Forgotten Things At Our Creative Corner

Hello everyone. Today sees a new challenge at Our Creative Corner hosted by the lovely Redanne. Here's what Anne has said:

'As crafters we tend to have so much in our stash that some things inevitably get forgotten. You know how it is, you buy that 'must have' item and then you put it away in a safe place ........and it gets forgotten. Or, there might be a technique that you used to love, but have not used or even thought about for ages. So, whether you are re-discovering a forgotten item or technique, we would love to see your creation. Please remember to make it very clear in your entry what the 'forgotten' element is'

Lots of scope for this challenge isn't there? I decided to use several 'forgotten' items:

*Puzzle in a tin (charity shop buy)

*Mulberry paper flowers

*Red plastic heart

*Metal flower

I decided to alter my tin and create a long forgotten love token which has stood the test of time. . . 

A Mensa Puzzle bought in a charity shop. (I couldn't work it out!). I've kept the puzzle pieces for another day - you never know when they will come in handy. . . . .
The inside layer of the tin is rigid foam, coated with flock - not very stylish!
 So, from this, to this:

The top of the tin with the key to the contents.

Alternative view.

Here's the inside of the tin complete with a love heart token which has retained its colour, despite the age.

The tin was given two coats of DecoArt Gesso. Modelling paste was used through stencils in two areas.

When the modelling paste formed a skin, a rubber stamp was spritzed lightly with water and gently pushed into the paste.

After coating with gesso, I found that the painted foam bubbled if you used a heat gun. I prefered this look so went to town with the heat gun on the base and the sides.

Chicken wire was cut roughly to fit into one corner of the tin. This was then given a good coat of gesso.

Chicken wire was added to the lid on top of the stencilled modelling paste. Mulberry paper flowers had their stems removed, they were stuck into the tin and given a coat of gesso.

Some areas of the lid were lightly sanded with foam backed wet and dry.

The lid was covered with a mix of three DecoArt Traditions paint.
The inside of the tin was also painted but with a different mix of DecoArt Traditions.

The lid was stamped with two shades of paint - see above and below.

I then made a mistake and outlined the light areas with some raw umber paint. Why? I don't know really but it was too late to start again! To help with the aged look, some DecoArt two stage crackle medium was added to the lid. I put over the outlined areas to attempt to soften their harshness. When dry, raw umber is rubbed into the cracks.

 The tin base went through many coats of paint, washes and finally some two stage crackle medium as above.

Another forgotten item was this metal flower. The centre was snipped out and some DecoArt Metallic Lustre was applied and buffed.

The red heart is given several coats of DecoArt gesso.

The heart was given a variety of layers using different techniques and the products above to achieve the end results. In the image below you can see how the metal flower finished up and the the way in which the heart nestles on top of it.

Some more images to give you a few close up views:

Lots of layers of paints, mediums and techniques are used to attempt to recreate an aged look.

Lots of rusty wire has been used to help create the look - I love this stuff!

A little touch of Treasure gold here and there just adds a hint of richness now mainly lost in time.

That's my offering for this fab challenge from Anne. Sorry to have so many pictures but I always love to see how someone has achieved an end result - I hope you do too! I also wonder which products and techniques people use - it's how we all learn from one another isn't it?

It's now your turn to pop over to Our Creative Corner  to see the gorgeous work from the other Team A members have come up with. Don't forget to look out for the work from Team B halfway through the month too!