Sunday 8 February 2015

When the Heart Speaks......

Hello Everyone

Well, last month saw the  birthday of my lovely Niece n  as she has appreciated my 'creations' in the past I thought I might make her an altered art piece for her bedroom to accompany her other gifts- gotta spoil ya Nieces !!

Having checked out her bedrooms colour scheme n knowing I love her loads I decided on altering a wooden 'heart' plaque!  As for how exactly I was going to alter the heart, well,  I wasn't sure as I had a few ideas in mind but no real design planned n not really knowing if it would be worthy of 'gift' status when finished I guess it was a case of trying n seeing n hoping it all came together in the end !

So here's what I did ........... A coat of gesso to prime the surface ready for whatever medium I was going to use ! After some thought I quite fancied the idea of crackling as it's a technique I haven't done in awhile n as the heart was a decent size I thought it would show the technique off well .Bearing in mind the colours of my Nieces room I chose to use Cream crackled with gold acrylic paints.

Once dry , using a couple of stamps (dotty  n very fine detail script) I  randomly stamped on to the crackle using both antique linen distress ink n archival coffee ink (stamped off onto paper first to lighten the intensity of the colour) .  Now  time for some stencil work so using my dotty stencil n gathered twigs distress ink I very gently worked the ink through the stencil to create some subtle dotty areas on the crackled surface of the heart .
Do love using stencils so out came the grunge paste which I mixed with some cream acrylic paint like I'd used for the main colour of the heart n this time using my bubble stencil I randomly created  areas of bubbly dimension onto the heart. To add a bit of sparkle I sprayed the heart with cosmic shimmer n rubbed some gilding wax around the edges then polished to give a lustre finish!   



Now ,  time to embellish........I started with the quote! After rummaging through my stash I found what I thought was the 'right' one  -  Using coffee archival ink I stamped the quote onto cream card stock cut to size, ragged the edges  n inked them up with gathered twigs distress ink n a light touch up of gilding wax.  I then manipulated the card slightly  to give it some dimension.

On to the flowers n leaves - I wanted 3 of each so  I made them using the  Itsy Bitsy spellbinder die n a Martha Stewart leaf punch. I  inked the edges of both flowers n leaves  in the same way as the quote panel but without the ragging ! Oh nearly forgot - the butterflies ( can't forget the flutterbies lol) . For those I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch n inked them up in the same way . 
After some 'faffing' around  with the placement of the embellies I finally decided on the arrangement n set to adhere them firmly onto the heart! 
Finally, I twisted some gold wire  for that extra touch n  placed them amongst the flowers n leaves , made some liquid pearl trails from the butterflies n  made a hanger with some cream decoration ribbon !  



 
I have to say it was a lovely feeling to see that my 'trying n seeing ' had actually come together in the end!



                                                                                 My Niece loved it ! 

                                                    Thanks so much for stopping by to take a peek!
                                                                      Hope to see you again soon!

                                                 I would like to enter this piece into the following challenges

                                                   Art with Heart Challenge February: Projects to Love
                                                     Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: H is for…
                                                 Craft Stamper Take It , Make It February Challenge 
                                                       Winter Blooms challenge - Frilly and Funkie     



     

                         

29 comments:

  1. Absolutely gorgeous Amanda.
    I'm not surprised your niece loved it-x-

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  2. Awe Amanda - Tis a beauty Hunny x
    lovin the blooms and lovely altered textures
    MWAH xoxo

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  3. thank you so much Kassa, Sheila n Shaun for coming to peek n for your lovely comments ! xx

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  4. thank you so much kassa, Sheila n The Blues Bloggers for coming to peek n for your lovely comments ! xx

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  5. A beautiful make full of gorgeous textures x love the addition of the crackle and those lovely flowers xx

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  6. Loving the look and layout of your blog Amanda - and your heart is stunning too! Such a lovely gift for your Niece. Hugs, Anne xx

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  7. Looks great, love the crackle

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  8. I'm not surprised your niece loved it Amanda - BEAUTIFUL!!! I love how you've allowed that crackle texture to peek through the embossing and embellishments. Love it! Jenny x

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  9. Beautiful and romantic

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  10. Lovely heart Amanda, love the gorgeous flowers and subtle co,our palette. Tracy x

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  11. Beautiful, stunning crackle and lovely colours

    Jools x

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  12. Ooh I love what you have done here, that heart is beautiful - lucky niece

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  13. How pretty and delicate this is! Thanks for sharing with us at the Art with Heart Challenge. =)

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  14. WOW, the heart is awesome! Love all the texture and crackle! Of course she loved it! Thank you for sharing with us at Art with Heart Challenge!

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  15. My favorite color palette! Beautiful project, I'm sure she loved it. Thanks for joining us at the Take It Make It Challenge.

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  16. Thank you so much Tracy, Anne, Jenny, Mark, Hermine, Tracy, Jools, Dawn N Carol for your lovely comments -much appreciated ! xx

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  17. Thank you so much Lisa H n Nicole Wright for your very kind commments. My pleasure to share with the Art with Heart Challenge xx

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  18. Thx Renee for your lovely comment n I'm more than happy to join you at The Take it Make it Challenge xx

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  19. Fantastic, loving your sepia colouring !

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  20. This is fabulous Amanda, so beautiful...!!! Your niece must have loved it, I'm sure she will treasure it, I would do if I had such beauty in my room. Hugs, Coco xx

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  21. I love your altered heart .... gorgeous colour combination, with great detail and textures. Thanks for joining in with the TIMI challenge ... good luck! Linda xx

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  23. What a lovely heart, I love the subtle colour palette, so romantic and the flowers are gorgeous as is your background. Thanks so much for joining in the Art with Heart Challenge this month. Tracy x

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  24. thx Sid, Linda, Coco for your kind words . x

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  25. thx Tracy for your lovely comment. :) x

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  26. Beautiful project Amanda ! Love the monochromatic design and the flowers are gorgeous ! Thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Sue C X

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