In my Heart,I know the Way

Oh boy...I am so excited about this news...

I'm thrilled...overjoyed,...even giddy to announce that I am now on the 2015 Retro Cafe Design Team! 

This is a very big deal for me because I have been a fan of this store for years but one of my favorite things about this store,besides the obvious,they offer a yummy selection of wood products,is the option to choose different material for one design.For example,this heart flower design can be ordered in masonite,chipboard,black mat board or even stencil board.

How cool is that! 

It really opens up the world of design and I am thrilled to a part of it.

For my very first RC project tutorial I wanted to use the Sailboat Kit...I had it all planned out...I was going to add my text to the sails and I knew I wanted the boat part to look like a speckled egg...yes,I had plans...

But when I had a cabinet malfunction in my Art room some weeks ago,some of my pieces were damaged...whaaaaaa....

but thankfully I had another kit and decided to give it another go.This time around I had no plan,and just went with the flow of it.

So after assembling the boat,I covered it in paper and book text...

I then added a thin coat of gesso...

and added text tissue paper to the inside of the boat....

and as I continued to add paint layers an old, rustic,weather worn boat began to appear...

I next cut my phrase and added it to rim of the boat...but by this point I started realizing I didnt want to use the entire sailboat...I decided to turn this piece into a free standing unit...

I next used RC Articulated Mermaid Santos Cage but I didn't use all the pieces. I covered some of the pieces in Iced Enamels and glitter...

creating a mock compass...

and I assembled the mermaid, added a lovely face paper cut and then added tissue paper to the back of a acrylic heart...

Before attaching the body and tail,I added fabric scraps to the inside of the boat,as well as gluing some Masonite stars to the inside.I then added some gold Viva decor pen drops. 

Once the mermaid was glued on,I added additional fabric scraps(my version of water) to the outside.

 On her chest it reads,"In my heart, I know the way".

I love the way this one came out...so much so that I took a picture of her and added it to my Society6 page and ordered myself a phone cover...heehee... 

 Retro Cafe Art

products used in this tutorial.

sailboat

mermaid santos

doll paper face cuts

acrylic hearts

iced enamels

tim holtz letters

stars

paper pen

"Long ago God drew a circle in the sand exactly around the spot where you are standing right now. You were never not coming here. This was never not going to happen.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Here's to making every minute count,