For the Use What You Have Swap I created a bunch of different art pieces featuring bees. Because it was use what you have, I wanted to challenge myself and try one of the stash items I’d never used. Enter my stack of thin metal sheets.
At first I was going to engrave it but quickly decided to try embossing instead. I adore the result! Scroll down for process pics.
I created an art deco inspired design in canva and printed it, then taped it in place and began embossing.
I used a number of different stylus sizes, beginning with the smallest for an initial trace and then deepening the details with some of the larger sizes.
You can see a washcloth in the first pic. I began embossing with that as a base below the metal, but it had too much give. I switched to some craft foam as a base and that worked a thousand times betrer.
Once I had the initial design fairly well in place I lightly traced the edges on the front side to further define things.
To prevent the embossed design from being crushed, I filled the back with modeling paste.
At this point I should have been done…but I decided the metal was too monotone and needed something. At first I rubbed black arcylic paint over the design and buffed most of it away, but it still needed something more. You can see in the picture where I tested sanding, various alcohol markers, and embossing patterns for the background. I liked the alcohol marker best and used it in blobby patches to add more visual interest.
After all that, I mounted the metal onto some black chipboard and really, really called it done.
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Congrats! This fantastic project is featured this week!