Isle of Crafty Creations: Mixed Media World: Vintage Mannequin

Sunday, 27 March 2016

Mixed Media World: Vintage Mannequin

Hello all!

I am really proud to be posting this today as back in December for my very first challenge I entered a fantasy themed hanging icon into the Mixed Media World challenge, and I was the winner!
As part of my prize I have been asked to be a guest designer for the latest challenge which is the theme of 'Vintage', you can have a look at the challenge by clicking on this link - Mixed Media World.

I love vintage! When thinking about this post I realised that my love of vintage comes from my enjoyment of history and literature (which I studied at A Level and did history as the main subject of my teaching degree). I really enjoy watching period dramas and the fashions have always interested me (although I wouldn't have wanted to wear them!).

So I decided to create a mannequin with a vintage theme in the style, colour and materials included. This is by no means a factually accurate design, more of a creation that contains (I hope) a feel for the theme.

I started with a paper mache mannequin from IndigoBlu that I had previously decorated but wasn't happy with. After taking all the old bits and pieces off I painted the whole piece using black gesso to get it back to basics...

Then I painted it with Goldfinger paint and added some gilding was to make it looked aged. To create the dress I used an old white cotton sheet which I cut and tore into pieces. I tested how I wanted it to look first before coating the pieces with sculpture medium from Finnabair then draping them onto the mannequin. I built the pieces up and added some lacy roses which I also coated in medium then gave it a blast with my heat tool to get it started before leaving to dry overnight...

When it was totally dry and had gone hard I painted the whole piece using whisper Americana Décor paint and then added Pebeo gold gilding wax to high light the texture once the paint had dried...

To decorate I wanted to add items that I associate with the vintage feel. I chose pearls, roses and lace to match what I had already added and wanted it to be in a sepia colour tone that would make the whole project look old. I wanted one really large rose to be a centre piece and created this using a stamp and die set from Sheena Douglass (A Rosy Outlook). The die was cut out 4 times then stamped with sepia Versafine. I coloured it using tea dye and vintage photo distress inks with a clear sparkle pen then put it together, reducing the number of petals in each layer. I added some micro beads to give more texture and a sort of rusted look. The rose was sprayed with some gold ink as well (just for luck!!) then sprayed with a clear varnish...

The other flowers were a selection of pre made paper flowers and some crochet lace flowers which I layered together then added a pearl to the centre. I also found some lengths of white lace. I again sprayed them all using spray inks (Prima Bloom)...

I also added some antique gold spray after this photo was taken, which is why they all look darker on the finished piece.

Once these were all prepared I assembled them onto the mannequin using glue gel so that I still had the opportunity to move things if I wished...

Because I wanted it all to tone together, instead of leaves for foliage I added gold and cream stamens and also curled pieces of gold wire. When I was happy with the arrangement I added copper and bronze micro beads between the different elements (and more pearls) and also some rust coloured glitter using soft gel medium. I also added a bit of decoration to the base. Finally I finished off by adding more gold gilding wax to tie all the elements together. I took quite a few photos to try to capture the overall project...