Snowdrops

Good Morning everyone

Today Im honoured to say that I have been invited to join the very talented design team at Creative Artiste mixed media so for one project a month I will be playing with alot more mixed media which is always fun.  

So I thought to kick start I would make something very seasonal.  After Christmas when most of the garden is slumbering in sleep and lots of earth and brown on show these dainty little snowdrops pop up to brighten our day with their lovely white and green flowers.  For those of you who are new to my blog you will find that usefully my projects are full of colour so this is very muted for me but I wanted to go with a more realistic look and let the snowdrops be the star.

Approx size:  5x7" (13x18cm)    I started with a piece of stiff card cut from a cat food box.  See the last photo for how i did the background. 

Onto the base layer i added a layer of handmade paper which i tore into a rough oval shape - this i felt gave the effect of a soft frost.  I then tore a piece of brown packing paper - this i used so that the white of my snowdrops would stand out - all the torn edges giving a rustic natural feel.  I then added a piece of hessian ribbon. 

I die cut lots of snowdrops from white card and used green alcohol markers to colour the stems and add a hint of green to the flower head.  I added a little bit of 'crystal' stickles glitter glue to the little piece on the flower heads to add just a little frosty shimmer

Computer printed word 'beautiful', matted onto kraft card, glossy accents added to finish.

To hang i added white eyelets to the top and threaded with green cotton cord with 2 green glass beads.

I added the snowdrops with pinflair glue gel to give dimension.  To make them more realistic I cut the heads off some and glued back on the opposite way so that they aren't all facing the same way.  These snowdrop dies - the little bits in the middle fall out so that they have little gaps in them which i didn't want for this project so after die cutting them i added a little tape to the back to hold those pieces in place. 

The background/ base layer

I tore off some of the top layer to reveal the corrugations, added texture paste through a stencil.  Once paste was dry i added brusho powders in Olive and light brown which have tones of green, brown and purple in them so give a lovely dirt like colour.  I sprinkled on a little copper pixie powder, the mica giving a light shimmer. I used this criss cross effect stencil as i felt it had the effect of lots of dead stems and twigs in the garden like you get over winter. 

I then dry brushed on a thin layer of white chalk paint to soften it and give a frost like effect and edged the panel in white.

Items Used:

Snowdrop die by Alexandra Renke

Brusho Powders 'olive & light brown'

Cosmic shimmer pixie powder 'copper'

Green alcohol markers

Texture paste

Plaid 'folkart' matte paint 'antique white'

Stencil

Handmade paper, packaging paper & Hessian ribbon

Ranger stickles glitter glue 'crystal'

Ranger glossy accents

White eyelets, 2 green beads & cotton cord.

Do hop over to creative artiste mixed media to see what the rest of the DT have created and to join in.  You don't need to make a big mixed media project, it can just be a card or atc as long as you mix your medias.

Thank you for stopping by and i hope you all have a good weekend. Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

 

https://thefourseasonschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/02/winter-season-february-2025.html

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https://dd-tripleb.blogspot.com/2025/02/february-2025-challenge.html

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https://craftingacutabove.blogspot.com/2025/02/february-anything-goes.html - the snowdrops are dies

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https://theoutlawzchallenges-saturday.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-outlawz-anything-goes-in-card-free_02003369360.html

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https://daisychainchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/02/challenge-93-layer-it-up.html

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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

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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

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

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

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

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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. 

Go Green - Upcycling

Good Morning everyone.

Its time for a new challenge over at Make My Monday,

 the theme this fortnight is:

GO GREEN

Upcycling, recycling, reuse

So i had a dig around and came up with used toothpaste tubes, cat food tins, cat food boxes and plastic packaging and had fun making this wall hanging.  I decided it would be good to go with a nature theme as we can all do our own little bit to help nature and the planet by recycling and reducing our use of plastics and packaging. 

8x8 mountboard panel for the base.  I covered the base with a couple of patterned papers.  I then added a panel of corrugated cardboard with some of the front torn off to reveal the corrugation and texture and added to the base. 

After preparing my recycled items - see below for full details  I arranged them to my liking, 

I added a feather to my birds wing and a couple of others amid my die cut greenery, as well as the foiled foliage i added die cut ferns.

A close up, i added twine in the background for more texture, buttons to my plastic packaging flowers.  Chit Chat stickers used for the title 

'Cherish Everyday  -  Beautiful World'

This shows my used items, 2 toothpaste tubes, ive turned one over so that you can see that although plastic tubes they are foil lined - they are 2 different brands aquafresh & oral B so i think most modern plastic toothpaste tubes are lined, just cut off the top and bottom and cut along one side, wash and they are ready to be used, the cat food tin is foil, plastic packing - some crafty dies came in that and then the cardboard cat food box, has a lovely brown tone to the inside.

This shows them die cut, the leaf swirls are toothpaste tube, the leaf from the foil tin, plastic flowers and the brown bird from the cat food box.  I used my old Sizzix bigz dies to cut them all.

The plastic package flowers, toothpaste & foil all take alcohol inks beautifully to colour them, you can get a lovely marble like effect which adds more interest to them instead of flat colour.  The cat food tin foil is brilliant as you can mold it into shape. 

Items Used:

Sizzix Bigz dies - Flower Layers #5, birds, vine w/leaves, fern

Tattered lace fern dies

Tim Holtz chit chat stickers

Tim Holtz alcohol inks - various colours

I hope i have inspired you to maybe look at some of that 'rubbish' we all produce and think of another way to use it.  Please do hop over and see what the rest of the team has come up with and also what all those entering come up with over the fortnight.  I think this is going to be a good challenge, lets all do a little for our beautiful world.  

Make My Monday

Thank you as always for stopping by and all your comments last week. I hope you all enjoy your bank holiday Monday and the sun shines. Emma

Pringle gift boxes

Good Morning all.  So today im sharing these revamped pringle tubes, I've turned them into little gift boxes ideal for adding treats or a little pressie in. 

Still on my using up old paper mission, i used papermania christmas papers, after washing out the tubes and drying well i covered with paper, i die cut a circle of paper to add face up under the lid so you can't see the contents, Tim Holtz Rosette dies for the topper, i made 3 sizes and layered them up with a berry on top, kind of like a tree.  Red ribbon and bow to finish. These were the small pringle tubes. 

Thank you for looking and all your previous comments.  I hope you all have a good week. Emma