With a Head Full of Numbers

Hello and happy Friday!! Jennalee here today with a project featuring a few of my favorite things wings and rust!! The Butterfly of Gears wings from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts are the inspiration behind this piece. Who knew you could make wings better by adding gears?

The Butterfly of Gears comes in a 2 pack and are just so inspiring. 

To add faux rust to your wings paint a base layer of white acrylic paint using a cosmetics sponge to dab it on. Using the same sponge randomly dab on Distress Grit Paste and allow to air dry. Once dry sprinkle a generous amount of Rusty Car Infusions directly onto the wings. Spray generously and allow the water to work its magic. Keep adding Infusions and spraying until desired coverage and color is achieved. 

Once the infusions have dried fill in any white areas with Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain Distress Crayons. Using a very light touch add some detail with Cracked Pistachio Distress Crayon. 

Faux rust three Tim Holtz Hardware Heads using Ginger, Latte and Mushroom Alchohol Inks. Add detail with Walnut Stain and Cracked Pistachio Distress Crayons. Adhere to gears on wings. 

Add faux rust to Clock Hands using Rusting Powder from Paper Artsy. 

Create a ruler piece using the ruler from Tim Holtz's Thrift Shop Ephemera pack and a piece of scrap chipboard. 

Add Distress Crazing Medium to the ruler image and once dry add Walnut Stain Distress Crayon. 

Prepare a Ticket Booth ticket colored with Fired Brick Distress Oxide Spray. 

Cut out Found Relative and trace around edges with Brushed Corduroy Distress Marker to get rid of harsh white edges. 

Gather chosen Ephemera pieces and distress using instant coffee. Layout collage and adhere to book cover. 

Layer dial, wings and Found Relative on top of the collage. 

Adhere Clock Hands to the ruler and then adhere to the bottom of the book cover. 

Add faux rust coloring to a Tim Holtz Vintage Clip using Ginger, Latte and Mushroom Alcohol Ink. Add details with Cracked Pistachio and Walnut Stain Distress Crayon. Prepare Numeric embellishment using the same colors and adhere to clip. 

It felt so good to get back in the studio and play with some of my favorite mediums. I really took my time to just enjoy the process and the flow of the project. Plus who knew you could rust so many pieces in multiple ways? 

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you get to sneak in some creative time this weekend along with hopefully a bit of Spring weather. 

Happy Creating ~ Jennalee 

Winged Believers - Folk Art Inspired Dolls

Hello!! I'm here today with a folk art inspired project. I've wanted to try my hand at painting some folk art inspired dolls for a while and the Decorative Tags X Large set provided the perfect substrate. I kept the tags on the simpler side to allow the dolls to shine. Let's jump right in.

To begin cover your tags with a thin layer of gesso using a palette knife to apply. Allow the first layer to air dry and continue building until your tag is covered and you have your desired amount of texture.

Using Distress Crayons and a wet wipe color background. Allow some areas of gesso to show thru. 

Trace around paper dolls with a Distress Marker to blend white edges. Cut dolls at waist and set aside the feet. 

Lay doll image on tag to determine where the skirt will be placed. Using a pencil sketch out a rough skirt shape and paint in shape with gesso. 

Set dolls aside and color in skirt with Distress Crayons. Messy stitch around the skirt. 

On two of the tags I used Tim Holtz's Rosette layering stencil and a wet wipe to remove some of the Distress Crayon thru the stencil. 

I kept the backgrounds simple to allow the texture to shine thru. To add some interest I layered a few pieces of coordinating tissue tape. 

I used various wings from Tim Holtz's Flutter Set colored with coordinating Distress Inks and added to each girl. To finish off tags adhere feet to bottom edge of the tag. I typed out inspiring messages and adhered to each tag. To top each one off I attached an inked hole reinforcer. 

I love the size of the Decorative Tags X Large. I also love that thickness allows for the addition of messy stitching yet holds up to multiple layers of wet media. 

Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me today. I hope these folk art girls inspire you to spread your wings and try something just a little different. Happy Creating ~ Jennalee

Free to Fly Shrine

Hello and happy Friday!! I'm here today with a variation on the Folding House Shrine. I had pulled out the house shrine a couple weeks ago to make but at the time my vision for the piece was not working the way I had envisioned. For some reason, I thought it was supposed to be a box. So my original plan was out. So there sat the Folding House Shrine. Then inspiration struck!! Instead of using the original chipboard "hinges" I decided to use ruler pieces.

I started by coloring the 3 house pieces with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I colored both front and back. 

While I had my ink out I added a bit of color to Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ruler Pieces. I cut one Ruler Piece down to size to fit the shrine pieces. 

I covered the front of the house pieces with vintage shorthand text. I cut to size and ran thru my Xyron. I applied the collage elements to my background pieces at this point. 

Once the backgrounds are adhered to the house pieces. I heat embossed all 3 pieces using Seth Apter's new Baked Texture in Vintage Beeswax. I used a Versamark pad to coat the background and then apply the powder. I did one layer. This picture shows the before (on bottom) and after of the paper. Once the piece has cooled add some depth and detail using Tim Holtz Distress Crayons. 

The wings are printed on dictionary text with a layer of Distress Crazing Medium. Once the Crazing Medium air dried I added some depth to the crazing with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and Tarnished Brass Distress Crayon. Not shown here I added a gold heat embossed edge all the way around each wing. 

The center panel of my shrine features an Idea-ology key that I colored with Vintage Photo Distress Crayon. I added a few drops of Seth Apter's Baked Texture Patina Oxide. I wrapped the key with a length of Tim Holtz Craft Thread dyed with Twisted Citron Distress Oxide. 

I then measured out my holes on each of my house pieces and punched the holes with a drill punch. 

To attach the Ruler Pieces the Folding House Shrine pieces I cut a 16 inch length of  20 gauge craft wire in Antique Brass. Start on the left and work across. Begin by threading wire up from back about 3-4 inches and wrapping a messy spiral. Once knot is desired size wrap around Ruler Piece making sure your wrap is tight enough to hold the Ruler Piece. Be sure to leave 3-4 inches for a messy knot on the next panel. Wrap wire the same way for the remaining holes. 

Attach the key to the middle panel using a strong hold glue. 

I adhered the wings at the base leaving them loose enough to have a flutter effect. I then cut a length of black sewing thread and rolled between my hands to get a messy look. Using an embossing dabber add a random bit of embossing ink and sprinkle on some gold embossing powder and heat set. While the powder was still hot I used to tweezers to apply the thread in the powder. I then added a bit more embossing ink and another sprinkle of gold powder and heat set. 

To finish off the back of my piece I tried out a new technique Eileen Hull shared a couple weeks ago. Using a sponge apply matte medium to an embossing folder and insert paper. I used a brayer to roll the folder to transfer the medium to my paper. I then applied my foiling. Set aside to dry. Once dry peel away foil sheet. 

 

I really love all the different textures and mediums I was able to incorporate into this piece. The finished project is a perfect size for displaying on a shelf. Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me today. I hope you have a weekend full of creative inspiration!! Happy Creating ~ Jennalee