Feature Artist Guest Post - Katie Zoey Ho

 

Hello Artsy Addicts,

I'm Katie from this tiny tropical country of Singapore, surrounded with lots of greeneries; widely known as the green city. Blissfully married, we lived in a small apartment away from downtown area where we enjoy peace and fresh air together with our little pots of plants and herbs. I started paper crafting as young as 3 years old, mainly in cutting and folding of papers. The start of all addictions in getting artsy and crafty was in the year 2008 when I discovered what scrapbooking is all about in one of my local craft stores. That's where my crafty journey begins... But due to various commitments in my career, as well as my wedding preparation and house renovation, I stopped crafting coming to 4 years... When I lost my job last August at my career's most prime stage, it occurred to me life is just too short to strive so hard to climb up the corporate ladder. I was earning a living, not living a life. At that very point (since I've too much time to spare), I decided to get myself crafty again. I re-learn and pick up skills all over again after losing touch with the scrapping community for so long... Being a self-taught artist, I explore beyond paper crafting and love to create works that will encourage and inspire. Love everything that's artsy, shabby, vintage, grunge and beautiful, I enjoy creating, designing and love to play with different elements and art mediums to give dimensions and depth to my projects. As of current I'm a Resident Designer at The Art Republic (AR); a small craft studio in Singapore where I design, teach and inspire...

I got to know about Artsy Addicts through one of the scrappers on FB, and that's where I decided to join the group to inspire and get inspired. I'm so glad to know my recent Botanical Tea altered clock project has inspired quite a number of people, which led Tonya & Peggy from the Artsy Addicts Team to send me an invitation to be a Featured Artist!!! Thanks for this wonderful opportunity and it's my pleasure to be featured and share my creations with everyone. Over here, I'm going to share more about this project together with another altered clock project as well, showing what you can do to transform a plain Ikea clock into a piece of Art...

 

You can easily purchase this RUSCH wall clock for less than $2 at your nearest Ikea store, which is the one I used for my altered clock projects. The initial idea was to upcycle the clock as the face of the clock in AR's studio was badly torn instead of thrashing it away. Hence the revived look of this clock.

 

 

I started off by removing the plastic front cover and the hands of the clock, and gesso them to prime the surface. To match the papers I intended to use, I decided to create a chocolate-minty vintage look. Using a mix of latte and chocolate as the base colors and mint as the top coat, I created this weather-worn out look with the aid of weather crackle paint in between.

 

 

On the inside, I used a mix of latte and chocolate paints, applying strokes of contrasting paints to create a shabby worn out look. To add some depth, I apply the surfaces lightly with a small amount of gold metallic paint. Once I was happy with the entire look, I sealed it with some PU gloss varnish before embellishing.

 

 

So this was the fun part; choosing the elements to embellish the clock. I love the feel of having a cup of hot tea in the garden where you are surrounded with lovely flowers and fluttering butterflies. To bring this idea out, I specifically fussy cut all the roses and flowers to create this huge floral bush surrounding this huge teapot and embedded this whimsical lady inside. To make the butterfly "fly", I adhered one of them onto the second hand. As the hand moves around the clock, it gives an illusion that it is fluttering around the garden...

 

 

Here is the list of supplies for this project:

• Gesso
• Docrafts Artiste All Purpose Acrylic Paint (Latte)
• Martha Stewart Satin Acrylic Paint (Mint)
• Daler-Rowney Heavy Body Acrylic Paint (Burnt Umber & Metallic Gold)
• Martha Steward Weather Crackle Effect Medium
• Americiana Duraclear PU Gloss Varnish
• Graphic 45 Botanical Tea Papers (Botanical Tea, Fauna & Sweet Chamomile)

For the other altered clock project, using similar way in altering I created this By the Sea clock by using a different color scheme and elements. For this, I used contrasting colors; blue on the outside and orange red on the inside of the clock. I added some yellow to tone down the red so that the colors will blend well together. To create this by the seaside, on the beach feel I actually added some twigs and twine ropes on the clock.

 

For a comparison, I used white glue to create the crackle effect instead of any commercial crackle medium which is easily achievable and it's much cost effective. If you're on a budget, this option will be a perfect solution. How much you want to "crack" depends on how much glue you apply. The thicker the layer, the deeper the crack and vice versa. You will need to apply the top coat of paint quickly before the glue dries up. The best time to apply is when the glue starts to get tacky. This is crucial or else you won't be able to achieve the effect especially for finer cracks as the glue will tend to dry up faster.

 

 

Once again, I fussy cut almost all the seashells from the paper for embellishments. To give the clock a more on the beach feel, I added some glitter over the seashells. And this completes the look!!!

 

Here is the list of supplies for this project:

• Gesso
• Ceramcoat Acrylic Paints as base coats (Morocan Red & Navy Blue)
• Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint (Butter Yellow)
• Martha Stewart Satin & Gloss Acrylic Paints as top coats(Pond & Gernium)
• Elmer's Glue All Multi-purpose Glue
• Americiana Duraclear PU Gloss Varnish
• Ranger Frosted Lace Glitter Sticklers  
• Graphic 45 By the Sea Papers (By the Sea & Splash)

I hope you've enjoyed what I've shared over here. Do drop by my blog for more inspirations... Give it a try and trust me you will see upcycling via altering a different way... 

Have a lovely day ahead... Good luck and have fun!!!
 

http://www.katsignerscrapbookingcafe.blogspot.com