Art break - Birthday Gift for S

S appreciates money for her birthday, so I went with another creative spin. S also loves dragons.

Dragon + gold (money) = Smaug!

I started with a black box in which I put tissue paper to build up the mountains of gold. Modelling paste was then used to make it solid, provide a paint-able surface, and fill in any gaps.

The backdrop was the next to be painted with gold, grey, bronze and gold glitter.

Then it was time to paint the mountains of gold! I used rose gold paint, gold paint, gold glitter paint, and bronze glitter paint. I then topped it of with tiny gold stars for extra sparkle.

I also drew some cobblestones on the base to extend out the theme and make a nice area for the money to go.

We needed an Atkenstone, so I went to Lovisa and picked up a Swarovski necklace.

Unfortunately it blends in really well and is a bit hard to see, but I'm not changing it now! It is a really pretty necklace! I hid the chain in the paper by way of poking a hole in it and using blu-tack to hold it in place.

Where did it go?!

Then I popped in Smaug (a dragon figurine I've been waiting to give to S).

Finally, the money!

For the outside, I spruced up the outside with instructions on how to get into the mountain castle (in Moon Runes of course) and the key.

Verdict: She loved it! :D

Art break - Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow for S

I asked my friend S (who I have been bffs with for ~20 years) what she wanted for her birthday this year. She said money.
Money is nice, but I had to think of a way to make it more annoying. 
S loves leprechauns, so I decided to put $30 (in gold, $1 coins) into a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. 
I started with a large yoghourt  container and a clear piece of plastic:

Light reflection FTW!

Next I cut the plastic into an arch, to become my rainbow. I also cut the top of the container to make it more 'pot-like':

The arch is a little hard to see ATM.

I painted the arch up as a rainbow using acrylic paint. Acrylic paint would stick to the plastic well and give a good colour intensity:

There it is!

I also put a layer of modelling paste onto the pot, to give it a bit more of a bulge around the middle:

Pipe-cleaners were used to give the pot a bit more of a lip and some handles:

These were then covered in modelling paste to help blend them in and make them easier to paint: 

The inside of the pot was painted gold and the outside painted black (both using acrylic paint, for the colour intensity, ability to stick to the medium, and it dries quickly):

Finally the rainbow and some cotton ball clouds were stuck on using a hot glue gun. I also added some chocolate coins:

Final verdict: S loved it! :D