Creative Expressions Tuesday

Song Bird Art .
Hi there , today I am going to create a project that could be used as a Card topperor a Wallhanging  depending on what you want to use it for. Most of the main design is made using stencils , but not always how you might expect!

I made this on a piece of greyboard , because I wanted it to be fairly robust , which I painted with Cosmic Shimmer White Gesso . I love colour cloud inks ( and distress inks ) but I wanted to try to create the background with archival inks because they are permanent once dry . So I decided to try an experiment. I made a mask with copier paper by tearing around a circular plate , by tearing the paper  I had a circle with slightly rough edges instead of perfect edges which is what I wanted . I used this to mask the white background and then blended archival inks all over the rest of the background . I used a mixture of colours --- Blue Violet , Cornflower Blue and Aquamarine . I then filled a small spray bottle with alcohol blending solution and sprayed it over the blended inks  . I hoped that the archival inks would behave in the same way as distress inks do when sprayed with water and they did !

I must admit that the background had to be dried with a heat gun and that it took a little time but it was worth it because the background was now permanent .

Next I masked the background and blended colour cloud inks over the exposed white circle . I used Baked Peach and Yellow Meringue .

Finally I blended a little of the Blue Violet ink over a torn piece of paper to look like clouds . To add a darker colour to the edges of the background I added a little Watering Can archival ink .

I used black Cosmic Shimmer gesso through the Flower and Butterfly mask , and moved the mask around to add extra images . When that was dry I used Watering Can ink to add extra images that look like shadows .

To make the flowers and birds I drew around the images on both the masks I was using ( Flowers and Butterflies and Song Bird )  onto black card and cut them out . Remember to leave the centre of the flowers or all the petals will fall apart ! Using embossing ink  I added detail to the flowers using the Tulip Damask background stamp and Cosmic Shimmer Aqua Blush Blaze embossing powder . I added detail to the birds using the script stamp from the Spirit stamp set and various embossing 

powders . I did have to cut a wing shape out for the birds so I cut it out of gold mirror card and added 

embossing to this as well .

I embossed gold mirror card using the Song Bird mask and then cut out the birdcage and flourishes . I decided that the gold was too bright and didn't fit in with the rest of the design so I tapped  embossing ink randomly over them and used a greenish powder to add colour over the gold .

The birdcage and flourish were attached so that it looked like the cage was hanging . Finally I added the flowers and birds . I bent and shaped the flowers and birds and used dimensional glue to attach them as shown .

The quote , from the Spirit stamp set was stamped and embossed onto black card , mounted on gold card and added to the project.

I have used various cosmic shimmer embossing powders but  the only one that I have named is the one I used for the flowers because the colour fitted so well ! 

I experimented with the ink background because I have ' a thing ' about permanent colours which I suspect goes back to my painting . The same effect could be created with distress inks and water ! Anyway I hope this has given you some ideas about different ways of using stencils and inks .

Creative Expressions Items used to create this project include :

That Special Touch Masks -- Flowers and Butterfly and Song Bird.

Creative Expressions Stamp set -- Spirit .

Just Rite Clear Stamps -- Tulip Damask Background  . 

If you would like toseewhat other members of the DT are doing please look here 

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