2015 #6 Decorated Hand {by Liz Borer, PA Signature Designer}

2015 Theme 6: Grunge Paste

Hi Liz here. I have had this papiermache hand for some time and I just couldn't work out what to do with it . Then I started to think about a project using Grunge Paste and all of a sudden I knew that the hand would be a perfect base for the work . I wanted to really go to town decorating the hand and I wanted to add some texture to the background which might have been difficult to do because of the shape but Grunge Paste to the rescue !

The other problem with the hand is that because it is made of papiermache it is not really stable , but by sticking it to a block of wood (left over from building work ) the problem was solved .

With most items made of papiermache the surface can be rather rough with odd dents etc. in it . I have found that Grunge Paste is perfect for filling these irregularities because it is easy to sand smooth without damaging the surface . Once I had done this I painted the whole thing with Nougat paint and stuck it to the wood block . I didn't paint the block , I just gave it a coat of Matte Glaze to seal it.    

 I then found some stencils that I liked in my box of stencils and using tissue paper I smoothed Grunge Paste through the stencils several times .Once I had done this I decided that I only wanted to use the pattern from the flourish stencil , so I have kept the other sheets for another project .

The advantage of using tissue paper is that it will stick to curved surfaces and that the dried Grunge Paste design can be cut into smaller pieces so that the can be stuck wherever needed .                                   

To stick the stenciled tissue to the hand and wood paint a coat of Matte Glaze over the area and carefully apply the tissue over it . Paint another coat  of glaze carefully over the tissue to seal it and press out and bubbles .The tissue will tear if you press too hard but if you are gentle it will adhere nicely to the background . I cut up the tissue so that I could arrange the stenciled swirls up and around the hand and block .                              

        

Once the glaze had dried I painted the whole thing with Nougat so that the Grunge Paste was the same colour as the background . When the paint had dried I rubbed Rose Quartz Treasure Gold over all the raised areas . At this point it almost looked like henna tattoos !                     

I wanted some more pattern on the background so I stamped the ivy from EEB01 onto some more tissue paper with a brown archival ink . I cut up the ivy design in the same way as I had cut up the stenciled tissue and stuck the tissue down using matte glaze as before                      

EEB01

On of the reasons that I needed the hand to be stable is that I wanted to hang a birdcage from one of the fingers . I had a rather large cage in my stash and I decided to cover the lower part it tissue . I painted a strip of tissue wider that the depth of the base of the cage with matte glaze and carefully wrapped it around the cage . The glaze stuck the tissue to the cage and once dry made it much less fragile . I found that I needed to attach a second strip of tissue in the same way to fill in any tiny splits in the tissue .                

I then stuck some one of the other designs that I had stenciled onto tissue onto the cage and when it was dry painted it with a coat of Nougat . I found two metal birds that I felt would look nice and painted them with Squid Ink. I then made a paint with the Rose Quartz Treasure Gold by mixing it with a little alcohol ink blender which I  'dry brushed ' over the bird cage and the birds to pick up the raised details .   

                              

The hand needed some more decorations and more colour , so I stamped flowers from EEB06 and HP1009 onto smoothy card with black archival ink . The flowers were painted with various browns and purples from the fresco paints and cut out  ( a bit tedious but worth it ) .           

EEB06

HP1009

I then started to stick the flowers to the hand . I curved the petals a little to give some dimension and used Pinflair glue ( or any dimensional glue ) to attach the flowers . These pictures show the first few flowers attached but I went on to add more overlapping some to give more dimension .    

To hang the bird cage onto the hand I made a hole through the finger using a darning needle and then carefully pulled a chain through . I fixed the chain at the top by attaching it to a flower and added glue to make it more secure and then it was possible to cut the chain to the right length. 

To add a little more texture and some sparkle I found some seed beads in various colours that complemented the flowers and mixed them together to get a random effect . To stick the beads to the hand I spread a little pinflair glue in various places and pushed the beads into the glue       

Don't forget that this can be viewed from all sides so make sure all the decorations go all around the hand . Here are some pictures of the finished piece from different angles .                                           

I enjoyed decorating this hand ( which my daughter says is a Zombie hand -- but a pretty one ) and I hope that it has given you some inspiration for your work . I'll be back soon with something else , so Bye for now .

Liz. 

Blog - Decorative Delights

Thanks for joining us this evening Liz, this is a perfect example of how versatile the Grunge Paste can be. Using the paste on tissue means even really curvy substrates can be used. The texture on the birdcage is so lovely and a definite trick to remember.

We would love you to join in with challenge #6: Grunge Paste If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

NB.  you will get 3 weeks to participate in this challenge, as we will interrupt the usual schedule for our 3UP week which starts April 5th.

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Grunge Paste link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, April 12th, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00