Mermaids Wanted

Since I absolutely adore mermaids I knew I had to make this image the focal of my first project with this lovely new paper, By the Sea for Graphic 45.  

I chose a contrasting background that would make the blue imagery of the “My Anchor” sheet pop.  Once I glued down the background and my layered images, I decided to get fun with some ocean themed stuff I had around the house.  I started by gluing down the starfish with matte medium.  At this time I also layered in some netting that went with the aquatic theme.  Then I got crazy with the shells, layering and layering.  

Finally I dusted it with sand, even adding some matte medium in areas to build up my drifts.  I love how the sand added texture.  

The “mermaid wanted” sign is sandwiched in between two sheets of mica to give it a reflective quality.  I finished off the piece with a plastic anchor that I think was intended for a fish tank.  I find lots of cool stuff at garage sales.   

I hope you are now inspired to add a bit of mixed media collage to your next project!  

Cheers!

12 Days of Christmas: Nine Nymphs

My 12 Days of Christmas assignment from Alpha Stamps was the number nine, which traditionally is nine ladies dancing.  With a goal of using alliteration in my subject matter I chose to reinterpret my day and take my readers to a different place.  To keep a touch of winter in the piece I picked an icy palate, using lots of different layers of products to achieve various textures.  I will share a few tips and tricks with you in my post today.

I knew that this 8 x 8 Wooden Shadowbox and insert  were destined for this project, with nine perfect circles to showcase my ocean inspired imagery.  I had originally envisioned trying to make each of the openings into a porthole with washers or clay or something, but that thought never took shape.  Instead, I used layers of mica over my images, lending an underwater quality to my little harem of nymphs.

The outside of the box was treated with several layers of Gilders Paste in copper, white and patina.  I also used it on the display corners.  

Here is a close up where you can see a bit of the textures I achieved.  On the central background I started with a layer of stickels glitter glue.  Then, once dry, I used Picket Fence Distress Stain.  Now that dulled down the glitter quite a bit, but made for great texture.  To recapture a bit more glam, I added yet another layer of stickels in yet another icy color.  Also note all the wonderful mica flakes along the outside.  

My little drifts of mica were made by creating a paste.  I mixed my mica flakes directly into fluid matte medium and then piled it on the piece in selected areas with a small wooden stick.  Then follow with another pinch of flakes, sprinkling them over your paste mixture to get an extra layer of shimmer.

I used a large piece of mica tile that was cut to fit my openings.  I simply peeled it apart until I had my nine panels.  I used a touch of matte medium to glue these down.  I love how it kind of distorts the image and gives it such depth.  More stickles were added to act as grout, and fill in the area not covered by the mica.

To add to my icy ocean scene I used blue and white floral embellishments.  I especially like the new acrylic sprays.

I hope you enjoyed my take on day nine!

Cheers,

Rhea

Amulets and Talisman Charms

I have said it before, and it is so true, I am addicted to charm making right now.  It is so quick and gratifying and they are especially fun to swap.  A new swap for Amulet and Talisman charms in my group was too good to pass up.

 My first set started out with a really great product called Style Stones.  I purchased them at a close out sale at a steep discount, as it is typically a pricey product.  They are made from actual stone and they accept many mediums very well. 



I started out by using neutral toned alcohol inks on both sides.  The edges were coated in Inka Gold which I simply applied with my fingers.  A stamped script holds the perfect words for the owner of this tiny talisman.  On the other side is a spiral marking that was imprinted with a stamp I hand carved.  The spiral represents evolution and holistic growth; letting go, surrender release and connectivity with divine energy and source.

A small copper ring dangles from the hand embellished stone.  The copper holds characteristics such as love, balance, feminine beauty and artistic creativity.  The ring  is a nod to wholeness, unity, revolution and completion. 



The second set were made from beads I purchased at an estate sale.  Here is a picture of what they looked like before I altered them with my magic potion.  This picture was never intended to end up in a blog post (it was from a text message)...but I thought I would showcase what they looked like before.  There were quite a few larger beads which I kept to make some different pieces with.

   

My magic potion is this amazing aging solution that was given to my by one of my employees.  Since it is meant to age a product, we could say that it will add the element of wisdom to this talisman.  It was also used in these Day of the Dead skulls I made last fall.  It gives the beads, which I am pretty sure are bone, wonderful depth and character.  Bones represent the foundation of the self, the inner truth.  They can also represent death and rebirth. 

  

I added another dangling element off of my charm more movement, in this case a small red glass flower.  The red representing love and the flower opening up.  A Chinese coin was also attached to add good fortune.  Again the circle is prevalent in this charm with the jump rings as well as the patterns on the beads representing wholeness.    

In writing this post, I also realized I had not shown these ocean themed charms off.  They were made for my local art group.  I love using the picket fence stain  and Guilders Paste on metal with a bit of sealer. 



I am excited to see the return on the Amulets and Talisman charm swap, it will be an amazing charm bracelet I do believe!  I will be showing off what I did with a few of my Springtime in Paris charms soon.  I have been working on a big project and I am really excited to start showing it off.

