Mechanical Row Houses

These fun little houses have lived in my mind for some time now, so I was pleased to finally take the time to make them.  I used small wooden house shaped blanks along with a ton of products from Prima and Finnabair to create these sweet mixed media treasures.

To start things out I primed my houses with black gesso.  I then added my roof lines with 3D Gloss gel and Black Sand Texture Paste, both such dreamy products.  The versatility of the gel is amazing, I was able to use it both with her glitter and mica flakes.

I love the texture of the roof tops.  The sand paste is especially fun for this application.  And yes, it took a really long time to dry!

I went a little nuts with the silver micro beads again too.

There are two more of these fun houses in process, but I just could not wait to show them off to you all!

Cheers,

Rhea

Happy Haunting Houses

And fall is officially well under way!  The arrival of Halloween this week means that those cold cozy days will be upon us in no time. Graphic 45 challenged the team to come up with some easy Halloween decorating ideas and this is what transpired.  

For this project I was inspired to upcycle something I had in my existing stash.  These painted wood houses from a rummage sale had been on hand for quite some time and I knew they would be a perfect fit for this project.  Since I still have more on hand I am thinking I could do several season and change out the display.

To start, I simply covered each house in black gesso.  A layer of paper on each side made for a perfect base for my simple collage.  Notice how I chose to use the positioning of the paper to create a fence on the back side of the house.  

I used some acrylic paint on the edges to give the houses a bit of a grungy look.   It was so hard for me to use that starry paper.  I have been hanging on to the two sheets I have forever.  Alas, I now only have scraps.

The owl cuts outs are from Retro Cafe Art.  Kristen has a ton of cut outs that make for awesome artsy elements.

I hope you are inspired to look at some of your stash in a new way. 

Happy Halloween!  

Rhea

Embracing the change

For me the transition from fall to winter is typically a sad one because I simply adore the autumn season.  This year I am doing my best to embrace it.  I helped my transition this year by hosting a small ornament workshop yesterday for the Michigan Altered Books and Art Group (MIABA) on Yahoo.  I posted samples of the ornaments we made here.  We met up at a local treasure called The Stamp Shoppe and had a fun creative day of show and tell, chit chat, resource sharing, great food, shopping and we even managed to make a few ornaments too. 

I brought a project to do that I did not even get the chance to touch.  The thought came to me earlier in the week to alter a project I had already completed, you can read more about that here.  The trigger was this week's challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show, which was to show something with a house.  I already completed one project earlier this week, but I really love this theme. 



I had an idea to I alter the back side of this piece with yet another lovely paper by Graphic 45, Christmas Emporium.  I picked up this 8x8 paper stack at a gem of a store in Jackson, Michigan.  It is called Altered Art Addicts and it is filled with lots of unique things you typically can only get online.  You can Like them on Facebook to get insider sales and up to the minute news on what has arrived.  They had all of Tim Holtz's new District Market stuff, yum!  We hope to have our next MIABA meeting here too.



I did not do quite as much fussy cutting with this one.  I really wish I had some tiny vintage tinsel, I may have to seek out some trim just yet.  You can never have too much sparkle. 

One of my favorite things about Graphic 45, is that they always incorporate a postal theme in their papers.



I kept the embellishments simple, sticking to some rusty primitive elements and just a touch of stickels.  Can't you just see some tinsel along the roof line?  I think it could suit the fairy side as well.  Now if I can just find the perfect trim.

I almost feel like I am cheating when I use these papers.  They seriously make creating something lovely quite simple and quick to do. 



As I embrace the season change, I am reminded of gratitude.  It is with much gratitude, that I share a chance to win a couple of really cool crafty books through Laura Anderson's blog, Pretty Things.  Stop on by and check it out if you choose.  Her blog is refreshing and inspirational for sure!

I wish you the best of luck in embracing the change.

Cheers,

Rhea