Mixed Media Monday: Beauty is truth...

Hello, and welcome to our second Mixed Media Monday.  It's Ann here from Annmakes and the All that Stickles Design Team.  I have something to show and share with you today that I worked pretty hard at putting together but I also had a wonderful time doing so.

The Linky party "Anything Goes" runs until august 16 and so I went with that theme.

I did do just about anything on this piece.  It is a square 7"x7" canvas, recycled from a liquidation sale at a closing discount store.  It originally had some hideous design on it, but I saw its potential and altered it.

 There are many layers of texture and mediums, papers, plastics, wood, metal, clay, brass,jewelry, feathers, beads, and STICKLES (Diamond, and Copper).  It all started with my wanting to experiment at making gel prints with my new homemade gel plate.  I used a stack of card stock that was unsuitable for my stamp and ink work but faired well in this project.  I had scored a big box of leftover paints at a Church rummage sale earlier this summer and put it to use to make my own papers.  Once dry they were beautiful and I wanted to make flowers out of them.  I pulled out some EK success die punch makers that are perfect for cutting long borders that you roll into flowers.  I inked the edges of the flowers(with Vintage Photo Distress Ink from Ranger)  and added the stickles (Ranger) and some Goosebumps (Tsuikeneko).

 I got hooked on making the flowers but what to do with them?  That is when I got inspired to make this canvas.  The colours of the flowers inspired the rest of the colour scheme for the whole piece.  Obviously this week I am in the mood to use warm colours and so I went with that.  Lately I have been into working with dolls and faces and I wanted to incorporate that too, so in my digging through my hoarded stash of supplies and ephemera I found a mask, but it wasn't quite right, and altering it still wouldn't do, so I did the only thing I could.  I made my own clay doll face.

That's right not only did I experiment with home printing but I grabbed some clay and got messy. Boy, that was fun.  I love working with this natural clay, who would have thought?   While the stickles on the flowers were drying and the clay face was drying I worked on the canvas.  It has layers of texture and acrylic paint as a base, on to which I added more textures with a variety of materials: plastic fruit basket, dry wall tape, masking tape, plastic mesh, chip board die cuts, hand made paper trims, heavy gel medium and gesso.  I used some oil based paint and water based paints, mica glazes and walnut ink. I pushed and pulled, added here and there.  I glued on the face, flowers, feathers, the beads and other trinkets.  I added some faux gems and pearls to the flowers and I used my old Dymo label maker for the sentiment.

Sometimes I use those lovely Stickles by Ranger as the crowning touch on my work and then there are times when the Stickles are the inspiration for the beginning of my work.  I love that versatility.

I hope that you are inspired to get stickler, have fun!  Thanks for viewing.