Mixed Media with The Robin's Nest Creative

 Hello everyone! For my Design Team project at The Robin's Nest Creatives I decided to go all out and get really messy.  I used to make mixed media items all the time, but have since gotten busier and really haven't had time to play; I made up for lost time!  Let's get to it, here is the project; it's made on a Frederix 4" x 6" panel - this is a long post, I apologize, but I used a lot of different products (some not so successfully) while making this piece.

The first thing I did was use one of the really cool kits they have at The Robin's Nest called Creative Dew Drop Canvas and there are some amazing pictures to choose from, I used the Matchstick Creative Dew Drop Canvas for today's project.  These kits come with everything you need (except glue) to make a masterpiece worthy of framing - AND they come in different sizes! I used Dew Drops that I though would represent the flame best, orange, gold, red and yellow and filled it in completely with both Regular and Mini Sized Dew Drops. Black Diamond Dews were used on the wooden part of the match. I also colored around the flame to sort of give it that halo glow you sometimes get around fire using Copics right on the canvas.  I smothered it with Diamond Glaze and let it sit overnight to dry.  I wanted

Another Look

to use a panel as my substrate so I cut the match out.  I actually did this back in the beginning of being on the Design Team but I put the match somewhere and couldn't find it - shocking, I know - it popped out of where ever those items go when "they were right here" and then they are gone (another dimension with lost socks?? I don't know) but I found it.  Setting the match aside, on my desk so it couldn't escape again, I painted the 4" x 6" panel gold using Lumiere True Gold Paint. I have to swoon for a second because I love Lumiere Paints - if you like rich color, some of the coolest pearlescent colors (some of them are blended with 2 colors and the effects are amazing!) you need to check this paint out.  It is sold for use on fabric, but I have used it on everything and I have never been disappointed with it.  It's a quality product and it may seem pricey (if you shop around you can get a jar for around $6, a 2.25 fl. oz, jar, but they also come in sets with little squeeze bottles, called Exciter packs), but a little goes a long way. Sorry for that little detour! 

So once my panel was dry this is basically where I went crazy.  I used a flame stencil and some sprays to try and make a fire background, well the gold paint did not like the sprays (they are water based and just beaded up and dripped away) but some of the color did take.  At this point I just started to throw products at the panel; and I used so many different colors I couldn't begin to list them all. I used a few different embossing powders from Wow Embossing Powders, some diluted red paint from Golden, and some more embossing powers -which again were an issue because the embossing ink just beaded up on the paint.  No worries I just made the background really, really abstract.  I glued the Matchstick Creative Dew Drop Canvas that I had cut out onto the panel and attached the alphabet letters I had cut out of  6" x 6" DCWV glitter stacks and I then added more Dew Drops using the same colors I used to fill in the flame, but I used the Tear Drop style of Dew Drops instead.  I added a few Mini Dew Drops as well.  I wanted them to sort of look like sparks from the flame.  I glued the sentiment onto the panel and the letters just blended right in with everything else so I used a permanent black marker and traced them all so they'd be easier to read and pop a little.  The final step was to smother the match stick once again with Diamond Glaze and once that dried I was done.

I am actually happy how this panel ended up.  It is very interesting with all the colors, glitter, glaze and, of course, Dew Drops.  I hope you enjoyed my long story- I have been trying to make my posts shorter and I think I am succeeding, but sometimes I just have to tell the whole story!  Thanks for your support ~ Lots of love, Christi

I am entering my Mixed Media Panel in the following challenges:
Crafting Happiness, #123 - Anything Goes
Love to Craft Challenge Blog, #68 - Anything Goes
Mix it Up Challenge, #59 - Anything 3D Goes
Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge, #82 - Anything Mixed Media Goes
A Perfect Time to Craft, #5 - Anything Goes
Mixed Media Lovers, #13 - Anything Goes