An Altered ATC Box for RCAG

I like to take small things and build them up into larger things.

I really wanted to be an architect growing up, but a male

teacher dashed my ambitions and told me I'd have better luck

being a grease monkey. 

Boy would I like to see him today! Ha!

Anyway, this is several pieces all glued together to make

a rather elaborate ATC Box from

Retro Cafe Art Gallery!

Here we go!

I painted the box pieces with Heavy Black Gesso, and the Relics

and Artifacts pieces with Heavy White Gesso. 

I used paper clay and an IOD mould to create an emblem,
 and then let it dry over the egg.

Using a stencil and Opal Magic Paints, I sponged the colors

onto all 4 sides of the box. I wanted a blue and gold combination

with the blue only on the front. I made it splotchy to keep it in
the background and not take over the piece.

These paints blow me away every time I use them. They are

just plain magical.

The egg and topper were painted with Metalliques as well as the paper

 mould piece.The egg has 2 colors of red and a purple to shade.

Here's a Tip: some people ask me, "do you ever just 

make something and not like it?"

YES! I painted the top white, then added paints, hated it, painted

it black, added opal magics, hated that, and took it to the sink and

soaked it, scrubbed it and picked the paint out of the crevasses

until it was completely clean.

Then I started all over again to get the results you see here....

never give up, and don't quit! 

 The German Dresden on the left has black gesso on it. See the

difference in the one the right without it?

This is the back with the cool German Dresden. The piece on the 

back of the Imperial Egg base is cut apart from the Victorian

Dresden and painted with ArtAlchemy Paints.

Now this is the "piece de resistance". I used German Dresden around 

the topper and another piece cut from the Gold Fancy Victorian

Decorations Dresden that I painted.

The small Rhinestone chain goes around the topper. 

The red paints are used on the inside of the box, and the outside

edges are painted black for contrast.

The leftover piece of the German Dresden goes on the 

front of the mould to add just a bit more interest.

And the larger Rhinestone chain goes around the egg.

I used an unfinished wood candlestick as the base. I painted it

with Metalliques too, and added more rhinestone chain. 

It's all put together with 3D Matte Gel and some jeweler's 

glue around the topper. 

As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, I'm always

ready to help.

Your Friend in ART,

Linda

Products Used from RCAG:

ATC Box Kit

Unfinished Wood Candlestick-Tall

Relics and Artifacts-Imperial Eggs

Honeycomb Stencil

Fancy Gold Victorian German Dresden

German Dresden-Antique Hardware Gold

German Dresden Baroque Silver

Heavy Black Gesso and Heavy White Gesso or the 6 pack Mixed Media

Paper Clay

Rhinestone Chain

IOD Mould-I used Baroque 3, but you could use Baroque 4 as well

3D Matte Gel

ArtAlchemy Paints-Metalliques - Rusty Red, Royal Red, Deep Waters, Dark Velvet, Ancient Coin, and Brass Hardware.

ArtAlchemy Paints-Opal Magics - Violet/Gold and Yellow/Blue.

A Whovian Blue Card of Love

Hi everyone, just a fun and simple card for my dear 

Granddaughter who is an avid Dr. Who follower...

 a Whovian, I presume.

She is not a glitzy or foo-foo type person. Glitter and such would've 

been a bit over-the-top for her tastes. So I tried to keep in touch with

her favorite color....whovian blue, and use it with a 

Relics and Artifacts Flaming Heart Ex Votos I.

I used some cheesecloth and Sculpture Medium to create a base, and 2 

large Ornate Flourishes underneath the Heart. 

The heart and flourishes are painted with Heavy Black Gesso,

 and then several colors of ArtAlchemy Opal Magic paints are added...

Yellow/Blue, Violet/Green and Violet/Gold.

I used Clear Crackle Paste on the center of the heart to add some

texture, and then more gold paint is brushed on. 

The work LOVE is added as a simple sentiment.

