Magic Mushrooms (No, not that kind).

  Even though I have been MIA since May, I've actually been busy with art.  I have a bad habit of hopping from medium to medium, curious on how it works and what I can do with it.  One that has stuck with me is Apoxie Sculpt.
  Apoxie Sculpt is a two part synthetic clay that self hardens.  I won't get into all the details about it but check this page if you want to know some more.
  Another obsession I've pick up is Mushrooms.  I've been painting, sculpting, growing (again that THOSE kind), and taking photos of mushrooms constantly.  Don't ask where it comes from because I haven't figured it out yet.
  Anyways that has ended up with me makings these little guys.

  The idea of the Mushroom Tree comes from the game Don't Starve that I play on occasion (when I don't have enough anger and frustration running through my system).  I liked their concepts but I wanted to make my own.  So I winged it with Apoxie Sculpt and it all went down hill from there.

  For a while there it didn't seem like I could stop.  I was have fun playing with the different types of trunks and mushroom caps I could combine.  There where quite a few flops but it was still fun making and learning.  Now I'm off again to continue my combine obsessions while trying to remember I need to come out of my cave every once in a while.

My Little Chaotic Process

    To get this blog started I'll just give you a sneak peak into my creative process.  There really isn't one, hee hee.  I am pretty all over the place with the things I make.  I love to play in paint, cut up paper, make jewelry, sketch random little things, and will pretty much give anything a try.  So I really wouldn't expect to see too much of the same thing.  Well, at least at first.

    Let's start with something I created a couple of month's back (yes, I have been procrastinating on starting this blog).  I was browsing Pinterest and came across these little faucet handle flowers and immediately got excited.  I didn't have random facet handles but I did have Tim Holtz Faucet Handle Knobs.  That'll work.  So I managed to come up with this project.

It is complete chaos but it makes me happy.  ^_^

Not by Ranger but I don't know if they make anything like this.  So start by painting it with a coat of gesso.  

After the gesso dries I layered Distress Paint in the colors Gathered Twigs, Mowed Lawn, and Salty Ocean.  I Just kept going until I liked how it looked.  Just make sure you let some of the layers dry so you don't get some random mysterious brown color.  I tend to do that a lot. =P

I then picked out some my favorite tissue tapes and sticking them on.

Annnd more paint!

I apply a coat of multi-medium matte just to make sure the tissue tape doesn't decide to come up.  If you use a paint brush make sure it isn't one of your good ones.

I still had some scraps of this paper from forever ago.

Since the papers are black, white, and grays you can add whatever color you want.  Which I love.  I mostly used Broken China, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, and Tea Dye.

With some ripping and more multi-medium I add them to the little flower box.  Adding Box Feet while I'm at it.

Now for the inside.  I just took tissue paper colored with Black Soot and Gathered Twigs and more multi-medium to stick it all together.

After completing the base (and forgetting to take some pictures in the process >_<)  I start putting the flowers together.  This is my favorite part because you just grab all your Idea-ology parts from your hoard and just play.  I added some color with alcohol inks to go along with the color theme.

Sticking them all together with glossy accents and, yes, multi-medium.

I wanted the flowers to look more like, well, flowers than the image where the initial inspiration came from so I blew the dust off of my Tattered Florals die and got to cutting or rolling, whatever.  More Distress Paint and more gluing together and a little embossing.

Just because every garden needs a butterfly.  

The final results of the flowers when all is said and done.  The stems are just wire twisted together and glued to the back of the flowers.

The little flower box seemed a little plain once the flowers were put inside so I added a label thing to it.

Some of the pictures I lost and or forgot to take included adding balls of tissue tape to the bottom, distress glitter colored with alcohol ink, and more embellishments.

And a few more close ups.

The final result of all of it together.

    This project took a few days to make but that's mainly because I wandered off onto other projects during this process.  Leave any questions below in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.  I wonder what will be next. =3