Mixed Media Altered Art – Wooden Desk Organizer

Hey arty-crafty folks,

This is Mukta and I hope you all are inspired by the beautiful projects my teammates are coming up with……well at least I am in awe !!!  I have a Mixed Media Altered Art today and I am altering a Wooden Organizer with 2 compartments.  I would like to tell you that its my FIRST ATTEMPT at this genre of art and so please forgive me if I do something wrong…….I believe art is all about making mistakes and learning from them……Experimenting and Learning and having Fun……that’s what makes art and craft so fun filled!

This time, instead of a video tutorial I have a pictorial tutorial……I have done my best to take pictures for every step and guide you through the entire process…….Still, if something is unclear, please feel free to ask me questions and I will revert back for sure.

Itsy Bitsy has a lot of variety when it comes to wooden/MDF products like boxes, organizers, chests and even small miniature things like cradles and chairs. If you guys didn’t know about it then I encourage you to have a look and I am sure you will find something of your interest in there.


Before I begin the process of altering this project, I want you all to know that this is a long picture heavy post so get a cup of beverage and get ready to go through the tutorial. Here we go……..

I started with the wooden organizer and cleaned it with a dry cloth (Even though it was in a sealed package). It already had a sanded kind of texture and so I did not sand it (Also because I was going to alter it). Then, I added 2 coats of White Gesso.  I dried it between the coats as well as after the second coat. Now, please do not skip adding gesso to your projects as it is like a primer for your paints and all your sprays and colors will hold on to your project’s surface better.

Then I started to build my layers . Moving on now to create textures…. I have used a net stencil to add texture on my project. I spread Camel texture paste using a palette knife. I have sprinkled some micro beads from the store on the wet stenciled area to add more texture to my project and then used my heat tool to dry the wooden alterable properly. You can use any other stencil like a script or dots……Please check them out on the site for more options. Please be sure to clean your stencils, brushes or knives after you use gesso and modelling paste.

As you can see, I haven’t removed the label holders as I was going to alter this project I didn’t mind them being there. Now starts the fun time……… I was like a kid in a candy store……I started to gather everything from my stash which was just lying about from months and I never used them……..I got some buttons, broken charms, filigrees, MDF cutouts, burlap doily, flat back pearls, chipboard elements, bottle caps and more. Bottle caps are all in rage now but I have been collecting them from childhood. I also picked some from the store and was more than happy to add my treasure to my art and make it memorable.

I have used silicone glue and heavy body gel medium to adhere these to my project. I was going to add water and sprays and so I added gel medium just to be sure that nothing falls off.  I added more micro beads in the nooks and crannies to add dimension. I let it dry for a while on its own and then after an hour I dried it with my heat tool.

Since all my elements were of different materials and colors, I added a coat of gesso to the entire project to ready my surface for paints. I let this air dry overnight. If you are running short of time, you can use your heat tool too!

In the morning, everything was dry and strongly adhered too and I decided to add colors to my project. I started with 3 shades of Color Splash sprays…….. Hot Pink, Lime Splash and Tangerine.  I started spraying the colors, added water and dried them simultaneously. This gave a sense of depth to the project and added shadows and highlights on its own.  I repeated the process of what I call color layering twice to achieve this look.       
First coat:- Started the coloring and spraying to get an idea.

Second coat:-  Now you can see all the depth and shadows.

I then dried it completely and let it sit for an hour. I came back with some metallic acrylic paint  in brass shade and added it to my project. I added this only on the dimensional elements like buttons, butterflies, pearls etc.  to highlight the elements. I used my fingers as well as a small round brush for this. I am sure you can see the shine the paint gives to the elements when they catch light.

 

At his point, I was confident about the look and decided to stop and add finishing details. I added little heat embossed sentiments like dream, lovely, sparkle, memory and happy. The final touches came from silver acrylic paint, you can also use white pearl paints to add highlights. I added these highlights only on the pearls and other very dimensional elements like the rims on the bottle caps and micro beads. I added this using my finger. These highlights added that shine to my elements and made them pop. I wish you all could see and touch this project……. Pictures some how fail to capture the details and colors the way our eyes perceive it…..This projects just glows when it catches light…..

I stopped here though I was tempted to add a splatter of black  and white paint. I am sure it would have looked better……..What do you feel? I would encourage you guys to add a coat of varnish to protect your project, if you make such a project …. I haven’t yet, but I am surely going to do it as it will protect my organizer since I will be putting  it on my crafting desk for daily use.

So that completes my tutorial for this project. I hope you guys liked it and will draw some inspiration from it. Please leave me your comments and queries and I will get back to you soon. The list of supplies used for this project is given below.

Thank you for reading this post and have a great week ahead.

4 comments

  1. Thank you dear so much for stopping by….I am so glad you like the tutorial. Je vous remercie….visitez-moi de nouveau

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