Sunflowers Seed 2 with Tracy Moreau

Late summer brings us  those big beautiful sunny faced flowers , as a reminder that fall is not far away.  this lovely Gear Clock Wood Piece , just called out for a Rusty distressed metal effect, and some lovely country colours to keep it “on Trend” with the Farm House/Country Look.  It’s an easy one to create and could as easily be done using decoupage paper, dinner napkins or a printed label. If you are Not artistically inclined. The RUSTY finish is an easy to do effect and works well with all kinds of things.

Heres how it’s done!

First  you have to choose your surface.. this one is wonderful.. ( would make an awesome card!)

I base coated it first with Lamp Black to give me a nice uniform surface to work on. Then I began layer colour over top of the black, starting with a Gold metallic. This is just dry brushed on and leaves a fair amount of the black showing through.

Once the gold is completely dry, I dry brushed again.. this time using Burnt Sienna, I let it dry well then dry brushes once more using Quinacridone Gold. I then layered these colour two more times alternating them.

The final dry brush is a small amount of the Lamp Black, paying a bit more attention to the corners and edges, top and bottom.

You can continue to layer until you like what you see.. I prefer it to be a little lighter.

I taped off the top and bottom of the panel and then applied a base coat of Country Red.

Once it was dry I traced my own design using white graphite. I shaded around the design and the lettering with a float of thinned Lamp Black. ( this just lots the design off the background a little.

Once everything was dry. I based coated the Flower and The Lettering with Summer Squash. (this is a NEW DecoArt Colour) the leaves with Antique Green, and the centre with Asphaltum.

The Flowers are shaded with floats of thinned Scarlet and the leaves with Plantation Pine. The leaves are highlighted with floats of Margarita and the flowers with Thinned Warm White.  

The lettering is shaded with a float of thinned Scarlet along the bottom of each letter. And a highlight is added in a thin line on the left side of each letter. Once all those are complete, A few scribbly details are added around the leaves, dip dots to texture the centre of the flower and a few fine scrolls for vines and stems are added  as filler. Once Sparingly spattered with first white and then a touch of Black, it is ready to hang and enjoy!!

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Gear Clock Wood Canvas

- Med. Gears

Other Supplies Used:

- DecoArt Americana: Lamp Black, Asphaltum, Country Red, Summer Squash, Warm White, Margarita, Antique Green, Scarlet, Burnt Sienna & Gold Matte Mettalic and DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic: Quinacridone Gold

- Dynasty Brushes: Faux Squirrel 1/4 Angled Shader, 1/2 Angled Shader, #2 Rigger, 3/4 Fat Wash, 3/4 Oval Encaustic and Black Gold 10/ Liner

Designed By Tracy Moreau

Self Propelled Flowers with Tracy Moreau

Nothing invokes the spirit of Summer like the flutter of butterflies. Southern Ridge Trading has such wonderful chipboard butterflies in a wide variety of sizes and styles. They make great additions to any design.. toss in one of their delicate and intricate frames and you have more structure to build your design on. I love that I can add design elements to some of my mixed media work, so easily! The chip board takes paint easily and smoothly, and the resulting finishes are soooo pretty! This is an easy piece , very little painting skill is required,  and it is such a bright and sunny reminder that Summer will soon be here!!

I started with a base of a Warm White or a Light Buttermilk , you can use Gesso too.. as long as the base is light in colour.

once that was dry I used DecoArt Matt Medium to adhere the paper to the surface. I used a small brayer to press it down firmly.

I began adding colour, starting with the Magenta at the bottom, then adding Diarylide Yellow in the centre and over lapping the red, then from the top down and over lapping the yellow I used Cobalt Teal Hue. The Media Colours are quite transparent so this makes it easy to get those lovely blended colours.

I cut out the printed butterfly , and used Matt Medium to adhere it to the left side of the panel. I let the bulk of the left wing extend past the edge of the panel. I then started adding colour to the wings , first a wash of the Yellow , then a float of the Cobalt Teal Hue over the edges of the wings, and finally I added the Magenta to a few areas of the wings. I based the body with Lamp Black. I added a few shadows around the butterfly with a float of Asphaltum.

I sponged the frame with bronze metallic, and then added a few dabs of the Cobalt teal and the magenta here and there.

I cut a piece of  card stock to fit the back of the frame and stamped it with a Script Stamp ( I was not very neat .. I kinda like the irregularities it creates.) Then I washed the card stock with some thinned asphaltum.

