Happiness Light

It is time for a new challenge at Stamps and Stencils.  This time Sue is the hostess and she calls it Words With Meaning and describes it this way:

I may be an old romantic but I love to see quotes and meaningful sayings on pieces of art. These can be quotes that are particularly meaningful to you or family sayings ! So, for this challenge I want to see your words taking centre stage, big and bold ! Remember, as always, you need to include some stamping or stenciling or both!

I recently received a brand new stamp set from IndigoBlu called Shine Bright and it had a quote that I knew would thrill my Granddaughter since she has just finished reading all the Harry Potter books and is a big fan.  I decided to create a canvas in colours that would work in her room and showcase the quote.

I started with an 8"x8" canvas and added lots of texture.  Using Golden Light Molding paste I stenciled with a Mini Harlequin stencil from TCW and a mini dot stencil my husband made for me.  Then I used some IndigoBlu Super Thick Slap it On to add some pieces of wooden popsicle sticks.  I added more Light Molding Paste between the wooden pieces and embedded some tiny mirror chips in it.  They came in a big bag from the floral section at Michaels and were quite cheap.  I also added paste to the edges of the canvas and roughed it up with my palette knife.

Once everything was dry I wrapped some string around it randomly and then gave it a coat of Liquitex White Gesso.  I also coated the wooden butterfly (made for me by my husband on his laser cutter) with Gesso.

I got so busy creating I totally forgot to take any more process photos - my apologies - so I will give you some close-ups instead.

I covered the whole canvas with Wild Orchid Acrylic Paint from DecoArt.  Then I added a bit of Silver Gray from DecoArt on the right side.  Next I started to add some ink sprays - Hickory Smoke, and Brushed Pewter Distress Spray Stain from Tim Holtz along with Crushed Grape and White Linen from Dylusions

The next step was to paint the butterfly.  I first mounted it on a little wooden disk to give it some height and then coated it with Concord Grape Acrylic Paint from Apple Barrel, which was very thin so I followed that with a coat of Purple Pearl Metallic from DecoArt.  I mixed a bit of the Wild Orchid with some DecoArt Pearlizing Medium and added that on a portion of the wings from the body out and then rubbed a smaller portion from the body out with Treasure Pewter wax paste.

I stamped the light bulbs and the quote from the Indigo Blu Shine Bright onto a scrap of gray card stock using Jet Black Archival Ink and then fussy cut the bulbs.  In the end I decided just to use the large bulb for the butterfly body so I highlighted the plug portion and the filament of the light bulb with a combination of Folk Art Metallic Silver and Champagne Gold and Bright Gold from DecoArt.  I then went back in and redrew the filament with a Pigma Micron pen since it wasn't as visible after the painting even though I stippled the paint on as carefully as I could around the stamping.

The quote was cut into sections, distressed around the edges and then I ran a Sakura Silver Gel pen around the edges before I adhered to the canvas with a combination of IndigoBlu's Super Thick Slap it On and dimensional foam strips.

My Granddaughter has a collection of Harry Potter figurines lining the windowsill in her room so I hope this canvas will be a welcome addition to her decor.