Challenge Winner - Left of Centre Creative Challenge Blog - Challenge #35 Fairies

Woo hoo. Thank you to the lovely ladies over at Left of Centre Creative Challenge Blog for choosing my altered torso Dark Faerie to be the winner for Challenge #35 on their blog.  There were some amazing entries and I am really pleased that I won.  Go and check them out and maybe join in a challenge. 

Exciting News - Southern Girls Challenge Design Team

 

 

 

I have some great news to share.  I have been chosen as a Design Team member for Southern Girls Challenge.  This is an amazing challenge blog that posts monthly challenges for papercrafters.  I am part of an diverse team of crafters and I am looking forward to this journey with such talented ladies.    Please check out the Design Team's blogs and also the Southern Girls Challenge blog and join in the challenges.   I am really looking forward to  designing for these challenges.  Wish me luck.

She Flies - Imagine If Design Team Project

We have another great blog hop this week beginning with Jo's project that can be found here:
Imagine If

Then you can follow through the blogs or you can check out  Lilian's gorgeous retro pin cushion chair or Carol's beautiful layout.  Once again there is a lovely prize to be won by commenting on one or all of the Design team blogs.  This weeks prize pack is : A set of 4 Imagine If stencils: Rain Go Away, Walking in Sunshine, Snowflakes, and Twinkle Little Star

When Jo sent me out some chipboard for me to use in a project she included a gorgeous little chipboard dress form that I have been dying to use.  So at the weekend I was home with the flu and everyone else it seems was at SENZ I thought it was a great opportunity to use this little piece.  Here is the finished project.

I took a small 6x4 canvas and painted the edges with lavender, pink and aqua paint.  I then glued on some Kaisercraft Fairy Tales paper.

I painted a chipboard corner flourish with the aqua paint then stamped it with a script stamp and then glued it on to the corner of the canvas.  I then used some sequin waste as a stencil and added some spots using warm white paint.  I also added beads to some of the gaps in the flourish.

Using Dusty Concord Tim Holtz distress ink I inked up some pieces from a book page and added them to the canvas to give a bit more visual interest.

Here is the chipboard piece that Jo sent me, isn't it lovely?.  I sprayed the chipboard with Raisin and Cranberry distress sprays and then I added embossing powder to the bodice and randomly to the skirt.  I then covered everything with clear embossing powder.

For the skirt I wanted something with a bit of 'Puff".  I didn't want just flat paper underneath.  Sousing the same sprays I used for the chipboard I sprayed a tissue and dried it with the heat gun.  I scrunched it up and then glued the dress form on to the tissue.  This has given a lovely 3D effect on the skirt.

 

I added wings cut from the Kaisercraft paper line and glued everything to the canvas.  I inked up one of Imagine If's quotes from her Wings and Things quote sheet, added beads and adhered that to the canvas as well.   I also added blue beads to the bottom of the skirt, mounding them up for dimension.Here is a close up (excuse the glue I took a picture before everything was dry), that's me too impatient to wait. 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this little project as I think it is quite a sweet little one and I believe it really showcases Jo's lovely chipboard.

 

Thanks for coming to my blog to see my project and I look forward to the next blog hop with Jo and the other girls.

 

Ngaere



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Altered Torso - Dark Faerie

With no Design Team projects due this weekend and because I have wanted to do an altered torso for a long time I decided this weekend was the time to do it.  I started with one of the plain medium sized paper mache torsos from Spotlight.  Here is the finished project.

To begin I painted the torso with black gesso. I then used a zip that had a ring pull on it.  This went over the shoulders and down the middle of the torso I put mesh tape under the zipper around the neck and upper chest of the torso.  Over the sides of the zipper I put embossed aluminium tape that had small star shaped split pins added and I dry brushed with black paint and then gold. I then took a crocheted doily and arranged it beside the zipper and over the back of the torso.  I then painted the doily black then used red paint over the top.  For the sides I pinched out circles from embossed aluminium tape and used them to decorate the sides and back of the torso.  I then took some chipboard alphabets and put them down the front of the torso.  I painted them black then dry brushed them with red and gold. For the collar I used more aluminium tape and pop tabs glued together with red split pins added. I then used a small amount of ball chain to hang a spider charm and to close the collar.

 

The torso is attached to a small chrome candlestick holder that I got at a second hand shop.

I then got out my Paverpol to have a play and made the skirts, one black and one red from baby muslin.  The overskirt is a crocheted doily that I got from a second hand shop.  I dipped the cloth in the paverpol then I draped it over the torso.  While they were drying I made the wings. I made these using wire and tissue paper, which I then painted and embossed with clear. black and silver embossing powder in places. they have a lovely leathery feel and they moulded into a nice shape.

I added details to the back, a chain for a belt and the little owl which is actually an earring from the local $2.00 shop. 

All in all I am really happy with how this turned out and I think now I might look at doing a Light Faerie version.

I have entered this creation in the Left Of Center Creative Challenge for this week. The theme is Faeries. Check them out at http://leftofcenterchallenges.blogspot.co.nz/



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Mini Houses

This week for the blog hop the Imagine If Design team have been working on a set of mini houses and a little church. To start the hop begin with Jo's gorgeous project and then follow the blogs posts to see what the rest of the team has been up to.  Once again there will be a giveaway of Imagine If products for one lucky person. Just comment on one or all of the blogs, one comment per blog will give you nine chances to win.  Enter the draw by using the rafflecopter box at the bottom of each post.