I painted the chipboard butterflies with with Lamp Black and then added the wing details  to one with Sea Breeze and Diarylide Yellow and then added a few White dip dots.

Assembly:

I glued the card stock piece, to the back of the frame and then Glued the Butterfly to the middle. When it was dry, I glued two small wood blocks to the back.

I cut out the words with edging scissors and then  I decoupaged them in place using the Matt Medium.

I spattered the whole piece first with thinned Lamp Black and then again with thinned Warm White.

I traced the edges of the Large Butterfly with Pebeo Fixation relief ( dimensional adhesive.) And when that was dry I pressed Gold Foil into it. I aged the edges of the panel with the Black Ink Pad.

For this project you need:

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Butterfly Trio

- Butterfly Mix

- Small Oval Frame

Other Supplies Used:

- 6x6 Art Panel: www.vikingwoodcrafts.com

- DecoArt Americana: Media Fluid Acryclics - Primary Magenta, Cobalt Teal Hue, Diarylide Yellow, Matt Medium and DecoArt Americana Acrylics - Asphaltum, Lamp Black, Warm White & 24 Kt Gold

- Dynasty Faux Squirrel Brushes: 1/2 Angle, #8 Fat Shader and Dynasty Encaustic - 1/2 Oval

- Pebeo: Fixation Relief & Gold Foil

- Stampendous Stamps: Script Stamp - CRP249

- Tim Holtz Ideaology: Tissue Paper

- Misc: Shop Towels

Designed By Tracy Moreau

www.tracymoreau.net

Springtime in Paris with Sandy McTier

Happy New Year Y’all!!

Are y’all as ready for spring as I am?? I’m just not made for winter! lol

I remember many years ago, my husband and I took a trip to Paris during the spring. Paris is such a magical city and even more magical during spring! The colours, flowers, fragrance and feelings of being in this city during spring are still such fond memories I hold dear!

I think you’d agree that nothing speaks to Paris more than the Eiffel Tower?! I knew when I got this chipboard piece that I wanted to make it a focal point in one of my painted pieces! The SRTC Horizontal Filigree Wood Frame was the perfect piece to showcase a Parisian painted piece! Of course I wanted to figure out a way to use it differently, so I flipped the top part over and, instantly, I heard the piece sing! Don’t you love it when that happens!!

Prepping the Pieces:

• I painted both pieces with DecoArt’s All Purpose Sealer and let completely dry.
• Next, I painted both pieces with a smooth layer of DecoArt Media Gesso and let completely dry.

Eiffel Tower:

• I painted the tower with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics – Raw Umber and let dry.
• I loaded a damp sponge brush with DecoArt Metallic Lustre – Iced Espresso and painted the tower.
• I flipped the sponge painter over and loaded the other side with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics – Quinacridone Magenta and painted the word PARIS.  
• I added a bit of DecoArt Metallic Lustre – White Frost on the top half of the sponge painter and ran it back and forth over the top half of the word PARIS.
• Once the piece completely dried, I added some highlights of the White Frost Metallic Lustre here and there on the tower.

Horizontal Filigree Frame:

• I loaded a sponge with DecoArt Americana Acrylics – Spa Blue and Indian Turquoise, painted the frame and let dry.
• Next, I loaded some Turquoise Vintage Effects on the sponge, painted over the entire piece and let completely dry.
• I was going for more of a Tiffany Blue so decided to load the sponge with White Vintage Effects and painted that over the entire frame. Then I used a soft towel to wipe back some of the colour. It was exactly the colour I was going for!
• I stenciled on a beautiful rose stencil on the bottom piece of the frame using the White Vintage Effects and let dry.
• Roses seemed like the perfect addition to this Parisian piece! I based in the basic shapes of roses with DecoArt Fluid Acrylics… the roses with Quinacridone Magenta and the leaves with a mixture of Green Gold and Titanium White. An angle brush works great for adding the layers of petals on the roses. I’ll have a pattern packet with worksheets for this project on my website soon!
• I floated a mixture of Paynes Grey and Sap Green at the base of the leaves and also floated some straight Quinacridone Magenta in the center of the roses to give each more depth.
• Once dry, I dry brushed a mixture of Green Gold and Cobalt Teal Hue on the leaves to give them a subtle highlight and added veins on the leaves using a liner brush loaded with a mixture of Green Gold and Titanium White.
• Finally, I loaded a damp small brush with the Green Gold mixture and painted some soft transparent leaves and scroll strokes here and there to lighten up the design a bit and give the piece some movement.

