CCM&M #111 - Mixed Media - Winter and/or Slap It On!!

It's the first outing for our mixed media Elves this week. This is the definition of Mixed Media that we are working to - just so everyone knows where we are coming from:

The term 'Mixed Media' is a broad spectrum term covering many aspects of arts and crafts. It can include altering objects - books, boxes, frames, furniture - art journalling, book making, collage and many more.

The items used in the creation of a mixed media piece are plentiful, and can include buttons, broken jewellery pieces, all sorts of things that other things that other people throw away and consider to be rubbish, paint in all forms, texture pastes, scraps of metal, fibres, filaments, chipboard, old photos to add or alter, pen, pencil, markers, crayons, chalks, polymer clays etc etc etc.

Yvonne is the bravest of the Elves - and has stepped up to host the first of these challenges. The theme is Winter and/or Slap It On!! So based around wintry colours and/or an 'anything goes' type idea. We want to see your album covers, canvases, altered art, upcycled, recycled, re-purposed or brand-new from-scratch projects. But, PLEASE, we DO NOT want to see any cards for this challenge. 

Our sponsors are Woodware who are offering £12 to spend at either on-line or in-store at your favourite stockist.  

Well, for me, I could not resist the urge to 'Slap It On'. My mind just started going off in all different directions of what I could do. And I didn't really want to not do any of it. So, in the end, I decided to used it as an opportunity to have a go at combining loads of techniques and materials in one space. This is the final project - I have put this picture here for those who are not interested/don't have time to look through all the stages that went into producing it. Feel free to scroll quickly down to the bottom!! 

For those of you that do want to know, grab a coffee as this may take a while!! I started by sketching out on a piece of A4 paper, all the ideas I had and how I wanted to combine them. Details changed as I progressed, but essentially the overall plan stayed the same. I then set about collecting possible materials for each part of the project. I have to admit, that it became increasingly evident that I have a huge amount of stuff - and choices were a little difficult. Some of the things from the original selection didn't actually make it to the final project - and other things slipped in!! 

So. I started with the background. I used an A3 piece of mountboard, and painted it with Magnolia emulsion paint. In the top right corner, I used a stencil (from Lidl) and inked through with Forest Moss, Rusty Hinge, Bundled Sage and Victorian Velvet DI's. I then dabbed a little perfect medium through the stencil, and embossed with Mica Boss, before brushing over Autumn Bronze and Pear Green mica powders. 

For the dots at the bottom I used Pearlescent Texture Paste (Lidl) through That Special Touch Dotty Mask. It did get a bit messy, so to try to cover the worst up, I used my finger to smear some along the edges. I then dug out something I haven't used in years - glittered flocking powder!!! Yes, I have a range of colours - but chose pink this time. 

The top left square is Spring Green card (Papermill) embossed with XCut's Butterfly Pattern A4 embossing folder. I then highlighted the raised areas with Cosmic Shimmer Blush Gilding Wax. Pink striped Washi Tape was then wrapped around this, before mounting it onto a cork square - from a self adhesive roll. The bottom right square is canvas (from a roll), brushed with a sponge and Eco Green Acrylic Paints in Mulch, Pumpkin and Moss. 

Although I didn't take a photo of this stage, I then stamped over the edges of the whole thing with a La Blanche swirl stamp and Indigo Blue Flitterglu. The gilding flakes are a mixture of colours - but mostly Variegated Green.

For the next section, I started with a piece of old packaging, covered in Antique Pink Pebeo paint, and topped with Kroma Crackle mixed with Magnolia emulsion paint. I then used the tissue paper technique with indigo Blue Slap It On Matt, a textured serviette, Bundled Sage and Victorian DI's and a mixture of Papermania Chronology Stamps and Boofle Background stamps. The flowers are made from clear and white UTEE mixed with Cosmic Shimmer Melt Inks - Saffron Yellow, Azure Blue and Carmine Red. 

The 'Love' stamp is Sheena Douglass - but I don't know the name of the set! This was stamped in Victorian Velvet and cut with an XCut Nesting Scalloped heart die. The pearls are from my stash as is the paisley brad. I used Cosmic Shimmer Aqua Twinkles to mount the pearls in the flowers. This in turn was mounted on Papermill Kraft card, embossed with CC Embossalicious 8x8 Elegace folder, and inked with Walnut Stain DI. 

Another piece of packaging was painted with Mulch paint. I then stripped the top off of a piece of corrugated card, which I painted with Magnolia. Using a sponge, I swiped Pumpkin and Moss paints over the top. I used the tissue paper technique with Creative Expressions Mini Swirl stamps and Timber Brown Stazon. This was applied with wax from my Melt Pot. The flowers and leaves are cut from a DCWV Safari stack, with Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms and Foliage dies. They were dipped into clear UTEE for a faux porcelain look. The Faith stamp is another from Sheena Douglass, stamped with Walnut Stain, and cut with a Spellbinders Mega Scalloped Oval. The sticky gems are from my stash.

For the middle part, I used Deco Mache Papers - Peacock Feathers Orange and Boho Chic Leaves - and Decopatch Gloss to cover the card. The ribbons, cord, buttons, pearls and sticky gems are all from my stash. The backing card is Bazzill - and is embossed with CC Rose Garden folder and inked with DI's. The Joy stamp is another Sheena Douglass one, stamped with Forest Moss DI and cut with a Spellbinders Scalloped Circle die.

The final finishing touches include a UTEE owl, die cut shapes, more paisley brads, a heart charm tied with ribbon, ric rac, and pearls and gems from my stash. The whole thing was then mounted onto Dark Chocolate Centura Pearl card.

Well done if you've managed to make it to this point (or maybe you were sane and just scrolled quickly down). I do apologise for the long post, but I think it's the teacher in me that feels the need to explain what I have done.

Please pop over the Crafty Cardmakers and More blog to check out all the great inspiration from the Design Team. And we look forward to seeing your creations - just remember NO CARDS please.

I would like to enter this into:

That Craft Place - Anything Goes

Crafts 4 Eternity - Texture

Be back soon. 

Cxxx