Tin Can Flower By Stuart

Tin Can Flower

Good morning everyone, I’m so please to bring you a “Made By Me” project by Stuart Brown today. Stuart took up the challenge to create something for the ILMM group and I love his project especially as there are recycled items and check out the way he has captured watering his flower. So clever! Over to you Stuart.

Hello everyone, Stuart here with my Made By Me.

I wanted to use this experience as a challenge to try something new so this is my first time creating a picture and painting like this on canvas. This is my How To but if you need more information on anything just ask.

  1. The background. I took a 16” by 20” canvas and using 2 colours of blue and white I created a sky background. I just used big motions left to right, sweeping upwards to create a bit of movement. Initially this looked a little dark so I went back to it the next day and went over it with white paint to lighten it up.
  2. The flower. I cut ovals out of drinks cans in 2 sizes on a die cutting machine. I curled these around a ring mandrel and pinched one end to make the cone shape. I used hot glue to temporarily hold the shape and then stapled them onto an 18mm mdf circle I cut out.I painted these with 2 coats of white gesso and then 2 coats of Art Alchemy Sparks acrylic paint, the colour is Magical Pond. TIP-The insides of the flower didn’t have the gesso coats and this gave a lighter finish as I didn’t have to cover the writing on the can.
  3. For the centre of the flower I cut a disk out of corrugated card and coated this with strong glue then I covered this in Finnabair copper micro beads. I then took some Stamperia moon grains and coloured some using Arto graphite metallic paint. I stuck these to the flower centre piece. Once dry I used hot glue to stick this in the centre of the flower.
  4. For the flower’s stem I took a thick piece of wire and wrapped this in a high tack double sided tape. I coated this with distress embossing powder pine needles (now I think you could use the distress glaze especially as my wire is green underneath). I am about a week too early with this project to use the new rustic wilderness colour which would have been great for this.
  5. For the leaves I cut the shape out of corrugated card. I had some old disposable gloves that I had used in crafting so was good for nothing other than the bin… no of course not! I cut out 2 fingers and hot glued them to the card with a channel between them. I then used the high tack double sided tape and the distress powder again to give the leaf effect. I repeated the step from above for the stem to make 2 shorter stems. I stuck one of the leaves down and overlaid the second leaf for depth.
  6. The plant pot. I took a plastic plant pot and cut it in half. Then I used DecoArt Santa Fe Terra Cotta texture paste to cover it giving the stone effect. Once dry I painted this with a burnt sienna acrylic paint and when dry I mixed 50/50 of burnt sienna and yellow ochre and dry brushed this lightly over the pot. To finish off, I cut a semi circle of card and added texture to this with a grit paste. Once dry I painted this with dark umber and stuck this Inside the pot.
  7. The bee. I took a clear resin cast piece Denise had made (thank you Denise) and painted this with acrylics. I kept the wings clear as it’s a great effect and just dry brushed some black over the top to pick out the lines. I debated attaching him to the flower but in the end felt he added balance to the canvas to have him to the side flying towards it.
  8. The grass comes from the mixed fabric pack and is one of my favourite things at the moment, I need to find out what it is called. (This came in my mystery box so I had some to use for this project). I lightly coated it with green acrylic paint and stuck it down with a strong wet glue. I frayed the edges of this to make it more natural looking.
  9. The rockery. I used pebbles we had around the house and stuck them to the canvas with strong glue, great for this sort of thing. I also used this to glue down the moss as well. (This is a modelling foliage I have had for years, a little of this goes a long way and is great for adding this kind of effect.)The ILMM Reindeer Moss Kit would also be ideal for this.
  10. The watering can. I used the rose off of a watering can (might regret that come spring time!) and hot glued this to the top of the frame. For the water I used crystal beads that came in my mystery box. I was going to use the ILMM glass cabochons for this but these beads seemed perfect for the shower effect.

I hope you find some interest and inspiration in this project. I have really enjoyed working on this and being able to use so many I Love Mixed Media products in this.
Thank you,
Stuart

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