A Lion's Share of Courage

Well, this one has been in the works for quite some time... mostly in my head because first I had to decide what to do with that gorgeous embroidery patch Lion from The Etsy Cutting Cafe Shop.  Do I add it to a piece of clothing that may or may not last for a long time... maybe a tote bag (I have a thousand and those get abused)... or perhaps I'd use it on a piece of mixed media... yes... that's what I'd do... now... do I make something I can hang on the wall?  Do I use it for the cover of my planner that remains plain after almost a year of use?

I finally decided on the canvas piece... but... how would I start it... what colors did I want to use (of course I knew there would be gold)?  What type of background?

And then, I knew the sentiment I wanted to use with it right away.. one of my very favorites and was so excited when I found it in the Unity Shop a couple years ago.  Then finally...

I remembered I had this awesome piece of handmade paper that my oldest son had made when he visited us for a couple weeks last year.  He even made the frame/screen that he'd use to create the paper!  He recycled some of my old mail... added some natural materials...made the paper and then created a journal for his girlfriend.  I was lucky to get my hands on a couple of leftover pieces and knew this one would be the perfect base for the perfect canvas.  I mod podged it to the canvas and then I needed something to raise up the embroidered lion a bit and found these blank coasters in my stash that I had bought so long ago when coasters were the thing.  I mod podged those together as well and attached them where I knew my lion would lay.

Then I started layering paints.. some metallic blue, some mint, some gold... all of my favorites.  I was a bit unhappy at this point because it looked so stripey... but LOVED the texture the handmade paper was giving.  But I trusted the process and knew I'd be covering much of it up and hoped it would look much better when I was finished... if not, I figured I'd find some way to morph it into something else.

I added some splatters of Heidi Swapp Color Shine in gold and some embossed woodgrain using a Tim Holtz Stencil and some gold embossing paste.  Still hated it...lol!  But again... this would be just the underneath layer... it will be fine... I hoped.  I splattered some white and black acrylic paint as well before I started.

Once it was all dry, I used the Mod Podge again to attach the patch and left my largest acrylic block over it (after I checked to be sure it was clean) until I was confident it was dry... and then I just went to town:

I dumped so many flowers all over my table in the colors I knew I wanted to use... I tried to stick to a few varieties in the color scheme I was using and put the rest away once I had a bit of a start.  Tucking things in and smushing and holding them together.  I used Liquid Glass from CTMH to attach these because it's done so well for me in the past.  It take a while to dry so you still have time to move things around... which is both good and bad..lol... sometimes I'd get them just where I wanted them and then when I added the next the ones before moved... but I just kept mushing them together to leave no space.

I wanted the flowers tight around him, but certainly did not want to cover too much of this majestic creature either... is that not just the most beautiful embroidery by Regina??  Speaking of... you should check out her embroidered offerings in her Etsy Shop here... SO much beauty and fun!  I purposely left a little opening at the top and just added a little Versamark re-inker and then some beautiful Shabby White embossing powder to it and heated it... I didn't want it to be a complete "wreath" around him, but it needed a little something.

Then... what to do for the sentiment??  I didn't have a chipboard piece the write shape or size and then I remembered those coasters and this awesome Bubble Box die from CAS-ual Fridays... I cut it out, painted it black and decided that wasn't right... so then I thought the mint would be perfect, but I put too much on and as I was wiping it so that it could dry and I could try again, flipped it over and saw that it was perfect just that way!  I let that dry completely and embossed my sentiment over it the next day... that sentiment stamp, Quiet Voice, from Unity... one of my very favorites!!

I swiped some more Versamark on the edges and heat embossed with the Shabby White Embossing powder, popped it up with some plastic pieces (tape centers I believe) that I've saved figuring I'd use them for something... and added lots more flowers and such so that they were hugging my sentiment frame... as well... then I threw some of those wonderful gold gems (retired) from CTMH that I love and hoard so much around... tucked in some gold stamens from Fun Stampers Journey.. some tassles from Hobby Lobby... yeah... I venture in there from time to time... stepped back and then zoomed in close to be sure there weren't any gaps where I didn't want them and considered it done!

So there we are... I LOVE it now.. so happy I stuck with it ... if you've been visiting me for sometime you won't be surprised when I say these are very hard for me...lol... I hate waiting for things to dry.  I had three projects in various forms of done going at the same time so while one was drying I could turn to the other.  And it takes a lot of Faith and Courage to keep going when you're not quite sure... but I've found if you are just using a bunch of things you love... in the end, you'll love it!  If you decide to give it a try let me know so I can see what you create!

Thanks for hanging in there and so sorry for the terribly long post!

I'll mention here that I'm playing along with a few Mixed Media Challenges... The More Mixed Media Challenge which is Anything Goes with Optional Brights, The Creative Artiste Anything Mixed Media Goes #41, The Mix It Up Challenge which is Anything Goes with an Optional Twist of Acrylic Block Stamping, and the Twisted Thursday Challenge over at the Outlawz... no twist for me this time.. playing along with Anything Goes!

Edited to add: This one was a Top Pick at Mix It Up Challenge Blog!