Little Village Home Decor Piece - by Claudia

Hi, servus and thanks so much for stopping by! Claudia here today as it's my turn again to share some artsy inspiration with you and - despite my love for everything weathered, textured or grungy (actually I can't do anything else...somehow everything I create turns towards at least one of these without me even aiming for it) - this project turned out almost clean and simple...well, as clean and simple as a grunge-lovin' girl like me can get. There's still a grunge feel to it though I think - and the use of thick cardboard, one wooden house shaped block and a wooden tray as a base also adds cool texture - even though it is rather subtle. 

 

My husband and I have just bought a house in the countryside and it has come as quite a surprise to us that we found one that we truly love that fast and in a spot we couldn't wish for to be any better! We had always planned (or hoped) to spend his retirement in the country with our beloved mountains, forests and lakes nearby - and now our dream has come true...which makes me feel utterly blessed and thankful - and happy of course! 

The project was done during the hard time of waiting for the seller to accept our bid. I tried to not think too much of the house (in case some competitor would snatch it away) - but that of course was almost impossible - somehow I just found myself over and over again thinking and dreaming of it. So I decided to put my "house-thinking" into houses right in front of my nose and create a home-decor piece in industrial-grungy style. Either I was going to put it up in our new home soon...or at least I had spent some relaxed time distracted from the stressful thoughts and insecurity. A kind of win-win situation ;) 

The style of my project was inspired by the many beautiful concrete home decor pieces and I wanted my houses to look as if they were cast from concrete - kind of massive, with simple straight lines and shapes. And I wanted the base to look as if it was done from concrete, too. So I went for colours that all have warm grey and grungy beige and white tones. The use of rough cord and an old book page for the clothes line adds even more texture and interest to the project. 

My aim was to have the designs from the used stencils to be the stars - so there was another reason to keep the shapes of the houses and clothes as simple and straight as possible. 

I've used the "Tiny Houses" Sizzix die to cut my houses from thick cardboard leftovers from packaging. The picture also shows the balsa wood tray (looted from the sales section of a home decor store) that was going to be the base for my village scene (in the upper left corner). 

I also like to use little wood houses (also from the home decor store's sales sections) - the grey one became the largest house in the village - the other houses were all done using the cutting die. 

As the die cuts give projecting roofs...

...I shortened these so their ends lined up with the houses' edges. Remember - simple, straight lines! 

StencilGirl stencils used: 

- Building Perspective Italy - designed by Chris Cozen

- Gaol Doorways - designed by Tina Walker

- Totally Triangular - designed by Wendy Aikin

- 1700s Building Stencil - designed by Carolyn Dube

- Large Hall Stencil - designed by Mary Beth Shaw

But first I primed the die cut house parts using DecoArt Americana and Americana multi-surface satin paints Lamp Black, Charcoal Grey, Zinc, Pewter, Cotton Ball, Mushroom and Dolphin. 

Once that had dried I used the same colours (contrasting the ones used before on each house) with the stencils. The paint was applied using a cosmetic sponge. 

I love how beautiful the awesome stencil designs look on the house shapes! 

Time to assemble the houses! I've used Tacky Glue this time as it dries really fast. 

The wood tray was flipped over to form the "faux concrete base" and painted with DecoArt Chalky Finish paint "relic". 

All I needed to finish off my little village was some laundry for the clothes line. I cut that free hand from an old dictionary page. 

Again I used Tacky Glue to fix the clothes to the (thin packaging cord) line. 

Done!

With my additional new home in the countryside (and close to the beloved lake since my childhood days) I will have both - the pleasures and drive of the lively city of Vienna and the stillness and beauty of nature in one of Austria's loveliest holiday spots! I am sure commuting will be quite a challenge at first but also a great adventure - and I will always be remembered of these exciting times and of how blessed we are when looking at my home decor piece. :) 

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

Explore with 10 Color Swatch Stencils designed by Rae Missigman

There are a total of 10 Color Gradient Stencils (1 large and 9 small) in the set Rae Missigman created. 

They are perfect for watercolor or acrylic paints.

