Map birds

Bank Holiday Monday and an early trip to Ikea this morning for some frames for my recent pics!

While I was there I noticed some large pictures with birds, printed onto maps, simply placed on plain background! They looked really good and ripe for copying!

So, I made a card, using some gelli plating for the background, a Spanish map and a bit of torn paper bag! hope that you likey!

Bottle award!

Hi folks and here we are in another wonderful and stimulating topic with Leandra and the team....bottles!

I had no trouble contributing straight away as I have recently received a most prestigious award that I feel is worthy of submission in this category!

As you all know, there is an annual award for outstanding contribution to one of the following.....
Is it.....1.  The ability to hold your breath for the longest period of time?......
Or.......2.  Talking until you are blue in the face?

Both awards would merit such an esteemed trophy as the one that I am the lucky holder of!

I am the caretaker of this amazing trophy for merely a year.....but, as there is the spare elixir stored in the bottle, then I can share this amazing experience with fellow believers!

If you feel that you would like to be in the running to succeed me in this meritorious award then you must do 2 things!

1. Decide whether this is trophy 1 or 2.
2. Make a comment on my blog!

You decide!.......and if you think that they are not all locked up yet you may be right, but I had to do a quick blog as I am on holiday watch and soon to disappear into warmer climes!

Frame of mind

Having extra time to play has certainly set me spinning!
Anyone who knows me will understand that all these entries to the Paperartsy challenge are purely my exuberance and is nothing to do with the prize as it is definitely NOT my turn!

Anyway, I have been playing with the brightest of fresco paints lately and have found a real interest in this form of expression.

I started with my journal and painting swirls etc, added drippage and stamped a few circles. I stencilled with snowflake through a flowery stencilled added stabile aquarelle pencil. I cut out some circles from brown paper bag that I had played on at Dina W's class, glued and drew around them. I added a few more circles in black and white and then found what seemed to be an appropriate phrase from my collection of cuttings.
Am entering it into the PA words challenge with the other 3 million that I have submitted!

Hope that you are wearing your shades!

Monday morning craftiness

Unusual to have Monday morning to myself, so, as the weather was very wet, I decided to have a crafty play!
I did a bit of blog hopping and came across Bumblebees and butterflies,which inspired me to enter their Visual Journal Journey!

I started with pasting a brown bag which I had stamped on at a Dina Wakley class recently and then applied colourful splurges of Paperartsy fresco acrylics!

Next, added a few dots, lines with a credit card and stencilled script.

Using a stencil, I added white seed heads and flowers and scribbled around them. Finally I added some black stencilling and 2 tiny words from Tim Hotz chitchat.

Quite different for a Monday morning!

Bumblebees and butterflies

Words Flowers

Lots of spare time at the moment as babysitting duties are fewer and further between!

After my last play with bright frescos, flowers and scribbles I was still in the mood to play!

I started in my journal by gluing down a scrap of Gelli plating; randomly brushed frescos, and dripped watered down frescos!

Just like last time I stencilled, scribbled, doodled and printed to my hearts content! Might have overdone this one, but there was actually room to squeeze in a Lin Brown sentiment.

I am entering this into the Paperartsy challenge and Artistic Stamper too.

Words Tax Envelope

Here I am again, playing with the Paperartsy challenge of Words.
Decided to start with a very austere envelope which dates back to my Dad, probably from the 60's.
Taxes!
Glued it to my journal page and added splashes of frescos in Sky, Banana, Smoked Paprika, Bougainvillea and Limelight!

Obviously my mission was to lighten the mood of the envelope.

I dripped some ink from the top of the page and then stencilled with snowflake using a Lin Brown stencil,some flowers. Stencilled some leaves; scribbled around the flowers with Black Stabile Aquarelle and went over them with a watery brush; stamped a black Jofy border; stamped some leaves; played around with spots an dots and just played really!

The idea behind it is the contrast between the words and the happiness of the flowery bower!

so, it is being entered into the Paperartsy challenge.

Paperartsy

Brightened an already quite pleasant day!

Sunset

I was inspired by Sue Butler's splendid sunset over on Country View Crafts challenge blog and it said, if you have no stamps and dies to create a scene, then try to do one yourself....and I thought....I never thought of that!
So, I found a photo that I took from my living room window in February and had a go replicating it!

I washed my journal page with water and very freely added some washes of Paperartsy frescos in Tango, Rose, Zesty Zing and Sky!

I didn't faff around like I usually do, just went for it!

Next I used a Stabilo black Aquarelle pencil and just drew and scribbled the trees. Then framed it with loose lines. Surprised myself a bit!

Am entering this into the Country View Challenge.

www.countryviewchallenges.blogspot.com/2015/05/sue-bs-tantalising-sunset.html.

Pink Girl

After an amazing time drawing faces with Dina Wakley in Harrogate I am still fired up to continue!

