Decorated MDF Art for the Home

Hello all! Are you reading this and still trying to get over some Christmas indulgences? I know I am, along with planning all the things I am going to make with the presents Santa left for me! I always find that tea and biscuits are fuel for the imagination, so let that be my excuse for a few more naughty treats...

For my last make for 2016, I wanted to create a piece of art for the home. I have used a Christmas theme, but with minor changes this can easily be modified into any genre you fancy! 

I started with the bare Anna Marie Designs Home MDF Blank and painted with a layer of Imagination Crafts Mediterranean Sky Starlight Paint.

Apologies, I forgot to take a photo here, but once the Starlight Paint was dry, I covered the words with a layer of Imagination Crafts Crackle Medium. I painted quite a thick layer (for bigger cracks) and kept the brush strokes in a vertical motion. The medium is clear, so you don't see anything until dry. The next step was to paint a thin layer of Imagination Crafts White Gesso and wait for the magic to happen...

To bring the colour in slightly and look a little more vintage and rusty, I used some Cut and Dry Foam and Pumice Stone Distress Ink to tint the edges of the letters.

I then turned to my stash and die cut loads of foliage, flowers, twigs etc. in blues, cream, craft card and pearl tones. All were designed to mix and match and bring my colours together. I could not find the right blue at the time, but no problem, a coat of the Starlight Paint on some card and the perfect match was made.

Lots of deliberating later, some other odd bits from my stash and hot glue...

At this point I wanted to add some more interest to one of my letters. I should have really done this before sticking all my embellishments on, but when does that logic happen in real life? Certainly not for me anyway! I thought I needed some sparkle so I turned to my old faithful: Sparkle Medium. I wanted a colour that would compliment nicely, so used Welsh Gold. I chose a snowflake stencil and positioned over the letter 'O', masking off the other areas with Repositionable Tape.

You really can't beat the effect of Sparkle Medium...

So the whole piece is complete, with just a few additions that say 'Christmas'. Take away the snowflake stencil and some of the foliage to create a piece for all year round. The crackle effect is classic and timeless along with being easy peasy to do! (bonus!!)

My last post for the year! My goodness, what a year it's been. Crafting is a refuge for most of us, and with the current trend for 'adult colouring' I think the world is catching on...

Thank you so much for reading my posts throughout the year and taking the time to leave comments (so I know I am not alone!) I wish you all the best for 2017; may your year be happy and healthy and I look forward to working (and playing) with you in the crafty future!

Love

Martina

xx

     

Wishing You Joy

Morning all, are we excited yet??? Christmas Day WILL be happening at the end of this week!!! That means I will be rushing around trying to do all the things that I should have done two weeks ago..............! Never mind, here's my bauble project for today, it's the snowflake piece from the Snowman set of MDF baubles from Imagination Crafts..........

The photos don't this one justice, it is a feast of bling, sparkle & glitter, (I did go ever-so-slightly over the top).

The MDF 'JOY' was covered with Imagination Crafts' Rusty Patina Blanc, applied with a palette knife to create lots of texture. When it was dry I painted it with Pearl Starlights & Diamond Sparkle Medium went over that once the paint was dry.......................

More Rusty Patina went on the bauble, then Pearl Starlights. While the paint was wet I sprinkled a pale blue embossing powder on top & heat set. That was followed by Diamond Sparkle Medium & silver liquid pearls.

I used hot glue to stick the word to the back of the bauble & added embellishments of snowflake Art-Cutz, die cut snowflakes, gems & ribbons from my stash..............

     

And that's it from me for this week. It only remains for me to wish you a very Happy Christmas & Happy Holidays, I hope you have a wonderful time with friends & family. Thank you for all the kind comments here & on Facebook during the year. 

Kirsten

Above The Rooftops

Good morning, Kirsten here. There's less than two weeks to the big day, how are your preparations going? I'm making no comment about mine - :-) - so let's get straight on to today's project, the Santa & sleigh from the Merry Christmas set of MDF baubles from Imagination Crafts..................

I kept this one very traditional, using red, green & gold. I painted the outside of the bauble with Red Starlights & added Bright Red Sparkle Medium with a palette knife to get quite a thick layer of texture. 

I painted the Santa, sleigh & reindeer with Antique Gold Starlights on the top half & Topaz on the bottom half, then applied Gold Shine Sparkle Medium on the top half & Antique Bronze SM on the bottom half................

I wasn't sure what to do with the bottom half of the bauble until I woke at 3 one morning with an image of these Craft Emotions' houses in my head - not often I get inspired like that, but I'm grateful to my muse for visiting me, even if she did wake me at ridiculous o'clock. :-)

I painted the houses with Black, Antique Gold & Topaz Starlights & glued pieces of card I'd painted with Rich Gold Starlights to the other side, then used hot glue to stick them to the back of the bauble................

I die cut a pile of poinsettia & leaves (Tim Holtz' cutting dies from my stash), from thick card so that I could crumple & crease the die cuts, painted them with Red, Green & Emerald Starlights & added Gold Shine Sparkle Medium with my finger, then attached them to the bauble with hot glue..................

         

 

That's all from me for today, have a great week, see you next Monday. 

Kirsten

Winter Scene Bauble

Good morning, Kirsten here, I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I had a very lazy Sunday, recovering from all Lisa's & my preparations for the Christmas party classes & then
the classes themselves on Friday. Today I'd like to show the first of my three MDF baubles that I decorated for the classes................

I began with the Village Fence from Anna Marie Designs, applying Rusty Patina Blanc with a palette knife. I gave it a quick blast with my heat tool, scratched into it with a piercing tool, then set it aside to dry overnight...........

(Rusty Patina gives such a nice, rough texture when it's dry, due to the rust particles in it & once it's dry you can keep adding more to build up as much texture as you like).

The next day I painted the fence with Sax Blue Starlights, pushing the paint into the cracks before wiping off the surface layer with a baby wipe - using a clean piece each time. I used a baby wipe with paint on it to add a little paint to the bottom of the fence...........

I used the same techniques with the Rusty Patina & Starlights (Topaz & Antique Gold) on the little Anna Marie Designs birdhouse.......

This is the spacer bauble that comes with the MDF set. I applied Rusty Patina Blanc to it with a palette knife & used the tip of the palette knife to tap into the wet RP to create texture. When the RP was dry, (I left it overnight also), I painted the bauble with Sax Blue, Blue & Mediterranean Sky Starlights..................

I had previously painted the MDF trees with Green & Emerald Starlights for another project, so I just painted Mediterranean Sky & Sax Blue on top & added Diamond SM................

The MDF birds were painted with Topaz & Zinober Gold Starlights & I created the snowy mound by brayering a mix of Diamond Sparkle Medium & Cracked Ice glitter on to white card then cutting the dry card to fit the base of the bauble & cover the bottom of the fence....................

I used hot glue to adhere everything to the bauble, added a ribbon to the top & a few Art Cutz snowflakes that I'd painted with Blue & Pearl Starlights & some gems to the trees & the bauble was finished......................

                 

        

Thank you for visiting the blog today, have a great week.

Kirsten