Embrace Life Shelf Plaque with Sand McTier

Love this time of year when bees, butterflies and dragonflies are everywhere, don’t you?

It usually means the weather is getting warmer and flowers are blooming!

I hope you’ll enjoy creating this simple yet colourful design as much as I did! It doesn’t show up well in the photograph, but the background colours are metallic and so is the dragonfly! They shimmer and shine, and as I pass this little plaque on the shelf, the light dances all over the metallics, bringing it to life!

Prepping the Pieces:

Stand:

• Using a 3/4" wash brush, paint the Medium Canvas Stand with DecoArt’s All Purpose Sealer and let completely dry.
• Once dried, give it a light sanding. Then paint on a smooth layer of DecoArt Media Gesso and let completely dry. Once dried, give it another light sanding, removing any dust.

Dragonfly:

• Load a damp #12 flat brush with Metallic Lustre Lavish Green and tap it on here and there. Rinse the brush and mix with some Metallic Lustre Purple. Tap the colour on here and there. Finish with a little Metallic Lustre White Frost, highlighting in a couple of places.
• Once dried, varnish with DecoArt Media Soft-Touch Varnish.

Stand:

• Lay the Dragonfly Fantasy stencil in place. Load one of the stencil brushes with Extreme Sheen Aquamarine, wiping most of it off on a paper towel. Using a soft circular motion, stencil over the beautiful Rebecca Baer stencil, mostly along the top half of the surface.
• Load the other stencil brush with Extreme Sheen Amethyst, wiping most of it off on a paper towel. Repeat the circular motion over the stencil from the middle, down and on the stand as well. Add some of the purple up into the dragonfly’s wings.
• Blend where it meets the Aquamarine. You might need to add more of the Aquamarine and then more Amethyst to get them to blend nicely. Let dry.
• Load the IPC Large Oval Foam Sponge with Carbon Black, blotting any excess off on a paper towel. Run the brush along the inside edge of the surface to give it a framed in look.
• Wipe the Amethyst stencil brush off on a paper towel and then load with Carbon Black, wiping most of it off onto a paper towel.
• Lay the word stencil in place and, using a soft circular motion, go over the words. Load the liner brush with Carbon Black and attach the letters so that it doesn’t look like you’ve used a stencil.
• Load the #12 flat brush with water and dip into Extreme Sheen Amethyst; splatter colour in a few places on the plaque. Rinse and repeat with Titanium White.
• Let everything dry and then varnish with DecoArt Media Soft-Touch Varnish.     

Finishing Touches:

• Glue the dragonfly on the stand with E6000.
• Display!

Southern Ridge Trading Company Products Used:

- Medium Wood Canvas Stand

- Zen Dragonfly

Other Supplies Used:

- Dynasty Brushes: Black Gold 3/4" Wash, #12 Flat, IPC Large Oval Foam, 1/2" Stencil brush x 2 and a liner brush of choice.

(All available from TheBrushGuys.com – use promo code: sandymc for an additional discount)

- Rebecca Baer Stencil: Dragonfly Fantasy (Med.) ST-8007

- DecoArt Stencil: Motivation

- DecoArt Americana All Purpose Sealer

- DecoArt Media Products, White Gesso & Fluid Acrylics: Titanium White and Carbon Black

- DecoArt Extreme Sheen: Amethyst & Aquamarine

- DecoArt Metallic Lustres: Lavish Green, Purple and White Frost

- DecoArt Media Varnish: Soft-Touch

- E6000 Glue

- Misc. Supplies: Sanding Block, Palette Paper and Water Basin

Website: www.sandymctierdesigns.com

FB: www.Facebook.com/SandyMcTierDesigns

©2018 Embrace Life, Sandy McTier Designs ~ all rights reserved

Spring Dragonfly Frame with Erin Quiding-Sampson

Hello, I’m back to share this pretty Dragonfly décor piece with you. I started off by putting a thin coat of gel medium onto the front and back pieces of the frame. I then added some decorative tissue paper to that. I set them aside and allow to dry.

After the tissue is dried rip away any excess, then use a sanding block or nail file to smooth out the sides.

I added metallic paint in copper, peridot green and white to add some interest to the frame.

I cut apart and coloured the leafy branches and added a thin coat of white acrylic to the dragonfly.

When the dragonfly was dried I painted the wings in a muted purple and blue. I also coloured the body in the peridot green.

