key to my heART

Many times my artwork is inspired by a single object or a specific supply. Today's piece was inspired by both. I happened upon a stash of my vintage keys and thought today was the day to use one.

As it often happens, when I placed my choice of key down on my studio table it found itself right next to some rectangles that were "fall-offs" from my most recent Spellbinder's project: The Golden Owl (see the tutorial here). The rectangles were born when I die cut windows out of my hand painted paper to frame the six tintypes.

The key and the rectangles came together and in an instant, I knew what I wanted to make.

I started by choosing three rectangular bezels from the Spellbinders Media Mixage line. I cut an additional rectangle from the same hand painted paper I had used on The Golden Owl to match the larger rectangular bezel.

I then chose a texture plate and ran it through my Grand Calibur to deeply emboss the small rectangles.

Using a sponge, I rubbed two colors of dye ink over the raised surface to add color, dimension and depth. My choice of colors...Morocco and Olive Grove.

I glued them into the bezels. I glued my key into the larger bezel but not before I die cut a small circle in  a contrasting red to make the vignette pop a bit more. 

I also added letter stickers to both the smaller of the two bezels to spell the words 'The Key'.

I added the tips from a number of brads to cover the hole from the jump rings on several sides of the bezels.

I took my board, which measures 5" x 7", and painted the edges of the surface with Burnt Umber Light and Iridescent Bronze acrylic paint.

I cut some designed paper with a die from the Grand Labels series, chosen both because its size matched the board but also because the curves echoed the curves of the corners of both the board and the bezels.

I inked the edges of both the board and the new die cut and then adhered them together.

I gathered some goods from my mixed media stash, which included some fabric scraps, a metal piece cut to size with snippers, and a piece of a vintage book cover cut to size with a guillotine cutter.

I painted the surface of the piece of book cover with acrylic paint and added dye ink to its edges. Then I added more letter stickers to the surface.

I played around with the fabric until I found just the right places to add it.

At this point, I filled the bezels with Ice Resin.

Once the Resin was dry and the clear fluid had domed, I was able to put the piece together. And in the end, the key to my heART was done!

---------------------------------

Supply List

Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:

GC-001 Spellbinders^TM Grand Calibur® Machine

MB1-008 - Spellbinders^TM Media Mixage® Rectangles Two Bezels

MD1-003 - Spellbinders^TM Media Mixage® Rectangles Two Dies

MD1-007 - Spellbinders^TM Media Mixage® Circles One Dies

LF-246 - Spellbinders^TM Grand Nestabilities® Grand Labels Eleven Dies

Preferred Promotional Partners: Tsukineko Momento dye ink pad, Tsukineko StazOn solvent ink pad, Imagine Crafts Inkblushers sponge

Cross Promotional Partners: Ice Resin®, BoBunny Press paper, 7 Gypsies® stickers

Other: wood panel, watercolor paper, vintage book cover, pan pastels, acrylic paint, paint brush, found metal, brads, fabric scraps, rub on letters, adhesive, guillotine cutter, scissors