Black and White

Day off babysitting today so on my list as well as the mundane was playing!
I had been browsing on Pinterest during breakfast and some of the artwork stirred me into action.
I collected together a selection of mainly black materials and then discovered that I would need some white.
I started by brayering my Schoolgirls Story Bumper book page with Fresco Little Black Dress making sure that I left the black and white drawing clear.
With Dylusions black ink, I spritzed through a chevron stencil.
Next I put together a collage of images, papers and washi tape.
I embellished my page with ribbon, tiny flowers, bit of die cut, buttons and Liquid Pearls in black and white.
Finally I wrote in white pen and stood back.
It's one of those "where did that come from?" moments. I really enjoyed putting it together and that's the main reason for doing it. It gave me a few follow up ideas too…..happy days!

Deb's Flowers

Wow, what  lovely surprise when Deborah popped up as our newest Guest Designer. So proud of her. She is a very talented and lovely lady. We were the new girls together not so long ago.
I had to have a go at her challenge and had no wreath so thinking cap on!

I found a sun hat that was lying in a cupboard upstairs that needed brightening up so that was the answer. Maybe Darcy could wear it at the festival in the summer!

I die cut some flowers and separated them into 2 piles. painted one group with Rose, Sherbert and Pansy and group @ with Vanilla, Chocolate pudding and Irish Cream. They didn't link up well so I touched up group 2 with some Rose from the other group. Next I distressed inked the edges and sprayed them and scrunched them up.
Just want Deborah to know that this is a long and arduous task for Little Miss Impatient and so was a labour of love to honour your launch.
Next , after assembling them I filled the centres with Glossy accents and sprinkled Beadazzles onto them.
I attached the flowers to ribbon and twine and bedecked the hat.
I would never have the patience to do  whole wreath but enjoyed playing.
Happy Mothers Day y'all…!!

Spring Tulips

Fired up again once more by the fabulous Jo Myhill. Exquisite tulips. As usual in awe of her ingenuity.

I wanted to do something with tulips but make it slightly different. So I read and reread Jo's instructions and decided to work with black card because it would already be black on the back and I wouldn't have to paint it.
I don't have the Jofy texture stamps for the tulips YET so I decided to emboss my petals in my Big Shot. This way I could use the fantastic Treasure Gold to maximum effect. So, here we go:-

1. Embossed loads of black card.
2. Cut out petals with Tulip Die (which I had forgotten that I had bought…....der, worrying).
3.Painted wooden skewers with Toad Hall and Seaweed.
4.Applied Treasure Gold..Sapphire and Royal Amethyst to petals.
5.Curled petals and assembled onto stem.
6.Used Chatsworth paper to line a box.
7.Tied tulips up with ribbon.
8.Photo!!

Enjoyed making the tulips and surprised that they weren't as fiddly as I had imagined….cos I don't have a lot of patience.
Will probably make some more and might even take my time and display them differently next time.
Fantastic idea Jo, thanks!!

Chatsworth Rose

Tonights PA challenge was a beautiful scrap page layout from the very talented Pam Thorburn.
Her work has inspired me to speed off into my craft room before and tonight was no exception. I absorbed, I rummaged and I created…all within the space of a couple of hours.

Luckily, I bought the new Chatsworth papers from Leandra this week, so I had no problem there, except, which paper to choose. As my chosen photograph is in black and white I went for a very neutral paper. I chopped the edges from the paper and distressed the edges and stitched it to the same paper reversed.
Next I mixed Tikka fresco with grungepaste and stencilled through circles. When dry I stamped with PA script stamp and heat embossed in gold and also stamped in coffee archival.
To make it different, I used the cut offs from the background to make a pie crust edge to the photo. I sprayed the paper, tore it and sewed it around the photograph.
I played around for a while with lace, doilies and flowers and found that I was getting a bit bogged down, so I started again.
I decided to use Tim Holtz Adage tickets and little wooden embellishments around the photo. 2 brass frames highlight the photo and just a few Wendy Vecchi flowers. I distress inked them to tie in with my neutral scheme.
Finally a magical sweep of Treasure Brass over the pie crust, animals, dots and flowers. Like fairy dust.
I could have tackled this in so many ways and will try this style again. I have really enjoyed it and little Rose looks happy amongst the animals.
Thankyou to Pam for her inspiration once again. The effort that the designers put in make it so much easier for us to achieve pleasing results!!

