Spoon –
any size you like
Collage
image printed on a laser printer
Lindys Stamp Gang Magicals – Salt Water Taffy, Merry Go Round Green, Raspberry Lemonade, Ramblin Rose Pink, Golden
Sleigh Bells
Prima Art Ingredients Micro Beads Pollen, Copper and Blush
Stickles - Thistle, Tiara, Champagne, Tickled Pink
Today is Leap Day traditionally a time where women get to
propose to their significant other and they can’t say no. This got me thinking
about other love traditions and wooden love spoons and then of course to
altered spoons.
I have a little passion for altering spoons, charity shops
are not safe as I trawl through their spoons looking for nice shapes and
patterns. I think I like them because
they allow you to make a small decorative object which can be hung on a wall
and to which you can if you want add a great deal of personalisation, if say
using a photo or an image that has special meaning for someone.
A quick word about
images, if you are using a collage image or photo it must be printed on a laser
printer partly for colour quality but mainly so the ink does not move around
when it comes into contact with wet media. If you use a stamped image make sure it is stamped with permanent ink like Archival or StazOn and coloured
with a permanent media like Artist Pitt Pens, any water or dye based marker
will run when wet. The image does not
need to be cut to size, it can be attached then trimmed when dry. I have used a
twinchie collage image from the internet which does not fully fill the spoon
bowl as it is a table spoon but that is not a problem.
In an ideal world you prepare and colour the spoon before
adding the image but being short on time I usually combine the two stages of
preparation and image gluing so both can dry at the same time. Paint matte medium onto the back of the image
and the bowl of the spoon and ease the image into the bowl. Now paint the upper surface of the spoon with
a thin layer of gesso, this gives a “tooth” for paint to cling to later. When both are dry you can trim the image to
fit the spoon and add a coat of Gloss Gel Medium on top of the image.
Now for the fun part – decorating. I chose Lindys Magicals which matched the
colours in my image and dipping my brush first in a drop of Glazing Medium (you
could use Matte Medium) then into a pot of the Magicals and dabbing onto the
spoon adding and layering more colour until I was happy.
Next comes micro beads, gems, resin flowers and glitter
adding until happy with the mix. If I am
making these for myself I tend to leave the backs plain as once hung they don’t
show but you can also colour the back with the Glazing Medium and
Magicals. Chose a Magicals colour for the ribbon, make a bend of the
Magical with water and smoosh the ribbon in it to colour and dry with a heat
gun. Finally tie the ribbon around the
handle so it can hang from a wall.
Moira
