Hello! I have a mixed media piece of artwork to share this week as it's a while since I created something on one of the fab That's Crafty! upright substrates so a favourite shape has come into play today. My garden seemed to be calling for a tropical vibe which I think may be the current very hot weather!

Step by Step

I created the background for my upright by using the brick repeat stencil with texture paste to form my wall. Once the paste was dry, I added dabs of multi surface paints - apricot, light pink, grey, orange and chestnut brown - then misted the paints lightly with water and allowed the paint to run down the panel. I left this to dry completely.

The colour was not quite what I was aiming for so I next spritzed on basil and saffron flat matte sprays. This was a little bright so I misted on a little water and again allowed the colours to run down the panel, using a paintbrush to spread colour to the very top and bottom and the sides. I misted the base with the sprays too. I then glued the top and base together.



My next task was to create my tropical flowers which I did by stamping one of my fanciful flowers on smooth cartridge paper with Archival black ink and then painted them with diluted multi surface paints in shades of orange, red and yellow. I added a touch of detail with coloured pencils and cut them out.


I stamped some leaves and my bird on scraps of gelli printed papers from my bits box - something I find really handy when I don't feel like colouring as all you have to add is a bit of extra detail such as the bird's beak which I coloured with a pencil.


I glued some dried moss to the base of the upright (leftover from my flower arranging days) to add some lovely texture. I had a bit of a dilemma then as I wanted to add some text but didn't want it to stand out too much. The answer came to me after I glued on the word tiles made from one of Lynne's gorgeous affirmations that come with her beautiful wildflower stamps. Once the tiles were in place, I dabbed on some inks to tone them in - I used some elderly Versacolor cubes I've had for many years and the yellow, orange and khaki worked perfectly!



This is also perfect inspiration for our July challenge over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has the theme of Close to Nature so do have a peek as there's some gorgeous inspiration for you to feast your eyes on.

Supplies:

That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - Fanciful Flowers Set 1
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - Fanciful Flowers Set 2
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - Lynne's Wildflowers Set 2
That's Crafty! Surfaces - MDF Upright Torn Note Page
That's Crafty 6.5 x 7.5 Stencil - Brick Repeat
That's Crafty! Mediums - Texture Sand Paste
That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints
That's Crafty! Flat Matte Sprays - Basil, Saffron
Archival Jet Black Ink
Water Mister
Coloured Pencils
Extras - Smooth White Cartridge Paper, Dried Moss, 3D Glue