Finishing Touches:

I used the On Point Glue by Imagine to glue the chipboard Paris piece in the center and set a book on top to keep it in place. Once dry, I added glue around the edge of the painted area and set the top frame piece on top. Again, I set a book on top of it to make sure it adhered to the bottom piece securely.

Southern Ridge Trading Company Products Used:

- Horizontal Filigree Frame

- Paris Tower

Other Supplies Used:

- Tracy Moreau Rose Mask Stencil

- DecoArt Americana Acrylics: Spa Blue and Indian Desert

- DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics: Quinacridone Magenta, Titanium White, Green Gold, Paynes Grey and Sap Green.

- DecoArt Media Metallic Lustre: White Frost and Iced Espresso

- DecoArt Vintage Effects: Turquoise and White

- Dynasty Brushes: Black Gold 1” Wash,  3/8” Angle, #8 Shader, #2 Round, IPC Large Oval Foam, Large Tracy Moreau Stencil Brush and a liner brush of choice. (Available from TheBrushGuys.com – use promo code: sandymc for an additional discount)

Imagine On Point Glue

Website: www.sandymctierdesigns.com

FB: www.Facebook.com/SandyMcTierDesigns

©2019 Springtime in Paris, Sandy McTier Designs ~ all rights reserved

Y’all have a GREAT day; Happy Creating!!  Sandy

Joy to the World Wall Hanging with Sandy McTier

How about some Christmas in September?!! You can never start painting too early for the holidays, and I hope this inspires to you create something “Christmasy” today!

Absolutely love this Holly Berry Branch (coming to the SRTC website soon) and thought it was perfect to adorn an ornament or accompany a bow on a present.

I love the IPC Foam Brushes by Dynasty for painting on the chipboard pieces! I loaded the dry brush with some gesso, working it into the sponge to get rid of the excess sitting on top. Next, I gently brushed it back and forth to cover the piece. A tooth pick works great to get any excess gesso or paint out of the cutout sections.   

Once the gesso was completely dry, I painted in the holly leaves with DecoArt Americana Irish Moss and shaded them with Plantation Pine. I painted in the berries with a mixture of Alizarin Crimson and a touch of Titanium White and then added some shading to them with Alizarin Crimson.

It was time to leave the leaves alone for a while and let them dry, so I painted the bow Lamp Black and let it completely dry. Next, I painted it with DecoArt Media Metallic Silver. 

While the bow was drying, I painted the ornament with a mixture of Cobalt Turquoise Hue and Titanium White. Then, of course, it needed some splatter,  so I splattered on some Titanium White. After sitting for a couple of minutes, I placed a soft paper towel on top of the ornament and lightly pressed. I love the way this softens the splatter! 

I thought this Stampendous stamp was perfect for my ornament! Inked it up with some Staz-on black ink, covered the words to the right to keep them from transferring and stamped the word ‘Joy’. (Tip: Once you ink up the stamp, stamp it onto a piece of scrap paper. Re-ink the stamp and then go to the piece. The ink sticks better to the ink already on the stamp and your image will almost always come out just right!) Then I removed the tape from the smaller words and inked them up, covered the word ‘Joy’ with tape and added the smaller words to the ornament.

I added some more highlights and shading to the leaves, stem, bow and berries and then glued it onto my ornament. I sealed everything with DecoArt Media Soft-Touch Varnish. I plan on hanging the ornament with either a ribbon or thin wire.

I hope this inspires you to create something “Christmasy” today!!

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

 - Holly Berry Branch - 3.3x5.0 (coming soon)

Other Supplies Used:

 - Square Bracket Ornament #31-L237 – www.cdwood.com

- Stampendous: Stamp – Joy Has Come #RS-M334

- DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics: Titanium White, Cobalt Turquoise Hue, Sap Green & Green Gold

- DecoArt Americana Acrylics: Irish Moss, Plantation Pine, and Alizarin Crimson

- DecoArt Media: White Gesso & Soft-Touch Varnish

- Dynasty Brushes: 3/4" Wash, 1/4" & 3/8" Angle and Mezzaluna (Sm)

- Other Supplies: E6000, Wire or Ribbon of choice to hang

Website: www.sandymctierdesigns.com FB: www.Facebook.com/SandyMcTierDesigns

©2018 Joy to the World Ornament, Sandy McTier Designs ~ All Rights Reserved

Y’all have a GREAT day; Happy Creating!! Sandy