Hope & Love – Altered Mixed Media Bag Tutorial

Hello crafty Friends…. Greetings from me. This is Bela and today on Little Birdie Blog I am very excited to share with you a step by step tutorial of an altered bag. I always used to think why to alter a bag? what not do the same kind of layout on canvas? But when I got an amazing response to my previous altered bag I thought why not make one more. I got lovely compliments from friends on Facebook saying that they loved the bag and how it can be used to gifting without wrapping the gift. they also said the person who receives the gift will get 2 gifts at the same time. The bag and also what inside of the bag !!!

So here’s the step by step to yet another Bag tutorial which is so different from the previous one and yet it turned out amazingly beautiful. Also this will go to my swap partner of August as the theme of the swap was to make some artwork with whatever we have at home. I hope she likes it as much as I Loved making it.

Here I have taken a Domino’s Pizza takeaway bag and added some old book pages here and there for the vintage look. Then I added the texture with steampunk stencil with grainy texture paste which is my favorite from the store. Also added a long piece of off white card stock which I distressed with scissors and added some brown oxide ink for old look.

My next step was to use the MDF leftover from the steampunk cutting and cover the whole thing with black gesso.

I added the  layers of old book, steampunk texture, waste mdf , plain distressed cardstock , corrugated sheet and the vintage picture of a girl which was digitally photoshopped with script that matched totally with my old book script . I chose it as I felt it was so balanced yet very classy and coated with acrylic soft matte gel to protect it. I also added more stenciling  with the grainy texture paste on the right side of the picture as it was empty there. also added splatters of white and black gesso everywhere on the bag except the face.

I added the  layers of old book, steampunk texture, waste mdf , plain distressed cardstock , corrugated sheet and the vintage picture of a girl which was digitally photoshopped with script that matched totally with my old book script . I chose it as I felt it was so balanced yet very classy and coated with acrylic soft matte gel to protect it. I also added more stenciling  with the grainy texture paste on the right side of the picture as it was empty there. also added splatters of white and black gesso everywhere on the bag except the face.

My next step was to add some beautiful yet subtle flowers from little birdie as they not only gave a little feminine touch to the very hardcore mixed media but also made the girl look beautiful as if she had those flowers in her hair. I love that look.

Last but not the least I wanted to add a perfect sentiment for this lovely upcycled piece of art. So I added a perfect sentiment which says HOPE & LOVE MAKE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. Isn’t it perfect ? So here’s My beautiful vintage bag which looks super classy with the perfect picture, perfect flowers and a perfect sentiment which really compliments the shabby background.

I really really really hope that you all give this tutorial a shot and send me your versions of it. Thank you for stopping by.

Love & Hugs

Bela

Mixed Media Altered Box - Pictorial - Tutorial

Hey Friends,

This is Bela from India and today I have a Beautiful altered mixed media box for you using the amazing Little Birdie metallic tints. I hope you all like it and find this post creatively inspiring.

Here is the step by step tutorial to make this beautiful box.

I had this black box.... I started by using the left over chipboard which I cut according to the box side to add my first layer.  I like to add layers to my mixed media projects. Added a coat of black gesso on it.

Then I started playing around with my embellishments ... I had a broken oval frame which I used in this along with some steampunk gears, butterfly, big pearls and Little Birdie flowers. Your arrangement should look something like this. I also used a beautiful picture for my frame which I protected with a coat of soft gel medium matte.

I adhering the picture to the frame from behind.  Coated the flowers with black gesso . These flowers had shimmer and were of super thick textured paper so the effect that I got after the coloring was awesome.

Once everything is adhered and coated with gesso, your box will look something like this.

After drying the gesso thoroughly I started to dry brush the box with silver oak metallic paint. Then I added 2 of my favorite colors that is Caribbean teal and Glazed berries to give the effect I wanted.... I absolutely love this combination which is very different and unique.

After the dry brushes it looks absolutely gorgeous.... the black box altered into an awesome box that can be gifted to some one or used as jewelry box or for keep sake.

Once the cover of the box was ready I felt something is missing on the sides and I shouldn't leave it bare. So I used the same metallic paints and dabbed on the steampunk style stencil to give a balanced look to the box on all the four sides.

I loved the box so much that I clicked so many pictures in different positions and cant help but share all with you. It will also help you'll to understand all the dimensions too...

I hope you all love this project just as much as I did.

Would love to see your creations inspired by this one.

Love & Hugs

Bela