Texture for Mixed Media World

Some months ago, a friend asked if I would participate in a fundraising effort for Artists for Soup, a group that is working to improve the food security of Nicaraguan women.  This particular effort will take place in November, as an auction of altered cigar boxes and other items that artists want to donate.  Since I have a special place in my heart for Nicaragua, of course I said yes!  I had been watching some Paper Artsy videos on mediums and gels, and decided to try some heavy clear gloss gel through a stencil, and also to play around with home-made mica spray, having learned about that at a recent Finnabair workshop this summer.

I started by sanding my box, removing a lot of the paper, and in the process accidentally removing the paper hinge to the top.  Then I painted the outside surfaces with gold acrylic paint and applied a rather thick layer of heavy gloss gel to each of the four sides of the box and the top of the cover.  This will dry clear, and provide (mostly) a resist effect with the mica.

 Here is what it looks like when dry, and then when sprayed with a mica spray made from a deep blue Primary Elements powder and water.

 For the inside, I places several layers of white tissue paper with matte medium, building up the surfaces to look soft and velvety once the sprays were placed.  I used the same mica spray, supplemented with a commercial gold spray - I think it was Heidi Swapp gold.  I used the same technique for the inside of the cover.

Here is what the insides look like once sprayed.

 Below is the top.... I fashioned a handle from various Prima embellishments I had left from the workshop and some buttons.

 And here is one of the sides....you'll notice that I glued some little feet on to complete the look.

 And here is a very poor shot of the final box..... it is hard to photograph without shadows today!

I hope to finish a second box, which you can see below.  I am again using the tissue paper technique, but this time on the outside, based on what I did here on one of my early makes.... I absolutely love all the glimmering, shiny textures!  And it is so fun to use all the Lindy's Stamp Gang metallic sprays I own.

But I need to figure out how to nicely finish the inside.... kinda stymied on that at the moment (the "nicely" part especially), lol!  If you have any ideas, please let me know!




Thank you so much for stopping by, and please if you've time, leave a comment - I love hearing from you!  xxx Lynn