DecoArt DT - In Her Dreams She Can Fly

Hello! It's my DecoArt Media DT debut today (bit happy, bit scared!) and I've created a small piece of what I call 'junk art' to share with you, so called as it's made from recycled bits and bobs (I rarely throw anything away, much to the anguish of my poor husband...). 

It's a pretty simple project but hopefully I can share a bit of product know-how and a few ideas with you along the way. My favourite tip from this tutorial is making your own shimmery glaze from DecoArt Metallic Lustres.

DECOART PRODUCTS USED:

Media Fluid Acrylics -  Raw Umber, Transparent White 

Americana Paint - Hauser Medium Green, Blue Mist

Media Matte Medium

Decou-page Paper - Victorian Romance

Decou-page Glue - Matte

Metallic Lustre - Champagne

OTHER ITEMS:

Cardboard scraps and paper scraps

Metal key

Stampendous! Stamps by Andy Skinner and Nathalie Kalbach

Stampendous! Frantage Mica Flake - Pearl

Permanent brown inkpad

Digital image (source unknown - if it's yours let me know and I'll credit you!)

Stabilo All Pencil

Fine black pen

So grab a cuppa (or whatever takes your fancy) and enjoy my step-by-step :).

1 Collage some small scraps of paper onto a piece of board - I used the back of some craft packaging as it was made from nice thick card. I chose papers which all had complementary tones. Use DecoArt Matte Medium to adhere the papers, applying the medium under and over the papers to ensure they are well stuck.

2 Knock back the colour with Translucent White Media Fluid Acrylic. I used to use watered down gesso to knock back papers or colours but since I found this paint I always use it. You need to use hardly any and you can just pop it straight from the bottle onto your piece. You can of course make a gesso wash instead if you want.

3 Tear and fussy cut some elements from the DecoArt Victorian Romance Decou-page papers pack. Adhere with Matte Medium, once again applying over and under the paper.

4 Repeat step 2 to knock back the colour, but just a little tiny bit. We want these elements to be dominant but also to blend into the background.

5 Stamp a pattern stamp (Nathalie Kalbach) with Americana Blue Mist paint (it's subtle - see top right) and edge the piece with Americana Hauser Med. Green  paint, using your finger to get a wobbly, uneven line.

6 Mix a small amount Champagne DecoArt Metallic Lustre with a little Matte Medium to form a glaze - make sure you mix it really well to eliminate blobs. Brush over the board - you can see from this image it gives a beautiful warm glow when it catches the light.

7 Add some further stamping (Andy Skinner) in permanent brown ink (I used Potting Soil Archival Ink). Rough up the edges of the panel with scissors or a craft knife (be careful!) and ink these too.

8 Use Matte Decou-page Glue (love this stuff!) to adhere some mica flake (Stampendous!) - just a few flakes here and there - very subtle. You could also use Matte Medium for this stage but the Decou-page dries faster and I have no patience!

9 Use Matte Medium or Decou-page to stick the digi image in place and outline with a Stabilo All pencil or similar. I like to blend the pencil out with a small angle brush which is barely wet (actually I just lick it - is that too much information???).

10 Paint a scrap of card with DecoArt Media Metallic Gold paint and smear with a light coat of Champagne Metallic Lustre. Draw a quirky crown and cut out.

11 Adhere the crown, a key (altered with Metallic Lustre as it was very silvery), and some word stickers. Doodle around the stickers, the crown and the board edge with a fine pen.

12 Tear a piece from an old box, rip off some of the surface and dry brush Media Raw Umber paint around the edges.

13 Glue the panel to the corrugated card and you are finished!

Hope your visit today was worthwhile - if you have any questions about the project feel free to post below and I will do my best to answer.

See you soon I hope!

Katy xxx