Composimold Review and Honeycomb ATC

Hey Everybody, It's Edie, Do you ever buy random things because you just KNOW you’re going to make great things with it… someday??? That was the case with the neon green, silicone pot holder I bought several months ago. It looked like a honeycomb and I just KNEW I could make something super cool with it. I wanted to use it as a stamp, put it in a painting and at least five other projects came to mind just by holding and squishing that piece of random inspiration. The problem was, I didn’t want to USE the potholder because I only had one. I thought it was impossible to mold because it is so flexible and thin that is, until I discovered Compisimold! Compisimold is a pourable, food safe silicone mold that you can melt and remold over and over again and it was exactly what I needed for this project.

You can view BOTH full video tutorials below. I don’t own a microwave, so I melted my Composimold on the stove and poured it over the potholder. Once it was completely cooled, I removed the original and I had a reusable mold that looked just like my potholder! The Composimold did have a lot of bubbles which would ruin most molds but it actually enhanced this particular project, so I didn’t mind too much in the end. The Composimold instructions recommend stirring often, but I think that is what caused all of the bubbles. If I had just let it sit and melt, I don’t think I would have had near as many bubbles. Once the mold was ready, I broke out my Creative Paperclay® and started playing. I rolled out my Paperclay over the top of the mold which gave me an absolutely fantastic honeycomb texture, and then I cut my ATC out of the textured Creative Paperclay®. I let the ATC dry completely and then I painted it, glitterfied it and added the honeybee embellishment. I wrote out my quote, painted the paper and glued it to the ATC and then I covered the text with Glosssy Accents to make it shine.

Overall I was pretty happy with the Composimold and I plan on making more projects with it. If you have something that is an awkward shape or just too soft to mold, you may want to give Composimold a try. It worked great with the Creative Paperclay® and I am really happy with the way this ATC turned out. I hope you enjoyed this project and I hope you have a Valentine’s Day that is filled with love! BIG HUGS!
Visit my blog.


 

Where We Love Mixed Media Painting

Hey Everybody, It's Edie!
My husband's ship will be returning from an eight month deployment in the next few weeks and we will be having a party the night before homecoming for all of the spouses and family members. There will be snacks and goodies and door prizes. I have donated this painting and it will be given away as one of the door prizes. There *IS* a full video tutorial, but due to an editing NIGHTMARE, let me repeat... NIGHT. MARE, I have been unable to get the video processed in time to share it with you. I AM working on the problem and I will get the video added as soon as possible. Until then, please enjoy this written tutorial :)
Since I am creating a series of these 'HOME' paintings, the process for creating the background will be basically the same for all of them. I layered on torn sections of sheet music, book pages and scrapbook paper, painted the entire canvas with Titan Buff and blotted off the excess. I also aged the entire canvas with a wash of Van Dyke Brown and water.

 

I applied modeling paste to the corners of the canvas and stamped into it with a key stamp. I then added Antique Copper paint to the same stamp and and added it in random places over the entire canvas. I aged the entire canvas with a wash of Van Dyke Brown and water, then I added some Pure Gold paint to the raised bits of the modeling paste debossed keys.

 

I printed out my text, aged it with Vintage Photo Distress ink and then painted the edges with Pure Gold acrylic craft paint then glued it on using Matte Medium. I painted a strip of lace with Antique Copper then with Pure Gold and attached it to the canvas with clear tacky glue.

I printed out the ship and deployment information and attached it to chipboard to create a commemorative plaque for the painting. I aged the plaque with Vintage Photo Distress Ink then coated the entire thing with Glossy Accents. I hit it with the heat gun to create a rippled effect in the glue then once it was dry, I attached it to the painting with clear tacky glue.

 

I created the vintage door handle and plate, as well as the key using Creative Paperclay® and let them dry completely. I then coated all of the pieces with Black paint and with a dry brush I applied Antique Copper paint to the raised areas for definition. Lastly, I attached all of the pieces to the canvas using E6000 glue.
 I am very proud of this piece and I really hope the winner of the drawing likes it as well. If you are interested in purchasing a customized "Home" painting for your homecoming, please email me at ediecournoyerartist@live.com
You can join me every Tuesday for my LIVE SHOW and don't forget to check out my blog.
See you next time!  

Elphaba - Mixed Media Art Doll

 Hey Everybody, It's Edie,

On my personal blog I am doing a 31 Days of Halloween series. Today is  Day 15.
Today's post was two and a half months in the making, but I think it was well worth all of the time, effort, restarts, errors and triumphs! Elphaba is a 3ft tall mixed media art doll and she was inspired by the play "Wicked." You can view the full video walk through below.

 

She started as a wire armature covered in aluminum foil, then I sculpted her entire body using Creative Paperclay®. Her hair is individual sections of wool roving.

 

Her dress and hat are both handmade using fabric scraps, ribbon and lace. Her base was made using a wire armature, covered in masking tape, covered in Spackle, covered in MORE masking tape. I painted and stamped inside the base, then I added chipboard gears and stitched in the chipboard clock.

There is even a light up inside her base that shines down on everything inside.

The flying monkey is a hand sculpted polymer clay face with a Creative Paperclay® body.

The shoes are plastic cake toppers coated in fine, iridescent glitter.

 

The crystal ball is a clear glass Christmas ball that has been painted with layers of glaze and alcohol ink. The base was once a candle holder that I painted black, then I created the holder with an old earring.

The Grimmorie is a wooden block from a stamp that I covered in tissue paper and painted.

The green glass bottle was also painted with layers of glaze, then I added a glitter flourish and alcohol inks to distress it.

 

I am very proud of how she turned out. I never thought in a million years that *I* would be able to create something like this.
Elphaba is for sale, so if you are interested in purchasing her you can leave me a comment and I will get you my email address. 
 

Mushroom Fairy Part 1

Hey everyone, it's Edie.

Do you ever go through artistic phases? You know, those times where all you want to do is paint roses or make ATC’s. Right now I am on an art doll kick. I am currently working on my largest art doll EVER, and in the mean time this little fairy came to life. Actually, she took over and would not let me sleep until she was finished!!! You can view the full video tutorial below.

The whole project isn’t actually finished, but at least the fairy part is done. You will have to wait until next month to see the totally finished project ;) I created a wire armature and completely covered it on Creative Paperclay® and sculpted her face. Once she was dry, I painted the entire thing with acrylic paint in portrait pink, then used a flesh tint to paint the shadows and white for the highlights. I painted all of her facial features and dress using acrylic craft paint in metallic peridot and napa red.

I cut a small piece of lace for the base of her skirt. I added several strips of yarn and ribbon, to give it a bit of flair and whimsy, then glued it in place.

I have these really unique, “fairy wing” leaves that fall from the tree in my front yard. I coated both sides of the leaves with melted bees wax, and then attached them with fabric glue.

I made my own spray ink by mixing butterscotch and cranberry re-inker with water. I then sprayed a small section of undyed wool roving to get the color I wanted for her hair, then I glued it in place with more fabric glue.

 

For the finishing touch, I colored a chipboard butterfly sticker with glitter gel pens and glue it in her hands.

As I said, this is only part one of the entire project, so you will have to tune in next time to see the finished piece. I have already begun working on it and it is SO cute!

You can see more of my work on my blog.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO7yUGFm460