There are some new ATCs up for swap on my Flickr page, if anyone is interested. To make it easier, I have now put all the available ones in one set (look at the thumbnails on the right of the photostream).
Saturday, 25 April 2009
A couple of swapbot swaps and some new ATCs for trade
I am cutting down on them, honest :-) Themes are Moon and Numbers. For the moon theme I used my new Character Constructions stamps. For some reason the bingo call, legs 11, kept coming to mind - so that's what I did.
There are some new ATCs up for swap on my Flickr page, if anyone is interested. To make it easier, I have now put all the available ones in one set (look at the thumbnails on the right of the photostream).
There are some new ATCs up for swap on my Flickr page, if anyone is interested. To make it easier, I have now put all the available ones in one set (look at the thumbnails on the right of the photostream).
Monday, 20 April 2009
Artistic Stamper: fabulous blog candy...and my recycled ATCs
Hop on over to The Artistic Stamper right now and you could win a whole heap of goodies, including their fab new bird and nature stamps (drawn on 3rd May). If you don't know the Artistic Stamper (why not!? ) it's their wonderful bird stamp that came free with this month's Craft Stamper, and Hels and Jennie also created some great projects using it. Well worth buying this month!
This week's MAMMA challenge is to recycle. I tried to make mine almost 100% recycled - and apart from using one sizzix die, some glue, gel medium and lettuce alcohol ink they are! Click on images to see them better.
For Abstract I layered paper towel that had been at the bottom of my makeshift spray booth and caught all the various colour washes and glimmer mists. I added a rusty, flattened bottle cap I found in the street and coloured the centre with alcohol ink. Apologies for the scan quality; the bottletop threw the scanner off.
Golden Birdies started with corrugated card painted with leftover household paint. I dipped a milk carton lid into more household paint to make a stamp. The birds and branches are cut with my Big Shot using cardboard packaging from a microwave meal and ink cartridge. The red beak was a happy accident; I only noticed it once I'd posted it on Flickr.
Golden Birdies is a song from Captain Beefheart's Clear Spot album. I know Siobhan will appreciate the lyrics (haha).
This week's MAMMA challenge is to recycle. I tried to make mine almost 100% recycled - and apart from using one sizzix die, some glue, gel medium and lettuce alcohol ink they are! Click on images to see them better.
For Abstract I layered paper towel that had been at the bottom of my makeshift spray booth and caught all the various colour washes and glimmer mists. I added a rusty, flattened bottle cap I found in the street and coloured the centre with alcohol ink. Apologies for the scan quality; the bottletop threw the scanner off.
Golden Birdies started with corrugated card painted with leftover household paint. I dipped a milk carton lid into more household paint to make a stamp. The birds and branches are cut with my Big Shot using cardboard packaging from a microwave meal and ink cartridge. The red beak was a happy accident; I only noticed it once I'd posted it on Flickr.
Golden Birdies is a song from Captain Beefheart's Clear Spot album. I know Siobhan will appreciate the lyrics (haha).
Those little golden birdies look at them
And the mystic Egypt tossle dangling down
Old sleeper-man shish, don't wake him
Up one hand broom star was an obi-man
revered throughout the bone-knob land
His magic black purse slit creeped open,
Let go flocks of them
Shish sookie singabus
Snored like a red merry-go-round horse
And an acid gold bar swirled up and down,
Up and down, in back of the singabus
And the panataloon duck white goose neck quacked
webcore, webcore
Sunday, 19 April 2009
April Birthday Cards
It's not very often I blog birthday cards. To tell the truth, I don't much enjoy making them and I find it harder to be creative. However I'm quite pleased with these two.
The birdcage one was for my friend Jude who celebrated her birthday on 15th. It started off as an ATC (I thought that might help the creative process!) - stamping on a crayon resist/brusho background.
