Hi, crafty friend! I wanted to share a mixed media canvas I created featuring both Made of Magic products and Finnabair moulds. I think this is such a lovely combination and perfect for those forest witch magick vibes!

And this is a pretty simple project to create if you are new to mixed media. Not crazy skills needed to create the background--it's paper and a single paste. I've got all the supplies listed below, so let's get right into this tutorial!

Start by casting out some moulds from the Fresh Foliage and Made of Magic Moulds using the Redesign Casting Mix. There's no toxic chemicals in this, no dealing with measuring out parts A and B of resin--simply mix up the correct ratio of the mix and water and you get mould casts with a porcelain like finish. 

To reinforce the delicate moulds, like some of the Fresh Foliage ones, add some jewelry wire to the backsides. You want the mix to have set up for 3 to 5 minutes, so the wire doesn't sink to the bottom and poke through the cast. Then add it in, pressing it slightly into the back of the mould. You should see it mostly disappear. This wire will help you keep the mold from breaking during demoulding and during painting.

Once the mould is no longer cool to the touch on the back, you can demould them. If you demould too early, the mould cast can crack. I like to cast my moulds at the end of the day and let them set up overnight. This will ensure you don't demould too early, and you don't have to worry about accidentally bumping the mould while it dries causing it to crack. Set these casts aside, we'll paint them in a moment. 

Next, trace a 6 inch round canvas onto a piece of Made of Magic paper with a green background. I used a sheet from the 6x8 paper pad. Cut this out and distress the edges with a paper distressing tool. Glue it to the canvas using a thin layer of Finnabair's Soft Matte Gel or Sizzix Express Glue. Both are low in moisture content and won't wrinkle your paper as long as you use a thin amount. Smooth out any air bubbles by running a brayer of the surface or flipping  the canvas over and rubbing the backside of the canvas and pressing on the frame. 

Once the paper is glued on, add a little texture and a hint of magical sparkle by applying Finnabair's Crushed Ice paste through the Calculations Stencil. Set this aside to dry while working on the moulds.

You won't need to prime mould casts that were made with the Casting Mix. So if you used resin, be sure to prime your moulds first with gesso. I recommend Finnabair's Clear Gesso--it's thinner and won't "erase" the details of your mould casts like the heavier white and black gesso does. 

To achieve the dark forest look, we are going to paint the Fresh Foliage mould casts with several layers of paint. Start by painting them with a black acrylic first. Then take the 2 greens from the Color Chronicles Made of Magic paint set. Once the black is dry, brush the mould casts with the dark green--you want this to be a heavy handed dry brushing. In other words, get the highlights of the mould well, without getting the dark green paint into the crevices of the mould casts. 

Then lightly dry brush the moulds with the lighter green once the dark green is dry. This should be lighter, so that you don't completely cover the darker green.

Paint the Made of Magic banner mould cast with the black acrylic as well. Then go over the mould with the red paint in the Made of Magic Color Chronicles paint set--don't get the red paint in the letters on the banner. This will give you the black letters with a brick red banner. 

The ghost was also painted with the black acrylic and the Made of Magic Color Chronicles. I accidentally got some of the peachy colored paint on the ghost so I ended up going over the ghost with some white acrylic to cover that mistake. If you are more careful, you can leave the ghost unpainted and let that bright white of the casting mix shine. Then I also dry brushed the other parts of the ghost with the white acrylic to highlight the texture on the flower crown, book and shoes. 

Once your mould casts are all dry, you can layer them onto the canvas. I recommend using Finnabair's Heavy Body Gel for gluing everything in place. It's thick and holds moulds in place easily and gives you some work time so you can adjust mould placement if needed. I started by gluing the banner and ghost on first, then layered on all the Fresh Foliage leaves. 

I topped those leaf moulds off with the Spellbound Blooms and a Chipboard Sticker from the made of Magic collection. I die cut some leaves from the left over Made of Magic paper  and tucked some of those in as well. Then to finish off this magical mixed media project, add some of the green Say It In Crystals from the Made of Magic collection. 

And that's it! Simple, fun but a little spooky and enchanted. I hope you all have a wonderful Spooky Season, and until next time, happy crafting!

Goth Adrienne

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Below are products that I used for this project.