Using up some left overs - By Zoë Sanderson

This is not so much a project as a play with Tando bits and pieces.   Casting around for something, anything, to get inky and messy with my box of Tando provided some food for thought!   The end result is this journal page.   Which makes me smile every time I look at it, the bright bold colours and the naive style is very appealing.  Added to which it was a lot of fun!  If precise, neat and tidy is your thing then this is not for you.  But if you enjoy just messing around with no finale plan in place and prefer a more playful organic approach then you might find a few ideas here.

Having discovered the parts left in the Large Whimsical Birds kit (to be seen on TV 9am 4th March 2022) it occurred to me that they do not have to be legs and feet or cockerel combs but could also be plants/weeds/growing things.   So I laid them onto a blank journal page and added another Whimsical Bird to start my layout.

Pieces removed out came the watercolours and sprays to start a background.  Different shades of blue applied with a water brush and randomly brushed across the page.   Then the "plants" were put in place and strayed with yellow and white.

Then I started choosing colours to work with, in the end I used every single on in the picture below.   Strong Bright Bold Cheerful colours an antidote to the overcast wet and windy weather we have been subjected to recently.

By now some other Tando pieces had been pulled out, another Whimsical Bird Some Butterflies and a couple of Flowers.   Everything given a coat or two of acrylics right out of the pot.  It is not clear in the picture(s) but both of the Whimsical Birds and both flowers were given a top coat of the Interference paints.  These paints add a second tone that shows up as the page moves in the light.

When the "plants" were moved after spraying the masked areas of the page stood out bright and so I decided to offset the Tando pieces to allow the unsprayed parts of the page to peep through.  Everything attached with normal adhesive except for the now purple bird at the bottom of the page, on this one a glass gel was used on the main body which enhances the Interference further and gives the bird a very glass like finish.

To me there is something of an underwater world about this page but you might see it very differently.  Thats all part of the fun of an organic page like this.

Products Used

Tando Large Whimsical Birds

Tando Whimsical Birds

Tando Floral Grab Bag

Tando Butterfly Grab Bag

DecoArt Media Acrylics in Various colours

DecoArt Media Interference in Various colours

Watercolours, Sprays, Adhesives and Glass Gel all from my stash.

Kit of the Month, Large Whimsical Birds 2 - Zoë Sanderson

 Well Hello again!  I enjoyed this kit so much that I've made a second set and here they are

As always with me it was all about messing about and trying different things out.  Not a step by step this time but I'll try to talk you through each one.  you know if when you read our posts you have any questions you can always leave them in a comment and we will get back to you.

Cracked up.  After preparing with Gesso the body and wings were sprayed with Media Mister Shimmer Yellow.  Hand painted a flower on the body and painted the head and legs using DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics .  The eyes were painted white and given flat back gems.  Body, Head and Eyes covered with Media Clear Crackle Glaze.  When that was dry DecoArt Metallic Lustre worked all over to really bring out the cracks, on the body and head, while pink pastel chalk was rubbed into the eyes.  The back board which is also part of the kit had Stamperia Glass Paste smeared over it and before it dried DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Metallic Gold squirted on top and then spread with the same spreading knife.   The result is so textured and really shines, it might be my favourite part of this bird.

Next up Jail Bird.  All the Tando elements here were painted using a traditional brush and paint method.  when the body and wings were dry they were given contrasting blue strips in acrylic paint.  The arrows were drawn on with felt tip pen.  Once again the eyes are flat back gems.   The red painted Tag is also a Tando piece attached with a scrap of red eyelash ribbon.

This time the background is an acrylic pour.  I'm still just getting the hang of this technique.  Did not use enough paint this time so around the edges there were some bare areas there were covered with more of the Metallic Lustre.  It was a very pleasant surprise to see how well the two mediums worked together and when I discovered that the luster rubbed over the acrylic paint could be rubbed away revealing the paint below I was delighted.  Another avenue to be explored in the future.

Finally What the Cluck!   Body and Wings were sprayed again this time with Media Mister in Orange.  Probably because I was quite vigorous in my spraying the finish was not even but happily there were some yellow looking patches.  These inspired me to dot with Cosmic Shimmer Lava paste. This was then blasted with the heat gun to make it expand and puff up, before it was sprayed with the yellow mister.  This time for the eyes I've used a couple of spiral die cuts, the sort you use to make flowers, pulled them out a little to make the eyes pop.  The egg is a left over from an Easter project cut in half and attached with Silicon glue.

