Bird and Nest Bathroom Sign

I’ve been wanting to make a bathroom sign for a long time. We have two doors close together and even when we direct someone to the washroom, they aren’t sure which door to open.

We had a nasty computer paper printed sign in the ugliest font ever since our annual BBQ last summer. I was so sick of looking at it! So I pulled out a plaque that hubby brought home from work. Ya know those ‘employee of the month’ type cheapie plaques?  Yep, one of those. It’s not real wood so I sanded it down enough to let gesso stick and covered it in 4 coats.

Then I covered part of it in the damask stencil using molding paste. I allowed that to dry then added white crackle paste in a fairly thick layer to the unstencilled areas. After that dried, I added the roses stencil over the crackle. So much glorious texture! (check out the area under the BATH letters in the above photo) Then I added some mists over top. I added a mist to the bottom too but I didn’t like the colour so I over coloured it in Copic airbrushing. That was much better, a warmer colour.

Next I started to work on the nest and branch. The nest was premade but I had to cut it in half first. Before cutting it, I applied some gel medium to the area where I planned to cut it. Not such a good idea. It didn’t dry completely clear so I had to colour it and cover it up with some raffia. What a pain! I’d recommend white glue if you ever need to do something similar. To make the branch, I used some wire covered in some sort of natural twine type stuff. I twisted 5 pieces together, shaped them and glued on the leaves and buds.

The bird was made from 5 layered ivory die cuts coloured with Copic airbrushing. I used a black rhinestone for the eye. I added 3 beads to the nest for eggs. Then last but not least, I added the copper Perfect Pearls, the letters and the rhinestone and ribbon bundle along with some bling. The rhinestone already had a loop on it and that’s how I tied on the ribbons. I really wish you could see this in person; it’s soooo much prettier! I’ll try to add some closeups later.

I made this for the Monthly Mixed Media Challenge. This month’s theme was Birds of a Feather. Click the graphic to visit the challenge.

Enjoy, Rebecca