The Male Room Goes Globe-al

     This fortnigthts challenge at The Male Room is to make something other than a card. On a recent trip out with Mum we found these empty domes, I love to see them at Christmas but always think it's a shame they're not used the rest of the year. There was my challenge, to make a summer globe. The clear dome is plastic so that makes it much easier to work with and more user friendly when it comes to young people.

      There is a small hole in the bottom which is just about big enough for a battery tea light, I did have to file away a little more to get mine to fit properly.
     There is also a wooden disc inside to put your display on but I chose to use a thick card disc instead. To get rugged texture on the ground I used some hot glue and squished it about a bit, stuck my tree on and then painted it all with a mix of green and brown. I sprinkled some modelling greenery on top of the wet paint for added effect.

      The cabin in my wood is a die cut house with an added corrugated iron roof and stove pipe chimney. These I painted with some Rusty Patina and added a few bits of greenery for moss. The chimney has a light rubbing of silver wax on it.
     I used small pieces of vellum to cover the windows so that the light would appear more opaque and to make sure that the candle can't be seen through the windows.
     The log pile is small bits of a tree branch chopped into lengths and stuck together with PVA. A little real moss was added to form a bush beside the log pile and another piece of corrugated card lent up against the wall of the cabin to add interest.

      The porch is a small piece of corrugated card stuck on to the outside wall, with chopped down toothpick poles to help hold it up.
     As with the Christmas globes it looks much more effective when the candle is on and the room it's in is dark. I'm working on a way to suspend a small bird from inside without the attachment being seen.
     Please come along and join our challenge at The Male Room, any masculine project other than a card. Pop over and see what inspiration the DT have come up with.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Classic Design Team Challenge - Anything Goes   (M)

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes   (M)

Love To Craft - Anything Goes   (M)

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes   (W)

Scrabble Fairy

     Apologies for the late arrival of my project for Altered Eclectics, lots of things have been happening here, some good and some not so good, but that's life. Thank goodness for crafting, sometimes it's the only thing to do!

      This project is for a local charity shop, a way of showing how all the odd bits and bobs can be used to make a mixed media item.
     It all started with some scrabble tiles and a few buttons, then a good rummage through all my odds and ends.
     The frame is plastic, also found in a charity shop, it had a back but no glass. I cut a piece of mount board to fit in place of a canvas to work on.

      With the board in the frame I drew around the inside edge, so I knew not to put any embellishments beyond that line.
     With my trusty hot glue gun I began to add buttons, broken bits of jewelry and shapes made with hot glue in a silicone mould. Once these items are painted they take on a whole new look whilst adding lots of great texture to the project.

     I drew around the fairy so I knew where she would be going, that way I could avoid putting anything that would be underneath her. Using some stencils and a tube of filler I added some more texture to the board.
     Once all the filler was dry I painted a layer of gesso over the whole board, then a couple of layers of acrylic pink paint. A spritz with a pink mica spray added some subtle sparkle.

     With all the paint dry it was time to add colour to the texture with some gilding wax.
     Before I started glueing bits on I had taken a photo of where I planned to put all the bits, so with to hand I started to add the finishing touches. A hot glue gun in hand I stuck the letters, flower, fairy and her wings to the board, along with a glitter covered flower in the top corner. It wasn't exactly as the starter picture but close, slight adjustments along the way which added interest.
     All that remained was to pop it in the frame, it was at this point that I was SO glad I had left that small border around the board, but the fairy could have been a little lower so she stood on the frame instead of floating a bit above it.
     The board bowed slightly, probably due to the paint, so I used hot glue on the back to seal it to the frame in the corners and along the edges. All that was left was to pop the back on and move the hanging points for a horizontal picture.
     Most of the items have come from charity shops, with the exception of the hot glue gun, waxes, spray and mount board, and they were already in my stash. To make something pink and girly was a little out of my comfort zone but I'm not too unhappy with the result.
     There is still a fortnight left to enter your project with Altered Eclectics, anything but a card or an ATC, we look forward to seeing you work.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

An Inky Mess - Anything Mixed Media   (M)

Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Mixed Media   (M)

Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes   (M)

Male Room Fossil

     Our new challenge at The Male Room is mixed media, you can make a card or any other project as long as it's masculine mixed media. I didn't want to use a canvas so I die cut a tag from mount board for my base.

     Using some stencils I added Henry and a couple of ammonites with texture paste, Then the tag was coloured with Distress Oxide in Fossilised Amber, Broken China and Vintage Photo. I used a wet stencil to remove some ink, which doesn't show all that well, then spritzed and flicked to get more variation.
     The edges are darkened with Distress Ink in corresponding colours but Henry is coloured with Black Soot because he just didn't stand out enough, I rather like the pale lines around him as it gives him a feint glow.
     Using the Distress Inks I have stamped a pebble texture type pattern to add interest to the background, there is also a fossilised fish stamped above Henry's head.

     The word 'dig' is die cut in dark brown card and stuck on near Henry. There are also some interesting beach finds stuck to the tag, the stone may or may not be a fossil, but it looks like it could be so that's close enough for my tag.
     The label is die cut from the same mount board, inked dark brown and then covered with gold gilding wax and polished. I did have a dictionary definition but I messed it up, so had to type this one instead, it's on white card stamped with a craze pattern and covered with acetate.  All that remained was to add some twine to the top and Henry's tag was finished.
     Our challenge runs for two weeks, so hopefully that will give you enough time to come up with a masculine mixed media project to show us. Please have a look at the DT inspiration for a few ideas.

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

2 Sisters On The Blog - Beach   (M)

Delicious Doodles - Beside The Sea   (M)

Eclectic Ellapu - Seaside or Summer Colours   (M)

Take A Word -Sea Creatures   (I hope fossilised ones count)  (W) 

Purple Haze

     Welcome to another challenge at The Male Room, this time we are looking for anything masculine inspired by a Song Title.

        The canvas is six inches square, this is a trial run for a bigger version at a later date. I have learnt a few things with this one, like the paper the image of Jimi is printed on should have a torn edge rather than cut, then it won't show up so much. I've been experimenting with thin papers as I'm a little worried about putting tissue through my printer, this is printed on Chinese calligraphy paper.
     I painted the canvas purple first, then added the texture using a quick drying flexible filler and a Memory Box stencil. The whole canvas was then spritzed with a Cosmic Shimmer mister Purple Violet and sprinkled with rock salt, then left to dry naturally.
     Once dry I tapped all the salt off the canvas which left me with a speckled effect that unfortunately doesn't show very well in the photo, taking photos of sparkly things can be very tricky sometimes.
     I have stamped in silver using a swirl stamp on the top right corner, I've also taken this stamping over the edge on to the sides of the canvas. I have stamped a music note using Archival Ink black, it didn't come out as dark as I wanted so I have gone over it with a Stardust Black gel pen.
    It really is very purple (Chris, you'd love it!) but it comes out a little more blue in the pictures and it's quite sparkly too. I need to collect a few more musical embellishments for the bigger one I think, as well as play around with different papers to print on. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them, after all carfting is sharing and we're always learning.
    Please come and join us at The Male Room with your Song Title inspiration, anything you like as long as it's masculine.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Anything But A Card - Anything Goes
Mixed Media World - Masculine / Father's Day
Love To Create - Anything Goes Mixed Media
That Craft Place - Anything Goes Mixed Media