Mechanical Blooms

"Bloom where you are Planted"

I think that the idea behind this saying is very fitting for our current time, the covid-19 situation has placed us all in uncharted territory on some level, be it working from home, not going outside or meeting the people you love. It's all so confusing, but the best we can do is keep positive and try to make the best with our time.
Like many artists and crafters I found that I have more time to experiment, play around with materials without really thinking or aiming for a specific outcome. The project I'm sharing today came about as I was experimenting with different techniques, I'll try to break it down a bit.

The background brick wall texture was made using a variation of the Distress Glazes & Crayons technique Tim Holtz shared in his (now becoming regular - yay!) Saturday demo about two weeks ago that focused on Distress Crayons. I used it over Texture Paste applied through a brick stencil and I love the results! (I was asked to make a tutorial for this brick wall variation, you can find the video in my Facebook page here). I cut out the brick texture to the size I wanted and adhered it to my background, in the final stages I added a bit of moss 💚 

The flowers were actually inspired by a stamp image of a flower made from metal plates. If you follow me on social media you know I've been making paper flowers for a while (usually tiny ones), I thought why not try make a metal-paper flower? I used embossing folders for the petals and electric wire for the stem of two flowers, the third I just nailed down 😂

I'm still working on this idea, but for now - definitely like these whimsical blooms!

I wanted to add a message, but when I put down a sentiment strip it just didn't fit, it felt too detached from the quirk-celebration going on, so I decided to play with it :)
I cut the sentiment in gold letters and then cut a whole lot more letters in black and scattered the letters of the message between random black letters. The message is still readable, but you might need a moment to piece it together, so it becomes more a part of the background than a focal point. The black letters are barely visible at first, but it's surprising just how much these kind of details add to the final piece.

I'm not sure I covered everything, it's a small piece (20x15cm) but there's a LOT going on! If  missed something - feel free to ask! ^^

I'm entering this project in two challenge blogs: the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog that has a texture theme this week, and the Sandee & Amelie Steampunk Challenge Blog that extended their March challenge to give us all some more time to play :)

SASPC Blog

  

SSS Monday Challenge Blog

Hope you enjoyed this project, keep safe and keep that smile on your face :)

xx

Naama