Hey, y’all! Have you checked out the July Mixed Media Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club yet? It has some fabulous Finnabair Tissue Paper, heavy black gesso, and Pixie Dust, along with some Lindy’s Magical’s, DecoArt Crackle Paint, Tres Jolie Chipboard, and a canvas board to get you started!⁠

I was fortunate enough to receive the newest Finnabair Moulds in the mail the same day I was starting my project, so I have that fantastic Mecha Moth on here, along with a ton of other Finnabair mould pieces from both old and new designs!

I used a couple of stencils from previous kits with the crackle paint from the kit and some Finnabair “Crushed Crystals” Jewel Effect Paste. Then I loaded up and layered up all my colors using some of the Liquid Acrylic Paints from February’s Mixed Media Kit and the Lindy’s from this month’s kit.⁠

Check my video out to see what I did to put this Mecha Steam Queen together!

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Video:

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To get my background started, I layered it up with some of the “Bavarian Blue” Lindy’s Magical’s from the kit and (part of) one sheet of the Finnabair tissue paper, using my Liquitex Matte Medium to adhere the paper. After I had my initial layer, I tore the remainder of the sheet of tissue paper into strips and layered them up, only adding the Magical Shaker as the initial bottom layer under all the tissue paper.

After my matte medium was fully dried, I came in with my stencils. I used my “Flourish” stencil with the crackle paint from this month’s kit, and my “Screwed” stencil with some “Crushed Crystal’s” Jewel Effect Paste. I just used my finger to dab on and blend a thin layer of the crackle paint along the edges and in the corners of the canvas and to soften the edges of the stenciling some.

After my “Flourish” stenciling was dry, I added a layer of clear gesso to help protect my crackle paint (it was going to be a wet, messy job!) and to make my subsequent layers of mediums easier to flow and roll around along the top of the stenciling and between the cracks. Because of the nature of the Jewel Effect Paste – when it dries it is more like the matte medium – I didn’t need to add any gesso to it.

With all of my background mediums dry, I come in with the “Bavarian Blue” Lindy’s, sprinkle it on, and really water it down so it will flow between all of the cracks. From here on out, I don’t let my mediums air dry on my background, I use my heat guns to make sure everything stays where I put it!

On all of my various mould pieces, I coated them with black gesso – either the heavy gesso from the kit or my “regular” gesso on the more detailed pieces. If you only have the heavy gesso and want to get it into detailed areas a little easier, you can just mix in a little water to thin it some. After my gesso layers dried, I coated everything in some TCW “Sterling Silver” Modeling Paste. It says “Sterling Silver,” but it is more like sterling silver that has begun to tarnish – and I love it!

I used my 3D Matte Gel to hold my Mecha Steam Queen together before adding her gesso and modeling paste. I can say, all I knew was I really wanted to use the new Mecha Moth, and everything was built around that. I keep a bunch of pre-made mould pieces handy, so I grabbed them up and started playing around when suddenly I saw how fantastic my “Queens of Steam” piece looked on that big moth body! I added another layer of wings from the “Nocturnal Insects” Mould, and gave her a “Clockfaces” crown.

While I let that 3D Matte Gel set up, I went to work on deciding which gears I wanted to use and picked one of the “Baroque Frames” to set behind my Mecha Steam Queen. On my gears, after the modeling paste was dry, I added some “Texture Powder” to rough them up a bit, added some extra color to them using the two Lindy’s Magical’s from the kit, and I added some “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic Paint. On my mould pieces, I allowed the mediums to air dry to allow everything to mix and flow together naturally. On the frame, I just mixed some of the “Bavarian Blue” Lindy’s with some Liquid Color Fluid Medium to keep it from being able to reactivate after it was dry.

To build up my background, I started with some corrugated cardboard (I just happened to find “hidden” behind a pile of other *stuff* – it must have fallen down some time ago and I forgot to fetch it then!). Anyhow, I used the heavy gesso on it and added some of the crackle paint to it. Then to deepen the black, I added the “Black Hole Black” Magical Powder to it, just using some water to activate the powder and added some of the “Pixie Dust” spray to it. To adhere it to the canvas board, I fully coated the back with some matte gel, placed it where I wanted it and weighed it down to make sure it dried flat. Fully coated the back of that cardboard doesn’t just make sure it is well attached, it seals it up so it won’t become soggy from the back side as I continue working.