The fishy one is for my ex (we are still on good terms) who is 50 tomorrow and, you may have guessed, into fishing in a big way. I'd been making a bunch of resist backgrounds using crayon, oil pastel and acrylics overpainted with brusho. This one was two shades of brusho and then I think (can't remember) I rolled over the wet paint with a brayer wrapped in elastic bands. Anyway, the result looked like a river bed so it made sense to use for Trev's card. The fish are rub-ons (from cheapie shop The Works) and the hook is just wire and invisible sewing thread. The grungeboard numbers were inked and then dabbed with green Viva Precious Metal Colour.
I bought the Viva paint (one of four shades) yesterday, along with a bunch of other stuff, at the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show at Alexandra Palace. And I only went £20 over my budget! Not bad when faced with a hall full of craft stuff! I spent most of my money at the LB Crafts stand (as I suspect did my friend Siobhan - she was still spending when I left LOL). We watched Linda from LB Crafts and Leandra from Paper Artsy do wonderful stuff with metal and texture mats and Viva paint - it was wonderful.
Met another lovely crafter, Lubna, from the MAMMA group on Flickr. We swapped ATCs - or rather I had one of hers off her with the promise I'd put some more up for trade very soon!
The birdcage one was for my friend Jude who celebrated her birthday on 15th. It started off as an ATC (I thought that might help the creative process!) - stamping on a crayon resist/brusho background.
The fishy one is for my ex (we are still on good terms) who is 50 tomorrow and, you may have guessed, into fishing in a big way. I'd been making a bunch of resist backgrounds using crayon, oil pastel and acrylics overpainted with brusho. This one was two shades of brusho and then I think (can't remember) I rolled over the wet paint with a brayer wrapped in elastic bands. Anyway, the result looked like a river bed so it made sense to use for Trev's card. The fish are rub-ons (from cheapie shop The Works) and the hook is just wire and invisible sewing thread. The grungeboard numbers were inked and then dabbed with green Viva Precious Metal Colour.
I bought the Viva paint (one of four shades) yesterday, along with a bunch of other stuff, at the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show at Alexandra Palace. And I only went £20 over my budget! Not bad when faced with a hall full of craft stuff! I spent most of my money at the LB Crafts stand (as I suspect did my friend Siobhan - she was still spending when I left LOL). We watched Linda from LB Crafts and Leandra from Paper Artsy do wonderful stuff with metal and texture mats and Viva paint - it was wonderful.
Met another lovely crafter, Lubna, from the MAMMA group on Flickr. We swapped ATCs - or rather I had one of hers off her with the promise I'd put some more up for trade very soon!
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Fat Page Jam #4 - part 2
Here are the pages I made for Siobhan:
For June's France theme, I chose two icons of French femininity: Marie Antoinette and Brigitte Bardot.
For Siobhan's Mardi Gras theme I used the colours of the New Orleans Mardi Gras - purple, green and gold. Beads are handed out from the floats so I used these Dew Drops (appropriately named Mardi Gras) from 3Djean, coloured aluminium foil with alcohol inks and embossed. The mask is made from polymer clay.
My Birds theme utilises cuttlebug embossing folder and Twinkling H2Os on the front - and acrylics and collage on the back.
For June's France theme, I chose two icons of French femininity: Marie Antoinette and Brigitte Bardot.
For Siobhan's Mardi Gras theme I used the colours of the New Orleans Mardi Gras - purple, green and gold. Beads are handed out from the floats so I used these Dew Drops (appropriately named Mardi Gras) from 3Djean, coloured aluminium foil with alcohol inks and embossed. The mask is made from polymer clay.
My Birds theme utilises cuttlebug embossing folder and Twinkling H2Os on the front - and acrylics and collage on the back.
Fat Page Jam #4 - part 1
I've just taken part in another fat page jam - this time with Siobhan and June. Here are the ones I made for June:
June chose France as here theme, so I chose sunflowers. I don't usually use epoxy stickers but the watering can of sunflowers fitted nicely.
Siobhan chose Mardi Gras. I enhanced images I found on Flickr and Google with Twinkling H2os and gel pens.
