Dream of the Beach Altered Art

Hello Topflight Fans, this week the team are playing with MDF Life Quotes by Debbi Moore. There are many different kinds including Words, quotes, ATC coins & stands to put your creations on. 

MDF stands for medium-density fiber board, basically it is an engineered wood. I was given the word Dream. I went with my favorite colors & decided to do a bit of a beach theme even with the butterflies. My dream is the beach so that is the direction to go in! 

Here is what the Life Quote starts out as. It comes with a stand that the word fits into. I didn't add paint to the part that goes in the stand as the extra layer might not make it fit as well. 

I did a color test on a tag to make sure the colors I picked went along with some of my ideas to jazz the word up. Really loving the look of crackle so that was part of the test. PaperArtsy makes a Crackle Glaze Paint. Hot-Tip PaperArtsy paints come in translucent & opaque colors. Keep this in mind when choosing which ones to use. 

Next up was adding a base layer of color. This will be the color that shows through the cracks. South Pacific was painted directly onto the word. Fresco Finish is a matte paint & really goes on smoothly as a base. Once dry, a layer of Crackle was applied. While waiting for it to dry the butterfly were embossed in Eileen Hull's Golden Rod. Hot Tip- use an embossing heat gun, it is runs hotter & has less blowing so the powder stars put. Also shake the embossing bottle before applying to mix the different weights of powder.

Once the crackle was dry a top coat was added. This will be the majority color. I went with Aqua Duck Egg, a pretty pale minty blue color. A thicker coat creates bigger cracks & thinner creates smaller cracks. Set aside to dry. The butterflies were embossed with Golden Rod. 

The bottom of the word base needed a sandy look & Seth Apters Embossing powder Dirty Sand was perfect!! I masked off the edge that goes in the stand with tape & embossed letting it run up some of the letters because sand goes everywhere when you are at the beach!

The base was coated in more of an ocean water color, Blueberry. Using a heavy gel medium shells & art stones were added. I also used some Textured Sand Paste from Stamperia. Next crushed shells from our last visit to the beach were added. Once all that was dry, sequins, beads, and metal accents joined the fun. 

This is my favorite part just letting my imagination play. Adding details like the mermaid charm, painting the sand with a shimmery paint, adhering Diamond Sparkles from Hunkydory.

Finally a Tim Holtz quote was added with gold ribbon that resembles netting. More beads & Diamond Sparkles & a few more charms. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you jump in to the MDF quote game & make something pretty!!!

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration. 

**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This may help me continue to bring you techniques & more inspiration.