Saturday 2 July 2016

To the Beach - Guest Designer - Nikki Acton


Hi everyone - it is my pleasure to be the guest designer here for July.

When I knew I was going to be creating a couple of projects using the fabulous Calico Craft Parts I was instantly attracted to the wonderful beach huts. I then saw that Trish had done something very similar but I decided to stick with my idea anyway - you can see Trish's version here.

Using the back of a canvas is one my favourite themes - creating a little shadow box effect and perfect for lots of mixed media techniques and embellishments.

I started by adding some texture to the canvas - using texture paste, string, little beads and cheesecloth. I also added some Deco Art sand texture paste. Once this was all completely dry I gave it all a coat of white gesso.

I then began to paint my background scene - the sea, sky and sand. Once the colours were dry I dry brushed white gesso over the surface - particularly the areas with texture to highlight and create contrasts. I also added lots of spatters with watered down gesso.

Now to the craft parts! I used the beach huts (small), the 'to the beach sign' and little ring buoy both from the mini nautical motifs sheet and some seagulls from the mini seagulls sheet. I really wanted the wood to still be visible so added my paint very lightly, mostly with dry brushing again.


The beach huts were coloured with a pale colour each and some white for contrast.

The sign and birds just had a little white paint dry brushed over the surfaces.

Finally I secured my craft parts onto the canvas - using foam pads for the beach huts to create some dimension.

Craft parts used today:

Thanks for stopping by, I will be back later in the month with another project. 
Nikki xxx


9 comments:

  1. This is absolutely gorgeous, Nikki! I can almost hear the sea gulls' cries! Thanks for being with us and for sharing this inspirational piece with us! Claudia x

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  2. fantastic summery seaside piece. i can smell the sea air.

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  3. Gorgeous, summery art, Nikki! It's really put me in holiday mood even though the weather here in London has been so wet and grey and every day the news gets grimmer! I'm up there escaping in the blue skies with those sea-gulls! xx

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  4. Nikki, your beach scene is fantastic, I just want to grab my towel and head straight to one of those gorgeous beach huts! I really love the beautiful background you created and the subtle colouring on the huts is wonderful! I think I can feel another spend coming on.... xx

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  5. Gorgeous reverse canvas with so much texture on that frame! Your painted background is beautifully done and showcases those beach huts to perfection!

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  6. Oooh lush and a really lovely creation to imagine the salty sea air ;)
    Hugs
    Donna xx

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  7. How fun is this and beautifully accomplished! Makes me want to take a visit to your little huts!

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  8. Thanks everyone. A joy to work with these wonderful craft parts! xx

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  9. Stunning textures on the frame - love how the drybrushing gives it that tang of salty sea spray - and the weathered beach huts look just beautiful.
    Alison x

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