Masterboard

I cannot help but be in awe of the fantastic artwork from Jo Firth-Young.

Her stamps and her interpretations of her designs are amazing, and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then I am seen to be flattering her at every turn.

I have never heard of a master board but can see the positive aspects of creating them and decided to take up the challenge.
As usual, Jo makes things look easy and I just piled in with my usual vigour and found that I had to stop and really think about this.
I enjoyed fitting together my jigsaw and didn't try to drench everything with colour but gave some scribbly hints. I used a mop-up paper with green and yellow inks on to stamp and cut out leaves to give a contrast. My colours are Derwent colour pencils.
Pleased with it and can see me playing again. Thanks Jo.

Ellen Art Journal

Had a fabulous time tonight playing with the ideas that Ellen Vargo showed us on her video.
Another step further extending the work of her fabulous stamps…oops 2 fabulousses already!

Anyway, I decided to go a bit neutral on my colours and then give it an Ellen POP of red!
First I brayered the colours displayed into my journal, managed to get in one of the new colours…Chutney, love it!

I followed Ellen's lead with next steps. Printed circles in coffee archival and tiny PA circle stamp in Snowflake.

I found some paper that had mop ups of Dyan Reaveley inks and added some London Bus with my brayer. I used this for my cut outs. 

Next, I tore up some PA paper which has maps on and distressed the edges. I glued it all down and highlighted the edges of the maps with Red Inktense crayon and water.

Finally I added my lettering and drew stitch lines to make a border.

Thanks Ellen, I have loved doing this and can now add more ideas to my pot!

Grungy Heart, inspired by Jo Myhill

I am a huge fan of the work of lovely Jo Myhill. Whenever I see a piece of her work involving hearts, frantage, messy paint, bits of fabric etcetera, I drool.
This morning we were treated to a new piece of her work entitled Dark Heart, and I pored over every bit of it over and over again.
So, this afternoon, chores done, birthday card made and husband mucking about in the garden I set aside time for guilty pleasure….experimenting a la Jo!
I started in my square journal as I had no idea what the outcome would be. I scraped grunge paste over the centre of the page, cut out a heart from grunge paper and embedded it into the paste.

Next, I chose fresco paints, Amethyst, Chutney, Claret and Eggplant and painted them randomly around the heart. tried to keep the lines either vertical or horizontal. I painted the heart with Claret a couple of times and drew lines with oil pastels.

Now, what I didn't know was that I should probably have sprinkled frantage crystals onto my work while everything was wet. You already know what happened don't you! Most of them blew off when I approached with the heat gun!! I tried to attach Mica fragments too, same result. I tried heating from underneath and nearly set fire to the page. Anyway, I did manage to attach some and will know in future several learned ways to add powders etc. I used a black pen to add a few lines and go around the heart.

Finally, I stamped one of Lin Brown's new sentiments, mounted it onto cotton and silk fabric and sat back.

I loved doing this and now wish that it was on a canvas as I am pleased with my first attempt. 

My work was so one dimensional until I came onto here and met the PATWITS. Now there is inspiration at every turn.

Eclectica Avenue

Helen Chilton's avenue of Darcy houses is fabulous, so I was spurred on to have a go myself.

I started by cutting up cereal boxes for my letters , gessoed the fronts and rubbed them into Dylusion inks on my craft mat.

Next I arranged my houses along the letters and rubbed Black Soot Distress ink around the edges. It got very messy and looks quite industrial with all the soot!

