Monday 18 April 2016

The LEAGUE of EXTRAORDINARY SALESMEN?.......CrazyBird Style!

Hi All,
Recently I revisited the film 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.'
Love the Steampunk style of this movie with a little action, horror & fantasy thrown in.

This has given me some Inspiration for some Crazy Bird ideas.
I wanted to stack the Crazy Birds in a Steampunk style.

I will enter this wall hanging in the Wednesday Challenge 'Boy oh Boy!'
over at the Frilly & Funkie Challenge Blog

I  had previously stamped, coloured & diecut quite a few of the whole set of  'Crazy Birds' & the 'Crazy Things' Accessories.  
I had chosen lots of different combinations of colours of Distress Inks to colour these in.
I used plain white cardstock not watercolour paper so the blending of colour is limited.
I still think they turned out quite fun.

Richele Christensen inspired me with her project of stacked Crazy Birds.
Her colouring of these birds is fantastic.
I experimented with the same stacking but also included their hats & ties.
This made me think they looked like 'SALESMEN' not Gentlemen!


Read on further if you want to know how I made this Extraordinary Wall Hanging.


The base of this Wall hanging is a partially curved section of a file folder made of very sturdy chipboard.
I gave it a couple of coats of White Gesso to protect the base from the layers to follow.
I have pictured 3 different brands of Gesso here (any one ok they just vary in how liquid they are)


I wanted to include a Ledger as the base for my 'Salesmen'
Found this perfect paper in the Tim Holtz French Industrial 12 x 12 pack.
All paper applied with Prima Art Basics Soft Matte Gel.


Another page from this pack included all these Adverts, which I cut up & arranged
as a border around the page.
I darkened the edge of each advert with the Faber Castell Black Brush Pen.


The Tim Holtz Tiles stencil was used with Art Basics 3D Matte Gel from Prima 
to cover the whole ledger in the centre of the piece.
When dry, the paper can still be seen even after I applied white gesso over to lighten the base.
This technique was inspired by Jenny Marples from her blog 'Pushing the Right Buttons' 
(I wish I had Picket Fence Distress Ink to cover but see below White Gesso worked ok as well)


I trialed the composition of the hanging & slipped extra Adverts in behind the Birds & added some more accessories like tumbling hats, papers & pencils.


To add the Steam Punk style & Industrial look for my Salesmen 
I wanted to add some rusty cogs & numbers.
The new Art Extravagance Rust Effect pastes from Prima & Patina Green Antiquing Cream from Deco Art Media were perfect to age & rust the combination of die cut paper, chipboard & metal cogs, clocks & numbers I used. Dab on with a small dry sea sponge or cotton tip.


The Birds & rust elements were all applied with 3D Matte Gel medium.
The Sentiment was printed off my computer & distressed before attaching to bottom of hanging.


The Rust paste gives a very realistic colour & texture.


Tim Holtz 'Crazing' Distress Collage Medium was applied to the Adverts & over the Rust pieces.
It has added a subtle antique layer when Antique Linen Distress Ink was rubbed over it.


Shading around the Adverts, Birds & Rusty pieces was done using a Faber Castell Gelato in Chocolate. Rubbed & smudged with my finger.
Faint highlights were done using a white Gelato.
The new distress crayons would be great for this too, but sadly haven't got the dark range.

Tim Holtz Ideaology Trinkets & Chains were used for the hanger & embellishment.


Whoops! The 'Fat Cat' (Bird) on the top of the heap is about to take a tumble on the Stock Market!


The Adverts matched some of these birds so well.  
Above 'Easter Confectioner'
Below is the swish 'Undertaker'


Solid Business in 'Iron Ore & the Railway'


The Bird on the bottom represents my husband.
He is a Drilling Contractor so the references to water really suit.
He also has cute chubby cheeks just like the green bird.


I am really happy how this hanging turned out.  The background really adds to it so much.
You may be thinking how does this relate to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Well lets just say this is version 1.  
I have plans to make a fantasy version to suit the story.
Have to redesign a few of those nice birds to suit some of the characters.
Think I am going a little Crazy myself!!

Cheers     DEB


5 comments:

  1. Brilliant! The birds are beautiful! Love the whole idea and the gears along the bottom. Thank you for joining the Frilly and Funkie Boy Oh Boy challenge this week!

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    1. Thanks so much Suzanne. Had lots of fun making this.

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  2. Oh what! Talk about take ideas and run with them! LOVE the whole idea of getting inspired by that wonderful film, your stacked crazy birds, the imaginative way of using that background technique (thank you for the shout out!) and the very clever framing and layering. Thank you for joining us at Frilly and Funkie x

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    1. Hi Jenny Thanks so much for your comments & your inspiration. Was lots of fun to make. I had been thinking about making this for quite some time but it wasn't until I saw your background that I knew how I wanted it to come together.

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  3. Debbie, this is so much fun and fabulously designed! Biggest congrats on your top 3 at Frilly & Funkie. Hugs, Autumn

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