This is my last week as a guest designer for the
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and it has been a wonderful experience.
This is such a great blogging community full of inspiration and information--I'm happy to be a part of it and grateful for the feedback I've received!
This week's challenge is to
use a metallic element so I made an assemblage that would definitely set-off a
metal detector!
I used found bits of
really rusty metal (the square frame and large nail), a vintage key and
lots of Idea-ology including a
Quote Band,
Number Brad,
Gadget Gear, and
Faucet Knob.
A border for the
Burlap Panel was made using tacks and copper wire (credit to Paula Cheney at
oneluckyday.net for this idea).
The background technique is rather unconventional. After prepping the burlap with paste medium (to fill in and even out the surface), I transferred an image cut from the
Destinations Paper Stash using polymer medium. The overage of paste medium around the edges was tinted to match the paper.
I've done
image transfers with lots of
Paper Stash and I suspect it would work with other brands as well. Here's a link to a
recent tutorial which describes my technique in more detail.
I included
a doll and roses because of the
Quote Band. The
Salvaged Doll is the artist, the faucet knob represents effort, the number stands for time, the key unlocks the idea, the gear stands for the process and the result is beauty represented by the three
Heirloom Roses.
It's fun and
easy to transform the doll from its original, stark-white appearance. I just covered her with off-white paint, used blue for the dress, brown for the hair and mixed-up a flesh tone for the face, arms and legs. Everything was coated with
fine crackle medium and after it dried, I dropped in some
Tea Dye Distress Stain to emphasize the cracks. A tiny drop of red ink went on her cheeks and a fine-tip black marker helped define the eyes and mouth (my photo doesn't do her justice).
I wanted to
match the roses to the other pieces but didn't have rust-colored alcohol ink. Since mixing colors opposite each other on the color wheel makes mud, I thought to drop an assortment of colors I did have on top of the roses until I got the look I was after. Then I took the shine away with some fluid matt medium.
The
Quote Band was also given a rusty look. I filled in the letters with white paint, wiped the background with a rust-colored ink (like StazOn) and used black paint to distress the edges. I used an antique gold metal paint on the
Faucet Knob and glued on a few brads with
Glossy Accents.
Speaking of glues, if you'd like to try making an assemblage but you're not sure how to anchor the elements I have some advice. Use nails, screws or wires when you can (no problem with the
Burlap Panel since the backing is made of wood). When you can't, a
good urethane-based glue (like Duncan's
Liquid Fusion) and some clamping will secure just about anything. You can see my other assemblages
here.
There are other details about this piece that I could mention but if you've already read through what just may be the
longest post in the history of craft blogging, then I may have said too much already!
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Please join us for this week's challenge and when you upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog you'll have a chance to win a $50 voucher at the Simon Says Stamp store!
Here's a list of the products I used for this challenge which can be ordered from Simon: