Friday 26 April 2013

Water Mobile

Hi and welcome! One thing we have been devoid of, after our very wet summer, has been April showers. We have had some glorious sunshiny days, heralding our autumn. The last challenge at ABAC :April Showers http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/  had me reflecting on the watery photos I had and how to display some of my favourites. In my previous life as a teacher, one way in which I displayed heaps of work/ information/ art was through the use of mobiles. These were often constructed from old hula hoops and hung from hooks in the ceiling, so... voila... this is what I came up with.
Two old wooden coat hangers covered with green bubble wrap formed the base for the mobile. These were then wrapped in a fluffy variegated wool (cloud like?), ready for decorating.

 
For the photos, I chose ones that fitted in with the theme, as well as representing the water cycle (somewhat) and some recreational past times. So we have stormy skies. rain pouring down, dams overflowing, waterfalls, babbling creeks, rivers, bays, water life (ducks, swans, dolphins) and boats.
To mou8nt the photos, I cut large water drop shapes from silver mirror board, smooshed alcohol inks on the back, mounted and cut photos to shape. The mirror board faces were then painted with 3D Stamping Paint, roughly applied to still show some of the silver. Some of this went on the edges of the photos, to tie them in.
 
 
 
 


 
As well as the photo water drops, I also cut smaller ones from the mirror board  and some from left over acetate packaging, again treated with the alcohol inks on one side and the 3D stamping paint on the other. These were hung on glittery blue metallic yarn.
I wanted the photos to move freely, and son came to the rescue... brass snap swivels used for fishing! Perfect!
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
To complete the mobile I added some strips of bubble wrap, lengths of sequins, metallic ricrac braid, metallic ribbon and a few more pieces of the metallic yarn.
I hung the mobile in a tree in my front garden to take the photos... trying to get the idea of movement and to capture the sparkle.
Thank you for dropping by and for leaving your lovely comments.
Cheers Di


10 comments:

  1. Hi Diane, you are so inventive - this is such a wonderful creation, really love the water drop shape, your use of mirror board and of course, your fabulous photos! Hugs, Anne x

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  2. How creative, what an amazing mobile...so full of joy!!!
    Gorgeous Diane!

    kind regards, Alie :-)

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  3. What a glorious creation, Diane - so creative and original - a great make!
    Alison x

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  4. This is fabulous Di! I too remember these from a previous life but none were as pretty as your version! I hope you are felling a lot better today!

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  5. And of course thank you for joining us at Anything But A Card this challenge. We love your loyalty.

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  6. wow... this is awesome. What a creative idea... love those water mobiles, they are absolutely fantastic :)

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  7. Superb idea for displaying your memories/photos Diane! Very inspiring, hugs Jenny x

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  8. This is amazing! I love this design for sharing so many photos and the whole thing is beautiful as well! Thanks so much for joining us at Anything But a Card!

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  9. Great idea. It is so cute. Thanks for playing along at ABAC.

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  10. Sorry I'm so late arriving Diane - still catching up after internet problems.
    This is such a wonderful idea. It's full of energy and all those memories too. I love your creativity.
    Thanks so much for joining us for the Anything But A Card April Showers challenge.
    Hugs, Juliaxx

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