ATB Assemblage PaperArtsy Challenge.

Hello and Welcome to Magpieheaven! It's ages since I've entered a challenge and this fortnight PaperArtsy have been challenging us to create an assemblage. 3D art has always captured my imagination and the inspirational projects on the blog have been sensational. A couple of summers ago I participated in an on line class with Mary Jane Chadbourne in which she gave an extra tutorial on making ATBs or Artist Trading Blocks. These are really mini assemblages with even more potential than the usual Artist Trading Card. I'd never got round to utilising the little blocks of MDF included in the kit that went with the course so I decided to give myself a treat and create a mini assemblage. I'd like to link up what I have created to the current PA Challenge, which you can learn all about here.

This challenge continues in a similar vein to the previous 'Found Objects' theme, which I never got round to entering! Never mind - there were some 'Found Objects' on this project including part of an old earring, a cylindrical Polymer clay bead from an old pendant  and a couple of wooden beads.

I have been using some drawings of animals, digitally reduced and given different bodies, on miniature houses, pegs etc, but for this project I decided to allow those faces to take 'centre stage'. This little cat was given a summery party hat from some floral design paper with a Dresden embellishment. The background is some tissue with text on it, gifted to me by a friend I met in an online crafting class. I have a supply of books from library sales and the text at the top was taken from one of these.

One of the first things I did with the block was to paint it with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paint in Turquoise. This set the tone for the whole assemblage, which evolved to have a Night and Day/Summer and Autumn theme. PaperArtsy produce a great Crackle Glaze, but for this project I particularly wanted a glaze that would produce tiny cracks so I went for a one-step crackle by DecoArt. 

It took me a while to discover how to get the best results with this product. Then about a year ago, after several failed attempts, a class-mate on a course suggested using a desk fan while the glaze was drying and it's worked a treat ever since!

Miss Flora, the kitten, faces each day wide-eyed and ready to discover all that blue skies and sunshine have to offer.

Miss Ava, the owl, on the other hand, awakens to moonlight. She resides in the ancient oak tree and especially loves the autumn when the acorns collect around the roots of her home.

She's on good terms with the Magpies who sometimes leave their calling cards in the form of a single feather outside her door while she sleeps.

A dear friend of my daughter who now lives in Australia once told us that she feels owls can see into our souls so I thought this Tim Holtz word band was appropriate! I decided to give this little assemblage to my daughter and her partner as 'Welcome to your New Home' project. Their flat is on the first floor of a Victorian house and they look out onto trees with a lively community of squirrels, woodpeckers, blackbirds and chattering magpies. I do hope their kitten, Roxie doesn't ruffle any feathers in this community!

It was such fun using scraps I found in the studio for this project. The tissue with an acorn design was from some packaging, and you can probably see that I used some doilies on the piece too.

Thank You so much for stopping by Magpieheaven today. I do hope you'll have a go at creating an assemblage too because they are so much fun to create.