Sing your own song-an altered record for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts

hey crafty people! As my first post here for 2017, I thought I'd do something kind of different that I've been thinking about doing for a while...I thought that a record would make an interesting round "canvas" for a music-themed mixed media project and this is what I came up with:

I got my record at a thrift store; it was a double set and I paid a whole 50c for the two of them!

The first thing I did was brush the whole thing with gesso; I did two coats, as covering a shiny surface is a little trickier. I also gessoed the main chipboard piece I was planning to use on the project.

I figured out where I wanted to put everything, then I added some stenciling with texture paste, using a script stencil and one that created small "coffee rings".

When the texture paste was dry, I attached all the items; I also added a few pieces of drywall tape for texture. I get it at the dollar store; it has an adhesive back and is great for crafting. If your dollar store doesn't carry it, it's available at any hardware store.

I added a coat of gesso to the whole piece; I used a sponge to apply it to the bare record parts to minimize the brush strokes, but this isn't necessary-you can do the whole thing with a brush. Just be sure to get in the grooves of the flowers and other dimensional embellishments so that everything is white.

Now comes the fun part! Choose some mists you like ( I used blues and greens and a pop of pinkish-red) and spray lightly here and there until you get an effect you're happy with. If it goes on spotty or too dark, dab with a paper towel or sponge while it's still wet. I also keep a bottle of Mr. Huey's Opaque White mist around to tome down any colours that look too bright or dark after it's dried. I like to work with my project laying down so the mists don't run although I know some people really like the drippy effect. I'm just too much of a control freak to let the mist dribble wherever it wants, I guess.

Once I was happy with the colours (this did take a while, so don't get discouraged if you don't like the look right away. I have even had projects that I gessoed over and restarted, but happily this wasn't one of them!)I inked the letters and the edges of the chipboard pieces in a deep blue to make them stand out a little more. You can choose to add more or less contrast, as you prefer.

The last thing I did was find a shank button that would fit in the hole in the center; I ran a piece of twine through it to make a hanger and glued the button down.Otherwise trying to hang this could be interesting; I just don't quite trust those sticky hook things!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I wish you a wonderful 2017 full of love, joy, peace and creativity!!

GYPSY SOUL ITEMS USED

Flight of Fancy Music Girl
Music Symbols Shape Set

OTHER ITEMS USED

white gesso
Crafter's Workshop and Prima stencils
Ayeeda, Dylusions and Tattered Angels mists
Versacolor Inks
misc. flowers and burlap foliage

drywall tape