Inner Child by Betsy Skagen

The weekend is here. When the week has been especially trying, it can feel as if your inner child is a little battered. 

Or maybe, the inner child is still whole, but its protective nook inside the heart sustained some damage, the glass window shattered. 

To be honest, my inner child feels great, but I just liked the concept of this art piece.

To make it, I began with the Little Heart Niche, which as you can see, includes a handy hanger for the back.

I adhered the pieces to the backside of a sheet of scrapbook paper and fussy cut the paper to match the chipboard.

I then reinforced the corners of the niche with some tape--just to give it some extra strength--and glued the niche onto the heart.

Next, I applied Distress Grit Paste, pressed heart stamps into the paste and dried with a heat gun.  I darkened the edges of the heart with black ink and then sprayed everything with purple and black ink sprays. After the ink dried, I applied embossing ink, sprinkled Rocky Road Baked Texture onto the surface and activated with heat gun.

I cut a frame from chipboard, applied embossing ink and covered it with Rocky Road Baked Texture and activated with heat gun. I used the same technique on a heart paperclip.

While the frame and paper clip cooled (be very careful when heating any metal with a heat gun!), I glued thin sheets of broken mica over the top of the niche.

I then shredded and inked some cheese cloth, sprayed a small figurine candle with distress ink and adhered these inside the niche.

After gluing the paper clip and frame in place, I printed, cut out and inked the edges of my words and adhered them to the heart.

Thanks for stopping by to check out the tutorial. I hope you have a lovely weekend. If it is even a little bit as cold as it is here in Minnesota, I hope it gives you an excuse to stay inside and create art all weekend long! -Betsy

Great Stuff

Little Heart Niche
Dress My Craft scrapbook paper
Distress Grit Paste
Heart stamps
Beacon Fabri-Tac
Spray inks
Distress Black Soot ink pad
Distress Vintage Photo ink pad
Seth Apter's Rocky Road Baked Texture
Embossing ink
Grit paste
Chipboard
Paper clip
Mica sheet
Cheese cloth