Cheers,

Rhea

Sea Shrine Tutorial

As many of you know assemblage work is a genre that I love.  It takes patience as there are often many steps to prepping pieces but this is what really gives a project character.  I will provide a loose guide and some key thoughts while showing a few specific techniques in making this lovely little Sea Shrine I created from my very first design team kit from Alpha Stamps.

Here is what I started off with, a small 6x6 shadowbox I had in my stash.  It looks quite like a small dresser drawer.  I love that it is real wood, so it accepted several mediums quite well as you will see.

Start by distressing your shadowbox somehow.  I chose to add several (3) coats of Picket Fence stain along with Guilders Paste rubbed along the edges and on the hardware.  The inside of my box was painted with a pearl color acrylic paint and then spritzed with some light blue shimmery ink sprays (not pictured).  I typically strive to do two or three techniques to give elements of my project depth.

Once I was satisfied with my base, I planned for my focal.  I was immediately attracted to sea shore collage sheet from Alpha Stamps.  The focal image of choice was glued on to another piece of card stock before fussy cutting to add a bit of strength.

I had the idea to cut away the shell image and dig into my stash for a real one.  Then I raided my beads and found some vintage pearls, added in some tiny real seashells as well as some tiny glass spheres.  E6000 was the glue of choice here as the stuff I was gluing was "chunky."  I like to use that  in this instance as it does set up fairly quickly.  Matte medium and Glossy Accents are also good go to adhesives for the assemblage artist.

Set your focal aside to dry for a bit and plan for assembly, I love this stage.  I wanted my shell focal piece to be in a bank of sand.  To this end I used a bit of paper clay that I molded to form a slope.  Remember, paper clay shrinks.  You will not have a perfect imprint once your clay is dry, be advised.  Once your form starts to dry a bit, I recommend taking it out of the box to dry quicker.  I am inpatient, to speed up the drying of the clay even more, I baked it in the oven at 250 until hard.  It took mine a good hour due to the thickness of the piece.  

Now is the time to attend to collaging the background in your piece.  This is another opportunity to add layers and interest.  This time around I played with the seaweed fiber set and layered in some collage sheet elements from the sea shore collage sheet and K and Company's varnished postage stamp paper.   I used matte medium to glue down my fiber bits. Then I gathered items to assemble into the project.

Keep in mind it is a good idea to include things that are of a different scale, this is how you achieve interest.  Also items tend to look better placed in odd numbers.  I used E6000 to start gluing in my ocean treasures.  I was sure to audition each piece before adding glue to them.  Shells, starfish, a bottle of garnet sand, sea glass and more tiny shells are all fun items to include.  Most of these smaller items were glued down with matte medium.  I find that this disappears the best and really does hold pretty well.  Inside of my sandy bottle I included a secret note and a few tiny clam shells and tiny seahorses.

I made a handy sandy paste that dries rock solid and I think will have many crafty uses.  Here is the recipe:  one part Glossy Accents, one part matte medium and two parts sand.  I simply mixed it in a small resealable container and I just keep adding to it when I start to run low.  My measurements are rough and approximate, you can tell when the mixture starts to thicken too much, you want it to still have some viscosity.

Slather on your paste behind where your focal is going to land, filling in any edges from the paper clay shrinkage.  I used a popsicle stick.  Add glue for your focal and place it where you would like, for this large piece I used E6000.  I added a bit of my sand formulation over the edges of the shell and over the rest of the paper clay bank.  I think this helps it to blend, and it works as an extra adhesive.  I also added more tiny real seashells at this point, making sure they had good contact and were wet with adhesive. 

To finish off my box I added a decorative border of shells.  I also glued down some brass shell corners and a brass shell scroll that were altered with Liver of Sulphur Gel, guilders paste and then a coat of picket fence stain. Yet another great example using the rule of three when distressing an element for a project.

I hope you learned a little something along the way.  Assemblage art is such a fun way to tell a story, thanks for joining me as I tell mine.

Cheers,

Rhea

Bathing Beauties

My very first design kit from Alpha Stamps was a beachy delight.  This month they are sponsoring a "Wish you were here" postcard swap.  You can find more information about it here.  I made several samples, delighted with all the fun imagery. 

I absolutely adored the travel adhesive borders.  I did not even use them as intended, I left them on the card stock backs as I did not realize until later that they were stickers.

On the back of the card on the left I used this cool wire mesh to capture some shells and glue it on my card.  The product is kind of like a tube of mesh, so I was able to tuck things inside.  

  

I really love this card.  I used lots of Dresden borders in a nice shell motif. I love this image too.  

I kept this once pretty simple.  I really liked the imagery.  Here are more of the adhesive travel borders, along with a sticker from the Tropical Travelouge line from Graphic 45.  

The last one is really fun.  I just freely collaged from all of the images I cut out when I got my design kit.  Sometimes it is freeing just to put stuff down and not be attached to the outcome.  I think this is why I am really loving collage journaling right now.   

Stay tuned for more beachy goodness on my blog.  I have a tutorial coming soon with Alpha Stamps! 

Cheers, 

Rhea