2018 #17 Colour - A Box of Eggs: Mirror, Mirror with Urban Snapshots {by Ruth Mescall}

 2018 Topic 17: A Box of Eggs (Colour Topic)

I immediately thought of Ruth when this colour topic was proposed, as she seems to naturally gravitate towards neutral tones. The Nature Series of stamps are perfectly chosen, and how apt to find some eggs in the mix too! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Ruth here with you today, and I'd like to share with you a plain black mirror I've transformed using some of the yummy new paint colours by Courtney Franich paired with stamps sets from the nature series of the Urban Snapshots Collection.

I've been wanting to make a technique mirror for ages so that was the germ of the idea which turned into a nature's specimen themed project which then inspired by the gorgeous colour palette, developed a hint of bleached beach combing along the way. It may be October but we have been so lucky with the weather here in the UK that I'm stretching out the summer a little longer before we hurtle towards Christmas.

I used the new Twilight colour as a base and had an idea of doing a crackle glaze but quickly changed my mind to dry brushing which would be more subtle. I find dry brushing very satisfying and could do it for ages, adding subtle layers and shading with quick drying fresco chalk paints.  

I picked out 4 pieces of stampboard as I wanted something that would last and after a coat of Eggshell added some cross hatching with Chalk. The eggs and moth stamps were perfect 'specimens' in Watering Can archival ink second impression stamping. 

The Twilight paint shows through the layers of Seaglass, Eggshell, Chalk and Snowflake and I really liked the subtle result, maybe a hint of duck egg blue? 

The maidenhair fern stamp was perfect for adding a frame for the boards and this time they were third impressions in Cornflower Blue archival before adding a few darker touches.

Urban Snapshots Collection: Nature Series

Nature Plate 1 (N1) 

Nature Plate 2 (N2)

Nature Plate 3 (N3)

Nature Plate 4 (N4)

The crosshatching gives an almost linen effect to the images and fits in much better than a smooth, flat background .

Once I'd positioned the 3 main focal points I realised it still needed some additions so raided my beach combing bag of shells and driftwood and then spent a happy time playing and positioning different elements until I was happy.

To finish, well there had to be eggs for 'a box of eggs'! 

As I have a few more of these mirrors (picked up cheaply from a well known Swedish store) I think I might make more as gifts with a different theme. A mirror is a great base to really experiment with layering paint and creating some fabulous effects contrasting the dark with lights in the new range, hope you'll be tempted to have some painty play!

Ruth x

a love to create 
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To join our challenge and win a PaperArtsy £50 gift voucher:

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 17: A Box of Eggs (colour topic) will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, October 14th 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

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