What a surprise when your husband brings home something to hang on the wall of the man cave area, and tells you he wants you to “fix it up” for him! That’s just what happened as my guy was on the hunt to select some items for his patriotic/naval themed wall decor.
He found this piece of wall art which had a great cutout of a rope and anchor. It took me some time to decide what I could do with it, considering I was already shocked with how a basically red, white, and blue look was going to fit in with the colors of the furnishings of the room!
Finally, it came to me! I had purchase a giant old atlas at an estate sale, for the purpose of using for mixed media pieces. I went through the pages and selected maps of areas where my husband had either traveled while in the Navy, or where we had lived. I used ModPodge and stuck it all down to the front of the piece.
When it was dry I could easily hold it where light was coming from behind, and see where it needed to be cut with a craft knife.
I used a little more white and blue paint, and then just gray paint around the anchor and white around the rope. 
When that was dry I did detail work with a fine black marker (I think it was Faber Castel Pitt Pen) and added some shading with some Faber Castel Pitt Pens. The sides are painted black to coordinate with some of the other wall pieces that are in black frames.
To me, it seems unfinished and I wanted to add some words to the piece, but he didn’t want anything else on it. Since it was done at his request, I left it at this stage, but I REALLY want to add something else!
Estate sales, thrift stores, and garage sales are great places to pick up old books, maps, and all kinds of great items to use in your mixed media pieces!
Have fun and mix it up!