She feels this way about color:

"I find that color is valuable because it allows us to look at the world around us in a unique way. I use color to help define the direction of projects, to record custom color mixes, and to explore composition ideas for paintings, needlework, photographic layouts, and even stitching projects. Color takes the lead in all of my artwork. By putting color to work for us we can discover so much about what we love in both our art and the world around us."

Floral Swatch Wheel Stencil, S841

Let your color wheel bloom with the Floral Swatch Wheel Stencil with Mask. There are 8 petal areas in 4 rings for your paint mixing pleasure. 

Custom Color Swatch Stencil, S840

You have room to discover a dozen possibilities when mixing 2 colors with the Custom Color Swatch Stencil. 

Color Mix + Gradient Swatch Stencil, S839 

Choose 4 separate color or 2 color duos, add black for a new shade, or white for a new tint when you use the Color Mix + Gradient Swatch Stencil. There is a line for you to record the colors.

Color Gradient Swatch Wheel Stencil, S838

Let one color lead you into exploration with the Color Gradient Swatch Wheel Stencil. Explore a single color using the circular center and watch it evolve as you work water or color into the mix using the 16 outer bands.

Color + Gradient Swatch Stencil, S837 

Start with 3 colors of paint and use the Color + Gradient Swatch Stencil to help you explore the gradients of those colors. There is a line for you to record the colors.

Abstract Color Mixing Swatch Stencil, S836

The playful Abstract Color Mixing Swatch Stencil has 9 crossed circular elements useful for exploring tints.

20 Colors Swatch Grid Stencil, S835

There are squares for 20 colors and a line to write the names in the 20 Colors Swatch Grid Stencil.

8 Color Swatch Wheel Stencil, S834

8 Color Swatch Wheel Stencil was designed for you to explore the tones of 2 colors.

6 Color + Gradient Swatch Stencil, S833

6 Color + Gradient Swatch Stencil was designed for you to explore color gradients with acrylics or watercolors.

Swatch Grid 9" x 12" Stencil, L826

There are 36 rectangles for you to record colors when you use the Custom Color Swatch Stencil.

Explore all of the stencils Rae Missigman has designed.

Mary Beth Shaw's VLOG: October 2020

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Just a few minutes with Mary Beth!

Stay tuned!

Mary Beth Shaw will be back again next month with another new VLOG post!

Shadow Box Key Holder by Sunila & Aditi

Hello,

Hope you are all well! Sunila and Aditi here with a mixed media home decor project. 

While we were brainstorming what to create (since we've done too many trays, and coasters and all those things), we found a box at home. This is supposed to be a napkin holder, however, we decided to create something else. 

We changed the position a bit and decided to turn it into a shadow box and create a key holder. The idea of the shadow box seemed useful because that space can hold bills, posts, and anything else that we'd like apart from the keys. An easy solution that can be hung by the door. 

Here's a look at our final piece:

We were inspired to use our new nature theme stencils for this project. That made it easy to choose our color palette and create a little garden of sorts. 

If you'd like to create one for your home, here's the video tutorial:

This project involves layering stencils with texture pastes and stenciled focal elements. We've used the following stencils- L736 Leafy Doodle Border by Valerie Sjodin , L712 Lattice Medallion by Kristie Taylor, S482 Bare Branch Thicket by Trish McKinney; all these are in keeping with our nature theme. 

Here are a few close-ups:

StencilGirl Stencils- Leafy Doodle Border by Valerie Sjodin (L736) Lattice Medallion by Kristie Taylor (L712) Bare Branch Thicket by Trish McKinney (S482)

Supply List: Cadence Zeguma Stone Effect Paste Lindys Squirts- Beaver Tail Brown, Poutine Gold, Emerald Eh? Lindys Spray- Lucky Shamrock Green Lindys Magicals- Sea Mint Green, Freaky Franken Lime White Gesso CrafTangles chalk paint Chocolate Syrup Dina Wakley Penny CrafTangles Iridescent Gold wax Cadence Gold Foil and Metal Mixion

We do hope you've enjoyed our project today!

Happy crafting!

Hugs,

Sunila & Aditi (aka Dots to Lines)