My chosen theme was Birds,mainly because I have these fabulous stamp sheets from Green Pepper Press. These include sets of eggs with different markings that you can layer over each other. I photographed an egg box for the back.
June chose France as here theme, so I chose sunflowers. I don't usually use epoxy stickers but the watering can of sunflowers fitted nicely.
Siobhan chose Mardi Gras. I enhanced images I found on Flickr and Google with Twinkling H2os and gel pens.
My chosen theme was Birds,mainly because I have these fabulous stamp sheets from Green Pepper Press. These include sets of eggs with different markings that you can layer over each other. I photographed an egg box for the back.
Friday, 10 April 2009
Swapbot ATCs (and postage rant!)
I've cut down on my swapbot-ing a lot lately, confining myself mostly to groups where I have some idea of the quality of art I will receive. Not to mention the latest postal price hike (9%!!!) which has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. I read the other day that last year the Royal Mail spent £1 million on red rubber bands. Maybe if the postmen didn't drop them on the street and took them back to their depots RM could save some money and not have to put the postage up so much!
And while I am venting, is it me or is blogger getting flakier and flakier? Sometimes I give up trying to see people's blogs, let alone comment, because the pictures don't load. It's worse when people add all sorts of extras (I don't really want to listen to your radio station, sorry) but I think the problem lies with blogger/blogsot/whoever not having enough bandwidth.
Sorry, I digress....here are my ATCs for Sheet Music swap; Wings swap and Home Sweet Home swap:
And while I am venting, is it me or is blogger getting flakier and flakier? Sometimes I give up trying to see people's blogs, let alone comment, because the pictures don't load. It's worse when people add all sorts of extras (I don't really want to listen to your radio station, sorry) but I think the problem lies with blogger/blogsot/whoever not having enough bandwidth.
Sorry, I digress....here are my ATCs for Sheet Music swap; Wings swap and Home Sweet Home swap:
Fat Page Jam #3 - part 2
Now onto the fat pages I made for Flippinpest...
For her chosen theme - children's entertainment - I chose that perennial classic Alice in Wonderland. The backgrounds are wax crayon resist overpainted with Brusho. I used the Tenniel illustrations and adapted them.
For Pattie's Poem theme, I chose Ted Hughes' Crow Falls, mainly because I have just invested in two sheets of Michelle Ward's fabulous bird stamps, but also because the whole poem fitted neatly on the back. You should be able to read it (click if you need to see it larger) but, basically, crow started off white, decided to attack the sun and got scorched to black as he fell to earth.
Zen gravel gardens, that are raked and re-raked in different patterns, are very Wabi Sabi (my theme - see part 1 for brief explanation). I originally had an idea to make the front by glueing quinoa (Fairtrade organic, no less!) onto the card and then overpainting. All I made was a mess! So instead I rolled some plasticine into long ropes to form concentric circles. I then tore pieces of thin handmade paper and pasted them over the circles with gel medium. Lastly I painted with acrylics, dabbing brush markers and finishing off by grinding rock salt and black pepper on top.
I inked the back in Pebble and Lake Mist (Adirondack) and embossed in a Cuttlebug folder. I smeared gesso lightly over the picture and overstamped with...um...Chinese characters (my bad, but I didn't have any Japanese stamps).
For her chosen theme - children's entertainment - I chose that perennial classic Alice in Wonderland. The backgrounds are wax crayon resist overpainted with Brusho. I used the Tenniel illustrations and adapted them.
For Pattie's Poem theme, I chose Ted Hughes' Crow Falls, mainly because I have just invested in two sheets of Michelle Ward's fabulous bird stamps, but also because the whole poem fitted neatly on the back. You should be able to read it (click if you need to see it larger) but, basically, crow started off white, decided to attack the sun and got scorched to black as he fell to earth.
