Feature Artist for Make It Masculine - Welcome Anne!

Hello Everyone!

Pamellia here and I am so excited to be here today to introduce you to our surprise guest for June. I have been following this talented lady for quite some time, and it is always such a wonderful learning experience every time I visit her blog. She is the master of texture and her ideas are so original and unique, you can't help but leave a better artist than when you arrived! I do hope you will all join me in welcoming the extremely talented Anne of Redanne!!

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Hello, my name is Anne (of Redanne) and I would like to say a huge thank you to the wonderfully talented Pamellia for asking me to be part of her exciting new Challenge Blog. I feel so honoured to be taking part with such a talented team of designers!

I was inspired by Cec's challenge theme - Make it Masculine - as I usually find it hard to make things for men, but with mixed media there are no real rules, which is quite liberating, so I just went with the flow and created a little project to show you.

My lovely DH keeps his keys to his 'shed' and other areas on a nail so I decided to create a proper holder for him using some of my favourite products and techniques.

I started with a 5 inch square deep canvas and coated this with my current favourite paints DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics in Titan Buff and Medium Grey.  I painted them on and then spritzed them with water to move them around and create a random background.

I then mixed some DecoArt Crackle Paste with some English Red Oxide (about 80 / 20 mix) but I did not mix it fully as I wanted some areas to be darker than others.  Using a Wendy Vecchi brick stencil I covered the canvas completely, matching up the top and sides.  It take a little patience to match it up perfectly but it is worth it in the end!

When you use crackle paste to do the bricks they look much more realistic than a flat paste, but as an alternative you could use a textured sand paste and achieve a similar effect.

The cardboard cogs were coated with Texture Sand Paste and left to dry naturally.  You can use a heat tool but it does cause the paste to bubble and I did not want that look this time.

The next bit is my favourite.  I coated each of the cogs with Paynes Grey Fluid Acrylic and allowed this to dry.  The paste has given a lovely texture already and dabbing the paint on gives even more.  I then applied Quinacridone Gold which is a lovely rusty colour.  Once dry I covered the cogs in an 'Andy Skinner Dirty Wash' (70% Quinacridone Gold, 30% Paynes Grey and thinned with DecoArt Ultra Matte Varnish).  If you make it up in a little pot with a good lid, it will keep for a few weeks.

As a final step I added a few little dabs of Cobalt Teal Hue Media Fluid.  For the finished piece I did add some metal cogs, some chain for the top and some brass cup hooks for the keys to hand from.  These were treated in exactly the same way as the cardboard but without the Texture Sand Paste.

You can see a better view of the cup hooks in the picture above.  The letters are from Tim Holtz Idea-ology range and have been coated in the 'Dirty Wash' mixture.

A view from the side to show the 'brickwork'. 

I hope, as Cec asks in her challenge, you feel inspired to make a mixed media card or other project for a fellow in your life!

A little bit about me....

I have been crafting in some form or other all my life but as a wife and working mum this was put on hold for a long time.  After contracting a serious illness about eight years ago I had to take early retirement and the rest is history!  I love all forms of craft, from sewing and knitting to mixed media and my particular love which is working in 3D.  I am so fortunate to be on a few design teams which allow me to explore and experiment with lots of different mediums and styles - some of which challenge me enormously, but I love every minute of it! 

I have met some of THE nicest people in blogland, many in real life, it is such a wonderful, supportive, hugely inspiring and such a friendly place to be.  Thank you once again to Pamellia and to Cec for letting me be a part of this wonderful new challenge blog.

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HOLY WOWSERS, isn't that awesome! I was just blown away by the incredible textures that Anne achieved and wasn't her tutorial just to die for! That brickwork looks so real, and those gears look greasy and grungy, how amazing is that! Thank you so much Anne, for spending the day with us today and for the wonderful inspiration you have provided to us all. It has been an honour to have you here with us.

I hope that seeing Anne's incredible creation will inspire you to join us for Cec's current challenge MAKE IT MASCULINE!

You have until the 4th of July to play - and you'll find all the challenge details as well as lots of inspiration from the brilliant Anything But Cute design team by clicking on the challenge link.

Happy Crafting

Pamellia!