Mixed Media Christmas Angel with Altered Pages and Activa®

Happy Monday, friends!  I suppose you know by now that the Altered Pages team are working with some really cool products from Activa® this month.  I get to play with two products, Lumina Air Dry Polymer Clay and PermaStone Casting Compound.  Check back in two weeks to see what I make with the PermaStone Casting Compound.

But today, I want to share this sweet little angel I made using a lowly paper mache cone and Lumina air dry clay.

Tear strips of paper from the 6x6 Glitz Happy Travels Paper Pad and adhere to cone with Gel Medium.  Leave areas open to adhere strips of  Music Sheets, but do not cover cone completely.

Use a spatula to spread an uneven coat of crackle paste in those blank areas left between the sheets of paper.

Use waterbrush to color cone with the Mica Paint Palette colors.

I added color after color until I liked the result.

After my layers of colors dried, I decided to go for a lighter effect, so I used a baby wipe to remove some of the paint layers.  As you can see, the watercolors remove easily, so I was able to go back to revealing my music sheet prints.  However, lots of the watercolors were left in the nooks and crannies.

I wanted to add more translucent color, so I brought out my Splash Inks and began adding Blue with a baby wipe.  I could control the amount and transparency of the color easily.

Next, I began adding the Magenta ink in the same manner.  Set cone aside to dry.

I have quite a few molds in my stash, and these products from Activa® are the perfect complement.  Check out the molds available from Altered Pages.

I used the Lumina Air Dry Polymer Clay in an old wings and face mold I have had for years.  It is a hard mold, so I used brushed a light coat of baby powder over it before adding the clay.  The really cool thing about this clay is that it is polymer clay, but it air dries.  It is super easy to use, and very soft and malleable.

When the clay air-dried, I removed it from the mold and began painting the face with various acrylic paints and the wings with ivory paint.

Altered Pages has a nice selection of paints and brushes, too. I even used my Waterbrush with the acrylic paint.  They are not just for water colors, and quite handy, too!  If you don't squeeze it, the water stays put inside the reservoir, but if you need to thin the paint a bit, just squeeze for a watered-down paint, or for cleaning the brush when finished using the paint.

If you don't have a face or wings mold, then check out these great Altered Pages collage images in the Angels/Fairies section.  Any of these would look awesome for your angel or fairy projects.

I next painted the front and back of the wings with gold from the Mica Paint Palette.

I rubbed some of the gold off to bring back the ivory color for a shabby chic look.

Next, I added a very watered down bit of the black from the Mica Paint Palette.  This brought out the details in the wings while giving it a more vintage look.  Do this on both sides, front and back, of each wing.

I found a metal embellishment to put behind my angel face.  Here are the parts so far.

I glued the clay angel face to the metal embellishment, then to the top of the cone, as shown.  I used Aleene's Tacky Glue for this.

While that was drying, I painted one of the chipboard Snowflakes on both sides with White Gesso and allowed it to dry.  Then I coated both sides with Stickles Stardust glitter glue for extra sparkle.

I cut a 5" piece of twisted wire (any heavier gauge wire will work) and bent it into the shape of arms.

I made holes in the cone and inserted the wire through the holes.  Use pliers to straighten and flatten the ends for the next step.

Glue the snowflake to the wire ends to appear as though your little angel is offering you a snowflake for a white Christmas.  How sweet is she?

And finally, our little angel needs her wings.  So I used the Aleene's Tacky Glue again to glue them to each side of the cone, as shown.

For an added  bit of sparkly glitz, I added the Ocean Blue Glass Glitter, making random "patches" of glue and sprinkling the glitter over it.

close-up of glitter patches

And here she is, one more time, looking up to the Heavens like the sweet angel she is.

