Dress Form; Bird Cage; Nesting Circle; and Tuscan Frame

Hello, Joyce here.  Again, I was bitten by the inspiration bug, but this time the inspiration came from a wide piece of green ribbon with hand sewn flat ribbon roses. I bought this ribbon a year ago at a Scrapbook Expo, and I have not had the heart to cut it up until my BFS dress form accidently fell on top of it.  Then the “Aha” moment came to me… I was going to make a skirt out the flat ribbon roses, but first I have to take the ribbons a part.  Here is the dress form painted with crackle paint; some stencil work and molding paste at the base of the form; and the inspirational ribbon skirt with beads added at the end of each ribbon strand to hold the weight of the curly ribbon down.  This canvas will be given to my teen-aged niece who has just finished painting her bedroom in a soft green color.  I hope she likes it!  

Nesting Circle and Tuscan Frame:

The piercings on the large nesting circle were calling out to be adorned.  The holes in the piercing were the perfect size to weave in some bead work.  The chipboard was painted with white acrylic paint and then a color mist was applied on top of the chipboard followed by a Martha Stewart stencil (her small stencils work perfectly on these chipboard pieces- I also used this same stencil package on the dress form above) with an application of Viva’s molding cream and allowed to dry.  After the molding crème dries, apply another application of your favorite mist and enhance the patterns created with the stencil and molding cream with a watercolor pencil to add more depth. Finally, add a little bit more shimmer using an Inka gold product.  

Bird Cage:

To achieve the two-toned color chipboard piece, paint chipboard with a white dauber, and then apply your favorite crackle product to the large surfaced areas of the chipboard only. When the crackle product has thoroughly dried, use a misting product and apply the mist to the small areas of the chipboard.  Some of the mist will flow onto the crackle product which is fine.

TIP: To enhance those lovely little cracks on your chipboard, use a dry and sharpened watercolor pencil.  Hold the pencil horizontally to your chipboard, and press down the sharpened end of your pencil with your index finger on top of the sharpened area and gently rub in a tiny circular motion in a parallel position. Lift the pencil up and use your index finger and blend the color in. Do not hold your pencil in a vertical position.  Do not wet the watercolor pencil because it will render a muddy looking appearance.