Stay Curious by Fliss Goodwin

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my first post for 2017. This week I’m sharing a whimsical mixed media piece using one of the Dinky sized That’s Crafty! Uprights. I took one look at this particular shape and it shouted tree trunk at me! I then had to work out how to achieve that effect and if you read on, you’ll find out what I did.

Ingredients:

That’s Crafty! Surfaces – Dinky MDF Uprights – Jagged Edge

That’s Crafty! Clear Stamp Set – Beki (for the butterfly)

Tim Holtz Cling Stamp Set – Crazy Birds

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die Sets – Crazy Birds, Garden Greens

DecoArt Media White Texture Paste

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics – Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Paynes Grey, Medium Grey Value 6, Green Gold

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics – Zucchini, Toad Hall

Tim Holtz Distress Crayons – Festive Berries, Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo

Archival Potting Soil Ink

White Gesso

White Stamping Paper

Thin White Cardstock or oddments of Gelli prints in green shades

Kraft Cardstock

Tiny Paper Flowers

Wooden Skewer

Recipe:

I would usually coat the MDF blank with Gesso before applying paint but as I used white texture paste here, this step is not necessary. I applied quite a thick layer of the paste to the main piece of the upright and then, using the wooden skewer, drew a rough pattern in the paste to resemble tree bark.

I did the same to the reverse, as I really like double sided artwork (the other side will follow later) and added some texture paste to the base as well. I then assembled the upright and base as any paste that gets trapped in between really helps to hold the piece together.

I left the coated piece to dry overnight and then painted it. I added pools of the brown and grey paints to a plate and roughly applied these to the panel. You don’t need to be precise here, as in nature grungy tends to happen! When the paint was dry, I dry brushed on a little white Gesso to lighten some areas up a bit.

I next made some greenery for my piece, using the green shades of paint on both sides of card and die cutting with the Garden Greens set choosing fern type images in keeping with my woodland theme. I cut strips of the leftovers from this and glued then to the base for a mossy effect. I added the greenery to my tree trunk with glue.

I stamped the bird and butterfly on stamping card with the brown ink and coloured the bird with the Distress Crayons. The butterfly was coloured with pencils. I die cut the bird and hand cut the butterfly, adding them to the panel with foam pads and glue.

I finished off with some tiny paper flowers and text which I computer generated and printed on kraft card. This was because I knew what I wanted to say and didn’t have a stamp or sticker to cover it!

Have a great weekend and see you next week.

Fliss x