I had so much fun using this month’s hot colours to decorate this book stand for my desk. The colours just said ‘Indian Theme’ to me. I used acrylic paints and mixed and matched stamps from several different stamp sets. The design could easily be adapted to create a wall hanging or small canvas.
Good luck everyone with the Challenge – some wonderful projects on there already this month.
Anne xxx.
Materials:
· Words of Inspiration, Indian Elephant, Exquisite Edges, Punky Flowers, and Gothic Fragments stamp sets
· MDF book stand (Creative Expressions Kit)
· White gesso and acrylic paints (pink, pearl pink, dark red, orange and yellow)
· StazOn Inkpad (Jet Black)
· Fine tipped alcohol markers (black, pink, dark red and orange)
· Polychromos pencils (pink, dark red, orange and yellow)
· Gold gilding wax (Pebeo Renaissance Gold)
· Iridescent spray varnish (Crafters Companion Pearl Diamond)
· Scrap paper for planning and masking plus dye based black inkpad
Step By Step:
I first sealed and primed the MDF stand with white gesso. Tip: When painting MDF items it is often best to paint them after constructing as the MDF can expand slightly making it difficult to fit the joints together afterwards.
The sides were painted with pink acrylic. The back and front panels were painted using orange and yellow acrylics. I painted from the outside edges working inward and blending the orange into the yellow in the centre.
The sides were randomly stamped with the paisley motif (Indian Elephant set) using StazOn. A bit of colouring was added using pencils.
I cut a piece of scrap paper the same size as the front panel in order to plan out the stamping. I have included a picture of my sketchbook page. I then worked out the order of stamping and which images needed masking. You will need to protect (mask) the foreground stamped images while building up the scene.
I stamped the lettering, elephants and border (Exquisite Edges set) with dye ink onto copy paper and cut around them to create masks. I added a few dots of Zig 2 Way Glue to the back and left to fully dry. This then acts as a temporary tacky adhesive to hold the masks in place while stamping.
It is tricky to stamp some areas on a ready-made item. The stamps need to be positioned on the stamping block to enable stamping into corners etc. It is also easy to slip when you are stamping at an angle on a 3D item. Tip: You could paint a piece of card to fit the area, stamp onto that instead, and then glue this onto your project afterwards.
I first stamped the sentiment, elephants and lower border with StazOn Ink. I then covered with the masks as shown in the picture.
Next I stamped the background arches (Gothic Fragments set) with a mix of pearl pink and red acrylic paints using Cut-N-Dry Foam to apply the paint to the stamps. Tip: Squeeze some acrylic paint directly onto the sponge and work it into the surface using a palette knife. This saves washing up of palettes and it wastes less paint. Place the coloured sponges face down on a craft mat and the paint stays workable without drying out for ages. Apply to your stamp with a dabbing motion. Clean your stamps quickly after use with warm water. A soft toothbrush can be useful to remove paint from the stamp crevices.
Next the tall stylised flower (Punky Flowers set) was stamped with dark red acrylic. The top of the stamp was then stamped with StazOn along the base. Masks were then removed.
A bit of colouring was added using marker pens and pencils. The pencils gave a nice textured effect to the elephants. I then outlined elements of the tall floral stamp using a fine tipped black marker. This brought the images further forward and created a nice frame up the sides of the scene.
I then sprayed with pearlescent varnish to protect and finished by adding gold gilding wax to the edges.
Heather Tree Creative Designs by Anne Waller 