I put a coat of Mother of pearl structure gel over everything. I thought this might give the whole piece the iridescent of a dragonfly wing.

Now it's time to assemble. I used gel medium to adhere the whole project together. Glue together the front and back pieces of the frame.

I then added the leafy branches starting from the largest to smallest.

I did the same with the flowers. I opened the flowers toward the bottom and squished together the ones closest to the top. I wanted to make them look “bud” like.

I added pop dots to the back of the dragonfly and gently curved the wings to make it stand off the frame.

Here’s a couple close ups so you can see the colours better.

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

Zen Dragonfly 

Leafy Branches

Wood Tri Frame 4

Other Supplies Used:

- Stampin' Up!: Ink pads in Garden Green, Island Indigo and Rich Razzleberry

- Close To My Heart: Sanding Block

- Liquitex: Matte Gel Medium

- Folkart Acrylic Paint: Metallic Copper and Metallic Peridot

- DecoArt: White Acrylic paint

- Daler Rowney: Mother of Pearl Structure Gel

- Decorative Tissue paper

- Paintbrush and something for water

- Small flowers

- Pop dots

Thanks so much for stopping in.  

~ Erin

Orchids and Dragon Flies with Tracy Moreau

Dragonflies are my Totem, By Spirit guide so to speak. I have an odd affinity for them and they to me. They frequently land on me when I'am out of doors. I love to watch them fly and am enthralled by them when at rest. The delicacy of their wings and the vibrancy of the colour are inspiring. They are...uniquely elegant.

I have used the laser cut dragonflies in a previous post, but NOT the stencil! And I loved this Tavern Sign piece so, I combined them to create this.

I started with the chipboard Vintage Sign Kit, using the middle piece for the surface (I have other plans for the rest of the pieces!) One chipboard Zen Dragonfly and Dragonfly Stencil. 

I love the Southern Ridge stencils...tons of details!!

I started with base coating the surface with Carbon Lamp Black. Then stencilled the dragonfly with DecoArts Bronze Dazzling Metallic. I just applied the image randomly over the surface taking care to allow portions of the image in a few places.

The stencils are easy to clean up with a little hand sanitizer!

I traced and transfer the floral to the panel and then based coated the Americana Acrylics. The petals are based with Warm White and the centre portion with Light Orchid. I based the leaves with Avocado Dip.

I shaded around the floral using a float of Lamp Black and began shading the floral with floats of Light Orchid, then deepened them with a float of Brilliant Purple. The leaves are shaded with floats of Plantation Pine and highlighted with floats of Margarita/Warm White. I then toned both the floral and the leaves and stems with floats of thinned Asphaltum.

I outlined the edge of the panel with a 18kt Gold Paint Pen. While this was drying I painted the dragonfly with a sponge dabbing first Bronze, then Gold, then Green Metallic and then Peacock Pearl Metallic. I glued a small wooden block to the back of the dragonfly. To give it elevation over the floral.

Here's what you need to complete this project:

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplied Used:

- Vintage Sign Kit

- Zen Dragonfly Stencil

- Zen Dragonfly

Other Supplies Used:

- DecoArt Americana Acrylics: Light Orchid, Brilliant Purple, Titanium White, Warm White, Lamp Black, Avocado Dip, Plantation Pine, Sunny Day, Persimmon, Margarita, Asphaltum. Dazzling Metallics: Crystal Green, Peacock Pearl, Bronze and Bright Gold

- DynastyBlack Gold Brushes: 1/2 angle shader, 10/0 Liner and #4 Filbert

- Tracy Moreau Stencil Brush: 1/2 stencil brush

Questions?? Contact me at tracy.moreau@tracymoreau.net

Designed by Tracy Moreau

www.tracymoreau.net

Zen Dragonfly Box with Sandy McTier

Hi Y’all!! I was super duper excited when I saw the new Southern Ridge Trading Company Zen Dragonfly items and couldn’t wait to create with them!! Of course I had a thousand and one ideas running through my head and initially planned to paint water lilies for my dragonfly (which I started but didn’t finish), then I saw this picture that INSPIRED my dragonfly creation! As I was scrolling through pictures on my computer, I found this gorgeous Art Deco Compact (pictured below) that was a silver brushed metal with a gold dragonfly on top, and it led to this catch-all box that I’m in love with.

