Amphitrite "queen of the sea"

It seems as though the longer the winter weather continues to hold on, the more my thoughts drift towards the ocean. These thoughts bring visions of the soothing blues and greens of the depths; and of sea nymphs, beautiful fish, coral formations and shells, and of Poseidon. As the legend goes, Poseidon had a wife/consort whose name was Amphitrite. She was considered "Queen of the Sea".
Today I am on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog sharing my "queen of the sea" inspired piece.

My project begins with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts chipboard decorative tags X-large. This set of tags contains 3 different shapes that are very generous in size. I know that they will be able to hold my beautiful Amphitrite perfectly. I am using the tags as a trio for my piece; however, they could be used individually or even paired up.

Once I have an idea for the direction I want to take, I select a paper to use for the background. The chipboard tag is heavy enough to handle medium on one, or both, sides of the tag. When I create tags, the back sides usually end up covered with paints and inks, so I plan to cover the back sides as well as the front. I am using a Prima paper from the Royal Menagerie collection on the front sides of my tags. Before I begin, I choose colors that will coordinate nicely with the front paper and, using distress oxide and distress inks, I color a large sheet of watercolor paper. This is cut to size and will be adhered to the back of the tags after I have completed the front of my pieces.  

I first adhere the paper to the front of the tag using collage medium. I like to use a brayer to assure there are no air bubbles, as well as to flatten out the paper. Once the collage medium is dry, I trim around the edges with my Exacto knife. I then use a standing block to rough up some of the edges. I ink the paper with Distress Ink in salty ocean, tumbled glass, mermaid lagoon and cracked pistachio; spritz with water, then allow to dry completely.

While the backgrounds are drying, I gather my stamps and some Bristol cardstock. Using my stamping platform, I stamp mermaid parts and heat emboss them with clear embossing powder. This ensures that the edges stay crisp when I color the images. The stamps I am using for the mermaid and shells are from the Character Constructions She Sells Seashells Collection by Catherine Moore. I also stamp the octopus, Fish and seahorse onto Bristol and clear emboss. The seaweed, coral and sea creatures are all part of the Tim Holtz Sea Life stamp set by Stampers Anonymous. Once colored, all of these pieces are fussy cut, assembled, embellished, and set aside.

I want the piece to include some real shells to give it more dimension. I gather a few shells from my stash and paint on some with Dina Wakley acrylic in Gilt. As this dries, I paint some embossing ink on the bottom of the tags, sprinkle with dirty sand Baked Texture embossing powder by Emerald Creek/Seth Apter, and heat emboss, while it is still warm, I add bit more sand to those areas, and then let it cool completely.

Using the stamping platform, I arrange the tags side by side and decide on placement of the seaweed and coral. These are stamped using archival inks in fern green and sepia.

I play with the arrangement of images and embellishments to figure out the perfect location for the title "queen of the sea" which will be stamped in cornflower blue archival ink directly onto the tag. Once I decide, in order to ensure that the image is placed correctly, I first do a sample stamping, which I use for placement of the individual letter stamps. I then remove the sample before inking the rubber stamp and stamping directly onto the tag. The letters are from the Tim Holtz Worn Text stamp set by Stampers Anonymous.

Once this is dry, I place the pieces back onto the tags in their appropriate spots and finalize the layout. To counterbalance the octopus in the upper right, I add a "rusty" anchor on the left. The anchor is a wooden piece that I have made "rusty" by heat embossing with chunky rust Baked Texture by Emerald Creek/Seth Apter.

Everything is glued down and allowed to dry overnight. I am unsure about how I will attach the panels together, so I color some crinkle ribbon with the same inks used on the background, spritz with water, and dry with a heat gun. This ribbon may be woven through holes along the seams of the tags.
My other consideration is to use a piece of fishing net.