Start at the beginning with Jo's gorgeous creations and follow the links to the other blogs
Check out Carols wonderful mini houses then pop over to see what Tash has been up to.
Tash has made some stunning little houses



Here is my project for this week's theme.  I knew that I wanted to keep the houses together and I also wanted to use up the gorgeous moon with the bats and clouds that Jo had sent me in the design team package.  I couldn't work it into the merry go round or the pdf house last week so I was determined to use it this week.  I also wanted to incorporate the mini, mini houses that Jo also sent in the Design Team project.  These come in a 12" strip and would be perfect for a layout, but as usual I did not take the usual route.  I decided to create a little stand for my houses and church that I could decorate with the moon and mini, mini house strip.  I added (what else) drawers (lol) and because I wanted the project to be functional I made two small albums from recycled books that would fit into the large box part of the project.  So here is my finished project.

I began by making a stand out of matt board and papier mache.  I then painted it black and then blue. While the blue paint was wet I dabbed it with scrunched up newspaper to give it a bit of texture. 

Then using the Imagine if "Rain" stencil I stencilled on the clouds and the raindrops using grey paint.  The impression I was going for was a cold wet, windy evening. 

I then began decorating the box by using chipboard elements from Imagine If.  The mini mini houses, the moon, bats and clouds, bare trees, cats and a rabbit I had left over from the enchanted Forest merry go round.   I painted the houses and trees and I used aluminium tape (my favourite product) for the roofs.  I painted a piece of dictionary page yellow and used that to put to behind the windows of the houses.  I wanted it to look like the lights were on and everyone was warm and cosy inside on a wet night. 

I then decorated the mini houses. One one I used the crackle paint technique, on the other I used a brick embossing folder and on the barn I used strips of card to emulate wooden slats.  I made each of them a chimney as they do not come with chimneys, don't you just love the little mushroom type chimney.  Again I used aluminium tape for the roofs on two of the houses but for the barn I used small squares to emulate tiles.   I added a weathervane to the roof of the barn.  I then added the doors and windows and some plants so that they did not look too barren. 

 I painted the church using white gesso and tissue paper to give the effect of stone, then painted it with black and grey paint.  I used German scrap strips on the roof of the house and the steeple.  I added a bell to the steeple and a cross and again some plants and some trees to give it a bit of interest. 

I then glued them to the base, added some Imagine If chipboard fence and some die cut flowers, made some drawers and pit it all together.

Once the main part was completed I took two Readers Digest books and took the pages out leaving the covers.  I covered the books and made signatures which I then sewed into the covers.

On putting the albums into the box I realised that one they were a snug fit and hard to get out and two that I had not left enough room between the spines and the lid to put a handle of some kind on the spines to lift the albums out.  So necessity being the mother of invention I added chains the to the spines that were not only decorative but could also be used to pull the albums from the box.

And there it is my finished village all snug and tight on a stormy evening.  To give it a bit of stability and just to finish it off really I glued the whole thing to a book.

The thing that I like about the Imagine If chipboard is that it can stand a lot of abuse and handle paint, paper and other mediums really well.  Once it is a bit damp it can also be shaped really well. 

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my take on the mini houses and I really hope that you feel inspired to try these products and come up with your own village or individual house or church.  If you have any questions on any of the techniques I have used please feel free to ask and I will be only too happy to help.

Till next time, Ngaere

Imagine If products used

Moon. bats and cloud
Bare trees
Mini, mini house strip
Cat
Rabbit
Fences
Mini houses
Rain stencil


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Baba Yaga House

Hi everyone here I am back again with another project using the fabulous mini mdf house from Jo at Imagine If.  Once again we are doing a blog hop this week so please pop over and check out the Imagine If blog to start at the beginning or pop over and visit some of the other design team members.  They have all made stunning houses and once again they are all different.


Check out what Jo has been making on her blog
Beth has made an artist's cottage complete with easel
Brenda's house even has room for a dog, check it out


Jo is running another giveaway this week so go the rafflecopter at the end of the post, leave comments on the blogs and go in the draw to win an amazing prize.


 I started with the basic house but as usual I went off on my own tangent.  (this is becoming a recurring theme)  I looked at the house and Jo had said that she wanted something a bit different so here it is.  I have always been intrigued by the house of Baba Yaga.  In Russian folklore she is a witch/wise woman who lives in a house on chicken legs.  So here is my take on this house.  I modified the back of the house and added drawers as well as the chicken legs.

Once again there are too many instructions for the project so I will just explain a few of the techniques used.

I cut out a part of the back of the house and added in matchboxes glued together to make the drawers in the back.

 

 

I then made faces for the drawers using mini popsicle sticks and painted them to match the house and added a knob.

 

I added images to the inside of the drawers in keeping with the witchy theme.

 

 

 

 

 

To get the look of timber on the house I used mini popsicle sticks which I glued on to the pices of the bilding.  I then trimmed them and painted the whole thing black.  Once the black paint was dry I covered the pieces with crackle medium and then brown paint.  I wasn't too fussy about the sticks and used broken bits to give the appearance of a weathered old wood cabin.

 

 

 

 

The chicken legs I made using a wire armature that I made and then I used paper mache to give them the strength to hold the house.  I then attached them to the bottom of the house using glue and more paper mache.

 

For visual interest I made a little bookshelf with some bit on it that can be seen through one of the windows.  The other window and the door have images behind them.

 

 

 

The base the legs are attached to is actually four wooden coasters glued together.  I wanted something with a bit of weight so that the house would not tip over.

 

Here are a couple of more images of the completed house.  I am really pleased with how this turned out and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, I am only too happy to answer them.  Please let me know what you think I love to get your feedback.

 

 



 

 



 Have a good day, Ngaere.





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