The background board has simply just given a covering of Metallic Lustre - Cosmic Blue.  To apply these pastes, waxes, call them what you will I use a cotton make up remover pad.  Pick up a good amount of the medium and with circular movements work it into the board, repeat until the the desired coverage and depth of colour is achieved. 

Have you taken a look around the blog and seen all the different but equally brilliant ways the team has presented these Large Whimsical Birds?  Have we inspired you to create something yourself.  If we have then our job is done and we would love you to show us what you have done over on our Face Book page.

Products

Tando Large Whimsical Birds

Tando Tag Size 1

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics

DecoArt Media Misters

DecoArt Metallic Lustres

DecoArt Media Clear Crackle Glaze.

From my stash

Stamperia Glass Paste

Cosmic Shimmer Lava Paste

Flat back gems

Silicon glue

Plastic egg

eyelash ribbon

Whimsical Birds, kit of the month - Sharon Nettleship

 This month's kit is the Whimsical Bird kit and it has 3 birds to make up and 3 A4 backboards. They are so versatile and you can dress them up any way you want. You could even make them festive! So now I have to confess I mucked up on one of them so I have just the two to show, sorry. 

 For my first whimsical bird I gessoed all my pieces and then used stencils and texture paste. I've used Tando's  background stencils for the legs,wings and backboard.

I then used gloss sprays all over the backboard in Autumnal colours. I left this to dry while I worked on the other pieces. 

Again for the body, legs and wings I've used gloss sprays and gold wax to edge it. I highlighted his crest with a white pen and painted it with black acrylic. For the head and beak I've used some acrylic paint and gold wax for the edges.

I've used the Tando leaf branch with 3 leaves  and inked them up with distress oxides and gold wax. 

Once the backboard was dry I adhered the bird and leaves and here is the final piece.

For my pretty little girl bird I gessoed all the pieces first . For the backboard I have used 3 shades of Pentart antiquing gel. I then used one of the Tando stencils and crackle texture paste in white. When this was dry I stamped some images randomly. 

I painted the body and wings with a chalk paint and edged them with black ink and rub on stitching. For the wings I white embossed them with a flower stamp. The pockets and little flowers have been made using grab bags from Tando.

The head and eyes/beak came seperate in my bird so I painted them white exept the beak and crest. I added black paint for the eyes and gave her pink, rosy cheeks. I dabbed on some texture sand paste for the beak and then painted it. Again it was all edged with black ink and highlighted with a white pen. 

The legs have also been painted and I've used the Tando stencil with white paint.

Once everything was dry I adhered the bird to the backboard. And here she is. 

Products used:

Tando Creative - Kit of the month large whimsical birds

Tando Creative - Set of 4 background and flourish stencils

Acrylic paints - https://www.tando-creative.co.uk/premium-acrylics.html

Tando Creative - Grab bags

Kit of the Month Large Whimsical Birds - Zoë Sanderson

Well is this month's kit a package of fun or what!  It is the latest addition to the Whimsical Range this time Large Whimsical Birds.  As with all the Whimsical range you get laser cut boards with various elements allowing you to build up your birds however you want.

This is my Large Whimsical Bird Family.   Let me introduce you to them and show you how they ended up like this!

When you first get your kit it will contain 3 Plain A4 sized (295mm x 208mm) Tando Boards.  On top of which there are 2 laser cut boards with legs/feet, wings and eyes cut ready to be released as required. There are also 3 main body pieces and 2 head pieces and a separate beak!  Thats a lot of chip board for you to mix and match.

The first thing I did was release a lot of the parts from the boards and started to arrange them to see how my birds might look.  Remember this is just a first try out until things are stuck together you can change your mind and make as many different arrangements as you like.

With the beginnings of some ideas it was time to focus on just one bird.  For starters I worked with the the middle bird in the picture.  I also pulled out a few bits from other other Tando packs to add to it and the overall them of Whimsical or as I like to think of it Quirky.

Everything was then given a base coat of white Gesso.   Gesso was developed for artists to use as a preparation base on their canvas especially for Acrylic paints.  It is used a lot now to cover over something you might not like and start again or to soften bold colours helping to knock them back into the background.  With board like this it also acts as a sealant so your bright acrylic paints stay on the surface and are not dulled by being soaked into the board.  Generally with your Tando board if you are going to paint it then it is good practice to give it a coat of Gesso first.

Once the gesso was dry it was time to start painting. 

I choose to use DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics because they give good coverage and strong colour.   It was always my intention with these birds that they should be bright, bold, loud and silly.  So starting as I meant to go on bird one is predominantly Green and Blue.  The body needed something more than just a flat green colour so an old folk art stencil got plonked on top with yellow paint daubed through it.   The eyes although already gessoed white needed to be a coat of white paint to keep them as bright as everything else.  Red paint touched around the edges of the eyes making them look a little bloodshot.

