Gothic Shelf
[Image ID] Photo of the finished Gothic shelf hanging on the wall. The shelf has a triangular top with a decorative finial. [description end]
I recently attended an online workshop hosted by IndigoBlu, and this shelf was the project we made in the workshop. I’d heard of their in person workshops before, and thought the projects made in them were interesting. I was pleased to hear that they’d started doing them online as well as it wasn’t possible to travel for an in person one as they aren’t local.
[Image ID] A closer up view so you can see the patterned paper on each of the three shelves. [description end]
The workshop was all day, and even attending online I was very tired afterwards; but I really enjoyed creating something a bit different so it was well worth the energy!
[Image ID] Photo of the collage on the back board of the shelf unit. The tones in the collage are orange/brown. [description end]
This photo was taken before the shelf was put together and gives a better idea of what the background collage looks like as a whole. I made the collage mostly from ‘gel prints’ I’d made previously but never used, as well as a paper bag from a loaf of bread that I had rolled excess paint onto at some stage. A ‘gel print’ usually refers to acrylic paint applied to paper using a special flexible ‘gel plate’ – I advise googling it if you’re interested in understanding the technique further because it’s hard to explain in words. Other than the gel prints, I stamped a few things onto some coffee dyed paper. I used two background stamps from Stamperia’s ‘Sir Vagabond’ collections, as well as a texture plate from Carabelle Studio. They were stamped using Versafine Clair ink as it is permanent and does not react with water which is important when collaging so the glue doesn’t cause the images to smudge. Finally, I included a few images cut out from the ephemera book ‘Wondrous Steampunk’
[Image ID] Close up photo showing the underside of 2 of the shelves as well as the shiny, gilded decoration border at the bottom. [description end]
This photo shows the underside of the bottom two shelves, which have been decorated with papers from a paper pad, as well as the stripe of gilding flakes near the bottom of the self. The gilding flakes were actually my starting point for the colour scheme of the entire project; I thought the mottled effect of this particular pot of gilding flakes would work well on the larger areas of the shelf compared to the small surface of an A6 card.
[Image ID] Close up photo of the top of the shelf unit. This enables you to see the collage above the first shelf in more detail, including an airship and a seahorse. It also gives a clear view of the crackle effect on the decorative triangular piece with the finial on top. The finial has been gilded, as has the triangle behind the decorative triangular front. [description end]
Because of the interesting crackle texture on the upper section of the shelf, I deliberately took a close up photo of it so that texture can be seen clearly. Gilding flakes have been used to create the colourful section behind the three circles, as well as to cover the finial at the top.
[Image ID] View of the shelf on the wall with some items on display - a 3D star with cogs on it, on the top shelf, a clay ornament on the middle shelf and a large spotted cowrie shell on the bottom shelf. [description end]
I took this final photo to give a sense of what the shelf might look like with something on it. The objects shown here aren’t going to be on the shelf permanently, but acted as handy props for a photograph. The star shaped box on the top shelf is a papercraft project I made a couple of years ago; Although I haven’t shared any photos of it specifically, it was previously used as a prop to photograph my clay lamp – that post can be found here if you’d like a closer look at the star box.
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Paints: Portrait Pink & Burnt Sienna by Cass Art & Stroke of Midnight by IndigoBlu
Gesso: black by IndigoBlu
Crackle medium: ‘Crack On Glaze’ by IndigoBlu
Matte Medium: by Liquitex
Ephemera book: Wondrous Steampunk by Amelia Wenwortin
Paper pad: Patina (12 x12) by Craft Consortium
Stamps: Pagoda & Aircraft by Stamperia (Sir Vagabond collection)
Texture plate: Lettre Anonyme by Carabelle Studio
Gilding flakes: Autumn Leaves by Cosmic Shimmer
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