Church and Cottage

 Another DT project for Faith Pocock Craft Studio.

Here is the plain MDF project, a small church and cottage.

The MDF kits are so versatile and handle being covered with all types of media.  Don't be afraid to change things around to make the project your own.  I wanted to incorporate a journal into this kit so I dispensed with the flexible strip around the base and made my own base incorporating parts of the kit and a recycled book cover.

I used a recycled hardcover book to make a box for the kit to sit on, leaving the front open.  I then glued a used tape roll to one of the round MDF circles and decorated it with torn egg carton and some artificial grass.

I got a bit carried away with making the project and forgot to take photos for each step so I don't have pictures of the "book box" prior to it being attached to the base.  I didn't attach it to the box until I had finished putting everything on top and had the book finished because I need to make sure I had it situated properly with all of the weight on it so it was balanced.

Before assembling the houses I wanted to work on the windows. I wanted a look of old, cracked glass.  To achieve this I put the pieces flat on baking paper and then I filled in each pane with crackle glossy accents,  Once it had dried it had shrunk a little so I used Triple thick glaze to "top up" the glass.  Here is the result.

The windows were frames which were painted with black gesso and then glued to the windows on the front and back of the church and the cottage. I then assembled the chirch and cottage and began to apply the stone texture.

To get the stone effect on the outside of the buildings I glued on torn pieces of egg carton which I then painted with black gesso.

I wanted the opening in the church to show so I turned the church around and made a door out of card and paper. This side would normally fit up against the small cottage when the piece is assembled on the original kit..

I then painted the church and cottage with grey chalk paint, applied a wash of black paint which I rubbed back then I drybrushed some paler grey and a bit of green to the "stones" until I was happy with final effect.

I used crackle glossy accents on the door to give it a weathered look.

For the roof I used corrugated card which I painted black, then I used red paint to catch the highlights.

I glued the second MDF circle to the top of the "book box".  I then glued the houses and the fence to the circle.

The kit came with three trees but I chose to only use one. The tree in the kit was flat MDF but I wanted it to look more organic so I wrapped it with tinfoil and paper towel, which I used to make branches. I also used tinfoil and paper towel to make a stump and roots for the tree. I made the roots so that they would come down the sides of the :book box"< I was going for the old and gnarled look.

Unpainted Tree

Painted Tree

Tree and Stump completed

I used torn egg carton to make stones on the book box.  To create the soil I mixed tea leaves, brown paint and little white glue.  I then layered this all over the base and glued in the foliage.

I used the same technique for the "moss" using green paint instead oft he brown.  I spread this over the stones and the dirt in places.  

Then because I could I added a few toadstools.  I was going for a neglected, overgrown vibe for the piece.

To make the cobblestones I again used pieces of egg carton which I embedded in the dirt, leading from cottage to the church.

To make the book I used corrugated cardboard which I covered with brown paper.  I made a door for the front of the book and used the egg carton to pieces to cover the rest of the book.  I used hand dyed paper inside the book and there are seven signatures inside the book. I used the hidden spine method as I did not want to detract from the effect of the stone on the spine. I added a small handle so that that book can be pulled out of the box easily and then I attached everything to the base I had prepared earlier.

Dragon Egg

Here is a little project that I made by upcycling a childrens toy.  

Here is the original toy before I got my hands on it.

I filled bag with rice and then I glued it inside the bottom portion of the wgg so that it would stand upright and not keep tipping over. 

Once this was done I glued the two portions of the egg together, gessoed the whole egg and then I glued tissue paper all over the body of the egg.
 

After gluing the tissue paper I then glued pieces of torn egg carton to the egg.

When the glue had dried I painted the egg with blue chalk paint.  

I then added metallic sprays and waxes until I was happy with the way it looked. I painted the hand with white chalk paint and then used waxes to give it some definition.

For the finishing touch I glued gems, seed beads and glass glitter randomly on the egg.  This piece has a gorgeous sheen and glitter to it but it is hard to pick up with the camera.

Steampunk Princess

 Here is the new project for Faith Pocock Craft Studio.

I began with a blank MDF head shape and wooden cogs. These can be purchased from Faith's website.

I played around with the positioning of the cogs on the MDF head.

Using diecuts I covered the face and neck of the MDF head. I then painted the whole head with black gesso and then I painted the face an neck area with Blue Bayou chalk paint. Once that was dry I drybrushed over the top with Art Alchemy waxes - Copper and Vintage Gold

For the cogs I painted them with black gesso them some of them I painted again with the Blue Bayou chalk paint. I then layered the cogs on the back of the head where the head would go.  I glued a couple of cogs over the eye area,  I then added small metal cogs, wooden Kaisercraft pipes and taps, screw split pins, and other small metal pieces and a chain.  I used silver, gold and copper wax on the whole piece and highlighted the taps and pipes with silver wax.

I then diecut some pieces from card, layered them up, coloured them the same as I did the main piece and then put them behind the back of the head to balance the piece out.  

This was a fun and quick project to make.  

Gothic Romance Journal - Faith Pocock Design Team Project

 Another month and another project using some of the fabulous designs from Faith Pocock Craft Studio.

For this project I used a Halloween frame and put it on the front of the cover of a journal.

The journal itself is made from a recycled cereal box and has 9 signatures of dyed 120g copy paper.

To begin I assembled the cover and then covered it with calico and painted it red with black highlights.

I then added spider web die cuts and dribbled red paint down from the top of the cover on the front and back.  I panted a piece of calico black and glued it to the spine of the book. I used red Inca wax on the spine to tone down the black.

On the inside I glued dyed paper towels. I love the texture it gives the journal.

I painted the frame with brown paint and then used Crackle glossy accents over the top to give a crackled effect.

This was adhered to to the front cover. 

Because the spine of the book was so wide I needed to find a way to close the book so it would not keep gaping open once the signatures were sewn in.  After a bit of thinking I decided to add four posts to the front of the book and I cut up an old belt made from soft leather. I punched holes in the end of the leather that slide over the top of the posts.  On the back of the journal I glued the belt and then used brads pushed through the filigree circles to make sure it was adhered securely at the top and bottom.

Once the cover was completed I then added the signatures, I dyed the paper various colours using food colouring and coffee. I also added in some printed digital papers from 

Artfanaticus - Bloody Horror

Digital Curio - Vampire Romance

Chubby Eyes Digital Red Heart Gothic Digital Papers

There are nine signatures with 8 pieces of paper in each signature giving a total of 144 pages.  The signatures are sewn in with a straight pamphlet stitch and I added a hanger and charm to the top of the spine.  

Thanks for checking out this project and  I hope it inspires you to try something similar.