Layered Mandalas 3

A couple more mandalas now I’ve got the hang of the layering. Cut from 2mm greyboard. Paint white and assemble.



And this one is taken from a real snowflake pic. Merely a six-sided mandala…

I find it really tricky to stop the soot from the cut edges marring the top coat of paint. Even when I wipe over first, and keep my fingers well away, there’s still some smudges :frowning:

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I like the snowflake.

You aren’t using spray paint? Baltic birch doesn’t make soot… nor does acrylic, and mdf, and lots of other materials. Not sure what ‘greyboard’ is, but if soot if a problem you’ll probably be happier using a more appropriate material, even if it’s a bit more expensive.

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You are raising the bar again. I see an airport design in that snowflake. Scary window into my mind, I guess.

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It’s a trade off - I apply the paint with a hard roller so the sides of the pieces stay dark. If I used spray paint once assembled, overspray would ruin the contrast.

I think US chipboard is UK greyboard - a grey cardboard. And yes, I’d like to use birch ply or similar, but I’m hoping to sell at a craft fair and I’m worried the costs won’t get things sold.

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Have you tried white greyboard (ha!) I have had success cutting that without smoke staining the surface.

I haven’t … thanks for the tip.

Baltic Birch, shopped correctly in the US, is very affordable. I get a 5’x5’ sheet of it for about $14 US, which yields 15 full GF sheets. That works out to under $1 ($0.56, to be exact) per square foot. Assuming your mandalas are about 11"x11", that’s $3-ish for a 6 layer mandala, and that’s if you make zero effort to optimize the free floating parts. I’d imagine the costs are different in the UK, so you’d have to tell us.

Love ‘em both! :two_hearts: I really like the display against the music background.

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Beautiful design and execution.

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Your mandalas have a lovely fluidity. :grinning:

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These are so great! I really like the variation in each design. Well done!!!

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Wow! Those are stunning. I’ve never seen anyone do a layered snowflake like that! POW!

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I get my birch from Hobarts in the UK. A sheet of birch cut 500x300 is pretty cheap. There is some discount for the number you buy. Might be worth checking out for you.

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Both are beautiful!

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