Little Birdie Crafts Woodland Stories Mixed Media Home Decor Tutorial

Hello, Friends! This Woodland Stories Mixed Media Home Decor Tutorial is the perfect way to while away a sultry summer afternoon.  Beautiful flowers, cheery stacked teacups, and cheeky little birds beckon you to slow down the pace.  Stop and smell the flowers.

Mixed media is not my area of expertise.  But I do love to dabble.  There’s something liberating about slapping down paint and gel medium and a bunch of different textured layers.  This 8×8 wall  hanging was pure fun to make.  And, as you will see in the video tutorial below, it comes together very quickly!  That’s always a bonus.  I won’t belabor you with a lot of tips and such in this post.  You can hear me talk about them all in the video.  So we’ll just hit a few highlights and move things along quickly.

Decoupage Paper

The inspiration for this project is the stacked teacups and birdie image.  Little Birdie makes wonderful decoupage paper, and I finally had a chance to play with it.   It’s lovely stuff, and so easy to work with.  As you can see, the colors are rich and the images are wonderful. Each package comes with 2 sheets of 2 different designs.

After distressing layers of Woodland Stories Cardstock, I tore the focal image from the sheet of decoupage paper.  Be sure to ink the edges so that it will blend in nicely with the background.  Then, seal it to the base with gel medium.  Do both sides, front and back for a really good seal.

Although this was my first play with this paper, it won’t be my last.  It’s wonderful stuff!

Mixed Media Details

Here are some quick and easy ways to add mixed media details to a project.

• Distressed edges add wonderful texture to the edges of cardstock.  Use a distressing tool, or simply run the blade of your scissors along the edge of the paper.  Little tears are even better!
• Chalk paint is one of my favorite mediums.  You can paint edges, paint metals, spatter on the finished project, or brush on flower petals to add a wonderful shabby feel to your project.
• Machine stitching adds texture, subtle pattern and helps to frame a piece.
• Check your spice cabinet!  Mustard seeds and green peppercorns lend an organic feel to the composition.

Little Birdie Metallic Wax adds another layer of distressing to painted metals and resin.  I just rub it on lightly with my finger.  Primed chipboard can be used as is, rubbed with metallic wax, or painted and spritzed with mica sprays.  All these elements work together to make mixed media easy to do!

Woodland Stories Mixed Media Home Decor Tutorial on YouTube

If you’d like to see the steps that went into creating this bit of home decor, you watch me play in the video tutorial below.

I hope you enjoyed viewing this project as much as I enjoyed making it!  You can find a linked supply list below this post, just in case you feel the need to shop for some of these paper pretties!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

Supply List

• Little Birdie Crafts Woodland Stories
  • 12×12 Paper Pad
  • Die Cut Ephemera
  • Heleen Flowers
• Little Birdie Serenade Ivory Flowers (out of stock)
• Birdie Café Decoupage Paper
• Primed Chipboard
  • Fleur de Lis
  • Tropical Foliage
  • Chipboard Flowers
  • Chipboard Scroll Border
• Shades of Brown Flower Pots Handmade Embellishments
• Metallic Wax: Patina Glaze & Antique Gold
• From my Stash
  • chalk paint
  • gel medium
  • resin embellishments
  • large key
  • green peppercorns
  • mustard seeds