I cut a piece of some gorgeous scrapbook paper from my stash

 and added a bit of gold Opal Magic around the edges. 

Then I layered it onto a piece of black chipboard.

Pretty simple, and very easy to create a memento

for a loved one or a friend to display on a small

easel in their home.

Linda

By the Sea Tag

Hello to everyone.

It's been a really, really strange Summer here in the middle of the 

United States where I live. As I sit here, it's July 3rd, and it's supposed

to be HOT...usually. But I'm in a sweatshirt and have on socks, wrapped

in a flannel blanket. By the time this posts, it will have
probably gotten hot... again. It's very, very strange.

Having said that, I'm longing for the ocean, the sea, a beach with the sun

shining and the waves rolling in. With sand and seashells all around,
 and the look of mica shinning on the shimmering water.

So, this was my project for the 

Finnabair Blog.

I hope you enjoy it and find inspiration to create.

  

I started with a #10 manila tag that I painted almost entirely with Heavy 

White Gesso. When dry, I added Modeling Paste with the 

Ripped Fishnet Stencil. (appropriate, eh?)

While this was drying, I took scraps of cotton trim 

and soaked them with the Sculpture Medium, formed 

them the way I wanted, and set them aside. 

When dry, I added them to the tag with 3D Gloss Gel. I used

 a wide swath of gel and sprinkled the Mini Art Stones and

 Art Stones into it.

When it's all dry, you can start to use your Mica Powder+Water Sprays

to add layers of color. I used a blue/Teal and a darker blue spray on the

left side, and the gold on the right.  Next I added the lighter pale silver and

Rose/Gold Opal Magic+Water Sprays.

I used a mixture of Copper Micro Beads and Copper Glass Glitter

to give it some sparkle in spots adding them with Soft Matte Gel.

I coiled up some hemp cording and sprayed with the Gold spray, 

painted a chipboard cutout of coral with the 

Fresh Orange Metallique

 + Rose Gold Opal Magic paints, 

and glued them down with the Heavy Body Gel. 

The 2 Rusty Gear Mechanicals were slipped into the Gel. 

The background got another spritz of mica spray and the Mini Stars 

are added. The Word Strip Paris Vol. 1,  from my friend Rachel Greig

 and Darkroom Door, is cut up and added

 for thoughts along the theme. 

The Rust Glass Beads and a few Art Stones in a glass vial are the last

 to go on with the wonderful Heavy Body Gel. 

(That stuff is amazing!)

This is another look at a different angle that changes color as you move the

project around in the light. You can see the shimmer of the sprays here.

A top-coating of Heavy White Gesso creates a contrast on the

darker colors.

Probably my favorite parts of this tag are the tiny shells that float in the trim.

 These shells were given to me by my dear late brother-in-law

 who was a soldier on a Pacific Island during the WWII. 

He gathered them up, put them in a small plastic cigarette box, 

and after many, many years, decided that I might like them. 

I treasured them, but never really knew what to do with them until 

I stepped back and looked at this tag.

 It seemed like the perfect spot to tuck in these little gems. 

I now have a special tag that will always remind me of him.

 It’s so much better than having them hidden away 

in a drawer and never being used.

Hope you're inspired to check out these new products from 

Finnabair. The Sculpture Medium is an amazing product that creates

a solid structure out of fabric or trim. And the Heavy Body Gel

never ceases to amaze me or work on holding heavy objects

in place when it dries. 

Your Friend in ART,

Linda

Products Used:

Art Basics-Heavy White Gesso, Modeling Paste, 3D Gloss Gel, Heavy Body Gel an Soft Matte Gel

Elementals-Ripped Fishnet Stencil

Art Extravagance-Sculpture Medium Clear

Art Ingredients-Glass Beads Rust, Copper Glass Glitter, Copper Micro Beads, Mica Powder Blue, Gold, Teal, Opal Magic Gold and Pale Silver,  Mini Art Stones and Art Stones

Mechanicals-Mini Stars and Rusty Gears

Art Alchemy Paints-Metallique Fresh Orange and Opal Magic Rose/Gold

A Watercolor Journal Page for Michelle

Hello my friends, I've been playing with my first love

in my long artistic life...watercolors!

