Mind Wide Open Challenge

A lot of you know Gail Schmidt of Shabby Cottage Studio, and a lot of you may already know about her creation of a second blog:


Gail says the new blog is dedicated to inspiration, creativity and play! There will be monthly challenges and projects and tutorials. (Click on the above Mind Wide Open image to check it out.) The first monthly challenge offered the most lovely vintage photo to work with, using any medium, and a word prompt for inspiration--"remembrance".

I started the project by searching through my supply of papers. I came across a scrap of text about necklaces, bracelets, brooches, rings and an emperor and jewels. It reminded me of my daughters' days of dressing up (smiles) and the sweet photo seemed to fit right in with my theme. This is what I created...an 8" x 10" mixed media piece on watercolor paper:


The background started with a layer of gesso then acrylic paint. I adhered a printed paper napkin with matte gel medium and my inspiration text at the top...more paint, rubber stamping and three Lumiere metallic acrylics for some shimmer...


Hmmm, I'm not sure the shimmer is showing up in the photo like I thought...in fact, I also used metallics on the corrugated mat but that doesn't seem to show up either, oh well! As you can see, I finished up the piece with assorted fibers, teeny little heart-punched tags (representing this mother's love) and a vintage clip-on earring--of course.

I enjoyed the challenge a lot. It's fun to have a jumping off point already in place that then allows 'play' to be the biggest part of the project! If you'd like to see what others have created using the same photo you can go here.


So.....I can't believe my luck--hubby says maybe I should be playing the lottery! Sharon of My Vintage Studio, who just happens to also be a design team member at Shabby Cottage Studio, held a July Give-Away on her blog and my name was drawn to win a gorgeously embellished vintage bottle! How exciting...THANKS, SHARON!

Marilyn