A little bit of re-cycling for the HLS Mixed Media Challenge ......

Happy middle of the week ......

I've had a lovely day today crafting with a friend,  We were actually putting the last minute touches to this weekend's workshop .... looking forward to this one.  We're going to be doing a little mixed media using rice papers, which by the way are quite addictive once you start using them!!!

Speaking of Mixed Media ..... it's time for this month's Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge.  We've got a fun theme for you this month ...... LAYERS

For me, that could be layers of inks and/or paints, layers of papers, stamps and texture pastes with stencils, adding embellishments, ink sprays, ......... the list goes on.

For my inspiration piece I've re-cycled an old plaque and used most of the above!! 

I came across this in a box when we moved house.  I'd obviously made a start on re-cycling it at some point and then just put it away.  It's been sat on my desk since it was unpacked, waiting to have a make-over, so here it is ...... there's lots of layers here!

The flowers and the brick wall texture were on the original design ...... done back in 2015!

I just took off the sentiment panel, and gave the whole thing a coat of black gesso to give me a nice matte finish to the base.

I love the flowers so I left those as they were, just added new colour over them.
They're simply paper flowers, layered onto the base using a good strong glue. I added in a few die cut leaves here and there too.
I use Prima 3D Matte Gel from Finnabair's Art Basics range as the glue, it sticks everything, and holds its shape brilliantly so you can get great dimension. It dries clear too.

This is also a good way of using up all those paper flowers that you're not too keen on the colour of, you know the one's I mean .... we all have a box full of them.  It doesn't matter what colour they are, especially if you're using black gesso as your base.

I then started adding various colours of metallic paints and sprays ..... shades of turquoise, and greens a little bit of purple, and believe it or not, there's even a touch of pink in there too .....

 
I kept spritzing the paints with a little water, just to blend the colours ........ especially around the flowers.

For the brick wall I kept mainly to the blues and greens, with just a touch of deep purple to add shading here and there

Once all the paint was dry I went in with some metallic waxes to add even more colour, and highlight the textures ......

If you've never used coloured metallic waxes give them a go ....... there's a few different brands to choose from, my favourites are Prima's Finnabair Art Alchemy waxes, they have some fab colours (some of the ones I've used here are from this range), and then there's Treasure Gold, these are gorgeous.  Again great colours, and so easy to use.

I applied most of mine using my fingers but you could use a sponge or a brush, to get in all the detailed areas .

I added some pretty layered, die cut butterflies ..... cut from scraps of card from my bit box .... and highlighted using the metallic paints and the waxes

And finished off with a sentiment .... stamped and then fussy cut, and layered onto the bottom ....

As always, there's a $20 Gift Certificate for the challenge winner, which will be DOUBLED if they've used HLS stamps on their project.

Have fun!

Thanks for popping by ........  enjoy the rest of your day.

Mixed emotions again for me today,  as this is my last DT post for the Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge ....... (sad face)
I've had nearly 3 years of Mixed Media fun as part of this fabulous team but, it's time to give someone else the chance to be part of this amazing family!  Thanks again Kylie for having me on the team, it's been a fabulous Mixed Media journey ......  mwah!!

Cheerio until next time .....