Inspiration

Hello Everyone!!
I have to tell you a secrete... Lean in close, I am totally addicted to Pinterest. :) Do you harbor the same addiction? I love going onto Pinterest for a while and looking around and letting ideas or quotes  fill me with inspiration. Today I love the project I made. 
The pin led me to a 13@rts page HERE.  I started out my Pinterest search  that day with the determination to use some paintbrushes I had received in a "Palette Kit". I used the painters palette in several other projects, but was left with several not fabulous quality brushes. I have several projects I have done with the leftover brushes. I hope you like them.

Here is the project in its entirety. The letters say "create more art".

Here is a close up of the brushes, I dipped them in modeling paste by Shimmerez called Dazzlers. The color is creamcicle. I  also got a close up of the texture I created by letting the gesso I painted on the canvas bubble slightly.

I got this amazing flower in an embellishment swap about a year ago. The hearts are from a Maya Road warehouse box. I recently found this glass filler product on the Flying Unicorn website. LOVE, love, love.

More of the dazzler texture paste.

I got this bird from Flying Unicorn in their metal finding section. I love it so much.

I hope you liked my variation of the project.  I would like to know where/how do you get inspiration.
Have a great day!!

Mixed media fun

Hi Everyone!!

Here is another mixed media project. I tried to take pictures while I was working on it. I hope you try this project or one similar.

Here is the project when it was finished. The words in the center say " see the beauty in every day things

I used a 8x10 canvas. I actually recycled one that I had glued some music note paper to.  It was rather hideous and I was so happy when inspiration hit.  I honestly hated the original piece so much I did not take a pic of it. :)
I then painted a layer of crackle medium onto the canvas. You can use Elmers clear/gel glue if you do not have crackle medium. there is even a tutorial HERE if you would like to know how.
I then painted the canvas with Apple barrel brand paint in the color Cloudless. I added black India Ink splatters. I let it all dry while I dipped the paint brush tips into paint and set them aside to dry. I also gathered materials from all my stash piles. Metal pieces, scraps of crochet doilies, chipboard pieces, and Flowers. The words are from past Maya Road ware house boxes!!

I got some artist pallets for another project and they came with a full set of (ehhh) paint brushes. Not wanting to throw them away I decided to recycle them and use them on this project.

Before I added gesso. I hate wasting anything so, I used the bottoms of the paint brushes that I cut to fit in the bottom corner.

Still needs to be lighter

Needs a bit more gesso

hmmm, now it seems to fade into the back round too much.

I recently got some 13 arts glass beads, I totally love them. I use them every chance I get.

I love the way the piece of doily peeks out from beneath the chipboard daydream word. If you look really closely you can see the mess that hides underneath.

Here is another close up of the grouping of items covered in gesso and sprayed with white sprays. I thought about going all out and using all my Lindy's and Prima sprays, but I really liked the simplicity of this piece. In the final piece way back up there at the top of the post, I solved the problem of the  groupings fading into the backround by adding a "Halo" or "brightning" effect with some white gesso.

I really hope you enjoyed this piece . Let me know what you think or if you would like to see a more detailed tutorial or even a video.
Have a wonderfully crafty day!!
Haley

Altered paint brush

Hi Everyone!!

Today I wanted to share with you an altered paint brush. I was at my local mega store and I was looking for some spackle to use in my mixed media projects. Please don't get me wrong, I love modeling/texture/embossing paste as much as the next crafter, but I don't always need it to be archival safe. Any way, as I was walking down the aisle I saw these paint brushes for 81 cents each. I knew one would work for a substitute for a Hake' brush for my daughter. The other I bought for me to try to do something with.  Here is what I came up with. I want to do a series with seasonal colors and ephemera.

All these amazing flowers and metal pieces make me so happy.

Here is a full frontal view of the paint brush.

I used the button on the back to hold the ribbon in place and to provide a place to hang it on the wall.

I hope you will try one of these super simple, but beautiful altered paintbrushes for yourself.
Have a great day!!
Haley

ATC fun

I  wanted to try my hand at ATC(s), so when a challenge came up for a shabby chic ATC swap I just knew what I wanted to do.

I love how these came out.
Happy crafting
Haley