Friday 5 February 2016

We are going industrial at AVJ

P I have loved putting together my February CG sample for Tracy's 'Industrial' challenge at AVJ. In thinking about the terminology and meaning of industry we think of factories with rising chimney stacks exuding steam and smoke, metals, mechanical and automated machines, blast furnaces, manufacturing industries, car plants and so on. But I also like decayed metals, particularly rusty ones so I turned to Tim's faux, riveted metal effect, his remnant rub background and idea-ology combined with DecoArt media acrylic paints and mediums to produce this Curio Box.


Easter is approaching and I had bought a papier-machie egg from Hobbycraft last week and decided to use it. Having found an old Ipod box in my drawer of alterable items everything started to come together in my head but the egg was going to be difficult to stick it in the box so I cut it in half using a craft hacksaw.
The egg was first covered in foil tape to give it a good covering of silver and then I cut and marked pieces of Tim's foil sheets and covered over to give it a stronger layer. Next I used media acrylic paints coating thickly, semi drying between each layer and wiping back. I used black. prussian blue, burnt umber with burnt sienna mix, and quinacridone gold. But I didn't get the effects I wanted as when I rubbed the paint away between each layer I had a stark contrast between the silver and the coloured paints.

 
So next I added some alcohol inks but it looked too false. Nothing to do but change it completely then..... I added some random and thin amounts of sand paste and dried then some mid grey and paynes grey paints. I blended some black round the edges, dried it and then added a paynes grey wash before quinacridone gold again. Ok it's not like Tim's 'Heart and Soul' heart which is where the inspiration came from but I quite like how it has turned out.

 
So onto the box. I gave it a coat of black gesso inside and out then did Andy's mega crackle technique on the outside with the decoart weathered wood and crackle paint so I painted the inside of the box with white gesso to lighten the whole thing. The mega crackle worked brilliantly with the large black cracks.
 When it was dry I gave it a coat of matte varnish and then a watery wash of prussian blue and quinacridone gold before adding some remnant rubs.


For the background behind the egg I revisited Tim's January tag of 2014 but changed it a little and used distress sprays and remnant rubs.


The butterfly is one of Tim's duo set,  I feel a tutorial coming on so keep a watch out on the Destination Inspiration posts next month but you can see it is well rusted and has that industrial feel to it.


The word curio is made up of Tim's alphabet blocks with the letter shapes given  a very light dry brushed layer of gesso and then a wash of quinacridone gold acrylic paint. I dabbed vintage photo distress paint over the arrow and when dry brushed a little treasure copper on it.


Finally I had almost everything made to put it together. As always my eclectic mind gathered more bits along the way and I added some natural materials, moss and husk hair to provide more interest. You can also see I found a rusty spring and finished off a little bottle that had been part painted. You can also just make out a tiny star in the moss which was punched from Tim's punch using left over card I had altered to look like rusty metal and glued it to a memo pin.


I love the butterfly adhered to the crown of the egg ......


.... and the blocks glued to the top of the box.



Here you can see how the egg and butterfly protrude from the front of the box - had to pack it out with chipboard first otherwise they would have disappeared inside.


I think the mix of industrial and natural materials have worked really well together and have put me in the mood for Spring.


Now it's finished I am very happy with the outcome and this has become one of those rare pieces that I would like to display in my house and I know I will use it for my sideboard Easter


I hope you can find some time to pop over to the AVJ challenge blog to take a look at all the other inspirational pieces mage by the very talented Creative Guides and if you take a shot at entering you could be in with a chance of winning a £20 shop voucher from Country View Crafts or being one of our Pinworthy Mentions.



I am adding my industrial butterfly on the egg to the Frilly and Funkie challenge 'enjoy your embossing'

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.

hugs Brenda xxx


Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.

Orson Welles

34 comments:

Patty O'Malley said...

This is amazing, Brenda! Love the butterfly!

Deborah Adams said...

Absolutely Brilliant!
Love all the layers used on the egg.

Barbara said...

Stunning, love every little detail, butterfly is incredible and your crackle effect is absolutely beautiful! Barbara

Gina said...

Glorious! Living in a city built from industry, I totally get your love of rusty decay :D XXX

hazel said...

An amazing piece Brenda, the egg and butterfly are wonderful.
xxx Hazel.

Jenny Marples said...

Wonderful Brenda, simply wonderful. The combo of Andy's paints and Tim's designs is brilliant - industrial botanical, almost Victorian in style! Love it! Jenny x

Monika Gulyas said...

Every detail is perfect! The butterfly and the egg are so beautifully rusty! I just can't believe it that they were papers once :-) Great industrial project, Brenda!

Redanne said...

I have been sitting here for ages just drinking in the beauty of the egg and the butterfly, each one is positively stunning Brenda, what a fabulous piece of home decor you have for Easter! Truly stunning! Hugs, Anne xx

Jennie Atkinson said...

