Assemblage Clock! - May 2022 Mood Board

Hey, y’all!

Whew! I didn’t think I’d get this project done in time – it wasn’t the project that was difficult, it was my oldest requiring my computer skills because his laptop stopped computer-ing and that took up a lot of my time. Anyhow, I made it, I’m here, and I have used this month’s Mixed Media Kit and Scrapbooking Kit to create my May mood board inspired project. Tim Holtz + Finnabair + Stamperia + vintage + clocks + flowers - who could ask for more?!?!

Taking photos of a glass surface isn’t the easiest task, but don’t worry, I have photos of the inside before I put it in the clock! this project was actually a rather quick project, and I probably could have finished it in one day if I hadn’t had to stop for a few days! Check out my video to see what I did to create this distressed assemblage clock!

Video:

Easy, right? And using the clear wax gives a nice, satin sheen to the body while adding a protective layer! As you can see in the video, the majority of this project was done using the kits from this month. The wax and a couple of other items were from my stash and I grabbed a couple items from March’s Mixed Media Kit - but the bulk of it came from May kit items!

I loved the mood board this month! Have you seen it yet? Any of the May Kits would be perfect to use with it. (Challenge rules below image!)

• Twist: VINTAGE ROMANCE.

• You can create any type of project for the challenge.
• You MUST say what you were inspired by.
• You MUST include the twist in your design.
• We would love to see you USE AT LEAST 1 of Tres Jolie’s products on your projects but it isn’t required to play along.
• It MUST be a new project.
• Place your entries in the May 2022 challenge folder on Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page. This challenge ends on May 31st 2022 at 11:59 pm CST. All entries must be in this folder to be eligible for the prize (to have everyone eligible to win, we are limited the same winner to once every 3 months).

After I decided what bit of the Stamperia paper I wanted as my background, I glued it to the back with some 3D Matte Gel. The gel works great on metal, it adds some moisture protection, and it filled in the grooves behind the paper. After I was sure the gel was dry, I sprayed the surface with some Workable Fixatif, let that dry (about 5 minutes is all it takes!), and mixed some mica powder with the Liquid Color Fluid Medium found in March’s Mixed Media Kit to create a paint for the flower printed on the paper. (Clear gesso would work to protect the paper for painting too, but make sure it is dry! And don’t forget, using a heat gun will not only make your metal hot, but it can cause bubbles in your gel, gesso, and paint!) 

With my background done (and the outside finished), I started building up my focal point. From the scrapbooking kit, I used some fussy cut flowers from the paper pack and some of the chipboard flowers. I distressed the edges, and to give them depth, I used my hot glue gun to start building everything up. I grabbed the small Finnabair clock face, and gave it a wax, color medium, and mica coating; used mica and color medium on my flower edges, as some shadow effect, and a little on the pink flowers at the center. For the final adhesion, I used my 3D gel to hold my cluster in place.

I knew from the beginning I wanted to do something to the outside, so after some brainstorming I decided to grab my DecoArt Black Gesso – since it isn’t a heavy gesso – and mix it up with some Liquitex Matte Gel, micas, fluid medium – just about anything I could grab up – and make up a base coat. After that base was dry-ish (Liquitex Matte Medium, like ModPodge, dries “sticky,” which I wanted), I brushed on the dark purple mica and gave it a spray of Workable Fixatif.C.J.'s Corner Scraps – For the love of papercrafting. It just wasn’t quite right yet though, so I started rubbing some of the pink-ish mica on. Then I decided I wanted to see how the blue mica would look – and it was great! Do you know how metal looks when it’s been heated? The blue made me think of that, but I couldn’t figure out what to use to hold the mica in place. I didn’t want to “activate” the mica like a water-based product would do, and I suddenly remembered I had a tube of clear Antiquing Wax! It was perfect! I was able to spread my mica around in a thin layer to get the look I wanted. After the blue layer had set up, I came back in with the ivory-ish mica and added it on. Note! Wax will reactivate wax!! But for this it worked out, because the blue + ivory-ish = a green-ish hue! When my wax was all set up, I came in with some sandpaper and added some distressing to the case.