Rustic Gingerbread Bowl – Using IOD Ginger And Spice - Curtesy Of Made By Marley - Part Two

**** Google Issue - Just to let you know that if you see any pictures on Fiddle Fart and Pinterest etc. before I move to the new site - like my Christmas Day post and the past few days, it's because I inserted them solely using Blogger and not Open Live Writer.  It seems that Google won't accept pictures from Third Party apps. There may  be a fix being developed but it could take quite a while so I'm still planning to "move"  ....... Thank you so much for all your support xxx 

*NB: This is not my idea in any way, shape or form, I have blatantly copied it from a YouTube video made by the wonderfully talented Lel, who I am truly in love with (creatively). She has quite possibly changed my creative direction in so many ways, looking to the future and has kindly given her permission for me to post my version of her idea.

Made by Marley New 2023 IOD Ginger and Spice Mould

This is how I left you last week (above), at this stage I was hopeful………….

……… but as I painted on (it was easier to do it upside down because of the shape of the bowl) …….. my heart began to sink ………

……… until I got to the stage (below) ………

…… and that’s when the photos stopped. I really thought I’d messed up good and proper and it got a lot worse believe me, until I had to walk away. However, all the time I could hear Lel’s reassuring voice in the tutorial saying that she wasn’t being too particular with her painting, as she wanted it all to look aged and worn and that dry brushing would change things entirely.

Well, my dry brushing had me further in despair, I didn’t get any accentuated highlights, everything just turned grey. I was ready to chuck it all in the bin, but then I changed to a much smaller brush and a gentler hand and it started to look a bit better.  Buoyed up, I then used various pens to bring out the features of the air dry shapes, rubbing over them time and time again, until they looked suitably faded, it took hours and hours of flipping fiddle fart  (I wished I’d got more pictures now) ……….

………. but finally,  I got to the stage where I thought I might just be able to seal the “finished” bowl with Sparkle Modge Podge, plus a little extra of my own ultra fine glitter mixed in for good measure. 

I was really nervous at this point, as by then I’d also added stars and clusters of three dots to the background with a white pen that I thought might wash away (I later found that it was a permanent marker, from Temu, which I must order again).  Again everything worked and I couldn’t believe the results!!!!

When the two coats of sealer and sparkle were dry, I “worried it” all over again, eyes, ribbons, noses, checks and sweets, plus details on the flowers, were detailed again, until I had to say “Stop, no more, before you go too far!”

Then, it was onto the inside of the bowl with two coats of pink paint, followed by the same again in quick dry, clear, glossy varnish plus another fiddle with the bowl rim using white paint and sparkle sealer.  I used the white pen again to do a very basic pattern inside the top of the bowl

I am thrilled!  I am now on the look out for another similar bowl because I want to do it all again(????) with the know how I gained. I think next time, I would paint the outside of the bowl first, before adding the figures, as that was the fiddliest bit to do and then learn to be more patient, especially when tackling new things, well out of my comfort zone.

Again many thanks to Lel, we have messaged a couple of times and she is so funny, generous, down to earth and above all, supremely talented in a way I truly aspire to. She makes the things I once dreamt about but thought impossible, possible, her easy going, matter of fact manner has changed all that now, I can do tackle new ideas, as well as realise that there are no such things as mistakes creatively, just be fearless.

I now have another project on the go, a suitcase, based on another Made by Marley idea, but the basics are taking a little time before I can finally go wild with a bit of paper ripping………..

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