EX

CLUSIVE

SEASON’S GREETINGS

by Sharon Bond

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PALETTE:Americana Acrylics by DecoArt:Antique Maroon #13160Burnt Orange #13016Dark Chocolate #13065Deep Midnight Blue #13166Green Tree #13290Hauser Dark Green #13133Honey Brown #13163Kelly Green #13055Lamp (Ebony) Black #13067Milk Chocolate #13174Natural Buff #13547Rookwood Red #13097Russet #13080Tomato Red #13169Traditional Burnt Umber #13221Warm White #13239Winter Blue #13190Specialty Paints from DecoArt:Shimmering Silver Dazzling Metallic #14070Worn Penny Dazzling Metallic #14214Ice Crystal Glamour Dust #13598

SURFACE:Candle Lamp Box with Insert #63153

MISC. SUPPLIES:Acrylic Sealer Finisher Matte Spray #70836Drying Time Extender #83131Dura Clear Gloss Varnish #87393Classic Gelly Roll Pen White #70216Identi Pen Black #70830 (for fi ner outlining)Ordinary Plastic Wrap (such as Glad Wrap or Saran Wrap)Ruler (to aid with straight lines)Scotch’s Magic Tape or Painter’s TapeSoft Grip Embossing & Stylus set of 3 #70125White Graphite Paper 18x36 #70139

BRUSHES:Papillon by the Artist’s Club:Angular Shader siz 1 /4” #20109Angular Shader size 3/8” #20110Glaze Wash size 3/4” #201024 Piece Highlighter set #20173 (The 1 /4” and 1 /2” sizes were used)Round size 2 #20158Script Liner size 10/0 #20137Shader size 8 #20129

PREPARATION:Start by basecoating the entire box and insert solidly with Winter Blue. Let dry.

Tear off two or three sheets of Plastic Wrap and wad them into loose balls, then create a thin wash of Deep Midnight Blue. Working on a section at a time, brush on the Deep Midnight Blue wash, then ‘pat’ with the plastic wrap ball. This will pull some of the paint off and leave a creative design on your surface. If you plastic wrap gets too much paint on it, switch to a clear piece that you have already prepared. Continue this process until you have completely covered all sides of the box and the insert. Let dry completely before tracing on your main design. Depending on how dark your surface ends up, I believe the White Graphite Paper works best for transferring.

PAINTING INSTRUCTIONS:BIRDHOUSEBefore we start painting the birdhouse, I used tape to tape around the straight lines of the birdhouse to ensure that I keep the house’s lines straight and protect my background as well. This makes basecoating, etc. so easy!

Basecoat the house solidly in Russet. Add an additional coat if necessary to have a solid coat. Once dry, drybrush the house with Milk Chocolate, then highlight with Honey Brown. To help the house blend with the original colors, I drybrushed lightly again, this time using Rookwood Red. Once dry, trace or line the vertical lines on the house with Black or your Identi Pen. Shade around all inside edges of the house with Antique Maroon. Shade to the left side of each vertical line with Antique Maroon as well.

Season’s Greetingsby Sharon Bond

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At this point, you may want to tape off around the roof to keep those lines straight as well. (Make sure your paint has dried before to start to tape over the painted birdhouse.)

Basecoat the roof with Dark Chocolate. Drybrush with Milk Chocolate.

Finely outline the entire birdhouse with Black. (You can use your ruler to help with this as well.)

Basecoat the entrance hole solidly in Dark Choco-late. Drybrush with Milk Chocolate. Shade on the left side, inside the hole with Black. Finely outline in Black around the hole as well.

Before painting the checkered banner, I also applied tape to help keep this sections straight and to protect the birdhouse. Just apply a strip of tape across the top and the bottom of this section (along the sides too, if you wish). Basecoat the banner solidly with Natural Buff . You may need to apply two coats for solid cover-age. Let dry. Drybrush with Warm White. Shade along the edges of the banner with Honey Brown. Let dry. Use your ruler (if you wish) and your Black Identi Pen to make your dividing lines. Fill in every other square solidly with Black. Let dry.

BRANCHESBasecoat all branches with Traditional Burnt Umber and let dry. Thin a bit of Milk Chocolate and line some of the branches with that. Finely outline all branches in Black. (If it is easier, outline all branches fi rst with your Identi Pen, then fi ll in with color; that is the method I used.)

SIGNBasecoat the sign with Milk Chocolate, you may need two coats for solid coverage. Once dry, drybrush with Honey Brown. Highlight (mainly in the center) with Natural Buff . Shade around the inside edges of the sign with Dark Chocolate. Lettering is done in Black.

RED BANNERThe red banner across the top of the insert is painted solidly with Tomato Red. Finely outline the banner in Black. Add Shimmering Silver dots across the banner.

HANGING STARSUsing your ruler and a White Gelly Roll Pen, create the lines that the stars are hanging from. Let dry. Dot the top of each line with a large dot of Warm White. Out-line all stars in Black and paint with Worn Penny.

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CARDINALSBasecoat both cardinals solidly in Rookwood Red. Let dry. Drybrush with Tomato Red. Their beaks are painted solidly with Burnt Orange. Dot their eyes with Honey Brown and let dry. Add a Black pupil to each eye. Their ‘facial masks’ are also done in Black. I added a tiny Warm White dot and fi ne lined accent to each eye. Finely outline the entire cardinal in Black (including their beaks and the details on their wings.)

WREATHS (ON TOP OF THE BOX AND ON THE BIRDHOUSE)Both wreaths are done in the same manner. Outline the main lines of the wreath in Black or use your Identi Pen. Shade around the circle of the wreath with thinned Dark Chocolate and let dry. I created layers of pine needles using three diff erent colors, (each color was thinned a bit) and I used my liner brush (let each color dry before applying the next color). First layer is done in Hauser Dark Green, second layer is done with Kelly Green and the last (top) layer is done with Green Tree. This applies to all the pine needles on the Wreaths as well as all the pine needles on the Branches.

The wreaths (on the top and on the birdhouse) also have berries. I outlined those in Black, then dotted them with Tomato Red.

TOPThe center circle (where the candle would be placed) is washed with a second coat of thinned Deep Midnight Blue to darken a bit more. Once dry, outline your star

with Black and fi ll in with Worn Penny. I also dotted around the inside circle with Shimmering Silver.

SNOWI wanted to add little ‘piles’ of snow here and there to the main scene. I added snow to the roof, the entrance hole, top corner of the sign and also a bit on the bot-tom box edge by dabbing on Warm White. You want to apply this thickly and by ‘dabbing’ it on, you will create a bit of texture as well. I applied two coats to each area (let dry between coats) and let dry completely.

Using the ball end of a stylus, I added Warm White dots randomly over the entire box and insert to repre-sent snowfl akes.

FINISHING:Once we have completed our project, we will need to seal it. I spray sealed mine with Americana’s Matte Spray Finisher. Once dry, I added a bit of extra shine to the project by adding DuraClear Glossy Varnish to the bird’s eyes and beaks and also to the wreath’s berries. I added DecoArt’s Ice Crystal Glamour Dust Paint to all stars and to all the snow piles.

This project was fun to do and I think it would be great for the entire winter season! I hope you enjoyed it as well!

Thank You!

Sharon Bond

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Copyright 2018 by Sharon Bond and Crafts Americana Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. #332302

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