The box is a 5” paper mache box from Hobby Lobby.

To give it that brushed metal look, it needed to have some texture. I used one of my all time favorite stencils. This stencil is actually from the M2 (as in ‘M squared’) line of stencils that Tracy Moreau and I have created. This particular stencil, M2-3, lends itself to the “Art Deco” feel. I used a palette knife to apply the DecoArt Media Black Modeling Paste to box, doing so in stages so that the sides, etc. had time to dry before moving on to the next area.

I didn’t paint the box first, but you certainly could with black paint. I chose to wait for the modeling paste to dry and then painted it with a very thin application of Lamp Black. Next, I loaded a sponge dauber with the black paint, pounced off the excess and painted the dragonfly.

Once the box dried, I brushed some of the Extreme Sheen Silver over the entire box and lid and then wiped back some of the excess paint with a paper towel. It was super shiny, and I loved the look, so I snapped a picture so you could see what it looked like. I even brushed on some Extreme Sheen Aquamarine to see how that would look, which you can see in the picture. However, I wanted a more subtle look to the metal shine, so decided to antique it with DecoArt Media Carbon Black Antiquing Cream. I brushed that all over the box and then wiped back the excess paint with a paper towel, repeating that step on the lid as well. While that was drying I painted the dragonfly with the Extreme Sheen Gold. I found it easier to load a sponge dauber with the paint and lightly pounce over the dragonfly to keep the intricate cutouts paint free.

To finish off the look, I loaded a 1” stencil brush with White Frost Metallic Lustre, working it into the bristles and then dry brushed the lustre on the box and the dragonfly. This added that perfect brushed metal look to the piece. You can buff to the desired shine with a soft cloth. Finally, I glued the dragonfly to box using E6000 glue.

I hope this inspires you to create it!! I think it would be cool to make some 4” coasters to match, using the M2 stencil and paint (without a raised texture) and then add the dragonfly using the new Southern Ridge Trading Company Zen Dragonfly Stencil.

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

ZenDragonfly 

Other Supplies Used:

Surface: 5” Paper Mache Box (Available from Hobby Lobby)

- M2 Stencil – M2-3 (Available from www.SandyMcTierDesigns.com)

- DecoArt Americana Acrylics: Lamp Black

- DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics: Carbon Black Antiquing Cream

- DecoArt Media Metallic Lustre: White Frost

- DecoArt Media Black Modeling Paste

- DecoArt Extreme Sheen: Silver and Gold (Aquamarine – optional)

- Dynasty Brushes: 1” Faux Sable and 1” Stencil Brush (Available from TheBrushGuys.com – use promo code: sandymc for an additional discount)

- Other supplies: Palette Knife & E6000

Website: www.sandymctierdesigns.com 

 FB: www.Facebook.com/SandyMcTierDesigns

©2018 Zen Dragonfly Box, Sandy McTier Designs ~ all rights reserved

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

 

 

   

 

Zen Dragonfly Flower Pot Decoration with Ava Gavloski

Hello and Welcome to the Southern Ridge Trading Co. blog today.  Ava here to share inspirational ideas for you to find new places to embellish your world with chipboard from Southern Ridge Trading Co.

Lets count the ways to be creative in our decorating…..

Adhere your painted dragon fly chipboard to a wooden skewer and add to any floral or greenery decor item.  The results are fantastic.

Above I have added the dragonfly to a cut flower vase that I received for Mother’s Day.

Next up below is adding the dragonfly to a potted plant.

It was a sunny day out when I was photographing and I could not resist.

Add the dragonfly to your garden plants.  Really think about adding the spike to a pot of tulips in the spring, so pleasing to see the decorative addition of the Dragonfly.

Oh my in the garden with the angels.  The different textures are a win win combination.

Apply any mixed medium treatment onto this zen dragonfly and you have unlimited possibilities.  When you order your dragonflies from the store HERE, be sure to get more than one as you can see these would be a great custom addition to any potted plant purchase to add sparkle to your presentation.

The dragonfly can be a great addition to any greenery item as well…

Be creative and have this beautiful dragonfly embellish many household decor items.  

Add sparkle to your world.

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Zen Dragonfly

Other Supplies Used:

- DecoArt: Extreme Sheen

- DecoArt: Fluid Acrylics - Primary Magenta

Ava