When the various elements were dry everything was stuck together with PVC glue.  A good wet glue is best for this job, you can just run it around the edges and then add a scribble of glue in the middle and everything should be secure.

Turning to the other birds I looked again at the layout of them and played around a little, I also decided to add some of the Whimsical Birds from a previous set.  This allowed me to used the elements in yet more different combinations.

At this points everything not already given a coat of Gesso received one.  It was time to start on the second bird.

Using a Tando stencil and DecoArt Modelling paste the body of this bird was given some texture.  You can be as neat and tidy as you want doing something like this.  I like messy with some of the paste going over the edges and some of the circles not completely filled as it just adds to the overall somewhat wacky finish.

If you use paste like this through a stencil remember to remove and clean your stencil quickly.  If the paste dries on it then you will not be able to remove it which might make your stencil unusable in the future.

While waiting for the paste to dry I played with an acrylic pour on one of the plain boards which eventually became the backing for this project.

Time now to get the paints out again.    First of all the whole body, and while I was at it all the gesso readied boards, were painted.   Then on the 2nd bird body the stencil was put back on for yellow and red paint to be daubed through.  As with the paste I was not looking for a neat and tidy precise result and didn't get one. 

For the Third body I took an idea that I first saw on Project Runway about 10 years ago, it might have been longer thinking about it.  Anyway the designers on the show were given the challenge to make clothing out of the raw materials from a newspaper printers (New York Times I think it was).  One designer made an amazing trench coat complete with faux fur collar and cuffs.   To get the "fur" effect she used small pieces of the paper crumpled and then allowed to relax slightly before being glued into place. 

Very happy to take this idea and run with it, using some printed tissue from the stash mountain.  I die cut lots of circles in 3 different sizes.   The smallest for the outer edges and for those tighter little places such as the top of the beak just below the eyes.

To attach the tissue paper I applied gel medium first of all at the side worked on that, then the other side and finally the middle.  Gel medium does allow you a little time to work and move things around if you need to so using it here and doing just a bit at a time gave me the opportunity to make sure my tissue ruffles were as snug as I wanted them.

The Wings were added last and again I used the gel medium to fit them over the ruffles.

So now my Large Whimsical birds are complete. Here they are:

SCREW LOOSE

OLD SPECKLED HEN

RUFFLED FEATHERS

If nothing else I hope you have had fun reading this!

Products Used.

Whimsical Series

Large Whimsical Birds

Whimsical Birds 2

Other Tando

Arrows Grab Bag

Grab Bag of Screws

Stencil Grid Round

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics

Yellow

White

Green

Blue

Red

Green Gold

Diarylaid Yellow

Decorate Media Modelling Paste

Tissue paper, Gel Medium and PVC glue from my stash.

Kit Week - Large Whimsical Birds - by Kim

It's party season and Tando Creative's new Large Whimsical Birds are all dressed up and ready for a night in the barn!

I ventured in to unknown territory this time - no, not parties in a barn - decoupage! I rummaged through some old garden magazines and tore out lots pages with bright colours. I chose them for the colours, not necessarily the flowers. I stuck bits and pieces on the bird bodies to make pleasing combinations. Any magazine will do - just tear out colours and textures not whole pictures.

The legs got black and white stripy socks for contrast. I used DecoArt Fawn and Burnt Orange together on the wings to look a bit feathery.

I base coated the faces with Fawn, the large areas of the eyes with white, the centres with black. The eyelids are Fawn, the eyelashes are Black. 'Cheeky Bird' got a little blusher in a pale pink (Coral Shell with a dab of Calico Red) for her cheeks, and some Burnt Umber speckles. I also stuck the extra beak section on a bit skew-if so it looks like she is singing along to the music.

The feet and beaks are Primary Yellow. I lightly sponged some Burnt Orange on the feet to 'dirty them up'. For the shading on the beaks I used DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics, slightly watered down, first Diarylide Yellow then Cadmium Orange Hue. 

The background is Titanium White with Zinc blended up from the bottom in wispy strokes to give the impression of feathers laying on the barn floor - all being kicked up as they dance the night away! Some pastel coloured 'strobe lights' are sponged through the bubbles from the new Background and Flourish Stencils.

I glued the wings and legs to the back of the body. Stick your Party Birds on the background and they are ready to display. Make sure you pose them in their dancing actions!

    

Products: 

Tando Creative Large Whimsical Birds Kit

DecoArt Americana Colours

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics

New Background and Flourish Stencils (Bubbles)