Altered Pages Supplies:

Paper Mache Cones
White Gesso
Gel Medium
Assorted Flowers
Music Sheets
Waterbrushes
Mica Paint Palette 
Splash Inks
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Snowflakes 6 pieces
Stickles (Stardust)
Glass Glitter (Ocean Blue)

Other supplies used:

Lumina Air Dry Polymer Clay

Gold crackle paste

White crackle paste

Heavy gauge wire

Be sure to check back daily to see more from our design team as they work with ACTIVA® products!!!

And remember our giveaway... comment each day for more chances to win this Celluclay book!

As always, thanks for visiting, and I hope you were inspired to try one of these cute angels for yourself, or maybe for someone special.  I think they would make the most fabulous gift this holiday season.

Until next time, thanks again, and keep on crafting!

Barbara

Venetian Carnivale Mixed Media Card

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog.  It's the beginning of a new week over at Altered Pages, and I have another fun, mixed media project to share.  First off, I want to let you in on a little tidbit of good news.   Altered Pages is offering more specials this month.  

When you purchase any three Rubber or Clear stamps or stamp sets, you will get a FREE Memento ink pad! 

OR

BUY SPLASH INK GET A FREE 6x6 STENCIL

Isn't that an amazing deal?  So, to get your juices flowing, I thought I would use some of these products to hopefully inspire you, and perhaps tempt you to take advantage of this special deal.

First off, stamp large Venice lady from  Carnevale di Venezia stamp set with StazOn midi Claret ink (Tsukineko) onto an adhesive cork sheet.  I was super amazed at how well this stamped onto the uneven cork surface with the StazOn ink.  

Spray cork sheet with Dylusions ink sprays in Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, and Cut Grass.  

Use a water brush and dab with a paper towel to remove some of the color in the stamped image.  I know these images are looking real similar, but if you look closely, you can see areas where I removed some of the color, such as in her face, the mask, and around her headdress.

Using my water brush and multiple colors of my Splash Inks, I colored the image, then I highlighted her face with some Dylusions ink sprays in White Linen and my water brush.  When all was colored, I then sponged Golden Glitz Delicata ink (Tsukineko) around the image to give it a metallic, bright essence.  

I wanted to bring out some of the parts of my image a bit more, so I used a black Micron pen to outline what I wanted to highlight.  Again, it is subtle, but very effective.  I outlined her face and eyes, the mask, parts of her headdress, and the word "Venice".  Can you see the difference?

Now to decide how to use my lovely focal piece.  I chose to make a card, but this would also be lovely on a large tag, canvas, or wall hanging.  First, I die cut the cork with a rounded tag die, adhered it to a piece of dark green card stock, and trimmed around the cork, leaving a 1/8" border.  I sponged more Golden Glitz Delicata ink around the edge and adhered it to my card with pop dots.  Then I die cut a Venetian border strip and covered it with Golden Glitz Delicata ink.  I wanted a more copper color to match the copper stripe in the die cut Venetian mask, so I pulled out my Metallic rub-ons Rich Primary colors and added copper over the entire border.  The shimmery copper stripes in the die cut mask do not show up well in the photo.  It looks so much better in person.  I thought it needed a little something more, so I added a few metal square stickers to the bottom area for interest.

You may notice in the finished photo above that there is no longer any white specks peeking through the cork background.  That is because there were open spaces in the cork, allowing the white release paper to show through.  When I removed the release paper to adhere my cork to my green card stock background, the green now appears in those spaces.  Looks awesome, doesn't it?

During the month of May, join the Altered Pages Design Team as we cross promote Eileen Hull Designs Artist Trading Blocks with the The Artists on the Block Design Team.  They will be posting new ATB projects every Tuesday, while we, here at Altered Pages, will be posting new ATBs every Tuesday and Thursday.  Be sure to stop by often for a month of inspiration.   In the final week, I hope you will check back on Thursday  when I share my rendition of an Altered Trading Block.  But be sure to check out both teams for the most amazing inspiration.  

I hope you enjoyed my project today, and be sure to visit the Altered Pages online store for all of your artsy supplies and to take advantage of this month's specials.

Have a wonderful and creative week!

Barbara