Anchors Aweigh! - by Claudia

Hi and servus! I hope you are enjoying lovely summer holidays! I definitely am, spending a lot of time each day riding my beloved kayak across the lake. I love boats in general - especially ones I can row. My grandma taught me how to row a boat when I was about four - I still needed a bit of help of course back then, but I have been loving being on a lake rowing a boat ever since. It's something that calms me and makes me happy. 

The gorgeous MDF Boat & Oars Kit makes me happy too, as it is perfect to create a little keepsake or shrine with. I do not often get to the seaside, but I love the sandy shores, the gentle noise of the waves and the long walks along the beach, always in search of treasures like sea glass, shells or driftwood. 

I also love what's underneath the waves - the beautiful reefs with the amazing fish and corals and other fantastic creatures down there. I dream of making a sailboat trip to magic places one day...anchoring at peaceful bays...so my little boat shrine is to remind me of my dream. Maybe I will get to make it become reality one day. 

For my little seaside boat shrine I also used the following Calico Craft Parts:

- Coral MDF Wood Shape - Style 6

- Anchor & Rope Silhouette  - MDF Wood Shape 

- Word Elements - Summer and Seaside

I assembled the boat kit using matte DecoArt Decou-Page, which I also used to cover all the sides and edges of the assembled boat with cut to size designer papers. I simply used the boat's shape and sides as a mask and traced the according outlines with a pencil directly onto the designer papers. 

The coral and anchor were painted using DecoArt Americana acrylic paints. Once these had dried I loosely applied some DecoArt media Texture Sand Paste with my fingertip to the anchor.

The Texture Sand Paste becomes white once dry. In this case that was more than welcome, because this would make my paint washes pop from the dark blue background. I added washes of DecoArt media Quinacridone Gold and Yellow Oxide fluid acrylics until I was content with the look.

The anchor was fixed to the boat with thin wire. I inserted the wire through a hole on the top and formed a loop as a hanging device. The loop at the bottom holds the anchor.

The edges of the boat were darkened using a piece of blending foam and dark brown archival stamping ink.

The back was covered with designer paper too. 

I love the look of rust and barnacles on the anchor! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Enjoy your summer holidays!

Claudia

xxx