Like Anne I have just been looking at every little detail over and over - everything is so beautifully created and coloured. Such a stunning piece of art Brenda. I LoVe it ! Jennie x

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Fantastic Brenda, the egg is truly amazing, really striking and bold piece and showcases the wonderful rustic butterfly perfectly. Your rusted elements are fantastic and I love how you were inspired by the theme. Bravo! Tracy x x

Pamellia said...

This is just fabulous Brenda! I so love that you did an egg, how wonderfully creative!! Beautiful textures on the frame, and the metallic butterfly makes such a gorgeous focal piece! It's always such a treat to visit your blog and see how you put your creations together! hugs :)

froebelsternchen said...

Oh gosh Brenda! What an amazing project - absolutely stunning!

experiments in paper said...

Oh, what a wonderful egg you've made!! I love how you've put everything together - and can't wait to see more about that incredible butterfly. Love this! xxx Lynn

rachel said...

awesome take on this theme Brenda - I have to say it that egg was a cracking idea!! Lol! Forgive me! Hugs Rachel x

Astrid Maclean said...

Wow Brenda, what a superb take on the theme! Absolutely love how you put this together, every little detail just fts to perfection, fantastic original industrial project, - love it to pieces!!

Unknown said...

Unbelievably incredible Brenda. That egg is just amazing as is all the luscious texture in this piece. It looks so real that I almost expected the egg to start cracking so I could watch what popped out of it. Just a FABULOUS treat to see. j.

Paula Cheney said...

great piece Brenda - Love the feel of the egg (great way to change up a such a simple piece).

Meggymay said...

Wow a fabulous curio project box. Super techniques and the egg looks great.
Yvonne xx

Deb said...

Amazing interpretation of the Industrial theme Brenda, I never would have thought to marry these natural elements with that theme but you have done it brilliantly! Amazing textures, layers and colours, so many wonderful details to look at and study. Thanks so much for sharing it, Deb xo

Diana said...

your egg is amazing!!!!!!!

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Beyond fabulous! LOVE LOVE LOVE that butterfly! This is such a cool challenge!

S@ndy Diller said...

Love all of this Brenda, it says Industrial all the way. Great details and rust!!! S@ndy xx

A Pink said...

What a fabulous unique Curio box ! Brenda Love how the egg turned out and I applaud you for continually changing it up - sign of a well seasoned and talented crafter! It the perfect mount for your rusted butterfly. Your 'gathered bits' work so well to add that extra bit of interest and love that you have mixed natural, organic elements with the industrial rusty ones.
As for the crackle box - Incredible.
Hugs x

Almo said...

OK Brenda my jaw is on the floor with this piece, I love the techniques used on that egg and the rusty stiched look you have given it, amazing! Your butterfly look fabulous too and all together in this altered box it is just a true piece of art. Mo x

Words and Pictures said...

Insanely cool! The rusted egg looks spectacular in its distressed display case - love the crackle, obviously, and the weathered finish on the lettering is so gorgeous. Utterly fabulous inspiration!
Alison xx

Julia Aston said...

Oh my goodness - that EGG! how gorgeous sitting inside your box like nobodies business! love how it ended up - and the rusty butterfly alight on the front of it - Your crackle is gorgeous with the black beneath - what a wonderful industrial creation Brenda! (Funny - I was at that class with Tim that you linked to - I made that heart project - one of my first steampunk projects and I just LOVE it!) Julia xx

Marjie Kemper said...

Fabulous! Love what you've done with the die and the egg... too cool!

Annie said...

so many wonderful details and techniques Brenda. Adore the crackle paint........something I just love. The egg looks amazing as does the butterfly. Fabulous Industrial make....so unique

TFS and best wishes
Annie xx

Kathy/NorthCarolina said...

Wow, wow, wow! What a work of art! I love all the wonderful metallic effects you achieved in this great vignette! I honestly thought the egg was a tortoise shell, which is very cool! All the little details like the rusty bottle, and crackle finish on the box edges make this a real work of art! Thanks for sharing with us at Frilly & Funkie "Enjoy your Embossing" Challenge!

trisha too said...

YES!

Suzanne C said...

Stunning! I love the whole thing with all the gorgeous details. The metallic butterfly and that you placed it on the egg covered in metallic effect!

Pamellia said...

Hi Brenda, just popped back in to say Thank you so much for joining us at Frilly and Funkie for our 'Enjoy your Embossing' challenge! Hugs, Pamellia DT :)

sarascloset said...

Alright, Brenda! This little curio takes the jaw on the floor award from me today! i purposefully didn't even PEEK at your make until I had time to comment on it, so you are getting that visceral reaction from me, which is rather ugly and sloppy, I'll have to say. My chin is hanging unnaturally from my face and there is drool everywhere! Oh, so sorry for that picture!

On to the egg...I just adored seeing how it went from being metallic to something so organic looking. I have to agree with Kathy above, that it looks almost like a turtle shell. Fabulous transformation! And the box itself is an amazing work of art in itself--you have really mastered that Mega Crackle and it looks wonderful paired with all the other artful embellishments! I could go on and on... Big Hugs and thank you so much for the inspiration!

Jenny Marples said...

Back to say thank you for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Jenny x