One side finished

Hello everyone  thank you all  for taking the time to visit my little home on the net. Having you share my journey of art making, and the support and encouragement I recieve from you all, really touches my heart.

I have met some wonderful people on this journey, both in real life and the virtual world, all of whom have touched me in someway. Their art that inspires me, their humour and frustrations as well as their fears of 'not being good enough' all influence my art making and for that I am so grateful.  

In relation to inspiration this piece has been inspired by a few people. Firstly Leandra from Paper Artsy announced the new challenge last Sunday which is Hidden Objects . This gave rise to many ideas, but here I'm showing the top of a box I have created to house many secret things. It has a key to a secret box where the key to my box can be found. 

The style is influenced by Anna Dabrowska - Finnabair. You can see lots of her work here. She has a very distinct style which is fabulous and very addictive. I haven't been fortunate enough to attend any of her classes, but one day.

Lastly the colour is inspired by some recent art by Sam which you can see here. I just loved the combination and although this piece changes rapidly I love the depth of colour the layers created.

I plan to enter this into the following challenges
Frilly and Funky - Summer
Paper Artsy - Hidden Objects
Country View crafts - Shabby Chic



Mixed Media Monthly Challenge who are celebrating their 1st birthday. The theme is looking back over the year and picking one of the past themes. I have picked May Flowers

                                         

So to start, I planned my design and began sticking my elements into place. I used a combination of items from metal, to paper flowers.

I covered the area with white Gesso, however, the dye from the red flower diluted to a pink. 

                                      

Above you can see a paper bag which is ATC size which was stuck on and also gessoed. 

Once the Gesso was dried I used the Media Misters to build up some layers of ink. I used a combination of colours until I got the mix just right.

Here you can see the key attached to a Tag that fits in the pocket. I also used some cardboard letters to form the label for the box. I intend to store a small art journal in the box along with some mementoes as a keep sake.

Once all the items were thoroughly dry I applied a thin coat of Metallic Lustre in Expresso  to areas around the flowers etc to give a look of aged gilting. 

                               

The Tag out of the pocket - the address is hidden from view as it is on the reverse of the Tag.

And all together it looks like this. I really enjoyed assemembelling all the elements. Hopefully you can still see all the scrummy layers achieved by a first  layer of muslin, and and some found bits  and pieces in cardboard.

I loved making this. It's very tactile with all the elements. 

Well that's it for now. You all take care and don't forget to visit again lol. See you soon 

Hugs Debs xxx