Tutorial - Stencil painting

Friends of mine asked me to explain how I did this painting in one afternoon, so here is a quick tutorial

Ok so first off I did my base coat in a lovely turquoise colour, almost nearing aqua but not quite, followed by touches of purple (I added some violet to the turquoise, note the pallet) using a near-dry roller brush.

 

I use a hair-dryer to speed up the drying process 

I had a bunch of images from magazines copied onto overhead projector sheets, so I used one as a stencil by cutting out the negative space with a blade (pictured) and initially traced around the outside of the image, giving me a silhouette which was later filled in.

Using a spatula I placed a mix of violet, magenta and white on the canvas in rough wing shapes. By working in one direction only with the knife you can 'stretch' the paint over one another, sometimes creating bubble like spears. These smears actually do replicate butterfly wing markings beautifully. I then filled in the silhouette, ensuring I have a nice clean line down the side of the body along the main wing. 

 At this point I attacked the canvas with metallic and glitter glue pens. I love glitter, it just adds some magic - and seriously who doesn't enjoy sparkly magic?!

After I am over my sparkly glittery moment and have a relaxing cup of tea, I return to the work and replace the overhead on the silhouette, this time using the roller brush to put skin and clothing features on the painting. Finish off with a bit of gold/pink for highlights and depth. Lift off stencil, set to dry.

Et, voila! 

Feel free to give this a try!

Let me know how yours work out in the comments section below!

x Kristi

Pixie skirt recycled denim wallet/phone holder

I really enjoy wearing floaty dresses and skirts when I'm having a boogie

but most of the time wearing a belt or using a pocket is a little impractical - especially when they're so full they pull down your clothing!

Jeans are constantly thrown to me by way of hand-me-downs, so I decided to cut up 2 pairs to create this cinched Pixie skirt/over garment. It isn't really a skirt as my mum pointed out, it's more of a garter belt, but that just sounds a little skanky TBH haha. It's simply designed to hold your bits and bobs when you want to go hands-free.

First was to cut off the legs and shaped down some of the way of the back pockets on the 'under' side, while mainly focusing on the feature 'belt' and front pockets for the 'top'. Next was to add numerous triangles along the sides of each of the layers at alternating lengths. 

Next I decorated, mainly by hand as I don't have an auto embroidery setup on my machine. I had a box of old jewelry that had been set aside for craft purposes and pulled apart earrings, necklaces and bracelets to collect the pretty beads and fixtures I wanted to use for this piece. Other found materials such as keys and foreign coins also made it to the mix.

mismatched earrings are perfect for this project!

I really enjoy seeing hand stitching so I put a lot of time into finishing it off that way using blanket stitch and back stitches. I emphasised the original embroidery along the 'belt' with metallic gold and turquoise.Now that I think about it, I would actually recommend you make one of these for your cat - it makes so much noise when I come down the stairs!
Mwah! 

Kristi

I just hope I don't knock anyone out with the weight of it!

Doof doof sleeping gown / party jacket

A few weeks ago I got an old dressing gown from the Op shop. 

I cinched it in on the sides and back, removed  it's side pocket and created 2 front ones for keeping my fingers warm. 

Finished with an overdose of wool for extra snuggless (and length!)

Yup, this is what I rock out on the dancefloor.


Especially if it is winter!

Some pics for your pleasure!

HELLO!

This is my first blog, so please be nice! Ha, kidding, I am sure you're all very nice. 

To introduce myself I have prepared some lovely drawings for you to enjoy, please comment and feel free to use my concepts in your own work - my only caveat being if you do I want to see the result! 

I was hoping to really capture the scales and the translucency of her fin