The World According to a Gnome... by our AMAZING Featured Artist Tina Walker

Hi and Hello Amazing Crafting Products friends! Did you know today is International Faerie Day??! Well, it just happens to be and this project is perfect for today!

I have a small confession to make. I'm a little bit obsessed with Gnomes right now. The other day we were talking about our next crafty project at work {I work in a location where it is primarily men, so us women stick together by crafting – I can't think of a better way to spend 'work time'  ;) }.

The subject of terrariums came up as our next craft project, and we start talking about the cute little fairy and gnome gardens that many people create. One thought led to another, one idea to the next, all leading up to my project today, a Gnome Home. I thought it would be fun to create my very own Gnome Home and Gnome person. 

I wanted to create a house that looked like it would be hidden under a large tree, only visible to those lucky enough to spy a Gnome.

After searching Pinterest for Gnome Home inspiration, I decided to create a stone house, full of depth, texture, and age, but creating a house from actual stone would be heavy and filling in the space between stones difficult.

But what about a resin house? Yes!!!

I cut a piece of scrap cardboard in approximately

a 3"x3" square and glued small stones to the surface.

   

I mixed up a batch of Amazing Mold Putty and gently shaped the mold putty to my rock square. Once it had cured, this is what I created! Please CLICK HERE for mixing/preparation.

Now for the wall construction...

Using Amazing Casting Resin and a mixture of black, brown, and white Alumilite Dyes – I mixed up some resin and created 4 separate 'walls' {CLICK HERE for mixing/preparation}. For the 4th wall, I cut the resin into smaller pieces so I could add my front door. In hindsight, I should have kept the 4th wall intact and simply glued the door to the wall.

The resin walls were a flat color, so I painted them with several shades of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints to mimic how stone would actually look. I also added a few sprays of spray mist to blend the colors together and to create 'color' in the cracks between my resin stones.

Don't the resin walls look like real stone?

I was super pleased with how they turned out.

To assemble the walls to create the house, I initially added a bit of glue to the corners for some stability. I realized that this wasn't going to be enough to keep the walls together, so I thought it would help by adding some resin to the corners of the house, creating a strong. solid base.

**A TIP** I applied some artist tape to the inside of the walls to keep the resin from seeping through. Worked perfectly.

   

I added a bit more paint to blend in the new resin to the old.

Here's a close-ups of the walls.

Now on to the door...

To create the door, I cut another piece of scrap cardboard into a door shape and glued small popsicle type sticks to the cardboard. Once the glue had dried, I cut the sticks into the door shape.

I painted the door with the same PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints and some rusting powder. I wanted a rustic looking door, full of wear and tear.

I added a large, oversized door knob, and aged it with alcohol ink.

Once the door was dry, I glued it to the wall front. 

To finish my Gnome Home, I painted a large piece of corrugated chipboard with more Fresco Finish Paint and lots of Rusting Powder. I wanted the roof to look like a metal tin roof. I think it turned out fantastic.

But what's a Gnome Home without a Gnome??

I couldn't find the perfect gnome, so I bought an old vintage one from Etsy and made my own with Amazing Mold Rubber and Amazing Casting Resin. Please CLICK HERE for mixing/preparation.

Here's my original gnome getting ready for a dip

in some Amazing Mold Rubber. What a lonely little guy.

Side Share: Here's my little Gnome army. Remember I told you we were creating little Gnome Terrariums at work? Here's some of the gnomes right after they were cast. I still need to add some Alumidust to them to liven them up a bit.

And an entire army of Molded Gnomes!

I 'painted' my casted gnomes with Alumidust - that's it! No paint, just Alumidust. Love the look it gave to my Little Gnomies.

One final piece I wanted to add my my Gnome Scene, was a cobblestone path. I used my wall mold for casting. Once the resin was set, I cut it into smaller, path sized pieces and applied the same painting technique.

 

To finish my Gnome Wonderland scene, I added moss and painted bottle trees. I also added some gold Alumidust to the inside of 2 small glass vials with a drop or two of alcohol ink for aging. 

Thank you Susan and all of the Amazing Crafting Products friends for allowing me to share my creations with y'all this month! I've enjoyed being here and I hope to see you all around Cyberland! :)

Thank you again! Have a wonderful day! ~ Tina

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You can see more of Tina's scrapbook, Home Décor, and mixed media projects on her blog, "A Dog's Life" at http://adogslife-thirteen.blogspot.com.

Seeing Potential in Found Objects... AMAZING Inspiration from Susan M. Brown

Welcome to the long holiday weekend! Susan here with some AMAZING inspiration today. What are your favorite found objects??? For me it has to be shells, and other weathered, rusty and flattened objects I find on my daily travels... and I'm ALWAYS on the lookout. For this particular project, I have a lovely piece of shell I found on one of my trips to someplace tropical and I love it because this weathered piece of shell is in a heart shape... such potential, right?

I have every intention on using the original shell for a wire-wrapped and beaded necklace {that I've yet to make}, but meanwhile... Amazing Mold Putty to the rescue!!! I've made a mold of it to use for my artsy-crafty projects. Today it's in the STEAMPUNK genre. I've used the mold dusted with Gunmetal and Bronze Alumilite Metallic Powders and Amazing Casting Resin to make a shield for my Steampunk Flying Pig Button Fairy. I've also molded the layered, assembled buttons and gears – as many of these are one-off creations depending on the leftovers and goodies in my found object stash.

