Dr. Beckmann to the Rescue

Hello!
Dr. Beckmann Rescue was my "muse" this Sunday. (If I may call it so.)

I picked it up without any expectations, from one of our local stores, and was truly impressed by the performance. I live close to the sea, and have had to throw away a lot of my belongings, simply because I couldn't rescue them from tarnish -- tried scrubbing and what not, but nothing really worked. It was time to give Mr. Beckmann a try, so the first items I put to test were, silver anklets, which "blackened" over the years even though they were wrapped and kept with great care. 

With just one swipe, these were shining like new.
Excited!! I tried it on one of my chains..

Oh it sparkled!
Next up was a copper decoration piece..

worked like magic on that too.

Each wipe goes a long way, so, Very Happy!!

 

Mixed Media Coasters

I made a couple of mixed media coasters, for Challenge #3: No Flowers. The challenge requirements, this month, are pretty simple; anything goes as long as there are no flowers on it.

I've been wanting to make some coasters since a very long time, and so I seized this opportunity to create these colorful and artsy pieces, which would also make perfect gifts for Ramadan.

For the above, I started with a clean piece of MDF, applied the "Bokeh" technique, using acrylic paints to create the background, stamped the mosque / masjid on top (I designed this stamp myself ), and finished it off with a silver braid.

I worked with multiple layers on this one, to create a textured and aged look. After the final inked layer, I lightly stamped a doily using paint. Once dried I stamped the image using archival ink. Then, with a very light hand, I smeared crackle paint all over the artwork. Once dry, I colored in the image using Ice Stickles, and painted over them with white paint. Finally, the sides were sanded and finished off with a silver braid.

 Tried to capture the glitter and texture in this image.

Products used:
Mosque / Masjid Stamp
MDF blanks
Acrylic Paint
Distress Crackle Paint
Distress Ink
Ice Stickles
Bloom Color Spray