Zen gravel gardens, that are raked and re-raked in different patterns, are very Wabi Sabi (my theme - see part 1 for brief explanation). I originally had an idea to make the front by glueing quinoa (Fairtrade organic, no less!) onto the card and then overpainting. All I made was a mess! So instead I rolled some plasticine into long ropes to form concentric circles. I then tore pieces of thin handmade paper and pasted them over the circles with gel medium. Lastly I painted with acrylics, dabbing brush markers and finishing off by grinding rock salt and black pepper on top.
I inked the back in Pebble and Lake Mist (Adirondack) and embossed in a Cuttlebug folder. I smeared gesso lightly over the picture and overstamped with...um...Chinese characters (my bad, but I didn't have any Japanese stamps).
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Fat Page Jam #3 - part 1
I recently took part in a fat page jam with Pattie and Flippinpest. Here are the ones I made for Pattie! Flipp's will follow (when I know she's received them).
Pattie chose Poem as her theme and I chose my dad's favourite poem by John Masefield - Sea Fever. I painted the seascape in a mix of acrylic, oil pastel and brusho watercolour. On the back I created a sail to hold the poem.
Val chose Children's Entertainment. For this I went back to my childhood to a particularly weird - some say scary - programme from East Germany that was screened by the BBC in the 1960s.
It's called The Singing Ringing Tree. For years when I mentioned it to friends it drew blank looks. However, with the advent of the Internet I found there are loads of people who do remember it! It has since been hilariously spoofed by the Fast Show. There is a comprehensive Web page about it and a couple of clips on Youtube (it was released on DVD a few years ago).
The backgrounds and the fish were created by rubbing wax crayons and oil pastels over embossing mats and overpainting with brusho. In the case of the fish I ran it through my Big Shot to emboss it further.
A few weeks ago I watched a programme about Wabi Sabi, which is something of a slippery term. It's basically a Japanese aesthetic/worldview based on Zen which sees beauty in simplicity and/or imperfection and accepts the notion of transience. There's an interesting wikipedia entry which explains it better and more fully.
Front: for the background I brushed jade green acrylic and then turquiose brusho over a piece of shiny packaging. I then created the bowl from a circle of cardboard, using ink, brusho, acrylic and oil pastel to colour it - and clear glue to make a raise rim. That's the simple/imperfect beauty bit.
Back: Wax crayon resist using cuttlebug embossing folders, painted with brusho. The dried leaves represent change and the passing of time (and the inevitability of death).
Pattie chose Poem as her theme and I chose my dad's favourite poem by John Masefield - Sea Fever. I painted the seascape in a mix of acrylic, oil pastel and brusho watercolour. On the back I created a sail to hold the poem.
Val chose Children's Entertainment. For this I went back to my childhood to a particularly weird - some say scary - programme from East Germany that was screened by the BBC in the 1960s.
It's called The Singing Ringing Tree. For years when I mentioned it to friends it drew blank looks. However, with the advent of the Internet I found there are loads of people who do remember it! It has since been hilariously spoofed by the Fast Show. There is a comprehensive Web page about it and a couple of clips on Youtube (it was released on DVD a few years ago).
The backgrounds and the fish were created by rubbing wax crayons and oil pastels over embossing mats and overpainting with brusho. In the case of the fish I ran it through my Big Shot to emboss it further.
A few weeks ago I watched a programme about Wabi Sabi, which is something of a slippery term. It's basically a Japanese aesthetic/worldview based on Zen which sees beauty in simplicity and/or imperfection and accepts the notion of transience. There's an interesting wikipedia entry which explains it better and more fully.
Front: for the background I brushed jade green acrylic and then turquiose brusho over a piece of shiny packaging. I then created the bowl from a circle of cardboard, using ink, brusho, acrylic and oil pastel to colour it - and clear glue to make a raise rim. That's the simple/imperfect beauty bit.
Back: Wax crayon resist using cuttlebug embossing folders, painted with brusho. The dried leaves represent change and the passing of time (and the inevitability of death).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
