Mirror Frame ...... finished!

As promised, here is a photo of my completed mirror frame.  After creating several embellishments for the frame, using a variety of techniques, at Lindsay's workshop, I was determined not to let it lie around half-done for several months.  So I made a few more embellishments, using the acrylic fragments and the bottle top, plus added extras that I found in my stash (the "dream" key and sticker, a tree charm picked up at Aintree, an oriental dragon/coin charm and a brass disc with a palmistry hand on it - I found this at the bottom of one of my jewellery boxes). 

As you can see, I've ended up with quite an eclectic mix of pieces, but many of them are quite meaningful - there's an image of Whitby Abbey in the bottle top (DH and I lived there for a year many, many moons ago and the view from our house looked straight across the harbour to the Abbey).  I was born in a Water Dragon year, according to the Chinese "astrological" system, so it's appropriate to have one on my mirror.  The buddha figure (created from a mould Lindsay had, using a mix of UTEE and Perfect Pearls) reminds me of one of our best, kindest and most generous friends, who is a buddhist.  The palmistry disc represents the interest I've had in the past in learning about astrology and palm-reading.  And of course, a cat had to feature somewhere on the frame didn't it .... considering that we are a family of cat-lovers and have shared our home with cats throughout our married life?  *LOL*

The "madonna" embellishment was begun in Lindsay's class.  We transferred a picture of our choice (mine was from one of the Crafty Individuals books) onto some adhesive-backed canvas - the image turned out quite pale so Lindsay suggested Glossy Accents may brighten it up a bit.  I folded the canvas over some card, edged it with gold Krylon, and then used Crackle Glossy Accents over the top - I was quite pleased with the final effect once it dried as it has taken on a sort of "mosaic" finish in keeping with the Italian Renaissance image.  I finished the frame off by rubbing some Gold Metallic Rub-On around the edges and between some of the individual pieces.  It's now hanging up in the hallway of our house so I can see it every day. 

A quick reminder now to say that the April Fools ATC swap is nearing its deadline, I have the cards in for this swap now so will be swapping out at the end of the week.  There were only three players besides myself for this swap, but I'm sure everyone will be happy with the ATCs they receive back.  Don't forget to check my blog again on 1st May, as it'll be time to post details of the new monthly swap then ...... I hope this one will appeal to more of you and that you'll consider joining in.

A Visit to Aintree

Yesterday I went with a friend to the Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts Show at Aintree, Liverpool - it's not the biggest of shows, but I still picked up a few bargains (one stand was selling Tim Holtz distress inkpads, including all the new ones, for a very good price - so of course I couldn't resist - and I also spotted a reduced price pack of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Fragments, hard to come by at the moment so I just had to buy them)!  There were several exhibitions at the Show and I remembered to take my camera this time, so I thought I'd share pics of some of the exhibitions with you ......

The Knitted Garden

"The Duchess" Collection

(costumes from the film)

A Day Dress worn by Keira Knightley

A Maternity Dress

(worn by Keira Knightley)

Costume worn by Ralph Fiennes

An Evening Dress (Keira Knightley's)

Dress worn by Charlotte Rampling

The costumes were absolutely exquisite and beautifully detailed, as you can see (in particular, the evening dress was breathtaking) - but the dresses were so small, tiny waists, and shorter than I imagined they'd be - these actresses must be so incredibly slim!  I haven't seen this film yet, but I'll try to catch it when it comes to TV as it'll be interesting to see all the costumes actually being worn.

"In Celebration of Stitch"

There was also an exibition entitled "In Celebration of Stitch", which displayed pieces of handstitched work by Dr Isabel Elliott, who was the Mistress of Embroidery at Gloucester Cathedral.  The amount of skill and detail in her work was wonderful to behold!

Dr Isabel Elliott

(don't you just love that wonderful whimsical gate)?

Neptune's Palace

A Seasonal Triptych

Button Box

Dinosaur Mad

I didn't manage to find any UTEE, let alone any Clear, at the Show, but undeterred, I have spent some time today finishing off the mirror frame that I began in Lindsay's workshop last week.  I'm quite pleased with the result, just letting the Glossy Accents dry off properly overnight, and I'll show you a pic of it in my next post.  Now I just need to find a suitable spot in the house to hang it.

Lindsay's Mirror Frame Workshop

Yesterday I had a lovely day out ...... caught the train early on a sunshiney morning and travelled over to Oswaldtwistle, where Lindsay was running the Rangers Mirror Frame workshop at the Dawn Bibby Studio. 

I had a couple of hours to spare before the workshop began, so I had a wander round nearby Oswaldtwistle Mill (didn't buy anything), walked round the Mill's garden and pond and had some lunch. 

........Looking across the Pond to Oswaldtwistle Mill

and the ducks and beautiful daffodils in bloom .........

There were about 10 of us in Lindsay's workshop and we spent three hours learning new techniques and ideas with the aim of creating a beautiful mirror frame.  Several techniques involved using UTEE and a Meltpot, which I'd not dared use before, so I was really pleased to have a go with it and realise it wasn't quite so scary as I thought it might be!  We also melted down some beeswax in the Meltpot pan for coating a "scrap" image which we added to one corner of our frames.  We then scraped through the layer of beeswax to reveal a clearer image but with a translucent quality to it.

We began by painting a light colourwash (watered down acrylic paint) all over the wooden frame - I chose a purple colour, maybe a little darker than I'd intended it to be, but I did want a bright colour rather than my usual "vintage" choice!

Here is my frame with some of the pieces I made laid over it, nothing stuck down yet and I also want to create a few more items, using the techniques Lindsay showed us, before I assemble it all together (when I have the time!), but I think it will look lovely when it's completed.

Here are pictures of the two frame samples Lindsay had on display - aren't they beautiful?  The first one has an aqua coloured background and the second has a more "vintage" feel to it.  I like them both (of course)!

When I finally finish my frame, I'll post a photo of it then you can see how mine turned out too!

It was also very nice to meet up with Joanne and her husband, Terry, again (they popped in to say 'hello' as they were out that way) and to swap a couple of ATCs with Joanne as well.

Had a rather more noisy journey home though because at Blackburn our small train was boarded by a crowd of football supporters (standing room only all along the train) and some transport police to keep an eye on them.  They were Everton fans returning from a match against Blackburn - they'd obviously been victorious as they were all in a very loud(but good humoured) mood, singing at the top of their voices (using rather ripe language I'm afraid), until they left the train at Preston for their connection home to Liverpool.  But still - they didn't cause any trouble to anyone.