I think the shell piece gives a nice textural beastplate to my flying pig... and it came in handy that this particular casting was a bit of a mishap, as the top section had an air bubble that I couldn't see when I poured the Amazing Casting Resin. No worries! My layered geared nestled right in like it was meant  to be there... no altering necessary. For more information on how I created this button fairy... please click here.

I hope you are inspired to see found objects a little bit differently, perhaps in the shape, or utilizing it as part of a larger collection of items to form something entirely new.

What found objects do you treasure that you

could mold and cast into a new reality?

If you would like to see more of my creations,
please visit my blog sbartist : painting in the dark by clicking here.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

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Faerie Garden Bird Bath - AMAZING Inspiration from Michelle Frae Cummings

Hi Everyone! Do you believe in Faeries? I do!

Michelle here to show you something I created as a spin-off from some Sea Shell Magnets I made last year. You can see that tutorial here. This should inspire you to use your molds in new and inventive ways!

I Love Faerie gardens. Everything about them brings out the "kid" in me!

To make this little bird bath, I used one clean sea shell, Amazing Mold Putty, Amazing Casting Resin, Tear Drops, glitter, E-6000 adhesive and a golf tee.

I made the sea shell bird bath the same way I made the magnet, only before it had a chance to fully set, I quickly added the tear drops and glitter. Then while still soft, I trimmed off any rough edges.

I turned the sea shell over and glued the golf tee in place.

So there you have it!

Now you can make your own little faerie garden bird bath!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Resin Faerie Windows

 I have this fascination for smaller than life items, loving the mystery of what dwells beyond little doors.
I have been wanting my own faerie door for sometime, so I made one, just the way I envisioned, like something from The Hobbit. But then I realized my door needed windows, to make the bottom of our stairs look like some secret home.

 I crafted the frame of my windows from paper clay. It was a bit flimsy to work with so I recommend you do make yours from some other air dry or oven baked clay.
Mix equal amounts of yellow and white Amazing Mold Putty until one solid color of yellow.
Make a oval/window shape of the putty and carefully push the clay piece in, making sure to bring the sides of the putty up. Let set, about 15 minutes until putty id firm.

Then measure equal amounts of "A" and "B" of Amazing Casting Resin using the cups provided. Pour into a small paper cup and mix thoroughly until resin is clear. Fill your window mold carefully. Have extra molds nearby in case you have leftover resin.  The above photo shows the clay window in the lower left and the resin window in the lower right.
Let resin set about 15 minutes, then carefully push out of the mold.

Trim off any abnormalities with small nonstick scissors. Do this before your pieces fully cures and is still soft and pliable. Then with a dauber, ink up your windows a bit with some brown color. Next spread some clear dimensional glaze over every nook and cranny of your window.
Tap a little bit of Copper Alumilite into it's lid then using a old small paintbrush, spread the copper powder onto the window frame. You will be picking up some of the glaze to the point of painting the window frame with a 'copper glaze'. This is a good thing. Touch up the frames with some Gold Alumilite as well.
By combining the Alumilite powder with the glaze, you have a built in finish.

 Cut to shape and glue 2 layers of iridescent cellophane to the backs of the windows.

 Adhere double stick tape to the windows and place them in a 'low' secretive place for your faerie folk to enjoy!

Happy Crafting!

A Fairy Frozen Charlotte Born from a Bar of Soap and Amazing Mold Putty....

Happy Wednesday and today is the day!!! Susan back and as promised, I'm here to share my "Fairy" project that is featured in a special bloghop today. CLICK HERE to go there. Don't forget...there's a special coupon for Amazing Crafting Products at the end of this post, too!

This project began with a little goodie that was included from an Etsy team-member I purchased some holiday soap molds from. She included this sweet fairy bar of molded goat's milk soap. So I have been saving this for a special Amazing Mold Putty adventure....turns out it's evolved into a whole fairyland altered shadowbox project.

I mixed up a good amount of Amazing Mold Putty to cover the front and all sides of the soap. It's about the size of a trading card and the square part of the soap below the relief is about 1/2" thick. I made the mold around the bar and I can use it for just the relief of the fairy - or as more of a sculptural piece.

A little note about the results...as it turns out goat's milk soap is very soft and delicate {but smells lovely}. It wasn't harmed by the mold putty - but the heat of the curing process of the mold putty sort of melted the soap into the edges of it. I had to put it in the freezer for about an hour {because this particular mold is so thick} to help accelerate cooling and release from mold putty. I had to pull a little to get it started, but it worked! My bar of soap has a slight tint of yellow now, but it's a success!

Then I filled the relief part of the mold with Creative Paperclay™ and let dry. I also put this into the freezer for about 15 minutes so that I could get it out of the mold to dry faster by placing it in the toaster oven at the very lowest toast cycle a couple of times. I let it cool completely between cycles because the paperclay likes to puff up like a donut when it gets too hot. 

My little fairy frozen charlotte is born!

The lovely detail of my Fairy Frozen Charlotte is painted, worn and weathered.

Please CLICK HERE to see my finished piece.

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**COUPON for Amazing Crafting Products Website** 

Use coupon code AMP20 to receive 20% off your order.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP!

Coupon expires - Sept 30, 2012

I hope you enjoyed today's project. I encourage you to stroll around through the many AMAZING projects from the other Amazing Mold Putty Design Team members for some great tips and ideas! If you have any questions, please leave a comment, select receive e-mail follow ups on comments and I will respond. If you would like to see more of my creations, please visit my blog sbartist : painting in the dark by clicking here.

Have a fabulously creative day! Sb : )