I ultimately decide on using the fishing net. The net is glued along the back side of all three tags, tying them together.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.
I hope that your thoughts inspire you to create something wonderful.
~Ann


I am entering this project in:
A Vintage Journey April Challenge - Rusty and Crusty

  

frida kahlo shrine

Hi everyone, today I am on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog,
sharing this shrine I created to showcase some stamped images that I love.

It all begins with a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts altoids tin book cover. This piece arrives in three, flat pieces. You can recycle a tin to use inside or find one in your local craft supply store. Being a wintergreen Altoids lover, I will be using one of the plentiful empty tins from my stash.

I know I will be using a stamped image on the cover of the "book" so I add a light coat of white paint to one side of and allow it to dry. One thing I love about the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts is that they are very dense chipboard, and they accept all kinds of medium very well, especially paint. I will be using paint to color the stamped image, so I make sure to clear emboss it after stamping. The stamp I am using is Creation by Sandra Evertson from RubberMoon. There are four portals in this series and they are all fabulous. I chose this one because I will be cutting a hole in the center to allow the interior to be seen when the shrine is in the closed position and I can easily cut out the shape of the opening that this portal has.

Although the chipboard is dense, it can still be cut using an Exacto knife. The best way to get a clean cut is to make your initial line and then go over it as many times as necessary until you have cut through. Be sure to use a sharp/new blade. It may also work with a steel rule die; but since I was working within this portal I felt that hand cutting would be best. The next step is painting the pieces. I use a combination of acrylic paints, the main turquoise color is Deco Art Americana acrylic paint in Laguna. All of the pieces are painted on both sides. The other colors used are from an artist set of acrylic paints. I mixed different colors to create the hues that I was looking for and painted the stamped image. 

While I have the paints out, I also paint the tin that will be glued inside. For this I use the same Deco Art Laguna acrylic, and paint the inside with a coat of black. while that is drying, I die cut the greenery pieces using the Tim Holtz Tropical dies by Sizzix.

The focal point of the shrine is Alma another Sandra Evertson stamp by RubberMoon. When I began the piece, I was not sure if she would be situated behind the greens or in front. For this reason, I initially cut a piece of watercolor paper to fit within the tin. I stamped and clear embossed the image, then using distress ink, colored around her. I ultimately decide to locate her in front of the greens. This requires fussy cutting the image once it is completely colored.

 Since I am not using the lid on the tin, the spine width is a bit too wide. I measure the width that I want the spine to be, and cut it to that size. This narrower spine allows the top to rest on the tin when it is in the closed position. To create the hinge for the shrine "book", I use washi tape. I cover the tape with a coat of paint so that it is not noticeable when the shrine is in the open position. I add a few die cut palm leaves to add interest on the inside of the spine, as well as additional camouflage for the hinge.

Now it is time to assemble the remaining pieces. I locate the tin so that it is centered within the opening on the front panel, for a clear view within, when the "book" is shut. I mark where the tin corners need to be and use a strong adhesive to attach the tin to the back plate. I allow this to dry overnight before adding any embellishments.

 Then I add die cut fronds around the outside edges of the tin, as well as some tropical flowers. All of these pieces were cut using the Tim Holtz Tropical thinlet dies by Sizzix.            

               

                                       

For the spine, I cut a piece of green card stock a bit smaller than the thickness of the assembled "book" and using the Tim Holtz Leafy embossing folder, created a textured strip. I apply glue only to the flat center piece of the "spine"and attach the strip. This will allow the hinged areas to work freely while the decorative strip remains in place. 

I cut a label from natural paper and use small alphabet stamps to stamp "FRIDA". I ink the edges of the label with Distress Ink in peeled paint and crushed olive. This is attached to the top of the front panel with foam adhesive and two small, layered flowers are adhered at either side. 

 I love the depth I was able to achieve using the Altoids Tin Book Cover, and especially like that it can be opened and admired from a different perspective as well.  

That's all it takes to create this Frida Kahlo Shrine.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog,  

I hope that you are inspired to create something.

~Ann

Be sure to share your Gypsy Soul creations with us on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Craft Group on Facebook. We would love to see what you are up to!