Home Decor

I once bought some fairly cheap placemats and within a few years the thin plastic coating came apart leaving a paper top coat. I immediately thought I can work with that...

Once Gessoed I needed some colour and, as I didn't have any acrylics then, I used Inktense hoping for a waterproof result. Of course I finished with a spray of varnish but as my can was running out the coating ended up patchy in places.

The finish has degraded to the point where wiping the mat also takes out the Inktense colour. Here's an opportunity to do something different and, hopefully, better!
The old mat:

I sanded the mat until I was certain the varnish had been removed and applied several layers of Gesso. Then I used Fresco paints in Limelight, Pacific Ocean and Blueberry to create my background.

I used stamps from 3 Katzelkraft sets (Collage BIGZ , Fruitful and Transport ) and the textures stamps I used to frame my scene are from the Grunge set by Stampendous.
I have decided to make the other 3 mats in the set different from each other although I will try and keep the colours similar so watch this space...

Voila, some useful home decor! I so wish I could find blank placemats, preferably ready to decorate, to make crafty gifts. I find these ideal because if people don't like the artwork they can still use them, unlike a canvas say.
Let me know what you think,

Entering the We love 2 create, Tando Creative (Week 4)  and That's crafty challenges.