Time on the Wings of a Butterfly for Finnabair

Sometimes you just step back and say, "yes." THAT'S what I was 

talking about.....and sometimes you don't.

Well, this was one of those time where I knew I was happy

as soon as I started to glue it down.

Yep, it's my turn on the 

Finnabair Blog 

and this is my BRIGHT and 

SHINY project.

It's really hard to photograph a project with mica paints, but here I found

laying it on a darker background helped. 

The white background just washed it all out, and you couldn't see

the deep,rich colors of the metallic paints.

I started with a 6x6 inch canvas board.

I added a coat of heavy white gesso with a 

texture brush to create some pattern. 

When dry I stamped a script stamp with embossing ink

and used a fine black powder to emboss.

I made a few embellishments with the new 

Iron Orchid Design molds and paper clay.

So using these as my main elements, I started to lay out my design.

When I had some basic idea, I started gluing with 

Heavy Body Gel and 3D Matte Gel,

 adding different found items and

Mechanicals that I had cut apart.

When dry, give it all a coat of heavy black gesso.

I left the stamped area alone for some open space.

I'm sorry I didn't remember to take a picture at

this point, just use your imagination and envision this a 

flat black blob in the middle of my canvas.

Here you can see where I used Soft Matte Gel to add 

Mini Art Stones as filler around the clock area. Then I started to

paint everything that is black.

 I used every color of 

Opal Magics on this. All 8 colors. 

The medium sized Grungy Butterfly is a rainbow of all the 

fabulous colors in this palette.

The few colors of Metalliques that I used were for the heart

with Rusty Red, Steampunk Copper, and some Gold Rush for highlights. Otherwise it was all done with the Opal Magics.....

which are just magical on black gesso!

I painted the German Dresden black and added Aqua-Rose, Green-Gold 

and Yellow-Blue Opal Magics.

The fabulous purple comes from Violet-Green, and YES,

it truly is that bright! I LOVE it.

You can see the detail on the mesh here with several colors painted

in with a small brush.

The last thing I did was add some dry brushing with 

black gesso to the edges of the canvas and white areas, 

and give spots a spritz of mica powder spray.

Contrast and shine....it's so easy to achieve with these

terrific paints.

Give them a go.  You won't be sorry.

Your Friend in ART, 

Linda

Products Used:

Art Basics - Heavy White Gesso, Heavy Black Gesso, Heavy Body Gel, 3D Matte Gel, Soft Matte Gel, Double Sided Texture Brushes-Set1.

ArtAlchemy Paints-Opal Magics - Blue/Gold, Aqua/Rose, Violet/Green, Yellow/Blue, Green/Gold, Violet/Gold, Rose/Gold, Pink/Blue

ArtAlchemy Paints-Metalliques - Rusty Red, Steampunk Copper, Gold Rush

Art Extravagance - Mini Art Stones

Mechanicals - Flowers/Large, Mini Roman Numerals, Grungy Butterflies

Fearless - Just for Fun Journal Page

Sometimes it's fun to drag out an unfinished journal page

and add to it to make it better.

Here I had a few bright colors sprayed onto a page in a 

large journal, and that was all.

So I got out my stencils, archival inks, and light paste and added some

more depth and layers.

 The picture from a magazine is glued on and painted over with black.

I added some more marks with pens and inks.

She looked like a Conquering Princess Warrior, so I 

gave her a crown with Finnabair mini beads and glass glitter, 

and a title of FEARLESS using ArtAlchemy Opal Magic

and Metallique Paints. 

I used clear gesso over the picture to seal and make it able

to take more paints and inks.

Her crown/flourish and the word are laser-cut chipboard

from Retro Cafe Art.

I used several different designers stencils in the layers that 

created a mottled background of color.

You can see how the Light Paste from Finnabair and Doily stencil
 turns an opaque white that I really liked for contrast.

Hope you enjoy this page, and have a great week!

Linda

An Enchanted Forest Treasure Shelf

I've always loved the rich, warm, fabulous designs from Graphic45 paper.

But this collection is too gorgeous not to play with. So, I decided to get to 

work and use some perfect embellishments on this 

Double Ornate ATC Kit 

from 

Retro Cafe Art Gallery

All the Cut-Outs and Charms, Rhinestone Trim and Paints can be found at

Retro Cafe Art Gallery using the links here,

 as well as the 8x8 Enchanted Forest Paper Pad.

 The Treasure Chest, Brass Ornate Teapot, Brass Ornate Filigree Heart,
  Hinged Love Letter and Antique Brass Crowns
are perfect for the top shelf. 

You could store your ATC's here, or business cards,
scraps of paper or ticket stubs you treasure.
 Or anything else that you always want to keep in place....keys perhaps?!?!

This Relic and Artifact face was painted with Gold Rush

 and Rich Turquoise Metallique paints.

 It had Rusty Red on it and another unknown layer

 before I got the look I wanted. 

If you follow me, you know I fussy cut and layer papers

 onto my laser-cut Masonite kits from RCAG

 before I glue them together. 

This is the back with several different layers of paper cuts before I 

glued it to my Masonite piece.

 The wooden legs were in my stash, but I used German Dresden,
Mini Serrated and Gold Fancy Scalloped,
and painted them to the colors I wanted adding a wash of black to age them.

The Face reminded me of a mask used in those times by
performers in the court.
It's from the Relics and Artifacts Visage collection
 by Sandra Evertson.

The Ornate Flourish Cut Outs were painted gold and glittered up,

 then cut in half to use as corners. 

 I like to add Tombow markers to create deeper color and shadows in spots.

This is the a detail look at the back and one of the sides.

 The Rhinestone and Rhinestone and Pearl Trim just light this piece up. 

And this shows a detail of the legs where everything is
 painted with ArtAlchemy Paints.

I used Aqua-Rose and Blue-Gold Opal Magics
over the black paint, and Metalliques Rusty Red and
Steampunk Copper on the Trims.

Just a note, the backdrop for this an antique hand-crocheted
table cloth made by my Grandmother.
Hence a few tea stained areas can be seen.
 It's too fragile to try to remove them,
 but that makes it even more valuable to me. 

I hope you enjoyed this and get some inspiration to make
 a treasure of your own.

Be Well and Be Good to Each Other,

Linda