Julie Ann Lee #2 Feathers and Bones (Part 2)

"Hi, Julie Ann here again. Thank you for returning to see what I did next with my little suitcase of 'bones and feathers'. I'm still using USNT3 and 4 stamps, but the inside of my case has a greener, bluer colour scheme". 

First I'll show you how I decorated the sides and then we'll open the lid very gently to see what's going on inside. Still using the pages from my old copy of Thomas Hardy's poems sprayed with diluted Inky Pool, I stamped the feather from MN99 onto it with Potting Soil Archival. You might also be able to see that I have painted the underside. For this I used a mix of Chocolate Pudding and Satin Glaze to give a translucence.

Mini 99

Last month I was making feathers to decorate a box, but I wanted this one to be feathery while still looking like a peeled layer on my battered suitcase, so I snipped the sides to look feathery without actually cutting right up close to the feather.

I added a piece of cocktail stick to create a spine for my feather. The look I wanted to achieve was of torn labels morphing into feathers on the outside of the case.

Here's how it looked attached to the case. I edged the feathery edges with some Green Amber Treasure Gold. This seemed to work well with the combination of Fresco and Glaze and it hinted at the more vivid colours that would be blossoming into life inside the case. Now what about the other side?

This time I spray painted some of the text with Inky Pool over Guacamole and then stamped the three eggs from USNT3 onto it in Potting Soil Archival. I distressed the torn edges with some of the Potting Soil and coloured the curled corners with Florentine Treasure Gold. Now we should maybe take a peek inside.

Before the outside of my case was decorated, I painted the inside with a couple of coats of Antarctic before spraying with diluted mists of Inky Pool, Guacamole and Blood Orange. When this was dry, I took a Stencil Girl stencil of leaves and used Cut N Dry to sponge through Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Evergreen Bough and Peeled Paint.

Then, in order to make it seem like shabby paper lining, I distressed the edges with some Chocolate Pudding.

I had been really looking forward to working on the embellishments to go inside my case, as I felt that these would bring the project to life! I chose two little wooden Prima birds in flight and painted them first with Antarctic and then with an edging of Inky Pool, adding green gem eyes. I really love these little resin topiary trees, which I used first on my last month's project.I painted this one with Guacamole then Hey Pesto. The pot and stand were painted with Nougat and then French Roast on the urn.

Next I took a piece of Smoothy heavy card, tore two edges and folded back the other two sides. I painted the background with Antarctic and then spray painted with Inky Pool and very watered down Guacamole. The small spray bottles are really great for creating misting effects. I half filled them with water and then added a few drops of colour to get a washy effect, but you could create different effects with different parts water to paint. I sponged the edges with Inky Pool and then Hey Pesto. I then stamped the tree from USNT3 using Inky Pool Fresco rather than ink. I really liked the feathery, rather ethereal effect.

Here are my layers in place. I curled back the edges and coloured them with Aquamarine Treasure Gold and you might be able to see that I used a little Green Amber TG on the topiary tree with a touch of Florentine on the urn. it really is magical when you apply the TG over the Fresco - different transformations take place with different under-colours. Thank you so much for looking at the stages of this project. 

Please stop by tomorrow when I will show you the finishing touches to inside the suitcase.

Leandra Says: Wow I love the watery, foresty colours Julie Ann!, and Treasure Gold is always the perfect finish!!

Gillian Says: The layers and embellishments look wonderful,Julie Ann, I love how realistic Mini 99 looks on the outer edge of the case.

If you would like to join in this week's challenge and play along with Julie Ann's techniques, then do link up your creativity here, and go in the draw to win some PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by 17:00, Sunday February 16th 2014.