Page 26 - The Decorative Painter Winter 2015

ACRYLIC
FINISHING
VARNISHING
Apply several coats of Jo Sonja’s Matte Varnish to each of the wood pieces. Avoid varnishing any areas that will require glue for the costume pieces: under teeth on lever (beard), wrists (cuffs), upper chest and back (collar), front belt area on jacket, leaf area on pumpkins, and buckle area on front of shoes.
PUMPKINS
Take the stem pieces and match them to the pump- kins, with the longest stem to the largest pumpkin and the shorter stems to the medium and small pumpkins. Then carefully hot glue the tail ends of each stem into the cor- responding pumpkin. Refer to the photos and twist the stems down onto the medium and large pumpkins, and secure with a tiny amount of hot glue. Then carefully hot glue the large leaves to the large pumpkin and the smaller leaves to the medium and small pumpkins. Thread the stem of small pumpkin partially through the hole in Pete’s hand and allow it to hang. Bend the end of the stem down to train it to stay bent. If needed, secure with glue.
HAT, BELT, AND BUCKLES
Gently place the foam hat brim over the head and cord without ripping the foam. Apply a very small bead of glue underneath the macramé cord, as too much glue will ooze out onto the brim. Push up the brim to meet the cord and hold in place until the glue cools. Let dry. Center one of the buckles over the cording on the front of the hat and hot
glue in place. Position the mini craft stick belt across the front of the jacket and hot glue in place. Then center one of the buckles over the craft stick belt and hot glue in place. Center the last two buckles over the shoe tongue pieces and secure with hot glue. Refer to the pattern for place- ment and hot glue the shoe tongues to each shoe.
SPATTERING
Use a stiff spattering tool and Burnt Umber to carefully splatter the nutcracker, base, and pumpkins. Avoid the face. Use a damp cotton swab to remove any unwanted splatter. Apply another coat of Jo Sonja’s Matte Varnish to the nutcracker, covering and preserving the splatter.
BEARD, COLLAR, AND CUFFS
Lightly hot glue the four beard pieces together refer- ring to the pattern placement. Then hot glue the beard just under the teeth painted on the lever. Position each collar piece around the sides of the shoulders. Use hot glue to tack the collars in place, and be careful to use a small amount of glue so it doesn’t come through the felt. Wrap the cuff pieces around each of the wrists and match ends, then hot glue in place with a small amount of glue. Once the glue cools, hot glue the small black buttons to top of each cuff.
GLUING BASE TO NUTCRACKER
Use wood glue to glue the base to the nutcracker. If any of the glue oozes out under the nutcracker, quickly wipe it away with a damp cotton swab.
artist’s sketch
Erika Joanne became a member of SDP in 1999 after attending her first painting convention in Portland. Decorative painting has opened many doors to her own creativity and has led her to sharing innovative ways to paint and create through classes, instructional packets, and videos. Her design packets include a mixed-media line with a combination of colored pencils and acrylics as well as an acrylics line. When visiting her website you’ll see her subject matter includes an heirloom quality line of Signature Nutcrack- ers, realistic portraits, and early American folk art. Stroll through her website at: www.erikajoanne.com. You may contact Erika by email: erika@erikajoanne.com, phone: 360-769-8870, or by mail: Erika Joanne Designs, PO Box 630, Manchester, WA 98353.
24 The Decorative Painter • ISSUE NO. 4, 2015
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