Magazine Straw Dragonfly

     I went to a country fair last year and saw some huge willow dragonflies, it set the cogs in motion and after playing about with some magazine straws this is what I came up with. Sadly he's not waterproof like the willow ones but for Altered Eclectics new challenge I think he fits the bill.

     It took less than 50 straws of approximately 12 inches in length to make the body, leaving the spare lengths sticking out as the tail made finishing off much easier too.
     I gave it a light spray with some white primer to knock the colours back a little, I did try adding some sparkle but the paint dried very quickly in this heat so it's what yo would call 'very subtle'. If I make another I might but some of the glitter spray to finish it off.

     For the wings I tried several different ideas, but the best one came to me late one night last week. A crafting friend told me ages ago about using a laminating pouch, flakes and glitters, so I tried it.
     In the pouch I put gilding flakes, mica fragments, glitter and mica powders, pretty much anything flat and sparkly I could find.
     It all went through the machine without any fuss and came out looking gorgeous, thankfully.
     To make sure the wings were going to look right I used paper to make a pattern, after a few tweaks here and there I cut around the paper to make my acetate wings. All that remained was to use some hot glue to attach the wings to the body. For display, at the moment, he is on a photo stand but I may use some fishing line to hang him from the ceiling.
      Altered Eclectics challenge is for anything mixed media, altered art or a recycled project so please come and join us with your creations, anything but cards and ATC's.

I would like to enter my dragonfly in the following challenges:

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes  (W)    (Top 3)

Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes   (M)