Hello!

It's been a while since my last crafty blog as I've been tied up with other commitments but it's so good to be back doing what I love!

This week I've been mixing up a lot of products designed by the lovely Anna Dabrowska, otherwise known as Fannabair.

If you know me then you will know I am obsessed with all things beach & sea so I decided that I wanted to make a little undersea treasure that looked like it had laid undisturbed at the bottom of the sea for years. What better to begin with than a fishy tin!

 Firstly I added some pieces of wood to the tin so that I could bring the focal piece I was adding forward a bit.

 I then added some mesh, art stones and a variety of embellishments using Art Basic's Gel. I also glued some twisted cord around the open edge of the tin. I had a seahorse key I wanted to use as the main focal point. Once dry I painted them all with white gesso.

 I then used some Indigo Blu metallic acrylic paints in 'Kingfisher Blue' & 'Goldfinger' to some areas of my piece to pick out certain parts and embellishments.

 Next I splattered my work with a wash of the Kingfisher Blue and again with a wash of white gesso. The Tim Holtz splatter brush is brilliant for this.

 At this point I decided that I wanted the cord around the edge of the box to work as a frame and needed it darker

 so I painted it with black gesso 

  then applied Pebeo gold gilding wax with my finger.

 I then got out the Finnabair Patina Pastes.Wow! I love this set. I applied the coper paint first using an old, firm paintbrush to stipple it on. Whilst it was still wet I repeated the process with the blue and then finally the green paints. Together they give a great verdigris effect to the tin.

 Next I used Finnabair's rust pastes to add areas of rust to the edges and a couple of other areas of the tin. 

If you have been inspired to try a little mixed media for yourself I would love to see your art. Please share it on Instagram and tag me @craftsiteshop.