Reclaim Magazine

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love...Maya Angelou

Hello everyone...so today this happened

...Reclaim Magazine just happens to be my favourite monthly magazine...a place to go for inspiration, for craftsmanship to aspire too, for ideas, that may take you in another direction...its full of visual treats and a real feast for the eye...

...a few weeks ago I completed a makeover for a friend, she has an old trunk that had seen better days...

...and here it is, I can't stop smiling...

...here is the before photo...

...still beautiful, but nothing special...

...its quite amazing what you can achieve, with some time, paint and imagination...

...Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is so versatile, it gives super coverage and has great depth of colour and you can sand back to achieve a glass like finish...can you tell I love it lol...

Thank you for stopping by today

till next time 

Mel XO

ANTOINETTE

...life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away...Maya Angelou

...hello everyone...

...today I want to share with you a fun little project using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint...

...all of Annie's paint comes in cute little tester pots, which are the perfect size for smaller projects...my colour of choice for this mini project is the rather dreamy Antoinette, it's a rather gorgeous 'dirty pink' it has a dreamy moody vibe with a heady dash of vintage romance & I used my detail brush set and my Gelli Plate...

...pebbles collected from the beach and decorated with Annie Sloan's detail brush set...for the card and printmaking I used my Gelli Plate...

 

...card, print & paper weight...a simple & fun project that adds a lovely personal touch to your gifts...what would you do?...

Bye for now

Mel XO

Old to New Part II

If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be...Maya Angelou

...here is part II of Old and New as promised...

...now I must apologise, as I have found it so hard to photograph white (any tips in this department would be great) and get any kind of definition on the piece as a whole...

...the trunk as been given 3 layers of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Pure...the wood on the trunk has been distressed and given a bleached seaside vibe with a hint of Provence showing through...

...the latches too have been sanded back and distressed...I used some white decoart crackle paste, bloody love this stuff! to give extra definition and aging as you can see in the close up here...

...here is some detailing on the sides and on the wooden batons...

...chippy weathered paint...

...the whole piece was finished off with 2 coats of white wax with a days drying in between and has been left matt not buffed...

...completed and delivered home...

...and here is the before picture...

...this trunk has been re-loved and brought completely up to date to fit into the theme of the owners home...it's amazing what can be achieved with a few layers of paint and wax... 

bye for now

XO

Stone Doodles

        You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have
...Maya Angelou...           

 I have never realised just how relaxing creating mini works of art on stones can be...where I live we have a beach and this is often the place for treasure hunting and foraging with my Granddaughter, now she loves to create and it was her idea to draw on stones and shells...and now I can't stop lol...

...it's funny how little it takes for you to become hooked... 

...have a wonderful day...

bye for now

X

Old to New - Work In Progress

Hello...you lovely creative lot 😊 it's been a while...

Thought I would share with you a work in progress...this is a latch off a trunk that is getting a make over, its having new life breathed into it Mel style.  It's been a good while since I have touched my media products and boy I have loooved having a play...

This trunk has been painted in Annie Sloan chalk paint, I have used a custom blend of various whites and have diluted my favourite colour provence to enhance the crackle...

I have used DecoArt mixed media crackle paste to achieve this effect...the size of your crackle depends on how thick you paint it on ie smaller crackles spread thinly and larger crackles spread thickly...I love this product, it is so versatile and the effects you can create are insanely good...

...below is the before photo...

...as I said this is a work in progress so a lot more to come from me but I do hope this has whetted your creative flow to get out your crackle paste...

see you soon

X

SUNBURST

- Live life as though everything is rigged in your favour - Rumi

...Hello everyone...

...it's been so nice to have a DecoArt play day, lots of mess & lots of fun...

...I've created an 8'' by 10'' canvas and 3 mini media boards by Tando-Creative to share with you using Andy Skinner's Sunburst Stencil/Mask and paints and mediums from the DecoArt Media Line...

...I have to say I have stepped right out of my comfort zone and loved it!...

...the fluid acrylics have an amazingly high colour pigment, that give a wonderful vibrancy and add great depth...

...the crackle paint adds thousands of teeny tiny crackles, which come to life when the paint, misters and water flows into them high-lighting their amazing formation...

...lots of circles, hand drawn along with splodges and splatters, no rules...

...tiny fissurs...

...loving this stencil/mask by Andy-Skinner...

...this canvas had been gesso'd, then crackle paint was spread randomly with a pallet knife to add texture...modeling paste was mixed with colour and spread over the stencil...

...liquid glass was added over the top of the dried modeling paste...

...paint, misters and water were layered, dried and layered again, endless possibilities, the Quinacridone Magenta is ahhhhmazing and my new fave colour! I'm a blue girl but this vibrant colour changes when mixed with water etc to become a delicious raspberry I love it...

...the light captured the liquid glass, love this stuff it's so versatile...

...I used black & white Pitt Pens to add some whimsical scribbles to define borders...

...all the pinky tones are Quinacridone Magenta in various stages of dilution, ahhhhmazing colour! I hope you find time to have some fun and see where the paint takes you, sorry these piccys are slightly blurry (think I may need an eye check lol!)...

...all paints and mediums in these photo's are by DecoArt ...

XXX