Explore, Dream, Discover - Mixed Media Dies

I'm a great fan of mixed media as I find it's one of the times I can truly relax when creating as there are no rules to follow; only the ones you make. It's a wonderfully liberating way of mixing random items, ephemera, fabric scraps, natural items etc and no one tells you 'no' - everything can, will and always works together. Morphing random items, paint or inky techniques, stencils, stationary is all part of the fun - just loose yourself in the process.

Saying all the above, we now have another arsenal to add to our mixed media goodies, NEW mixed media dies from Tonic Studios being launched on Hochanda. These dies chomp through a plethora of materials allowing you & I to create even more items to use in our projects - squeals with delight! So without further ado, here's one of my projects using the new dies ...

This was actually one of the last projects I made and thought it would be good to use up all the bits I had already die cut from previous projects. I began by covering a previously used canvas with white gesso, citrus green & peony pink mousse using different tools - scrapper, palate knife and of course, my fingers. I then covered my die cut elements in one of these colours, or in some cases all! The 'Cassandra's Ventana' frame was my starting point ...

Next came the 'Traditional Timepiece' clock - which has been layered - followed by the inner part of the frame & clock. I was going to stop at this point with the layers, when I discovered an used cog which I thought would look fab as a place for the clock hands to go.

As for the theme, I let fate decide that - well in fact hubby did! I asked my husband to pick out random items from a box of 'stuff' or should I say 'ephemera', (without looking) and this was my starting point regarding the decoration. He chose several stamps - taken from a letter from my aunt in the US - a postcard, some moss, fabric stickers, a rub-on & glitter leaves. Although I was happy with the selection, the glitter leaves were a stumbling block: thankfully the gesso came to the rescue ...!

I layered or placed all the items where I wanted them to go and was happy(ish) with how the canvas was progressing but ... always a but ... felt it needed something more. I added another die cut frame to showcase/frame the word 'discover', a few flowers and then the light bulb moment ... shells. I have a HUGE box of these from when I visited my sister as on the beach near where she lives, mounds & mounds of the most beautifully tiny shells are washed ashore.

My final, final piece of embellishment added was a plastic button, which are part of the Tonic Studio die packaging, slightly tickled with white gesso. Another afternoon flew by as I became thoroughly absorbed in to my canvas and reality hit me ... I needed to tidy up! This task was definitely not for the feint hearted 😏😌😁

Have you created a mixed media piece recently? If so, please leave a comment and a link, so I can pop over to see your project.

Have a great day everyone and thank you ever so much for your visit,

Lou
x x x

Products used (& links):

                                   Steam Cogs & Widgets                 Traditional Timepiece

                            Media Shim                     Clemetine's Glass            Cassandra's Ventana

Nuvo embellishment mousse - Peony Pink

Nuvo embellishment mousse - Citrus Green

I would like to enter my canvas in to the following challenges:
Hiding in my craft room - super scraps Saturday
Creative Artiste - anything mixed media goes
A bit more time to craft - anything goes
Altered Eclectics - anything mixed media
Classic Design Team - anything goes
Mix It Up - anything goes + layering
Not Just Cards - anything goes