Alice in Wonderland Altered Dresser

I’ve had this dresser in my basement for about 6 years now.  I inherited it from an old room-mate after he moved out of the beach house we shared.  While living on the beach I went through a painting phase where I painted anything and everything I could get my hands on.  I altered everything from patio furniture to fences.  I never wound up finishing the dresser;  it has stored my art supplies unfinished for way too long.

Painted Dresser

After discovering the Alice in Wonderland images at the Octopode Factory I was inspired to re-do the entire thing by painting and altering the dresser with an Alice in Wonderland theme.  My inspiration coincided with a bunch of challenges which allowed me to combine  different techniques which resulted in a fabulous piece of art!  The bottom drawers were stripped with a belt sander and spray painted with a plethora of blues and of course my new favorite….Pearl.  Here are a few techniques I learned from Spray Casso.

Painting the Roses Red

It took me over a week from concept to completion of just the bottom two drawers, so this will definitely be a work in progress for sure.  There are monthly challenges at The Altered Alice  (this month was painting) so I plan to draw inspiration for the rest of the dresser each month (although the gears are already turning).  Also there is a Got Paint Challenge at Inspiration Emporium.  I’m so excited after visiting their store and drooling over all the fabulous crafting supplies they have (the best I tell you THE BEST!!!) I discovered the that my Tree Art project was chosen as the winner for last months challenge!!  Woo Hoo!   Sorry…had to get a Woo out    It’s tough to see in the photo but the metal handles on the drawers were tarnished beyond belief so I combined silver and gold Adirondak Metallic Mixatives to rejuvenate the metal and give it some shine.

Off with their heads!!

I was quite proud of myself for this one….open the drawer and….Off with their Heads!

Octopode Factory meets Plucking Daisies

I  must say I have been quite inspired by the quirky characters and challenges at The Octopode Factory.  So much in fact that I decided to resurrect some of my own illustrations and create Alice in Wonderland characters to complement the Queen of Hearts.  The trees pictured are my illustrations which I made into digi stamps and colored with Copics…I just got certified last weekend and I am OBSESSED with these fantastic markers…bye bye Prismacolor…it’s been nice knowing you!  I used this  technique by Tim Holtz on top of the trees…it reminds me of my favorite Photoshop filter…plastic wrap. LOVE this technique!!  It really adds dimension to the trees and forced me to push my creative limits since I wanted to enter this project  in Grungy Monday and Simon says Stamp.  I used the Tim Holtz Collage embossing folder to create the “Grass”  I chose this one because it has such a variety of images.  I used Kraft Paper, colored it with Distress inks, gave a light dusting of Perfect Pearls Patina and sprayed with Tsukineko Shimmer mist.

Illustration Overload

It’s been a long time since I’ve put pen and ink to paper.  I love to illustrate but sometimes I get scared of it.  With my new-found love for Copic Markers and a desperate need for Alice in Wonderland Card men I set to work.  The card men were sized to fit real playing cards.  Paper piecing them together was what took the bulk of my time.  I cut each piece out not once but twice after coloring to save grunge paper…I was running a bit low.  Not to mention I was also running out of time to finish the painted dresser before submissions were closed.

Painting the Roses Red

It’s kind of hard to see in the photo because of the glare but the plastic was embossed with a Sizzix floral embossing folder.  I chose this one because it was heavier on the leaves than the flowers which was just the look I was going for.  The roses were cut from greeting cards in my vintage card collection…no shortage of roses on old greeting cards let me tell you!  I  created the tree trunks  according to the size and shape of the different suits, colored with Copic markers, and added Black Soot Distress Embossing powder with a Versamark pen.  I wanted to give the tree trunks a bit of texture….why should the roses have all the fun?

Vintage Hearts

The hearts are also from my vintage card collection….I suppose it doesn’t get any more timeless than roses and hearts!

Off With Their Heads!

The letters were stamped, embossed, and colored with Copic Markers and Perfect Pearls.  Originally I wanted to make letter tiles but in the end decided to make even more work for myself and cut them out entirely….mounted on Grunge Board of course since all of my Grunge paper was used up and I had no time to run to the store to replenish it.  To make matters worse because of all the cutting I had done for this project my scissors were dull and we all know Grunge board isn’t the easiest to cut.  All my edges were jagged from the dull scissors.  After all the work I had put into this project there was no way I was going to leave them that way so I sanded each letter with a nail file and went over the edges with Black Soot Distress ink.  The funky heart in the middle is from the Octopode factory….he’s making that face because he thinks I’m nuttier than a Snicker’s bar for spending an hour of my life sanding Grunge Board letters with a nail file.

I learned a lot this week while working on this project.  I learned that I LOVE Copic markers and managed to learn how to use them and get certified in one shot.  I learned yet another Tim Holtz technique to add to my repertoire of tips from the Godfather of crafting.  I learned some nifty spray painting techniques…who knew two cans at once?  I learned that no matter how quickly you THINK you can get something done…it rarely works out that way.  Finally I learned that it is high time I invested in some Tonic Scissors since my favorite pair is now duller than a pair of Pre-K safety scissors!!

Thanks for visiting and sharing my creative journey with me!  I love hearing your thoughts and remember to keep checking back to see the next “chapter” revealed on the Alice in Wonderland Dresser

Other Challenges:

All Sorts:  Anything but a Card

Elephantastic Challenges: Add Some Layers

Tagged as: alice in wonderland, alice in wonderland characters, altered art, Card Men, copic markers, digital stamps, distress inks, embossing, embossing folders, grunge board, metallic mixatives, octopode factory, painted dresser, painting the roses red, Queen of Hearts, spray paint, spray painting techniques, Tim Holtz, Tim Holtz embossing folders, tim holtz techniques, tonic scissors, Tsukineko shimmer mist, vintage cards, vintage images