Leafing week: Leafing on AJ

Hello :o)
Today Neil is giving you a basic gilding tutorial using the flakes I mentioned yesterday and then add the shiny little bird to an Art Journal page....  

I'm using the bird from the Alteration die for this. You will also need some gilding flakes, (I prefer to use the variegated ones as I love the different colours you get, it's always a surprise!) and a paintbrush to apply the flakes.

I know that a lot of people tend to avoid them as they have a tendency to fly away but it's worth persevering. 

Your flakes usually arrive in a small container so the first thing I do is decant them into a lager container; usually a take away tub. The other thing that is useful to remember is not to work in a draft as they are so light the slightest air movement sends them off!

Start by applying a blob of glue onto your piece and spread it thinly with your fingers. 

Open the container of flakes (Carefully!) and pick some up on the paintbrush. lay them onto the project and carry on till you have covered the piece. 

 Press the flakes into the surface to flatten them out and you should end up with something like this.

You can see from this next photo too that what I do next it take a blending tool and foam; add a little distress ink (Usually walnut stain) and gently burnish the piece, this makes sure everything is sealed into the glue and also any small gaps are coloured. 

So there you have it, one gilded bird!

I used the bird on this journal page.

To do the background I tore random strips from a magazine and stuck to the page; painted everything with gesso and walnut stain over everything when the gesso was dry. Then a spritz of water to add interest. I stamped the Paperartsy stamp along the top and bottom in black archival ink and adhered the cage to the page. (I die cut the cage in black and sandwiched the bird between it and a background paper and cut it out.) 

The words were written in white and outlined in black and a little button on top of the cage to finish.

Materials

Alterations caged bird die

gilding flakes

Glue

Paperartsy Lynne Perrella collection stamps

Archival ink - black

distress ink - walnut stain

distress stain - walnut stain

See you tomorrow