Poppin' The Bubbly

Hello Dear Friends!
Let's start a new week with a glass - or even a bottle of a very special art treat! :)
John did his magic and is here today to inspire you to find a forgotten plain bottle and turn it into a piece of art - you will love his idea! Not a bad way to celebrate another Monday, is it? ;)

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There’s just something about popping a bottle of champagne – the sound of cork, the bubbles exploding if you’re not careful, the smiles and giggles that soon follow when filling the glass.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram (@artnewwave), I’ve been having fun with the Patina and Rust Effects Pastes on empty wine bottles the last few weeks. And then I realized that I’d forgotten my favorite bottle of all, champagne! 

Of course to begin this project, I needed to enjoy a nice bottle of champagne. :)

Once I removed the label from the bottle, I painted a couple of coats of Heavy White Gesso onto the bottle and allowed to dry completely.

I then used the new Antique Lucky Emerald Wax to color the bottle with that beautiful iridescent green color, then to add a little purple I rubbed on the Opal Magic Royal Robes Wax on top.

To create a nice background pattern, I used the Harlequin Stencil and placed it onto the bottle and held in place.
I colored the pattern using the Sparks Iris Potion paint, applied with a Jumbo Dauber so that I wouldn’t have to worry about applying too much paint.

I wanted to create the look of champagne and bubbles flowing from the top of the bottle, so I mixed Clear Sculpture Medium with a touch of Heavy White Gesso to form a piece of muslin from the Fabric Pack.
To make it a little more fun, I wrapped the fabric around the bottle to give it a flowing appearance and then heat set with a heat tool.

Once the Sculpture Medium was completely dried, I first painted the muslin with Sparks Unicorn’s Hair (the perfect color of Champagne!) followed with Sparks Dragon’s Eye.
Once those were both dry, I highlighted the fabric with Metallique Aged Brass Wax.

To create the inside of the pocket watch, I first disassembled the Mechanicals Pocket Watch.
Next I applied a layer of Concrete Stone Effects Paste, then sprinkled Gold Leaf Mica Flakes.

The Flakes were followed with a touch of Bronze Micro Beads to create the background.
I then layered my painted metal embellishments onto the background and reassembled the pocket watch.

I colored almost all of my embellishments the same way for this project. I began with a base coat of Heavy White Gesso, followed with Sparks Unicorn’s Hair and a touch of Sparks Iris Potion.
I then highlighted the embellishments with both Metallique Aged Brass and Opal Magic Royal Robes Waxes for a beautiful look.

To attach my embellishments to the bottle, I used the Concrete Stone Effects Paste as my adhesive for holding them down while creating some texture at the same time!

Because of the shape of the bottle, I found it easiest to just use my finger to apply the paste directly onto the bottle.

Before adhering my embellishments, I bent the embellishments to fit the shape of the bottle

which means that you can’t use some embellishments simply because you can’t get them to bend. :(

I placed the embellishment down into the paste, and while the paste was still wet I first added a touch of Mulberry and Gold Leaf Mica Flakes followed with a dash of Bronze and Copper Micro Beads.

I used this same 'recipe' to continue adding my embellishments around the bottle.

To speed up the process I used a heat tool to set the Concrete Paste so I could move on to the next embellishments.
In some areas I highlighted the Concrete Paste with Opal Magic Royal Robes Wax to give a little sparkle and color to highlight the texture in the paste.

I hope you like my short video in which you can see my bottle from different angles - join in the party! ;)

I hope that this project has inspired you to take a second look at those empty bottles that may turn up around the house from time to time.

These transformed bottles make great gifts that you can personalize, or even use them as a vase!

Be sure to share any bottles that you may have made with us in the Finnabair & Friends Open Studio facebook group, we’d love to see your inspiration as well!
John

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