Purple Rain

Well, like buses, you wait for ever and just get on one and another comes along straight after.
So, having never entered Country View Crafts challenge before, I now have 2 in one day!

I slept on my first challenge before I finished assembling it and consequently, my mind would not shut down and I dreamed up an idea to do a version of purple rain!
 It didn't really look like this but I am pleased with how this has evolved. I may turn this into a birthday card sometime.
I started like last time, using gel through a stencil. Next, sprayed some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Rum n Raisin down the page. It was then that that I had the idea to use the Ruby Rainbow stamp, which I stamped onto assorted mop up papers.
After assembling her, I used Stickles for her hair and for the rain and printed out part of the Purple Rain Song. Thought that it was quite funky for a pensioner!
Thanks again Alison Bomber for urging me to take part!

After rain

Recently I had another lovely comment on my work by Alison Bomber. She suggested that I pop by the CVC blog and join in the "drips and drops" challenge. So I thought, yes, you are kind enough to evaluate my work and I will have a go!
 I started by chopping up some Finnabair papers and gluing to my journal page and then pressed Liquitex Heavy Gel through my favourite stencil.

When dry, I brushed Dark Bronze mica powder over it; added some padded squares and sprayed areas with Ranger mica sprays, allowing them to run down.

Next I selected part of a poem that talks about the rain, autumn colours, moonlight and crystal. I added a family photo which is also reflective,some ribbon, a few bark hearts and some buttons. The above stage was a breeze, but arranging my composition and deciding upon final elements took hours and a nights sleep!

I had to simplify the mounting of the verse and photo as my background was so busy. 

So, here is my first entry on the Countryview Crafts challenge! Alison Bomber, you are an inspiration!

Calendar February

Happy to join in with the lovely Darcy and her Calendar challenge. Here is my before pic!

I turned her into a mermaid and painted her skin blue. I painted out the letters and stamped small bubbles over the lanterns with bubble wrap. I cut a corrugated card sea and rubbed it with treasure Gold. I rubbed treasure gold onto my large bubble wrap for the ocean. I gave her bubbles from her mouth as intended to submerge her in more bubble wrap but it covered up the mermaid tail too much.Finally I squeezed glitter glue onto the lamps and the bubbles and the top of the sea for a bit of added sparkle. bit crackers but good fun!

Her tail is iridescent but doesn't show up very well!

Shiny Stuff Winter Garden 3

I have not got this Winter Garden thing out of my system yet. So many avenues to explore.
Today, I decided to use my Felting Machine to create layers of foliage.
I started with a piece of handmade paper. Wet it and scribbled inktense pencils onto it.

Next. I cut small pieces of ribbon, lace, trim, Tyvec made lacy and glittery net and ran the felter over them to adhere them to the paper. (I put a piece of felt on the back to help adhere the fibres.)

Anything that was reluctant to fasten down was sewn over with my sewing machine!

I found some variegated green threads and felted them onto the piece to resemble clumps of leaves and then blobbed Perfect pearls in amongst them to represent snowdrops. My original intention was to hand sew a few leaves and add seed beads but changed my mind!

I stamped a sentiment with Black Archival onto some ribbon and laid it onto hessian!

Or does it look better without the hessian? Not decided what to do with it yet!

Thanks for looking. Not entering it into PA challenge as am embarrassed at how rapid my work rate is!

Shiny Stuff Card

Me again! Just had to buy some plumber's tape and have a go after seeing such great work earlier this challenge!
After never having heard of it in B&Q I went to a local builder's yard. Told the guy that I wanted it for art and he said  "Thats ok, we get all sorts in here".

I begun by gluing some card letters onto a cereal packet and placed the plumber's tape over the top. I enjoyed making the letters emerge by pressing with a paper stump. I decided not to paint it but to rub in various colours of treasure gold.
Next I added some star brads.
I used all my experimental offcuts from my canvas of my Dad to create a frame around the piece.
I then mounted the whole thing onto brown card and it is going to be a birthday card for my wonderful son!
Loved playing with plumber's tape. Lots of possibilities!

Shiny Stuff Winter Garden 2

Here again with my second play at Winter Garden. My last piece, I felt was a bit overplayed, so this time, I tried to hold back a bit!

I used much the same as last time, with the addition of some very raggy hessian. I didn't brush my background with mica powder this time and I added some drips with watered down PA Snowflake.
It seemed very appropriate to add one of Lin Browns lovely sentiments, which I stamped onto Chatsworth paper. I also scribbled some leaves etc using a Derwent Inktense pencil. My snowflakes this time were perfect pearls!
Loving this theme thanks to the very talented Diane Taylor!

Shiny Stuff Winter Garden.

Another project with shiny stuff and this one is entirely inspired by the amazing work of artist Diane Taylor...velvetmothstudio. She also entered the PA challenge with her Winter Garden! I am totally blown away by her work and decided to try my version.
First I took photos outside with vegetation peeping through the snow.
Next, I played with Tyvek, as explained by Diane, where you iron it over a stamp, covered by parchment paper and get lacy results.

This is a bad photo as they are white and silver.

Next, I played with Angelina fibres and Fusible film over some of Lin Browns stamps. Here are 2 of the flowers.

I played for a while with fibres and film adding mica flakes between layers.

Then, in my journal, I grungepasted through a stencil and added white mica powder before it was dry, and glued some random mop up paper in strips! No idea where this was going!

I love the irridescence of the mica powder on the shapes.

Next, I tore up the lacy tyvek, cut up "grassy strips" using parchment paper and Waxy Kraft; added music strips; glued mica flakes; cut some strips from fusible film experiments for leaves and cut up Lin's flowers to make snowdrops! 

After a while I realised that I had overdone it but hey ho! I had a blast!

Finally, I wrote my words onto Chatsworth paper, aged them a bit and added them to the FULL page.

I am going to have another go and this time pare it down a lot! 

I am pleased with my experiments more than the finished result, but that to me is fine.

So many thanks to Diane Taylor, who, to me is a genius!