Mixed Media – Octopus

Hello all,

I hadn’t planned on making a Mixed Media piece today however, when I found a string of cool octopus beads and a metal sign (that I could re-purpose) I was inspired.  

This is the before photo of the sign and octopus beads that I picked up at Michael’s…and below is the after.

I prepped the sign with Gesso and then treated it with acrylic paint and texture paste.  Using a paint brush as the focal point, I then added gears, arrows, keys and some vintage finds to create a Steampunk design.  Prior to adhering everything, I used Rust Effect Paste on most of the embellishments.

Then the whole piece as sealed with a Matte Varnish.

This project also fits in nicely with the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog.  This month’s theme is “Rust” so, I happily submitted this project for participation Challenge #48.

Materials used:

• Re-purposed sign by Ashland Wall Decor
• Octopus Beads by Bead Gallery
• Steampunk Arrows by Solid Oak Inc. 
• Faucet Knobs by Tim Holtz Idea-ology
• Acrylic paints and meadiums by DecoArt
• Texture Paste by Ranger Inc.
• Found, vintage and reuse items.
• Prima-Finnabair Rust Effect Paste

Hope you enjoyed reading about this project!  Also, I am hoping to have a new tutorial out within the next few weeks.

Happy day!

L