Mary Shrine

Here's another piece for a Craftster swap. The theme of the swap was "altered mini Altoid tins", and one of my partner's preferred themes was a shrine to the Virgin Mary. I love that! I asked him if he was ok with unconventional materials, and he was, so here's what I sent.

I was really happy with this one. Depending on your monitor, you're probably looking at it just about full size. Those tins are tiny! As for unconventional materials, I used matchsticks, a rusty bottlecap, some brads, and on the inside of the shrine, some slinky-like wires in two tones of metal. They give it some nice shine and add dimension. Oh, and that red eyeball. I'm pretty sure you don't see that every day on a Mary shrine.

  

The sides were built up and the elements attached with Apoxie Sculpt clay. I absolutely love that stuff, both for sculpting and adhering difficult parts, like the eyeball. It takes paint so well, so adding decorative touches to the sides was simple.

Here's the back. I added a little hanger. Whenever I add a hanger to a tin, I make sure to cut out the paper covering the back so that the hanger is adhered directly to the tin. I wouldn't want the weight of the hanging tin to rip the paper! Had to add one more little decorative clay swirl on the back. It helps support that bottlecap.

Mermaid Spoolie

I'm currently participating in an Altered Spool swap on Craftster.org.  My partner received yesterday, so I can share photos now of the ocean themed spool I sent her.

All of the materials for this spool were in my (massive) stash, including the shells, the green sequins (they were my grandmother's!) and the hideous earrings/charms that became the coral. I knew I'd use those some day!

 

Here's a closeup so you can see her sweet face.  She's so adorable. I hope she likes her new fins and seashell bra. She's carrying around a little pearl. Does she not see the giant pearl right behind her?