I have used Dina's media acrylic paints and a stamp by Dyan Reaveley to create a journal page! the scribble around her reads 'No matter how she tried to hide it she was a pink girl!

I am linking this to Kim Dellow's blog of Hand drawn faces on a Friday!

Words Brusho

As my fabulous Grandchildren are away for the week I have found more time to play!
Inspired by the talented Alison @craftytrog I got out the neglected pots of Brusho and played around with different colours!
Eventually, while adding more water and waiting for puddles to dry I had the idea to get a cocktail stick and draw exploding lines.
I went for clean and simple which makes a change for me and added some stamps from HPWT03 which I stamped with black archival and clear embossed.
To finish off I double mounted my work and added a few buttons!
Quite like them!

When I am old!

So excited for @Massofhair and team on the launch of their new Challenge blog. Not really into digital but hope that this fits the criteria of old..Ava , new...washi tape and digital...printed off image??

I started with Dylusions inks and dripped down and across my journal page! Added a few splats of ink, despite the fact that I was wearing white trousers!
Next I added a mix of washi tape and stamped a few dots!
Printed off one of my favourite images and quotes!
Tarted Ava up a bit and glued it all down!
The booze and paint are do-able; music mandatory; luckily have a great kitchen.....which just leaves the house by the sea........in my dreams baby!
Over on PaperArtsy, the theme is words, and there are certainly a few here, so I will also post this on the PA blog. Mo tells me that I should also provide links but, sadly, I don't know how!

Mo's new challenge blog is oldnewanddigitaltoo.blogspot.co.uk

Words Painting By Numbers

This PA challenge about words has captured my imagination. I am enjoying thinking of different ways to display words.
I collect magazine pics and remembered that I had a simple drawing of a face in a make up advert.
I drew my own simplified version in my journal using an ordinary pencil.

Next, I went over the lines with Stabilo Black Aquarellable pencil and probably because my Grandson George has enjoyed creating his own dot to dot pictures recently, I numbered the lines!

Next, I selected a few PA fresco paints and dabbed the paint through a dotty stencil for a kind of frame.

I went over my stabile lines with a wet paint brush to darken them and added some fresco colour to the face.

Finally, I wanted to suggest hair with words and it seemed a good idea to write "Painting By Numbers", which was a popular painting set for nervous artists when I was little!

A little quirky but good fun creating it! love it when you start something and have no idea where it will end up!

My lovely friend Mo @Massofhair has suggested that I link this to Kim Dellow's Hand drawn faces on a Friday too, so here goes!

Words ART

A new topic on PA blog tonight kickstarted my brain and I set to straight away!

I found a piece of copy paper that I had gelli printed on using muted distress inks and a seed pod stencil.
I drew through my ART stencil several times with Black Fudeball pen and then doodled with the black pen and highlighted with white Signo uniball pen.
Just finished off with a few heart shapes to signify that I love art!

Sprays Flower in Bottle

Well, I think that my boat has begun to float again as this is my third Sprays entry into the PA challenge today!

I was looking at Sam's blog and her journal page where she used a selection of sprays of the same colour to use as a background.
I sprayed a selection of blues and greens onto a journal page, stamped the flower and bottle from HP1205....the colours reminded me of old bottles....and stamped a sentiment from PA urban snapshots USSL1.
Like the simplicity of it!

Sprays Cogs

Had another experimental play with sprays this afternoon.
Started by spraying inks onto my craft mat and dipping the card into them.
Next I added some PA stamped images on tissue paper.

Painted strips of Bougainvillea and Eggplant and then wiped paint off through word stencils. Bit more spraying, bit of scribble...added some die cuts and dumbed it down with mica sprays.

Overegged the pudding a bit but enjoyed playing.

Sprays Ladybirds

I have taken inspiration from the wonderful pieces of art on the PA blog for the topic of sprays and tried to incorporate some of their ideas into my work. Love Julie Ann's use of glaze and then spraying watery paints with a touch of glaze in the mix; Jo's grungy drippy experiments; Emma's bleaching effect; Ruth's use of unprimed canvas.....could go on!

I found a gelly plate background of flowers and stamped Jofy ladybirds onto it and a sentiment. Like Julie Ann, I mixed paint into Grungepaste and applied it through more flowers. Next, I added some extra colour to the flowery background using Portfolio pastels and sealed it with metallic glaze.
I mixed some watery Bougainvillea with metallic glaze and sprayed over my work. It gave it a leathery, burnished finish.
I rubbed some Distress inks over the top and flicked water to bleach out little bits!
Finally I overstamped some flowers in black archival, added Treasure Gold White Fire to my Grunge Flowers and Glossy Accented the ladybirds!
This is simply an experiment in lots of ideas and techniques and will never pass go or collect £200...but, I am gradually learning to play more and not expect a finished piece of accomplished art every time!