We welcome Guest Ambassador Kristie Taylor as our first "From the Tribe" feature of 2017!  Here's a little bit about Kristie.

"Hi My name is Kristie Taylor and I am so excited to be doing a guest post for Relics & Artifacts®! I am a mixed media artist living in Virginia with my wonderful husband of 22 years,  three of our four kids and a whole slew of fur babies.

I have been crafty my whole life and have dabbled in pretty much everything from macrame to bedazzling everything close by. My love for mixed media began with scrapbooking simply because I have never been one to follow anyone else's rules. I would add so many “illegal” things to my scrapbook pages that they would sometimes be too thick to go into an album. Then I began to explore and started learning about spray inks and dimensional products, which has transferred straight into mixed media and assemblage art.

I hope my projects inspire you to look outside the traditional and find something new. 

These wonderful products are so versatile, they have quickly become a staple in my crafting stash and I think they will in your as well!"

Kristie has created two very distinct pieces for you to feast your eyes upon today.  As a bonus, she's included two step-by-step tutorials, one of which will be featured right here on the Muse and the second will be on our Snapguide page.  Let's get down to business shall we?

The Tree of Peace

I wanted to use the beautiful Ostensorium to create the Tree of Peace. Our world is in such chaos that I find myself thinking of it often, and even though it is nearly impossible, I yearn for peace. I wanted a visual reminder to keep this wish alive. something to gaze on when I am feeling the strife of everyday life.

The world was at war and hatred was overtaking the once peaceful people. There was born a special child who was able to use the powers of the fairies to make the flowers and trees grow tall and strong. He was saddened by the strife of his people and so he grew a magical tree. A tree of peace, he made it grow tall and green with branches growing in every direction. These branches were to symbolize that all people were to be equal and bound together as one. He took some needles from the tree and said that even with the changes of the seasons, the tree would stay green for all eternity, as should the great peace stay among the people for all time.

He then uprooted the tree and asked the people to bury their weapons and hatred. He replanted the beautiful tree and said, “Into the depths of the Earth, way down deep in the currents of flowing water, we cast our weapons, jealousy and hatred.  We cast it from sight forever. Thus, the great peace will envelope our people in love, peace and unity of spirit for all time.”

The great Eye stayed ever vigilant and warned the people of any appraoching evil. The roots of the Tree of Peace grew in all four directions and fed the flowering fruit with love and magic, unifying the people.

Step-by-Step:

Of course I wanted my tree to be green, so after digging through my stash, I decided to play with something a little different.  I had these awesome paints from Pebeo. They are a resin-based paint and take a while to dry, but they give a brilliant, smooth finish with gorgeous sheen and deep colors.

1.  I used the Pebeo® Mixton relief to go all the way around the outside edge of the Ostensorium. This created a dam of sorts that kept the paints from running over the edges.

2.  Once the dam was created, I started adding paint. Since the space of the Ostensorium is rather small, I found it easier to use a craft stick to drizzle the paint as well as push it into the beautiful curves of the piece.

3.  I kept adding a little at a time until the entire face was covered.  The cool thing about this paint is how it all reacts together. there are several types. I used their Prism and Moon paints. When they touch, they create “cells” of color.

4.  Next, I added some gold glitter medium.

5.  I covered it and set it aside to dry for 24 hours.  Waiting is always the hardest part.

6.  While that was drying, I started creating my branches by stringing beads onto wire. 

7.  I turned the Helios II over to measure the length of the wires. After marking them, cut them to the appropriate length in order to keep the space in the middle of Helios open.

8.  Use Apoxie® Sculpt to adhere the bead branches to the piece.  I recruited my mom to help me adhere and sculpt the Apoxie® Sculpt to the back of the Helios.  I used sculpting tools to make sure the Apoxie® Sculpt didn't go over the edges or show on the front.

9.  I also used the Apoxie® Sculpt to make a strip to hold the lotus in the center opening of the Helios.

10.  I used Beacon® Dazzle Tac to apply lots of glitter to the front of the Helios. I wanted it to shine!

11.  Once I adhered the Helios to the Ostensorium, I adhered rhinestone jewels around the opening.

13.  To finish the base, I painted the edges of the Ostensorium silver.

For Kristie's second project, she pays homage to Persephone, the "Goddess of Spring". 

Goddess of Spring:

This is my homage to Persephone, Goddess of Spring. We all impatiently await her return, so that she can awaken the sleeping Earth and make the butterflies fly with the dancing fairies.

The daughter of Demeter and Zeus, Persephone, is the beautiful Goddess of Spring. The Goddess of Spring, is greeted by dancing flower, butterflies and fairies. Hades, the God of the Underworld, comes and takes her away to be his queen. The creatures above ground suffer a rough winter in the absence of their goddess.

Hades, however, is sorry she is unhappyand offers an agreement that she will spend six months above ground and six below, resulting in seasons. She is allowed to return to her world, thawing the snow and ending the winter.

To learn how Kristie put together this piece, head over to our Snapguide page to see the full tutorial!

You can reach Kristie on her blog, The Scrapinater, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.  You can also follow her Facebook page, Kristie Taylor Designs.

Supply List:
Relics & Artifacts® Ostensorium
Relics & Artifacts® Helios II
Relics & Artifacts® Papillon
Apoxie® Sculpt