Hello darkness, my old friend.
It's been a while since I've done something dark and moody. But I didn't want dark on more dark. I wanted to provide some contrast and give dark and moody a bit of a feminine twist. So when I planned this project, I had in mind something a bit ethereal with a little bit of spooky factor on a galaxy background. It sounds like a mish-mash of ideas, but I think it really came together well.
Before I get any further, I just want to mention that I'm holding a craft de-stash giveaway over on my Instagram in honor of my birthday and recently reaching 1K followers!
So make sure you head over there and look for this post in my timeline for the details and to enter. The giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Mountain time on October 10, 2021 so don't waste any time putting in your entry on Instagram!
There are few things I love more in this world than wolves, bees and ravens. This past year I've created a summer canvas with a bee, for Reneabouquets, and a wintery wolf canvas with products from P13. I had yet to make something with a raven and what better time than spooky season?
I only had white canvases so I started out by paint an 8x8 canvas with black gesso. When that first layer was dry, I added on texture with a palette knife. I put the gesso on so thick in some places, this definitely required an overnight dry.
The next day, I started in on the galaxy technique. I pulled out a bunch of color and mica mists. I spritzed and splattered until I was happy, using a combination of Distress Mica Sprays in hocus pocus and juniper, Distress Oxide Spray in salvaged patina, Tatter Angels Glimmer Mist in pearl, and Lindy's Moonshadow Mists in violaceous violet and smoky sapphire. I sprayed and splattered my canvas so much that even after drying with a heat tool it needed time to cure.
A day later I began the embellishment and layering process. I started out by prepping some of my elements. I've been gathering some neat sticks every time I find them in my yard after a storm or when I go down to the park near my house. I chose this one with amazing bark texture for this project, but it was all pretty dark. To highlight that texture, I used a bit of white impasto paint, dry brushing it over the highlights of the bark.
I also cut the standing raven from the Tim Holtz die Feather and Ravens die set (which is in the current Halloween Vault die set) from a piece of black kraft stock. I also cut some of my favorite skeleton leaves from the same kraft stock. I applied a layer of Glossy Accents to the raven die cut and then dusted him in the nightfall Distress Glitter then set him aside to dry. (Guys, that Glitter Vac from WeR is seriously handy when doing glitter or dies with lots of tiny offcuts!) I then used some shaping tools to give more dimension to the leaves.
I picked out a couple a couple of resin pieces from the Watercolor Floral mould from Prima. I chose the butterfly (or as I think of it in this case, a moth) and a sprig of leaves. I painted the two pieces in white gesso. Once dry, I painted them with Opal Magic acrylic paints in blue-gold and violet-green.
Next I pulled out some pieces of chipboard from Creative Embellishments and snipped them into smaller pieces. I covered each in a thin layer of Scrapbook.com Smart Glue and set them aside to dry. Once dry, I applied Heidi Swapp Minc Foil in iridescent, pressing it onto the sticky surface and pulling up the sheet. My final piece of prep was to fussy cut a floral element from P13's New Moon collection.
To assemble, I started by glueing down some drop leaf lace and some black lace, holding my flowers over the canvas for placement as I glued down the lace. I had some iridescent strips of cellophane left from my Moste Deadly Flora project so I nested it on my canvas and then glued down a cluster of four Prima flowers in teal and mint to the right side of the canvas using heavy body gel. (I used flowers from some old collections--Isabella and Heaven Sent, plus one more recent collection, Magic Love.) These flowers prop the stick up on that side of the canvas, giving it more dimension and so that I could place something light behind the raven. I couldn't have this magical sparkly being blending into the background!
I then glued the stick down using heavy body gel. I then began tucking in the resin leaf sprig, foiled chipboard and die cut leaves. I glued some more flowers on the left side of the canvas around the stick and added the moth on top. I glued a few more flowers over the other flowers on the right and tucked the fussy cut element in between the layers of flowers.
I added some lace daisies with pearl centers, the raven and a Reneabouquets dragonfly (I popped the dragonfly up with just a bit more foam adhesive so it would float over the flowers). I then used some Tim Holtz crinkle ribbon and added a double bow to the upper right of the twig.
I then added some Effect Paste in pixie to the flowers for a bit more iridescent shine and glued down some Beautiful Beads in mermaid tails.
This canvas has so many of my favorite things--a raven, glitter, lace, teal, flowers...okay so I love everything about this canvas! I hope you enjoyed this project and walkthrough tutorial. And don't forget to head over to my Instagram to enter my giveaway!
Shop the Supplies:
ReplicaSurfaces
Love the background I shot my photos on? It's from Replica Surfaces, a company that makes rigid photo-realistic backgrounds. This surface is called Weathered Wood. You can pick up your own with a 15% discount by shopping this link. When you do, I get a small commission from the sale at no extra cost to you, which helps me continue to provide you amazing tutorials and information, just like this blog post!
Reneabouquets
Reneabouquets Trim Drop Leaf Lace
Reneabouquets Trim Garden Bouquet Lace
Beautiful Beads Mermaid Tails Iridescent Pearls
Tiny Treasures Suncatcher Teal Premium Paper Glitter Glass Dragonflies
Creative Embellishments
Scrapbook.com
I am an affiliate with Scrapbook.com. When you shop the links below, I receive a small commission from the affiliate, at no additional cost to you. This helps me balance the costs of the time and love I put into my projects and blog so I can continue to share my ideas with you for FREE. If you shop the links, thank you! I greatly appreciate it.
Below are products that I used or similar products.
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