I mounted the letters onto black card and glued a ribbon on the back. I wanted to make a hanging rather than a concertina stand up because I am running out of places to stand things but can always hang them up.

I enjoyed this project, thanks Helen.

Turquoise n Orange by Alison Bomber

Another challenge set my thoughts racing about how to try out the techniques that Alison showed us trying to give it a little twist.
So I thought acetate! First I dabbed grungepaste onto tags cut from acetate and stippled it to give the required texture.

Next I worked in my journal painting a background of Autumn Fire and crackle glazing with Vanilla on top. I then stamped the large stamp LPC030 with coffee archival.

I made washi tape using Beach Hut and the same stamps with coffee archival and framed my image. I also added some watery paint to the stamped background.

Next I applied Bora Bora, Beach Hut and Mermaid to my grungepasted acetate frames and also rubbed on Treasure Gold, Aquamarine, Brass and Spanish Topaz. I found some buttons that matched and attached them to the tags.

It took me ages before I was happy with the way that I had arranged the frames and finally glued them over my images. My photos do not show up the acetate but I am happy with my end result.

Alison, you are an inspiration. Thankyou!

Green Man 2

When I get ideas in my head I get a bit intense and I wanted to think of another interpretation of the green man without a mask. So last night, torch out, outside in the green bin,(appropriate colour) rooting round for Sunday colour supplements. Hey Presto, found a suitable candidate for green man!!

Glued him into a journal page and left him until tonight.

No plans as to how to do this but just got back to him tonight and threw some fresco paint on him, Limelight, Chocolate Pudding, London bus, Smoked Paprika and Hey Pesto. Actually mixed paint together tonight !! Also tore some book paper and brown paper leaves and added to the mix.

Next I was going to add stamped and cut papers using similar to last night but suddenly thought about my Ellen Vargo stamps. Bingo, quicker and I hoped different….so I stamped a mixture using versa mark coffee, olive and black archival. With hindsight should have left out the black….too dominant.

So here is Green man number 2. Don't have nightmares, sleep well!!

Green Man!

Oh Julie Ann, what is it that you do to me with these challenges. You are so clever and literally challenge me every time to push myself out of my comfort zone.
This time, looking at your wonderful green man creation inspired me to Google images and delve into creative possibilities. By 8 o clock on Sunday night I was fiddling away with bits of card.

I decided to play with the mask idea without a mask….so I cut up a cereal box and worked out a face that was a bit 3D. This was supposed to be a prototype but I sort of knew that being Mrs Impulsive, if it was the right size it would get glued down!!

Next I sponged Toad Hall, Hey Pesto, Sage and wonderful Chartreuse onto a PA 6x6 canvas and printed "bricks" on the sides of the canvas using PA stamp and Tikka, Chutney and Seaweed.

Next I painted the face. I used Hey Pesto and Toad Hall and when dry Rubbed on Treasure Gold Aquamarine. (Love Treasure Gold) I glued it into place. By this time was overexcited!!

I ought to add at this stage that I have a long suffering husband who is used to this overexcited person rushing in several times on a night with piece of artwork expecting him to make the right sounds despite the fact that he is ALWAYS watching football!! He made the right noises and also told me that he knew all about the green man cos he had also researched after drinking in the green man somewhere in London while at university!! Result!!

That was Sunday night. Now for tonight. I painted some grungeboard with the green frescos and then stamped PA oak leaves and some other stamps and cut them out.

Next I found some green card stock and die-cut leaves of various shapes. I also die-cut gold card leaves and finally (triumph) Waxed Kraft paper leaves which turned out to be fabulous.

I mixed plain Utee with gold and dipped some of the leaves. Was like bonfire night as some of them came out like bubbly toffee! Decided not to heat tool bubbles away as it added fab texture. Here are some of my leaves. (Difficult step for Mrs Impatient doing all this as I need it to be finished yesterday!!)

