The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #11 - April Showers

It's a new month so it's time for another The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge. This month our challenge theme is "April Showers." Our sponsor this month is DecoArt. They make amazing products for mixed media in their Media line. They were nice enough to send all the members of the design team products to use on our products this month. I was VERY impressed with everything I used - especially at how well the crackle paste worked (I've had bad crackle experiences in the past). I took pictures along the way to showcase all products that I used. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will consider joining us at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge this month!

Be sure to scroll all the way down to see my finish project.

I started out with a scrap piece of wood that was about 5.5 x 5.25. 

 Then I covered it with DecoArt Gesso

 When the Gesso dried I brushed on some Primary Cyan Fluid Acrylic Paint

When the paint dried I followed the directions on the Crackle Paste and covered it with Matte Medium before I used the Crackle Paste.

When the DecoArt Matte Medium dried I added some of the Decoart Dioxozine Purple to the White DecoArt Crackle Paste to make a light Purple color for my Crackle Paste.

 This is what the DecoArt Crackle Paste looked like right after I covered the surface.

 Here's what it looked like about an hour later when it was dry. Awesome!! You could see the blue color beneath it.

 Then I added some script from a The Crafters Workshop Stencil with DecoArt Black Media Mister.

When the words dried I sprayed the whole piece with the DecoArt Media Primary Cyan Mister and the DecoArt Media Turquoise Shimmer Mist.

I wanted to show more of the background so I sanded it so the purple would show through. Then, I added some dots through a Dylusions Stencil using DecoArt Silver Metallic Paint and Turquoise Shimmer Spray and Turquoise Interference (which adds an iridescent quality).

To finish the piece I found some Lime Green DecoArt Craft Twinklers in my stash and I added it to each "rain drop" for some sparkle. Here is a close up of the rain drops.

Then I used this 12 x 12 DecoArt Americana bird stencil that I found at Michaels to make the bird. I colored the bird with DecoArt Fluid Acrylic Paint.

To finish off the piece I stamped a sentiment from a Tim Holtz stamp set, cut it out and mounted it on a piece of corrugated cardboard that I covered in chalk paint and I added another layer of cardstock that I painted with the DecoArt Fluid Acrylic Paint. I also stamped and cut out the umbrella from a Dylusions stamp set and colored it with the Deocart Fluid Acrylics. Finally, I knew I wanted the bird to be standing on something with some dimension and when I was at Hobby Lobby I found DecoArt Americana Writers. They have special tips so you can outline or write with them. I used a black one to make the wire for the bird and it very dimensional.