Textures with Prills in an African Mask

To celebrate the launch of USArtQuest’s newest embellishment, Prills, they’re hosting a blog hop!  If you’ve come here from Sally Lynn MacDonald’s blog, then you’re in the right place. To start the hop from the beginning, please go to the USArtQuest blog.

Become a follower of each blog and leave a comment on each blog to be entered to win Prills blog candy! One winner will win 6 jars of Prills!

The winner will be picked on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at midnight EST, so be sure to enter before then. The winner will be posted on the USArtQuest blog on Sunday, March 18, 2012.

Now on to the project… You can enlarge the photo of the mask by clicking on it. It’s a great way to really see the textures.

When I first saw Prills, I was fascinated by their texture and colors. They immediately reminded me of Dippin’ Dots ice cream. I’m sure you’ve seen them—the little balls of frozen goodness? But Prills are much smaller and in a variety of sizes. They have a wonderful pearlescent sheen and come in 42 colors!

I started to think about all the wonderful textures you could achieve with USArtQuest products:

Gildenglitz Leafing Metal – tissue thin with a brilliant metallic shine and gorgeous natural colors. It’s the gold on the right side of this photo. Mica D’Lights – sparkling bits of mica with a touch of glitter. Very fine – just a notch or two above being a powder – very organic. It’s the red, copper, light blue and blue in the photo. Mica Flakes – like D’Lights, only slightly chunkier. In the photo, the silver is small mica flakes. Prills – tiny round balls in different sizes, instead of flat or chunky. Fantastic colors. Prills are the green and black “dots” in the photo.

I wanted a project that would showcase all four materials and let me leverage the different textures—from flat leafing to bumpy prills. An African mask came to mind. I’ve seen fantastic examples made with beads and shells. Why not duplicate that effect with USArtQuest embellishments? So, off I went.

I found a free download of a coloring book with great images representing Africa, including masks and selected one I liked. I love detailed work, so I decided to make my mask about 5″ tall.

Using Make The Cut! software, I converted the image to a cut file for my Zing electronic cutting machine. I knew I wanted to cut out the silhouette from black “leather-like” paper and cut out pieces of Cut-Bond-Create to adhere the Leafing Metal, Mica D’Lights and Mica Flakes. I drew the design on the silhouette by putting a chalk pencil in the Zing. I love that I can use anything I can hold in my hands in the blade holder of the Zing! I used a printed copy of the design to mark what material/color would go in each area of the mask.

Using the Zing, I cut out the silhouette of the mask and cut pieces from Cut-Bond-Create to adhere to the mask.  This would give me adhesive areas I could use for the lightweight materials (Leafing Metal, Mica D’Lights and Mica Flakes). Some areas were so tiny, it was easier to use Duo Adhesive. For example, the small circles at the top of the mask and in the bottom of the earrings. I applied dots of Duo Adhesive, waited until it was dry and then added Leafing Metal.  Check out my homemade burnishing tool! It’s a piece of shop vac filter glued to the bottom of a child’s block.

I applied the Prills using Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA) Matte.  I used a #4 Round Brush to “paint” PPA in the areas and then poured on the Prills. These little guys can roll around a bit, so I found it easier to work inside a tray. I also used an anti-static powder pillow on the tray and piece before I began working with the Prills. Wait a couple of seconds for the Prills to stick to the PPA, tap off the excess and pour it back in to the Prills bottle and move on to the next color.

You can see how the PPA was “painted” into areas so the Prills could be applied color by color.

After the Leafing Metal, Mica D’Lights, Mica Flakes and Prills were applied, I decided to add a few shells to really give the mask an African feel. They were easy to attach. I just used the paint brush to apply a little PPA to the back and placed them on the silhouette.

I’m really happy with the finished mask. I love how there are 5 different textures (from Leafing Metal to shells) and how each reflects the light differently. I encourage you to explore all the textures possible with USArtQuest embellishments and see what you can create.

Now back to the hop….

The next stop on your blog hop is Lea Cioci’s blog, CreativeLea’s Infinite Journey. Enjoy your hop and good luck!

Happy Crafting!

Joe