Masquerade

Hidy Ho, crafty peeps!

I have been hard at work here in the labora-Torrey.

REALLY hard at work.

A dear family friend (Bob) hired me a few days ago to craft for him a masquerade mask for an upcoming Soiree he's attending. This isn't your ordinary run-of-the-mill costume party. No siree Bob. It's a Hoity-Toity, high-falutin', Cinderella-esque masquerade ball. You know the kind you see in James Bond movies? Where the men wear tuxedos and the ladies dress in fancy gowns...and the "Who's Who" of the city are all there, dressed to the nines.

I've never attended such a lavish affair. I've only seen them in movies.

Well, Bob is going. And he commissioned me to create a mask...in whatever style I choose! My only restriction was that it had to be a black mask. Apparently, the men are all wearing black masks, and the women are wearing white.

I immediately knew I had to make a Steampunk mask...and it had to be a half-face Phantom of the Opera-type mask. That's the only idea that came to me. But, one idea is all you need if it's the right one!

For the past 2 days I've been cutting and gluing and painting and creating up a storm.

Here is the result.

It TOTALLY looks like leather and metal, doesn't it??? Well, it's not. It's SUPER light weight because most of it is made from....craft foam.

Here is the top part:

 

And, here is the bottom of it:

Here are the main materials I used.
(plus a few hardware odds and ends)

Hard to believe it's mainly constructed out of craft foam and other household objects.

The parts above the eye and on the right edge of the forehead are the silver pieces from the plastic toy motorcycles in the picture above. The tubes on the left side of the mask are made from a USB cable. The goggles are el-cheapo swimming goggles I got at the dollar store. The mask I got from the party store. It was the most expensive thing at $3 (well, actually the black matte spray paint was more expensive).

• I free-hand cut the base pieces from craft foam. That's right folks. I didn't use any patterns. I just made it up as I went. 
• I used several manufacturers gear dies (Sizzix, Spellbinders, Cheery Lynn, QuicKutz) to cut the multitude of gears. FYI, craft foam (the thin stuff) cuts GREAT in the Big Shot...even with the wafer dies.
• Then I used a few sticks of hot glue to glue it all down.
• I took it outside and spray painted the whole shebang with matte black paint (Not an easy task when it's raining and the humidity is at 100%).
• I then took silver Rub 'n Buff and highlighted what needed to be.

And, here is Bob in his new mask!!

 I told him not to smile...that it wasn't a smiling type of mask.

It's hard to imagine that this mask started out as a plain, white plastic mask. Now that I really look at it...it's more Sci-Fi than Steampunk. If it were made of a base of brown with copper or brass highlights, then it would be totally Steampunk. As is, it looks a lot like a Borg headpiece from Star Trek. I have no doubt his mask is going to be completely unique and over-the-top by comparison. I have a feeling he'll be the beau of the ball. 

And as for it being "over-the-top"? Well, that's how I roll...but y'all know that already.

Resistance is futile.