July Ambassadors' Spotlight

Dear friends,

This month host for our monthly Ambassadors' Spotlight is Linda M. Cain. She wanted everyone created something with vintage photo and Mechanicals :) So here they are - our talented Ambassadors: Linda M. Cain, Riikka Kovasin, Reniferove and Kasa with their fabulous projects!

Hi everyone! This month I decided to have “Vintage Photo and Mechanicals” for our theme. This is a favorite of mine, and other members, so it was an easy task. Some really thought outside the box and shared a great new idea for creating with Finnabair.

I confess, I’m a metal junkie. There I’ve said it! I love metal in all my pieces. That being said, being on Anna’s team really was a blessing with all the great Mechanicals she’s designed. Here I start with a wooden canvas that I base-coated with heavy white gesso. Add some scratch marks, liquid acrylics, and water for your first layer. Then add some clear stamp images around

with archival black ink. A strip of gaffers tape adds a bit of red for color.

The chipboard tag was painted white and then a layer of Violet Liquid Acrylic was painted on full strength. I stenciled with Paper Texture Paste next using the Tapestry stencil. It was a bit stark, so I added a wash of violet over the stenciling.

The little girl is glued on over the Steampunk Butterflies, and a Mini Flower. The small numbers and the Find Yourself Antique Label are added last. Then tie a ribbon bow and she’s done.

The Mechanicals and various metal ephemera are added last with 3D Matte Gel. The key is painted with Metallique Paints for really beautiful color. The rest of the elements are left “as is” so to speak. I love painting metal with white or black gesso so you can make the collage a gorgeous combination of color, but I also love just the plain color and texture of the elements “as they are”. I like shiny things; I like metal; here you have all that and a vintage image that grabs your heart.

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Hi loVelies - hope you are all keeping safe & well.

So haPPy to be back over here and sharing not only my art but YeY another mini YouTube (which next time I will get the angle of the camera better & closer in teehee - ‘tis a learning curve this YouTube thing, bear with and I will get there soon, very soon).

So I’ve looooVed this months theme that Linda set - anything goes with a vintage photo & vintage mechanicals.   Finnabair’s aka Anna has so many lush vintage images to choose from, I ended up picking one from the Art Daily range in the ‘Words You Need’ self adhesive book...along with the ‘Mini Stars’ mechanicals & ‘Mechanicals Flowers’. My absolute fav piece I used were the beautifully detailed magical wings that are so easy to make using Anna’s mould “Cogs & Wings’  and oh dear I now feel that crafters urge  (you all know that feeling) to go purchase a few more of Anna’s awesome moulds cos they are so very super cool & something a little different to play with, plus the enormous satisfaction of holding such a beautiful embellishment you’ve spent time making yourself is unbeatable...it sure made my day..teehee!  Tis the little things in life that you least expect that can spark a huge smile - I’m actually smiling now just writing and thinking of the joy creating those lush wings brought me...

So you will see from the YouTube video I applied so very many layers of paint/paper to my canvas.  This was because I was going to sand off a fair few layers here & there as I built up said layers...I wanted to create the feel of layers and layers of painted & wallpapered walls like you find in old houses (the old paint and wallpaper layers that are discovered when redecorating, the eara’s of colour being stripped right back to the beginning, so many stories & memories gradually being rediscovered)  And I knew the dusty sanded down feel would pair perfectly with those wings - the vintage sticker has a lovely quote on it mentioning shoot for the moon & land in the stars, so how perfect Anna’s Mini Star mechanicals.  Anyways as with decorating a house, there are many steps ie prepping walls, sanding, base coat, applying your choice then changing your mind again and again teehee, this was my process back n forth, back n forth to get the feel of worn & dusty (but of course a dash of colour in there too to brighten but mainly to contrast & push to the foreground the dusty vintage vibe...) and as per I used a gazillion other lush  Finnabair products to help my vibe as you will see from the ingredients list below, I just can’t help myself there’s so much choice in the Finnabair range & how perfectly & easily the range mixes & blends together making them all so irresistible to not use gazillions!

I’ll leave you now with a mention of a new favourite eeeeeeep!  Just got my hands on this for the 1st time and I’m totally loving it, ‘tis swoonworthy- it’s the Icing Paste & it’s just like spreading smooth so aptly named - icing paste - Fire Ruby is the colour I got and its sooooo full of rich, bright, deep pigment,  it oozes with thousands of beautiful tiny sparkles and the finish when dry is a super hi shine - again swoonworthy - simply takes my breath away...

Hugs & love to you all & take care of you & yours Kassa xoxoxo

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Both of the inspiration elements for this Ambassador post are something I use quite often. I love Mechanicals in all their shapes and sizes. If I see old photos on a flea market I usually tend to buy those, but they are my treasures and I seldom use them in my makes. Instead I go for the Art Daily stickers or some other re-produced vintage photos. 

As the elements are something I usually steer towards in my makes, I wanted to do something a bit different this time. As I usually adhere Mechanicals on a canvas or altered project, this time I wanted them to be the highlight and did a piece of jewelry out of them. I mixed in some glad pearls as well. 

I’m not totally sure how well you can spot the vintage photo from the pictures here. But there’s a tiny vintage lady inside the pocket watch piece. I glazed her over using big grained embossing powder. 

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Hi there!

For July theme we got something I really love, what makes me very relaxed and it's in my comfort zone-Vintage and Mechanicals. To be honest, I can't find better combo of style and product, because when I'm stuck and have no idea what to create, I just grab an old photo, some mechanicals and moulds and perfect project is ready under 30 minutes. 

What colors you can use? Whatever comes to your mind! I love combination of brown, orange and just a tiny bit of red. It makes your project rusty but in more delicate way. I used Liquid Acrylics and then dry brushed my composition with white gesso. Believe me, you don't need a lot of stuff to create something beautiful. 

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Have a great day!!

Finnabair Team