Mermaid Mirror

Oh my goodness, this mirror has been sooooooo long in the making. When an idea doesn’t go/look/feel right within a couple of hours of starting, I am really awful and tend to put it aside, leaving it to niggle and fester in the background, until guilt makes me take it up again, which, with this, I did a couple of times ……

…… but now, it’s finally done, as I wanted it for Marc’s upcoming birthday.

It was the mirror that inspired me, found in the 3 for 99p box in a local charity shop, it made me think of swirling, underwater currents and at 33p (along with two other items) it would have been rude not to buy it.

The mermaids came from eBay ( a pack of 3 for £6.50), I glued them onto the mirror using B-7000 glue, which is when I realised that this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, as the mermaids didn’t lie flat on the glass and the strands around the mirror didn’t offer much to glue anything to. So at this stage the mirror was “rested” for a while, while I had second thoughts.

Then …….. I found this box of aquarium bits in the Salvation Army shop in town for just £2.99 which inspired me into action (with plenty left over for Halloween?) …….

……. but oh boy, it was just as fiddly to glue, with so little to glue on to and for some reason said glue didn’t like the surface of any part of the mirror.  It drove me up the wall, even though I could finally see where I was going with the idea!  So it was rested yet again for a few more weeks, until it was make or break …….

…… as the time to get it finished was ticking. So over a long weekend I started to add the round mirror tiles and different sized, clear, flat back gems. It was so fiddly, even after buying several different varieties of Super Glue, things still didn’t  want to stick to any of the surfaces, goodness only knows why?

However, despite it nearly going in the bin at least half a dozen times, I got there in the end.

I could have titivated the mermaids some more, giving them glittery scales, jewelled bra shells and something in their hair, but against all the other stuff, it could easily have become overkill.  A mermaid, on her own, in a shadow box, against a patterned, blue background, then perhaps yes.

Once I had seen it hanging on the wall, I did decide to add a few more very small, flat backed gems, but I also removed the seahorses as they didn’t seem to go for some reason, against all the plastic and metal they just bought nothing aesthetically to the party!

With the glue issues, the mirror, with all the fiddle fart is not particularly robust, so I will suggest to Marc that when he’s found a home for it, it should stay there ……. and as for any dust that may accumulate, it’ll just have to stay where it is, with only the occasional gentle flick of a feather duster on high days and holidays.

Guest Crafter – Iris Roo’s One World.

My apologies, I really, really, really have lost my mojo of late, but thank goodness Iris Roo has been able to help me out by filling an otherwise empty post with this absolute treasure………..

If ever there was a set of dies that have proved to be worth their weight in gold, it’s the original Sizzix Doll Body, along with it’s various hairstyles and boy/girl outfits.

Iris has always spent forever putting them together, I even have a much treasured picture of her with Auntie Marc, cutting out hundreds of dolls and outfits when she was about 3 or 4.

We took an old Poundland bathroom plaque (25p from a Christmas sale years ago) covering the original image with one of the world, found on Google images and then printed off. 

I can now see in the picture (above) that it’s centring leaves a lot to be desired , but it’s Iris’s work, so “tush” Nanny!

She then added two googly eyes and a silver heart on the nose

I believe every doll had a special character, a family and a story ……..

…… with one having cancer, another with a broken arm, a queen ……….

…… and, I think, two missionaries, which is why Iris was very exacting when I helped her place and then glue them in place on to the frame.

Boy can that girl rock a self adhesive gem!  In all, it took Iris two mornings to complete her idea ……. two mornings of many, many memories ……..

……… where I proved that I could still multitasked showing Bertie how to use publisher, bless him, all be it on a very, very ancient version, he was soooooo chuffed!  Happy days!