Mona Lot!?

Hello and welcome to followers new and old, and those visiting. A quick post tonight as I'm running out of time to enter the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge - Paint it up! It has also been designed to meet the requirements for the current Artful Times challenge - Mona Lisa. You'll have to forgive the ropey photography - artificial light isn't the best, but needs must...

The background is the paint element - I had another go at the Faux Verdigris technique discovered on Splitcoaststampers some long time ago. This involved painting embossed card with layers of copper paint, green and blue acrylic paint mixed with white gesso, more white gesso, some sanding back to the original layer and a final light brush with some copper and walnut ink. The rubbing back created some real patches that made the copper stand out. The pen nibs were stamped onto acetate and cut out before adding to the bottom of the tag. I also added one to the centre of the butterfly, created using the Flitter Glu/Morris Dance metal flakes technique on bronze pearlescent card.

I don't have a Mona Lisa stamp so opted to follow the master that is Tim Holtz by using Reflective Imagery technique (Compendium 2 page 55). Again, not sure the patches of metal background show up really well, but I was quite pleased that it worked first time. The 'frame' is grungepaper painted with dark bronze mica paint and the image was covered with a mix of Crackle Accents/Glossy Accents (ageing without losing the image) which have taken forever to dry - hence the reason for the late post. Oh, and my heatgun packed up unexpectedly too! (hence the title of this post!) The trials and tribulations of a crafter eh?

Thinking out loud here - I will take another photo in daylight tomorrow and if it comes out better, will add it to my next post (August TH tag also completed and ready to go!! Woohoo!) Until tomorrow then...

hugs, Buttons x