KEEPERS OF THE SUNFLOWER FIELD

I don't know about you but this 'Heat Wave' while its been great to just relax and able to get out without the fear of returning home dripping wet, has made my Crafting Mojo take a holiday all on its own!. I have not been able to do anything crafty at all. There are several projects that I have started and then just walked away from. So if this is happening to you then I give you a warm welcome to the 'I WISH I WAS CRAFTING BUT I CANT CLUB!'
Now then this weeks project, have to tell you that it was a hard project to do, however once I started it was a case of 'Hang in there and just do it'.
For a change I decided to dig around what I already had in the house, instead of a canvas I used a polystyrene sheet that comes in packages [we have to keep packaging for a few weeks before throwing away]. Then I had this idea about stamping onto the reverse side of a cereal packet [again I keep them just in case IoI!]. So this project was constructed by using things that are just laying around the house at any one given time.
The stamps used are: LOST COAST: SHOPPING DIVA WITH FACE + BUBBLES BACKGROUND
STAMPENDOUS JUMBO CLING STAMP SUNFLOWER
INDIGOBLU: WILD MEADOW

These and a wide range of creative stamps and stamp sets are available from THATS CRAFTY ON LINE STORE, along with Inks, Paints and tools used. If they don't have an item you want contact Laura and ask.... You never know what might or could happen.

MATERIALS USED:
White Styrofoam sheet 12 inches by 12 inches.
Empty cereal packet.
Selection of Tim Holts Distress Markers.
Selection of Pro-Markers.
Adirondack Ink Pad: Pitch Black + Rust + Meadow.
Cosmic Shimmer Mist: Meadow Lush.
That Special Touch Mask: Leaves
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads: Rusty Hinge + Walnut Stain.
White Stamping Card.
Scissors.
Sharp Crafting Knife.
Ranger Ink Blending Tool.
Strong Clear Glue.
Black Foam Pad.
Eco Friendly Acrylic Paints: Blue Sky + Stormy + Tide Pool + Zucchini.
White Gesso.
Water Brush Set + Ordinary Painting Brush.
Mod Podge Matte/Mat/Mate.
Heat Gun.
Selection of Gell Glitter Pens.
12 by 12 inch Patterned crafting paper.
Black Double sided Foam Tape.

LETS MAKE A PROJECT!

 

 The first thing we need to do is to make the white foam able to take paint. The best way is to place a layer of white Gesso.

 Then when the Gesso has dried [it will take longer as unlike paper it will not soak up the liquid.] Taking our selected paints start to build up the background to our project.

 As you can see i have used 2 blue's and two Green Acrylic paints to build up a layer of paint that makes an interesting backdrop to our project.

To protect the paint from our further treatments its best to seal the paints below and make a barrier for our next layers.

 One thing that did happen and that i wasn't expecting was when i tried to force dry the sealer it started to 'Bubble' up which added another layer of interest which was a added bonus.

Now its time to start PHASE 2:

 Using the reverse side of the cereal packet the image was stamped several times. By doing this it gave me the option to select the best ones.

 Selecting 4 stamped images [again i could select the best 3 from 4] and 4 colour groups in Pro-Markers i started to colour the images.

 Once they had been done i thought that if i cut out the body and then using black foam mounting it would give depth. So as the bottom layer was solid colour the top was coloured using the same for the overall but a complementary colour was used to highlight.

 Further colouring highlighting was done by using Gell Glitter pens.

Now then the wings.. i could have used a stamp that l already had but i wanted to try something different. So i decided to draw them using card as a template, then using a large stamp i was going to be able to add a pattern.

Taking a sheet just bigger than the wings i used a large stamp to build up the interest, a patter that was also be able to colour.

Once again selecting 4 groups of colour i started to build up a decorative pattern.

 The 4 finished wings.

 To give depth from the body and the wings i used black double sided foam. By using black it adds to the shadow. if i had used white it would have stood out like a sore thumb.

 Taking the large flower stamp and Rust Ink Pad i made 4 impression on the 12 by 12 inch patterned crafting paper.

After i had cut them out using a sharp tipped crafting knife i used the selected Tim Holts Distressed pens [i am starting to fall in love again with these pens. So the new ones are going to be added to my collection!]

Once i had coloured the flowers in using a water brush, they didn't feel rustic so by using Matching Ink Pads and not being to clever or precise i just went ahead and started to ink the imagery in a hap dash way.

 To secure them onto the canvas i used a P.V.A. Glue stock that l have. Its a mix of PVA 50 - 50 with water. Its a staple glue that is used when im securing paper onto a canvas at the very beginning of a project.

To give further decorative imagery and colour a stencil was used and a Cosmic Shimmer Mist.

i felt that there was also something missing when i looked at it so to anchor the project there are stamps made by IndioBlu that do just that. The added bonus is also wonderful detailed stamps like the butterfly used.

To give height to the figured imagery i used some foam that's used in packaging [again some that had been used in a item i bought]. Using the strong clear glue to adhere them to the figures as well as the painted surface.

The foam glued to the back of the figures.

The final project. i hope there are parts of this project that you can use in your projects, maybe look at those cereal packets and use them in a project in the future. Re-cycle them you never know what can happen.
Any questions please send me a message or leave a comment and i will get back to you as soon as possible.