Pretty little things....3 Festive Ornaments - By Kassa Hayselden

Hi there lovelies - I'm back in with my 2nd and final guest dt piece, thanks everyone for having me and thanks also for everyone who popped by to take a peep at my last post and for the beautiful words so many of you left - if you want to spy my last piece press this link to take you back - See Snowflake Angel HERE


I really, really had tremendous fun creating these Christmas Baubles, I think I'll keep one and use the other two for gifts!

And they were simple to create too!

You can see below I took the 3 mdf wood shaped baubles (large) and covered them with some leftover scraps of pre-painted dry wax deli-paper (adhered with matte medium on both the deli paper and the mdf wood bauble - stops air bubbles forming) Whiten the bauble edges with gesso.

Then I gesso the fronts of the mdf shapes - approx 3 cover light coats.

You can spy....

• reindeer-mdf-wood-shape-style-4 - small
• mistletoe-sprig-mdf-wood-shape - small
• angel-mdf-wood-shape-style-1 - small
• holly-leaf-sprig-mdf-wood-shape-style-2 - small
• a selection of the christmas-mini-mixes-mdf-wood-shapes - snowflakes

Once the deli paper dries on the baubles I coat them with an even but fairly thick coat of DecoArt 'One Step Crackle', I then placed my desired centre-piece 'gesso'd' mdf shape into the wet crackle to adhere in place - leave to dry and let it work its crackle lush-magic eeeek! (the piccys below do have the mdf shapes 'gesso'd' in the centres but as you can see the gesso simply soaks into the gesso - hence 3 thin coats)

Note* - bits like the bell, rusty wire and ribbons etc. are painted/attached to the mdf before placing in the wet crackle - and I even 3-d'd the Angel wings and Reindeer antlers! - to adhere these without an ugly step joint I sanded off the join edge with a nail file to a nice soft angle-finished edge - keep filing and fitting till you get the perfect join!

Yum Yum Yum - crackles at their very best when dry- lush or what!

To get the 'soft, weathered ,textured' crackles on the mdf shapes coat with a thin and even layer of DecoArt Americana 'Weathered Wood' crackle medium, when dry apply a thin coat of acrylic paint (contrasting colours make the cracks stand out more) I used DecoArt Americana 'Chalky Finish' paint in 'Everlasting' as I wanted a matte chalky finish so I could colour in the shapes with my colouring pencils once dry.

To create the soft dusty icy feel over the top of the crackle in the baubles and to fill in the lovely large crackles, paint over the crackle with the chalky paint or gesso, wipe off the excess with a wet wipe, this leaves paint in the cracks eeeeek! Once dry go over the shiny crackly surface with a dry paint brush that has a minute amount of the chalky paint/gesso on it (dry brushing) this leaves the dusty look!  the edges are swiped with treasure gold/silver. The hooks/loops I used to hang my baubles from are up-cycled ring-binder wire from an old paper pad!

The bauble above has 'hot glue gun' icicle drips - simply painted with gesso and hi-lighted with treasure silver/gold - oh 'n' a few sprinkles of art-ingredients. the 'Jingle Bells' is typed with my own type-writer onto old book pages! Don't forget to sprinkle glitter onto the antlers!

A few dots of liquid Pearls so transforms the mistletoe berries, they come to life!  And a quick swipe of distress glitter glue on the holly leaves makes you believe 'Jack Frost' has passed by!

I adore soft fabrics and textures in my pieces and thought this would be perfect for the Angel to kneel upon - like a soft cushion of newly fallen virginal snow - I simply gather my scraps of lace, doilies, ribbons, tattered edged paper etc and sew them together in staggered layered strips on my sewing machine - soooooo gratifying! And leaving loads of loose cotton tails (or even sew in extra loose strands of cotton) leaves whisps that move about in the small drafts, you Angel will have a 'floaty like' feel!

I can't decide which is my favourite - ohhhh decisions decisions lol
Have you  a Favourite I wonder???

Till I see you again
or - you can find me at my various other social media sites happily creating away my days :-)
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Mwah xoxo
Kassa