Next I cut some lace and ribbon to add to my collage of leaves. I cracked some of the Utee leaves (very satisfying) added gallons of heavy duty glue around the man and began to build up the leafy layer.

I really enjoyed this stage and hurtled off to the living room with the leafy man for encouraging comments from footie fan. He deserves a medal for coming up with the right comments and a long time ago worked out that it is best to just go with it!

So, Green man is finished and Julie Ann, many thanks for pushing me to new horizons. I LOVED doing this project, like I do all of your work. If I did it again I would make the bit behind his face more interesting. !!

Jax Framed pic

It was a lovely surprise when our new Guest Designer popped up and it was Jax. Her framed flowers are beautiful so I decided to have a go myself.

I started by printing with black stazon onto silver mirri card using my new Darcy stamps.
Next I made a frame and painted it with French Roast, added Crackle Glaze and then Pewter over the top.
I selected translucent Frescos for my mirri card and painted the house, stars etc with London Bus, Hey Pesto, Beach Hut and Limelight. They stand out really well on a shiny surface.
Finally I stamped with Black Archival onto the frame and painted with frescos. (Next time I would have continued the painting from the frame onto the picture)
Nevertheless, I am happy with my picture and congratulate Jax on her debut!
I found this difficult to photograph as I was getting myself and camera in the reflection!

Jo Wardle's One Layer Card.

I am always fascinated by Joanne's pared down style and aspire to be able to be minimalist.
So here is my interpretation.
This is short on photos and text as I have been a bit off it this week.
I began by spraying the card with water to break down the fibres. This made it easier to tear. I folded down the middle to make it easier also.
Next I brayered my leaf stamp with Dusty Teal, brayered flowers with Amethyst and Dolly Mixture.
I tried to link them up with the splatter stamp using olive archival.
Finally I stamped the text and glued buttons.
Its an idea that I can develop, thanks Joanne.

Blue Rose by Jo.

I love Jo's work. She has her own special way of finding the right colour blends and works with sublety and flair.
I am from the old brigade of "Life's too short to stuff a mushroom", so making flowers was a chore for me. That's why they are a bit on the thin side!

I don't have the new Chatsworth papers YET, so used my original PA papers. I chose a small print and covered the whole lot with a thin wash of Bora Bora, Seaweed, Space Cadet and Eggplant. i used cut n dry foam and also covered a tag made from the reverse side of the paper.

I sanded back some of the paint and sanded the edges to give a white finish.

Next I stamped randomly in the background with an Ellen Vargo stamp and used one of Lin Brown's sentiments for the background and also for the tag.

I cut my paper down to 8x8 and used the spare to die cut petals and used the reverse for leaves.

Jo mentions how sturdy the papers are ,so I sprayed my flowers with water to make them more pliable.

I used Treasure gold Amethyst on the flowers, Treasure gold Aquamarine on the leaves, and added some to my brads.

I glued hessian to the background, added wool to the tag and arranged the flowers.

I was pleased with the result as I thought that my colours might not work together.

Thanks Jo and next time I will spend more time on my flowers….or buy some!!

Canvas by Linda Cain

Linda's canvas is just glorious and I felt compelled to try my hand.

I decided to work in my journal as I was totally unsure of where I was heading. if I am pleased with my results, I will rework onto canvas.
I started by selecting a poem and illustration from a book of love poems, and using grunge paste through the new JOFY bloom and grow stencil.

Next, I painted on my fresco colours. starting in the middle, Limelight, Toad Hall, Lilac, Pansy and Eggplant. If I did it again I would blend them with foam rather than with a brush.

By now I was in the WHAT HAVE I DONE zone. but know that things can be retrieved so carried on. I stamped images from new Lynne Perrella stamps, painted them;stamped script with olive archival; treasure gilded the flowers and words with Brass and Amethyst, and glued down the images. Rubbed a bit more TG around the edges and there was my finished work. Yet another "what I would do better next time" piece but enjoyable and learning.

Thankyou Guru Linda….respect!