Bathtub Marci? SDC 97

30/04/2013 by UKMA 15 Comments

It seems that I only join in with the Stampotique Challenge when I see the challenge and have an immediate idea for it that I think will be cool. This little project actually started out as a traditional Bathtub Mary shrine but morphed into Marci when I spotted the challenge on the SDC blog! Not one to do things by halves, despite me always saying how lazy I am, I cut three of the images of Marci – I think that satisfies the challenge…

When I was thinking of the usual Bathtub Mary a couple of weeks ago, I had picked up a couple of little paper boxes from HobbyCraft – one was actually a flip-flop, the other a plain rectangle that fit the flip-flop inside – you see, these Mary’s are made from an old bathtub, partially submerged in the ground, with a stature of (usually, but sometimes Jesus or another saint) Mary placed inside. I wanted the bathtub shape to be able to be “submerged” in the box. I tried to convince DH to swing by the local Catholic church last week when we were out and about, to get one of those little dashboard statues, but no luck there. Then on Saturday, when I was literally RIGHT THERE (twice!) I forgot all about it. Good thing too or I might never have gotten to this version.

I snipped off the flip-flop part and used the lid, as it was a little more shallow, and seemed to work better than the quite deep base of the box.

I painted it white, inside and out, and then gave it a coat of Mod Podge, so it looked a bit more like porcelain. I cut a thick slit-like hole in the lid of the box and sponged some green paint all over the lid and the box base.

I stamped Marci three times, and coloured her in with my Copics, all identical. I chose as close to the Virgin Mary blues as I could find. Then I cut her out – one with a border of white, which pretty much disappears against the white of the “tub” and two partial-cut ones, right along the edge. I layered them, as in decoupage (in the UK-cardmaking sense, not the glueing paper sense!) so I had a bit of a 3D version of her. I used the tiniest foam pads imaginable to stack the images.

I had to fight with the garage door to get to some train model-stuff that I swear we have been hauling around with us, back and forth across the Atlantic, since DS was about 3 or 4 (He’s 20 now!) That is the grass on the box, and fills the bottom of the tub, so it really looks submerged. A few paper flowers (although traditionally Mary is surrounded by cheap plastic flowers, I do have SOME standards) and a little cross at the top finishes her off …