Getting into mixed media

It has taken me a year to look at videos, read blogs and scrol through hundreds of photos and dozens of websites to finally take the first proper steps into the world of mixed media. I ordered a few new bottles and cans of magic, took my gear to the basement where we have an awesome wood crafts room the original owner of the house has built, and had so much fun!

I had been reading and learninng so much, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Layer of this - layer of that - and a lot of drying time in between. My inspiration for the work is from a post by Solange Marques's Altered bottles and tea pots. I simply fell in love with those bottles. And now I've got myself some too. 

It's my friend´s birthday this weekend, so I decided to give the first bottle to her and made a matching card to go with it. Rather happy with both of them, eventhough there are so many things I'd do differently next time. I suppose it's a learning curve, just like anything. 

And some detail photos: 

The sentiment is from KaiserCraft Blue Bay paper pad. 

As I often do, I added a few pieces of Paua shell to remind of my New Zealand part

Sentiment from Graphic 45 Artisan Style chipboards

So much more to play with! 

Materials used: Old bottle
White Gesso
Finnabair Art Extravagance Texture Paste, White Crackle
White acrylic paint 
Turquoise acrylic paint
Ranger Perfect pearls Perfect copper
Ranger Glossy accent
Die cut butterfly is a gift from a friend 
Graphic45 Artisan Style 2 chipboards
Graphic45 Artisan Style 2 Rubber stamps by Hampton Art
Sizzix Tim Holts Tiny Tattered Florals die
Scrapiniec chipboard
KaiserCraft Blue Bay paper pad sentiment
Ribbon and twine from my stash
Paua shells from New Zealand 

So happy with my first ever mixed media project, I dare to submit it to the Anything but cute - May challenge. The theme - celebrate your style - is perfect, as I feel the new techniques just took my work to a completely new level, yet staying true to my style. 

If you're into mixed media, Anything but cute is a page worth of visiting, they have some awesome blog posts under the "learn from the best". 

Thanks for visiting, and if you did read all this, please do leave a comment too :) I love getting the comments and feedback.