Friday, August 22, 2014

Gilded Life - Reflections of the Past Altered Mirror





The hours are closing in...and I've got more projects for the Spellbinders/Gilded Life  contest!  I'm hoping to have a project for each of the categories, but we'll see what happens by midnight.   I've had this mirror from my grandmother's house for years, stuck out in my garage, waiting for inspiration.  It finally hit me that I not only wanted to embellish the frame, but I wanted to completely alter the mirror as well. 

The piece started out rather tired, but had the perfect style for my idea.

I removed the mirror from the frame and sanded the heck out of the back surface. I copied a photograph from a book from 1910 onto vellum and glued her to the back of the mirror.  In real life, you see the image, but you can also see through her...very cool.  

I added a border to the back of the glass using the Petite Monarch die, cut from gold vellum. (Here you can also see how much of the backing paint was removed.)


I repainted the frame with Viva Decor Ferro Special Effect Paste in Amber Gold, and highlighted areas with Copper Smooch.  I glued antique glass pearls around the inner lip of the frame and used the same pearls to hang a small necklace adornment with the Relic at the top. I also made a small crown to fit over the top of the mirror.

  
 The flowers were made from copper sheet using the Crown Circle die.
 
I'll be back with another project soon!

2 comments:

sheila said...

I LOVE THIS! Fantastic techniques....I love how this turned out.

Larissa Heskett said...

WoWoWoWoWoW!! This is so AWESOME!! =) I LOVE ALL of the Details and the FUN Design Idea!! Well Done!! Good Luck in the Contest!! =) Have a Fabulous Weekend!! =)