Now it was time to start building up all of the mould pieces. I started with the bottom layer of gears, using my 3D Gel to adhere everything and to hold up the edges that extended over the edge of the cardboard so everything would be (relatively) even. I added my frame next and then set everything off to dry.

I hadn’t originally planned on the second layer of gears, but after I had my chain pieces and Mecha Steam Queen already dried in place, I realized it really needed another layer. Fortunately, some of my gears were made from air-dry clay (I often use what I have on hand or need to use up when I decide to get some pieces pre-made) so I was able to break them apart and get them to fit around the corner of the frame (top) and under the wings (bottom right).

With everything finally in place, it came time to start adding the final layers of color, but before I did that, I added a layer of Krylon’s Workable Fixatif, just as a precaution for a little extra protection since it was about to get super wet and messy!

I started with some “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic Paint and the “Black Hole Black” Lindy’s, and watered it all down, moved the canvas about to get it flowing, and dried as I went. So long as it was still wet, I could reactivate the Lindy’s (and paint) and continue moving it around.

For the wings on my Queen, I used the “Bavarian Blue” powder and some Liquid Color Fluid Medium to hold it in place once it dried.

Because I had to break my second gear up some, it left a few small gaps, so I decided to use it as an opportunity to add a bit more sparkle, and used the “Crushed Crystal’s” paste to fill in the gaps and added a touch to the ends of the wings.

To start bringing up the details of my Queen, I added some of the “Ink Black” paint and the “Black Hole Black” Lindy’s and watered it down so it would flow into all of the details.

To intensify the blue on my gears, wings, and Queen, I added some Liquitex “Phthalocyanine Blue” Acrylic Ink, watered it down a little to help it flow, added some of the blue mica powder from Finnabair’s “Pearls & Crystals” Mica set to add a little bit of variation to the shading, and dried it completely so it would stay put!

With all of my blacks and blues in place, it came time to add the final details. To start I used some “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic Paint to create my shadow effects. It is an absolutely perfect color to create a vintage effect and fabulous shadows to really give a piece some depth. After all my mediums had dried, I came in and gave the whole piece a coating of the “Pixie Dust” Fixative from this month’s kit.

After the “Pixie Dust” had dried, it was time to add some various waxes to highlight various areas on the piece. After my waxes, the final step was adding my beads. I used some “Midnight Magic” Iridescent Beads from ReneaBouquets along the gears and frame, and some 13@arts “Brown Microspheres” to give the final shadowy detail to the layers of my Queen.

Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed the building of my “Mecha Steam Queen” and it gave you some ideas of how you can use the various mediums from not only this month’s kit but previous Tres Jolie Kits as well! That’s what makes Tres Jolie Kits so fabulous – it allows you to build your stash!

Stay Crafty, Friends

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In addition to the items from this month’s Mixed Media Kit (*from previous Tres Jolie Kits), I used:

**Disclaimer: Some [non-Tres Jolie] items may contain an affiliate link, allowing me to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!**

Prima “Flourish” Stencil , Finnabair Jewel Effect Paste “Crushed Crystals” , Finnabair “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic , Finnabair “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic , Finnabair White Texture Powder , Finnabair Liquid Color Fluid Medium , Finnabair “Pearls & Crystals” Mica Set , Finnabair “Charcoal Black” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Old White” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Faded Demin” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Old Demin” Wax Cire Cera , Finnabair Moulds: “Queens of Steam” , “Large Gears” , “Machine Parts” , “Mechanica” , “Pieces of Underworld” , “Clockfaces” , “Baroque Frames” , “Nocturnal Insects” , “Mecha Moth” , “Love Machine” , Finnabair Clear Gesso , Finnabair 3D Matte Gel , TCW “Sterling Silver” Modeling Paste , 13@rts Brown Microspheres , Tim Holtz “Screwed” Stencil , Stamperia “Metallic Black” Wax , Little Birdie “Aqua Sheen” Metallic Wax , ReneaBouquets “Midnight Magic” Iridescent Beautiful Beads , DecoArt Black Gesso , Krylon Workable Fixatif , JudiKins Diamond Glaze , Liquitex Matte Gel , Liquitex Matte Medium , Liquitex “Phthalocyanine Blue” Acrylic Ink , spray bottle , Ranger Heat-It Tool , Milwaukee Heat Gun , corrugated cardboard, Mont Marte Terra Cotta Air Dry Clay , Sculpy Air Dry Clay , Sculpy White Polymer Clay , ProMarineSupply Epoxy Resin , Alumilite Amazing Casting Resin , Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast Epoxy