Hi everyone! Miae here to share with you a little something different for me!

I’m one of the Scrap Stars so I usually make layouts (which is totally my cup of tea)….but I’ve got this large pile of canvas staring at me and it’s been a while since I made something on them so I decided to do something a little different….

(click on the photos to get see a larger image)

I started off by tearing and layering some patterned paper on the canvas with mod podge. Next I lighty brushed gesso to soften the look of the different patterned papers. Over that I used a variety of mists, paints, inks, chalk, and stamps until I was happy with the background.

I went hunting for some branches and gave them a coat of mod podge too because they were very dry and I didn’t want them to snap too easily. I added leaves from Basically Bare’s Blossom and Leaves set after coloring the canvas leaves with Tim Holtz distress inks and Faber Castells Big Pitt Pens.  I think they match really well with the branches, don’t you?

I’d been itching to use the homes from the Happy Little House set since I’d first seen them and they were so fun to turn into birdhouses! I covered them with a wood grained patterned paper then used my Kuretake embossing pen to draw over the pattern and emboss with Tim Holtz distress embossing powder.

I wanted the birds to be the focal point so I colored them in their bright colors and kept them solid to contrast against all the other patterns. To color the two felt birds I took out my Pearl Ex mica powders and dabbed into the felt. A little hint: since Pearl Ex has no binding agent, you need a fixative to make the fine powder stay. I sprayed the  birds with a misting bottle  that has a mixture of water and gum arabic…my fixative.  The yellow birdie is chipboard painted with gesso, colored with india ink and also covered with Pearl Ex.

Well that’s my project for today!