Altered Paintbrush - Little Miss Art Mojo

Oh yes this was fun! I must confess that when Tracy chose 'Altered Paintbrush' as her theme for the eclectic Paperie's eTeam Picks Challenge, I was more than a little scared, 'oh yes' I said, 'that sounds like fun' but really I was thinking oh my goodness where do I start!. Well of course the answer is at the beginning..... find a brush. I hunted about, discarding brushes that any life in them, and settled on a rather old cheapo, nylon bristled brush that looked like it could work. After some rather vigorous washing, I noticed a few bristles left in the sink. A little more shaking and pulling and I was left with a bristleless brush. 'Hmmm does this count?' I thought. So here is the before shot....

I covered the 'brush' with book pages adhered with Studio Matte Multi Medium. Once dry a gave it a light coating of Studio Gesso. I still wasn't sure where I was going with it so the brush sat on my work table for a couple of days. Then, I decided to just get on with it ! I started by spraying on some Dylusions with the vague idea of creating a rainbow effect. I used lots of Bubblegum Pink which could possibly be my favourite Dylusions colour. This was good as it started to give my brush a distinctly feminine character.

 I applied antique linen Distress Paint in a vague face shape, and thought about painting a face. I had a little practice on some spare card and decided that this was not going to happen, especially after seeing Micki's wonderful altered brush over on the eP challenge blog. I decided to use this wonderful face stamp from a set I've had for many years, the polymer is actually split but it still works. I stamped it onto a tissue using black Archival Ink.

I tore one of the faces out and separated the tissue. This leaves a very delicate image which, when adhered to the surface looks more like a transferred image as the edges are barely detectable. Once the face was applied, I used Distress markers to colour her eyes and mouth. It was then that I realized that she had to have wings. I used a chip board set from my stash, which I think are by Maya Road, I coated them with Studio Gesso and used a technique Tim Holtz demoed, to colour Distress Stickles Dry Glitter with alcohol ink. I just added a few drops of Water Melon Alcohol Ink to a dessert spoon full of Dry Glitter and stirred until it was fully mixed. I really like her sugary pink wings. The sentiment just came to me, 'She painted till her hair fell out'. I printed this out onto a tissue using a set of letter stamps and adhered each word with Studio Matte Multi Medium.

 Some flowers, a net bow, a couple of tags bearing some of my favourite Donna Downey quotes from her Unity Stamp Company, Art and Possibilities stamp set and my Little Miss Art Mojo was finished.  I must confess I just love her! Here's a back view...

So a big thank you to Tracy for making me do something out of my comfort zone. If you fancy having a go at altering a paintbrush, we'd love to see the results. Hop over to the eclectic Paperie Blog, follow the link to the e Team Picks Challenge, on the sidebar and you'll see Tracy's brilliantly altered paintbrush along with full instructions on how to enter your creation. You'll also find plenty of inspiration from other members amazing eclectic Paperie design team. Who Knows, you could even win a gift certificate for the fabulous eP shop. where you'll also find many of the supplies I've used for this project. I'm also entering Little Miss Art Mojo into the Vintage Stamping Challenges Wings and Things challenge. x

Claudine Hellmuth Studio-Multi-Medium Matte	Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso	Dylusions Ink Spray - Lemon Zest	Dylusions Ink Spray - London Blue	Dylusions Ink Spray - Cut Grass
Dylusions Ink Spray - Bubblegum Pink	Dylusions Ink Spray - Crushed Grape	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Antique Linen	Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Tumbled Glass	Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Fired Brick
Unity Stamp Company - Art & Possibility (Donna Downey)