For the Love of Mixed Media Blog Hop

 I have been dabbling in mixed media art off and on over the past few years. It is something I enjoy but don't always make the time for. One of my goals in 2016 was to change that. Being held accountable is always a good thing, even for your creative process. Collaborating on a blog hop meant that I would not only be held accountable for my piece being finished, it also meant I would find inspiration along the way.

I decided my first mixed media project for 2016 should be something with a Valentine's day theme. I had an ulterior motive. Not too many of our Valentine's day decorations made it with us on the big move. Some were old and not in good shape. Plus, we didn't have much for Valentine's day anyway. After talking things over with my son, he decided to join in on the project as well ( which made me completely happy). Initially, we had planned to buy a few decorations from the store and alter them. After some thought, we felt we should challenge ourselves to use only what we had in the house.

Mixed Media Wire Heart

I am sharing my son's project first because, in many ways, I think his is the best of the two. He was inspired to create a heart out of copper wire.

 He cut a heart from cardboard, then cut slits with a craft knife.He then inserted wire into the slits and wound it around the edges to secure it. He was then able to place the heart and wires in the center of a larger wire heart. The cardboard and wire strands in the center served to reinforce the larger heart a bit. He decorated the heart with some wood veneer bits and a locket. The locket was made with a silicone mold and hot glue, then painted red after it dried. He used a lace scrap as the hanger.

The project was easy to make and has a nice rustic feel. It's perfect if you need some quick valentine's day decorations.

Tip: The gauge of the wire seemed to make a difference. I tried a heart with a thinner wire and it wasn't stable. My son did wish his wire was a tad bit thicker.

Valentine Cat Fairy

After seeing several cute cat fairies around pinterest, I determined that I wanted to make one. I had a small wood heart with stand left over from my JBS Mercantile days. I covered it with scrapbook paper and painted the edges with acrylic paint. I printed a largish photo of my cat, Momo, and cut him out. 

I made the wing with a silicone mold and hot glue. I left it unpainted, but as you can see from my son's project, the hot glue takes acrylic paint nicely.

tip: The photo I used wasn't the best of my cat. The lighting made him a bit blown out. I thought it wouldn't matter much, but I felt it would have been a better project if I had chosen a great image to begin with.

Ready for some more inspiration?

The wonderful thing about mixed media is that there are no rules about what you can make. Many of the projects shared today were quick and easy. Be sure to  jump around to the other blogs to find more mixed media Valentine's Day inspired projects. There is no particular order to the For the Love of Mixed Media blog hop. Just hop around and enjoy the inspiration.

Robyn Crowningshield

Tina Walker  

Katie Smith 

Beth Soler

Susan M. Brown

Lulu Bea 

Melissa Johnson

You can also check out my Mixed Media Pinterest board for more ideas.

Follow My Scrapbook Evolution's board Mixed Media Art Inspiration- Valentine's Day on Pinterest.

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