2018 #11 Enshrined: Traditional Shrine with LPC {by Chris Cresswell}

2018 Topic 11: Enshrined

Well, she might have taken the long way around, but Chris always has such an enjoyable time getting there! I adore the bright colours of this shrine, and Lynne Perrella stamps are always a delight to use! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Chris Cresswell here from www.loopsandlines.blogspot.co.uk with you today, and I'd like to share with you my interpretation of the current theme: Enshrined. 

I was used this opportuniy to explore my large collection of Lynne Perrella stamps for this project which I think is perfect for such a theme. I already had a little ATC box shrine that I bought from www.calicocraftparts.co.uk some time ago but I knew I wanted to create a larger piece  to justifiably display these wonderful stamp images. 

When I think of a 'Shrine' I have a set of mixed images in my mind ranging from the religious shrines of Christian pilgrimages to Mother Shipton's strange cave of petrified hanging artefacts in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Yet, the image that really stuck with me for this project was taken from my memory of the Hindu temples and Shrines I visited in Sri Lanka a few years ago. I was struck by their vivid colours and beautiful floral displays. So, I decided that my shrine would also be bright to echo the colours I witnessed there. I hope you agree that brightly coloured shrines can work too.   

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I decided to adapt a large wooden tag from my stash to create a simple shrine shape. I collected all my pieces together and gessoed them before painting and assembling. I had no idea what I was going to do at this stage. I never have a finished result in my head. i just go with the process and choose each step as I go along.

To make it look less like a tag and more like a Shrine I had to create an Apex. Much more fiddly than I thought. I used greyboard for this, simply cutting two triangles and covering  the gap between with thin strips of greyboard.  

With the ATC shrine and label box in place I measured the width of the sides and gaps in order to make panels for the stamped images. Now, anyone who knows me knows that if there is a long way round to do anything, I will find it! For some reason I felt it was a good idea to first create greyboard panels before cutting the same sized panels using PaperArtsy 240gms Smoothy card. All greyboard panels were then gessoed before painting around the edges. Although this gave me more depth for each panel it really wasn't necessary.

The next time-consuming idea I then had was to cut each panel to size from the brayered Smoothy card before stamping the images. This was such a crazy idea! It was soon obvious to me that it would have been far quicker and far easier to stamp the images I intended to use on the brayered background first and then cut them to size! I used Vanilla, Haystack and Pumpkin Soup PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk paints for this initial layer. 

After cutting each panel to size (I had already decided on the sizes by selecting specific images from the stamp sets and measuring them) I added further colours: Smoked Paprika, Coral, Bougainvillea and China Fresco Chalk paints to the panels by dry brushing. 

They were now ready for the stamped images but how fiddly was this going to be to fit the carefully measured stamp images to fit each accurately cut panel exactly? Never again. I live and learn. I managed, but only with the help of a stamp positioner.You can find the stamps here.

 

Although, to be fair, my choices were limited to the size of the panels. The Elizabeth 1 quote is not a PaperArtsy stamp, just one from my stash which blended in well with these images. I stamped using Ranger Jet Black Archival ink. I love how the background colours come through the images and the contrast of the black ink against these colours. I originally intended to add colour to the images but, after stamping, felt it wasn't necessary. However, bright colours needed to be added somewhere!

I started by embellishing the main image (from LPC031) with all sorts of beads from my stash, some German scrap and Applique strings that I've collected over the years. I painted some flowers using Bougainvillea Fresco Chalk paint around the outside of the ATC box to contrast against the layer of China Fresco Chalk and drew around these with a Sharpie fine point white paint pen. Now for the flowers.

I have lots of these little roses in various colours in my stash. I think I bought them from www.thehobbyhouse.co.uk a few years ago. I love the way I was able to wind them around the frame before gluing it to the ATC box. With the addition of a few more acrylic gems and Ranger White Opal Liquid Pearls, the Shrine was complete and ready to be inserted into the niche I had left inside the stamped panels.

More German scrap, Applique trims, metal flowers and a few gems completed the Apex of the whole shrine. I love the contrast and richness of the bright gold against the purples and the blue painted Shrine. It works for me! I hope you like it too.

These Shrines are fun to make and give you opportunities to rifle through your stash to find all sorts of things to adorn them. Stamped images are great to use for something like this, perhaps stamped into clay to create even deeper panels or stamped onto stampboard perhaps? I do know that when I make my next shrine, I will not make the same long-winded mistakes I made with this one. Until next time, happy crafting.

Blog: www.loopsandlines.blogspot.co.uk
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To join our challenge and win a NEW Zinski apron:

Simply make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 11: Enshrined will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, July 1st 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy creative apron. Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!