Opposites Attract!

8 years ago

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever – Jacques Yves Cousteau

The Frilly & Funkie Design Team decided to challenge us to work with colors, themes, and techniques in ways that we don’t normally use – in other words, an opposites attract challenge.  The challenge is generously sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  I chose a theme of the Sea.  I live thousands of miles away from the sea and oceans but when I visit the shores of England where the waves crash or the tide rolls in and out, I am amazed by its power and beauty.  However, the color palette isn’t something that I normally use on my projects or scrapbook pages.  It isn’t that I don’t like it, it’s just that it can be a pretty specific look and color palette that doesn’t particularly go well for someone who lives along a mountain range that has many 14,000 foot+ mountain peaks.

Even though I used the new Graphic 45 Voyage Beneath the Sea as a starting point, the turquoise, blue, and orange in that color scheme is not something in my color palette either.  In fact it’s way out of my comfort zone.  I ran to my local craft store and picked up some sea shells (I found a bag in the clearance section).  Since I’m still pretty new at all of this stuff, I have only recently “found” gesso and for this project I decided to see how white gesso would work.  Thank goodness for craft mats, hand scrubbies, baby wipes, and craft aprons!   And, I think black gesso is a bit more forgiving!  And, I still need to practice my dry brushing technique.

From a class that I attended I had a left over Prima wooden frame and decided to try to make it look weathered.  That was an interesting new technique – too bad in the end I wound up covering all of it (but you can still see some of it on the sides).  Most of the sea shells were covered in white gesso and then I used the Prima acrylic paints and mica powders to give them the colors of the G45 papers.  I added some gears to match the steampunk aspect of the G45 paper and used the Prima Rust paste (not necessarily for the rust effect but for the color).  I left some of the sea shells (the smaller ones) in their own color to contrast the ones I painted.  I also grabbed the watch from the jewelry section at my craft store (it was easier to experiment with that then the more expensive Prima and Tim Holtz ones) and used the glass glitter.  Ultimately I liked the experiment and kept it for the project.

The project involved a lot of different techniques that were new to me and I was forced to work with different colors and textures.  I also don’t make many mixed media type projects like this.  In order to stay within the color palette and not veer off into my comfort zone I only used what I put out on my craft table.  It was hard at times but I did it.

I hope you like my ode to the sea.  Now to turn the tide over to you!

Products used for this project:

• Prima:  Junkyard findings (ship parts);  Wooden Frames
• Finnabair: Mechanicals (steampunk gears);  Art Ingredients Glass Glitter (Velvet);  Rust Paste (Red Rust);  Mica Powder (Peach Opal Magic); Art Alchemy Acrylic paints (Metallique Rich Turquoise, Fresh Orange, Steampunk Copper, and Light Patina;  and Opal Magic (Aqua-Rose ))
• Americana: Weathered Wood
• Deco Art:  Media Fluid Acrylics (Titan Buff)
• Graphic 45:  Voyage Beneath the Sea paper (Voyage Beneath the Sea);  Journaling and Ephemera Cards (Voyage Beneath the Sea)
• Tim Holtz: compass coins and corked domes
• Miscellaneous:  Dina Wakley White Gesso;  Bead Landing Found Objects