Arts Publications

Day of the dead: shrines to remember

Expression, Sept-Oct, 2005 by Gretchen Ehrsam

Having recently lost my dad, I wanted to make sure that my three-year-old son would forever remember his "Opa." What better way to memorialize him than to hang shrines around the house? After I did one shrine, the process became too much fun--it's been out of control ever since!

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INSTRUCTIONS

Bottlecap Shrine 1. Stamp the Trapezoid Shrine with embossing ink and emboss with black powder on black card stock. Highlight with colored pencils. 2. Cut out the shrine image and glue it onto light cardboard (I used old cereal boxes). Cut this out, glue onto card stock and cut out again. 3. Blacken the edges (and inside the cutout) of the sandwiched cardboard with a marking pen. 4. Stamp the corresponding box pattern with white ink on black card stock. 5. Assemble the box (directions are included with the rubber). 6. Attach box to the back of the shrine and set aside. 7. To create the moonman embellishment, stamp and color moonman face. 8. Cut out the stamped face and glue it inside a bottle cap. Let the glue dry. 9. Cover the face with Diamond Glaze. 10. Glue bottle cap face to the shrine.

Dragonfly Shrine 1. Stamp the Egyptian Shrine with embossing ink and emboss image with gold powder on black card stock. 2. Using a Fantastix coloring brush, bleach around the image with household bleach. Note: To add interest, I made two applications of bleach, letting the bleach dry in between each application. The second application was not as precise as the first. This gives a nice mottled effect. 3. Highlight with white colored pencil. 4. Cut out and glue to a piece of lightweight cardboard. Cut this out and glue it to another piece of black card stock and cut out again. 5. Stamp the corresponding box pattern, and assemble (directions included with the rubber). 6. Shellac the front of the shrine with polymer medium (gloss). 7. When the shellac is dry, attach beads and charms.

Word Shrine 1. To prepare the worded background, scan and print a couple of pages from an old book onto black card stock. 2. Stamp the Egyptian Shrine with embossing ink and emboss image with black powder on the printed side of the prepared card stock. 3. Follow step two from Shrine #3. During the bleaching step, the background words will appear. 4. Save the cutout from the window (with the bleached words) to put in the box. 5. Add beads and charms.

Make A Wish Shrine 1. Stamp the Coin Shrine (hand-carved image) with embossing ink and emboss image with gold powder on black card stock. 2. Bleach around the image. (I used two applications of bleach.) 3. If desired, highlight with a white colored pencil. 4. Cut out the image and glue it onto lightweight cardboard. Cut this out and glue it to another piece of black card stock--cut this out too. 5. Color the edges with a black marking pen. 6. Make a box the same size as the opening and attach to the back. 7. Shellac the front of the shrine with polymer medium (gloss). 8. Attach beads and charms.

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Bee Shrine 1. Stamp the Bee Shrine (hand-carved image) with embossing ink and emboss with black powder on black card stock. 2. Apply bleach all over and allow to dry. To create the mottled look, apply more bleach--not as carefully as the first application--to the exposed areas. 3. Highlight with colored pencils. 4. Cut this out and glue it to lightweight cardboard. Cut this out and glue it to another piece of black card stock--cut this out too. 5. Color the edges with a black marking pen. 6. Make a box to fit the opening and attach it to the back of the shrine. 7. Shellac the front of the shrine with polymer medium (gloss). 8. Let dry completely.

To learn how to make your own custom hand-carved images, check out "DIY Stamps" in the March/April 2005 issue or visit our Web site at www.expressionartmagazine.com!