Crafty countdown....65 days to go

Hi crafters, thank you for popping on by again!! This blog post is a little tricky to photograph, as its long!! I've gone down the real messy crafting this time - let's see if you like this, or prefer it a little more refined.

I've carried on with yesterday's theme, as I still had stars left, and love using the same products to get a different look. 

 I started with a piece of mdf (not Meg!!) that was already painted:

I arranged the stars and got an idea of layout. I then added stencil detail, using blue paint and a stencil brush 

Once I stencilled the whole mdf pieces I then added gesso with a sponge - this adds texture, but also allows me to see the stencil work underneath:

Next I wanted to use the same stamp I used yesterday, but wanted it to look different, so decided to cut it up:

I matted and layer the stamp images onto card, but the words which were difficult to cut out needed to be stamped directly onto the plaque, so I had to mask of the words I didn't want to ink. This is easily done with a post it note pad:

Next I threaded string through two of the holes, and threaded some of my stars:

The moon (which I have painted silver) was covered in glue, then popped into a tub of flakes. I then suspended it from string which I tied to the string at the top of the placque:

I quite like my swinging little moon:

Oops, I forgot, I also went round some of the swirls created with the stencil, with a black fine tipped drawing pen. This just emphasises the detail a little.

Next, I added my other stars and the words to make up the saying. I added glitter glue, and also glossy accents to the words. I brushed over with white paint to add extra texture to my design, and to give it that rough "sketchy" look.

Gosh, that's it!! To finish I blasted it with a clear super gloss varnish. Because I'm using mdf, the varnish doesn't shine as much as expected, but does give it a more professional finish.....so, smooth or "sketchy and rough"? Have a play, and see what you like :)