of the cat in the garden as my own cats love spending lots of time in the garden among the plants. 

On the bottom is a large crystal prizm and 2 smaller ones either side so that when the direct sun hits it gives a rainbow effect on the walls.  Ive mixed in many different bead finishes.

A close up on the quirky handmade cat brooch

At the window but not really showing it to its best.  

Items Used

1mm craft wire purple & blue

Crystal prizms

Various glass & acrylic beads

6" metal dreamcatcher hoop

Thank you all for stopping by once again and all your amazing comments on my snowdrops last week. I hope you all have a good week. Hugs Emma

Fairy Suncatchers

Good Morning everyone and wishing you all a Happy & Healthy New Year.  I hope you all enjoyed Christmas.

So to kick start my blog this year im starting off with these Stained Glass effect suncatchers i made using Alcohol Inks on acetate and a fair in a jar die - I made them as a little gift for friends/family.  I was given the die for my  birthday but only just got around to using it for the first time. 

I first die cut the fairy die 3 times from black 300gsm card, i backed one with acetate and cut around the edge, i then coloured the back with a mix of Tim Holtz alcohol inks, blues and purples for the sky and greens for the grass, i left the wings uncoloured and added glitter glue to them so they sparkle in the light.  Using paper scraps i die cut the flower and inset it.  I then added the 2 other fairy die cuts, one to the front and one to the back, this strengthens it all, especially the handle. 

This photo shows it hung at the window and how the light shines through - its even better if its not a dull winters day!  Ive hung the handle over a little window sucker but you could also hang them in the window with ribbon.

and version 2 is in reds and yellows, ive always loved using alcohol inks on acetate as you can play around with them and get interesting patterns.

and again showing it hung at the window.

Obviously i don't recommend putting any fairies you find in jam jars, they should be flying free as Mother Earth intended, luckily my jars here have no lids on them so she is free to fly free after she's rescued the butterfly in her hands😊

Items Used:

Intricut fairy jar die - hobbycraft

acetate

Tim Holtz alcohol inks various colours 

Blending solution

patterned papers

Diamond Stickles Glitter glue

300gsm black card - payper box

Thank you all for stopping by.  I shall try and catch up with your blogs soon, we've been without internet for alot of the last 3 weeks but touch wood looks like they finally fixed it. I hope you all have a good week. Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

/crazy-4-challenges-c4c516. - something new

*****

https://thefairyandtheunicornchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/01/january-challenge.html

*****

http://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/2020/01/challenge-66-something-new.html

*****

http://abitmoretimetocraft.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-bit-more-time-to-craft-challenge-107.html

****

https://die-cut-divas.blogspot.com/2020/01/happy-new-year-and-new-thingswith-kat.html

Wire Guardian Angels and Hearts

Good Morning everyone.

Today im sharing a few of the wire & bead suncatchers i made as Christmas gifts.

Bronze Angel with yellow, orange, gold beads.  Approx 6" tall.  The big bead in the middle is a true crystal prism so when the sun shines through it it gives out lots of rainbows on the walls.  The sun also catches on the mix of beads in different ways.

A close up showing the body/wings better.  I 'winged' it making these! lol  Totally made them up as i went, so it was trial and error, luckily this soft craft wire is very forgiving. 

Silver wire angle, with white beads, the ones on the body are main white faux pearls with a hint of colour on them, so adds some subtle colour.  The angel ended up with a leaner body and bigger wings.  They are definitely all unique! 

Heart suncatcher, approx 4" in size.  This one is in pinks, the little dangler in the middle is again crystal prisms to give rainbows to the recipient on sunny days. 

Gold & Red heart suncatcher

Blue heart suncatcher.  Some of these hearts are quite rustic in shape, but then they are totally handmade. 

This last one is silver wire and the faux pearl beads that are white with a splash of colour on them. I added one crystal prism bead and a little bi-cone bead inside the heart and from the bottom of the heart. 

Items used for all of them 1mm craft wire in various colours, various beads.

They seemed to be well received as Christmas presents. Im still in the practice and learning stage. 

Thank you for stopping by. Emmax