This is on a page from the new Finnabair

Denim Journal.

You can remove pages by untying the 3 denim strings, create your

page on your worktable, and then put it back into the book.

Easy peasy.

I broke out my Yarka Watercolor set from 

St. Petersburg, Russia.  It has a TREMENDOUS

amount of pigment that gives you a brilliant depth

of color with very little water.

I use the paints as a wash, but really like to load up the color

and have heavy pigmented areas as well. I love to outline 

 areas with black pen to make the colors pop.

Some of the 7x9 inch pages in the journal are watercolor paper, 

which gave me the urge to paint again.

I added Heavy Black Gesso with the Harlequin Stencil and

the circles with white pen using the Bubble Stencil from Finnabair.

I used pencils, pens, and markers for added effect

in this Modern Art style page.

And yes, it really is that vibrant, the red/violet is very

deep, but you can get wonderful subtle colors as well.

My daughter suffers from Fibromyalgia that creates a burning

pain all the time leaving her sapped of energy,

 melted into a puddle. 

This is a tribute to her strength to get up every day, go to work,

and do what she does, even though in the center of if all

she feels burned out. I'm so proud of her.

Hope you're inspired to Create.

Linda 

A Mermaid Shadowbox

JULY Already ?!?!

Good Grief....if it's the first of the month,

then it's my turn for a project from

Retro Cafe Art Gallery.

Like I told Kristin, this kinda went a bit overboard...

like a condemned Pirate. 

But she created so many wonderful cut-outs that were

just begging to jump onto this project.

It starts with the large shadowbox and the Graphic45

8x8 paper pad "Under the Sea" ...all found in the shop.

The layers of paper are on the front, back and 

sides of the shadowbox.

I actually hated to cover this gorgeous paper up. 

This Mermaid is so beautiful, but the charms and 

cut-outs were so much fun to keep adding...

and adding....

and adding.

This shows the flourish is cut from the Mermaid Stand Frame

with my jewelers saw. It's really easy to do.

I wanted to add the frame OVER the shadowbox

to show off the Mermaid.

I was going to add the bell jars to the piece, 

but I had to stop somewhere....

This is the back with several layers of paper.

I used one inch wooden blocks to raise the shadowbox up.

The Mermaid skin is painted with a flat acrylic paint.

White pearls and charms are colored with Alcohol inks.

All the other paints are all Metalliques, so they sparkle more in real life

with metallic shine. And the color changes as you 

move them around in the light.

The Mini Art Stones were perfect for adding the look of 

Sand to the project, and a piece of gauze portrays a net.

So get out your favorite papers and grab a shadowbox

to fill up with all of your found treasures.

You won't be able to stop either!!!

Linda

Retro Cafe Art Gallery Products:
Basic Shadow Box Shrine Kit
Mermaid Frame Stand
Chipboard Seaweed Cut Outs
Chipboard Coral Cut Outs
Ornate Fleur Cut Outs - Chipboard
Graphic45 Voyage Beneath the Sea 8x8 pad
Brass Fancy Shell Decoration
Brass Fancy Fish Charms
Brass Mermaids
Heavy Black Gesso
Finnabair Mini Art Stones
Finnabair Clear Stamp - Bubbles and Lace Doily
Finnabair ArtAlchemy Paints - Steampunk Copper, Rusty Red, Emerald Green, Rich Turquoise, Lime Peel, and Ancient Coin
3D Matte Gel , Clear Structure Paste, and Heavy Body Gel
Black Archival Ink

Other Products Used:
Flat Pearls, Gauze, Wooden Blocks, Gold Sharpie, Black Fine Line Prismacolor Pen, Fresco Paints for Skin