Product Focus - MDF Chess Piece - Zoë Sanderson

If you enjoy home decor or 3D Mixed Media then these Tando MDF chess pieces are a lot of fun to work with.   Before becoming a Kit Ambassador for Tando I had already purchased a couple of these, this is what I did with the first one.

The kits come in two parts the chess piece with a tab at the bottom and a stand with a slot for the tab.   

It's important to check that the base and tab will slot together.  You will find it to be a snug fit which it needs to be; but you also need to keep in mind that product will make the MDF expand.   It will help at the end of your project to have something to hand to help sand both the tab and the slot down.  You can see here just how snug the fit is. 

As with just about anything of this nature the first stage is to give it a base coat that will seal it.  

                           

As we all know chess is played with a white set and a black set so with this piece one side painted with White Gesso, the other with Black Gesso.  The piece then had to be left to fully dry, you can use a heat gun but I prefer not to as it can set a bit of a warp.

My next move was with the black side and a stencil, I didn't tape the stencil in place just held it down with one hand while applying white gesso with the other.   Gasso pushed through the stencil with an inch cube of applicator sponge.

                        

When that was dry the knight was flipped over.  Pre loaded watercolour brushes provided the colour here.   The blue was very dark so it was lighted with plain water puddled on it, moved around with a plain water brush which picked up colour and discharged onto the paper surface below.  Which also explains the change of backing paper!   Before any further colour or medium could be added the water colour needed to be sealed so a coat of Matte Medium scrapped over with a stencil paste knife thing.

   
  

As you can see some of the watercolour did move when the medium was applied but as this is a much busier side that became part of the charm.  Embossing ink to the stamp and then some white embossing powder, the effect especially on the water coloured areas was so good a little more stamp and ep added to the top.

Then came more colour, this time from DIs and blending brushes.  The embossed areas act as a resist to the ink but to get that effect the colour has to be wiped off.  Not wanting to remove too much colour from the base a baby wipe wrapped around the end of a paintbrush handle allowed some control of the areas cleaned.  Of course if to much colour is removed it can be reapplied and the baby wipe touched over again.

Still on the "white" side I used some rik rak ribbon to added extra texture and detail.  Chess competitions seem to involve a time piece which each player stops when their turn is completed.  So an air dry clay clock or watch face from my stash was added.

Wanting a dash of colour on the "black" side an old stamp of a rose provided the answer.   Stamped in black with just the flower head coloured this was fussy cut and stuck in place with the Matte Medium.

Finally the tab and the slot needed to be sanded down so that once again the two parts came together snugly and securely.   To give the base some interest a texture paste was scrapped onto it.

The finished project stands just about 8.5 inches tall and 4 inches wide, making it an attractive ornamental project.

Products used.  A lot of my stash is old so some products might not be available anymore.   Don't let that stop you using what you have to hand.  If you don't like the result give it a couple of coats of gesso and start again!

Tando MDF Chess Piece kit

Windsor & Newton Galleria Gesso White and Black

Pronty.nl Stencil - Square Explosion

Creative Expressions Sponge Applicator

Penny Black Stamp from their Brush Strokes range - Rose

Spectrum Noir Alcohol Proof Dye Ink - Black

Letraset Promarker - Carmine

Ranger Multi Medium Matte

Pentel Colour Brushes

Visible Image - See Everything Stamp Set

Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad

Heat it up embossing powder - White Seafoam

Ranger Distress Inks - Mustard Seed and Worn Lipstick

Inkylicious Ink Dusters

Basic Grey Precision File Set

Pretty Gets Gritty - Marble Texture Paste

I hope you enjoyed this and will be back to see what everyone else has been creating.   Don't forget you can find us on Facebook and let us see what you have made using Tando chipboard and/or MDF

Real or Faux Fabric- Fiona Randall

Morning all Fiona here with my interpretation of this weeks prompt and I chose to go with the real fabric for my piece.

 

 

I started by die cutting pieces from Tando Grey Board sheets to create my wall plaque. These were then given texture and rusty treatments with DecoArt Chalky finish , Media Fluid Acrylic paints and Mediums.

Texture was also applied to a Tando Tag with a brayer and Media Fliud Acrylics.

Next up was to add the real fabric a piece of ripped muslin which was soaked in a watery wash of Quin Gold Media Fluid Acrylic and dried with a heat tool. Rusty texture was applied to a Tando MDF Key and some cocktail sticks. All pieces were assembled onto the tag base, rusty wire circles , a little vintage girl and a stamped sentiment added. The tag was then attached to the plaque to finish.

 

Here is a close up look of the detail.

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Fiona.

 

 

Tags Mega Bundle

 

Grey Board Sheets.

 

MDF Key small

 

 

 

 



Crackle Paste/Glaze week - with Nikki

Morning everyone,

I kind of mis-read the brief for this week, and thought it was texture, but that's next week.  So my make has a mix, but there is crackle glaze there :)

I started by using a small Gothic mdf arch from Tando, and put some black gesso through a brick stencil for a little texture.  Next was Texture Sand Paste all around the edge with a palette knife. 

Paint over the whole arch with white Gesso:

Make a very watery wash of Pthalo Turquoise and Pthalo Green blue, and add the turquoise at the top, merging into the green blue towards the bottom.  Try and keep inside the arch.  The paint will pool nicely in areas.

Take Medium Grey Value 6, and paint your edges, and the brickwork carefully.  Water some Paynes grey slightly and use to deepen the edges of the bricks and highlight the arch texture.

Add a wash of Quinacridone Gold, in areas, and splatter some over the blue area, not fully covering the whole arch.  Mix a little Pthalo Green Blue with Quin Gold, and repeat the wash just on the right hand side, this gives a bit of depth to the colours.  Stamp and cut out images from the Spook set (Illusionary Artists).  Colour the Gargoyle with some of the green-gold wash you have left to tie in the colours.

I also stamped in Versafine Toffee ink some text across the background of the tag.

Emboss the crosses with Stampendous Aged Green Embossing Powder, and then give a Payne's grey wash over the top, to age further. 

Stamp some words onto card, and emboss with clear embossing powder.  Make a wash of Quin Gold and Payne's Grey, and coat the card.  Edge with neat Paynes Grey. Heat dry.

Glue the stamped elements on the Arch, adding some more Paynes Grey around the Gargoyles feet on the brickwork to ground him, just a shadow.  Add Crackle Glaze on top of the Gargoyle and leave to crack. 

Here are some close-ups and the finished piece:

Hope you like him :)  Remember to catch up with the rest of the team's makes this week too,

Thanks for stopping by,

Best Wishes,

Nikki K.
xxx