Thursday, 22 September 2016

A little bird told me...

My offer for this month's Claritystamp Challenge is a little MDF birdhouse, decorated for the theme "in the garden". I honestly can't recall where I got the shape from, but it's really happy to be liberated from the rest of the stash in my cupboard!





I started by giving the MDF shape a base coat of Snowflake Fresco Finish  Acrylic Paint by PaperArtsy, then when that was dry, I went over the shape again in Beach Hut Fresco Finish Paint and dried it thoroughly using a heatgun.

Using the Flower Stencil (NDSC #24) from Claritystamp, with some areas masked off with tape, I applied Blood Orange Fresco Finish Paint to the flowers using a piece of cut and dry foam, a little Cadmium Yellow Daler Rowney System 3 acrylic paint to the flower centres, and a mixture of Sage Fresco finish paint and Emerald Daler Rowney System 3 acrylic paint to the leaves, then left it all to dry. The design looked a little soft around the edges, so I went around the flowers and leaves with a black fine-liner pen, and added some details to the flower petals. I also added some yellow dots with Pebeo Gloss Touch in Bright Yellow to give a bit more dimension to the flower heads.




I decided to add some stamped detail to the roof of the birdhouse, and randomly stamped with Claritystamp small ocean swirl stamp from the Galleon set using Ranger Stormy Skies Distress Ink, and again drew freehand around the stamping to add a bit more definition to the design.

Finally, I found a bit of inky, blotchy scrap card, and drew one of the birds from Claritystamp Bird Frame stencil (NDSC #1) using a fine liner pen, extending the branch it was standing on, so that it would wrap around the edges of the bird house. I felt it needed to stand out a bit more against the bright background, so I added a few black boxes, zentagle style, and made my little bird into a zebra finch! Admittedly, you don't see many of those in my garden in Inverness, but I call it artistic license!!!


Hope you enjoy my little birdhouse, and I'm going to hang it from the shelf in my craftroom to keep me company when I'm crafting on my own.

Thanks for visiting, Susan x
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16 comments:

  1. sheila22 September 2016 at 20:33

    Beautiful art work Susan xxx

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    1. ssn.wht@gmail.com23 September 2016 at 19:19

      Thanks Sheila - not perfect, but I enjoyed doing it! x

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  2. Mrs P23 September 2016 at 20:55

    I love this Susan, a very unique piece of artwork. I hope you're giving it pride of place in your home or giving it as a very special gift.
    Thank you for joining in with the Challenge again. Lovely to see your arty-crafting every month.
    Have a lovely weekend x

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    1. ssn.wht@gmail.com23 September 2016 at 22:30

      Thanks Carole - Love that the challenge themes really stretch me to do different things from my normal tried and tested techniques! I really appreciate your comments, Susan x

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  3. Mrs P23 September 2016 at 20:56

    Forgot to say - it's a great step-by-step too :-) x

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  4. Linda Bentley25 September 2016 at 07:46

    What a great idea .this is really lovely . good luck with the challenge x

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  5. Lynne Bishop25 September 2016 at 12:36

    Lovely idea. Just right for the challenge theme as well. Beautiful. Good Luck in the challenge. xx

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    1. ssn.wht@gmail.com25 September 2016 at 17:19

      Thanks so much for your lovely comments Lynne - I really appreciate them x

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  6. Unknown25 September 2016 at 13:31

    Hi Susan found yi well its no easy fir me as you are probably aware so hope you get this had a great wee time looking on your blog and love your art be back soon ..love DOT..XX

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    1. ssn.wht@gmail.com25 September 2016 at 17:25

      Thank you Dot - I really appreciate you making a comment and looking at my blog, as I know you and technology are not always the best of friends! Hope you are doing well, and holding onto those lovely memories you made on your family holiday. If you want to get away for a bit and have a little trip to Inverness you are always welcome here, and we can get inky fingers together, Susan x

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  7. Shelagh Metselaar25 September 2016 at 23:54

    Hi Susan, now I know exactly what to do with those bird houses I have hanging up in my craft room. (Think I bought them to concoct something for my Mum's carers' Xmas but now have decided on far quicker project.) l particularly like the contrast between the bird and the house. Fab! Best wishes in this month's Clarity challenge and thank you for your continuing support. ;~}

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    1. ssn.wht@gmail.com26 September 2016 at 17:00

      Thanks Shelagh, and delighted to have given you an idea when you and the rest of the design team inspire me so much every month! Hope your birdhouses turn out well x

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  8. Angela26 September 2016 at 12:50

    Susan what a great project. I particularly love how you've created your bird. Thanks for joining the Clarity Challenge this month. Good luck! x

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