Recently we Gauche Alchemy girls teamed up with the awesome folks over at 100 Proof Press to make some awesome stuff with their stamps. While I have all sorts of plans for some of the other stamps I picked up at the same time, what I have to share with you now is my Ganesha Shrine.

Ages ago I read that Ganesha was the opener of doors and remover of obstacles. When I saw 100 Proof’s Ganesha stamp, I knew it would be perfect for a shrine. I was also fascinated by the shape of the Gears cluster, and wondered if I could combine the two, somehow.

First I stamped and embossed Ganesha in black, coloring him in with watercolor pencils.

Then I stamped and embossed 2 of the gears clusters in silver and fussy-cut all those little notches so the shape would stand out that much better. It’s a somewhat tedious project, but that’s never stopped me before!

The body of the shrine is actually a box from a trio of tequila samples. I painted the outside of the box with white gesso and the inside and front with brown craft paint.

After fitting patterned paper into the backs of the sections, I layered some lace in each of the outer wells, and then topped all 3 with strips of punchinella, trimmed to fit the width but a smidgen long to give the look of undulating sky.

With the backgrounds prepared, I placed a piece of wine cork in the center well so Ganesha would sit up nice and forward, while each gear was mounted on layers of foam tape (about 6 layers to get just the right middle-depth going. The candles are just for show, of course.

I love the idea of the gears pulling the rain away at Ganesha’s command.

Inspired by the bright colors and rich textures of Indian textiles,  I pieced together a “rug” for in front of the shrine from fabric and trim from the Banana Hammock and Pink Parts mixed media color kits.

To “stitch” the pieces of fabric together, I zig-zagged white fabric paint along each border and then layed in a couple of pieces of gold sequin trim. Hitting that trim with the heat gun made some of the sequins dull and curl which might sound like a bad thing but was actually kind of a happy accident.

The box itself was looking a little plain, my decision to paint it white just wasn’t holding up to the awesomeness inside, so I spritzed some strips of Ouchless Cardboard with pink and purple mists and then sprayed them with silver glitter, but that wasn’t enough!

A light touch with some more gesso, though, that brought out the ridges a bit. Once dry I glued them onto the sides of the shrine. The “roof” was prepared similarly, but I let the peak fold how it wanted, which resulted in a sloping, undulating line that I outlined (along with everything else) in gold glitter glue. Finally, some crystal butterflies, bits of an old earring, and strings of seed beads and this shrine was all done but the drying.

This was a ridiculous amount of fun!