Darcy's Christmas Tree.

Not long to go now, and here is the lovely Darcy Wilkinson's glorious christmas tree.

I have used this stamp many times and love to play with it.

Here, I have stamped it four times onto some Christmas paper stash and layered it. Inked the edges with good old Distress Vintage Photo and added watercolour pens, some Glossy Accents and Stickles. I used Pinflair Glue in big splurges to create the 3D effect.

There is still time to join in with the challenge over on the Country View Crafts blog.

Products Used:- EDY04 stamp.

Mail Art

I was so inspired by Darcy's presentation of mail Art that I had to contribute.

First I selected a lovely old used brown envelope that came from France.

Using Distress sprays Ground Espresso, Hickory smoke, Tattered Rose and Faded Jeans, I applied the inks Wrinkle Free Distress style. 

Next, I printed with Black Archival using some of my favourite stamps from Paperartsy, HP1506; HP1507. also added some postmark stamps and some PA mini stamps. 

I painted in some of the images with Broken China Distress stain.

Finally, I added some stamps which I aged and a sentiment from TH Chitchat. 

I am happy to enter this into the Paperartsy challenge. 

Let it Snow

Here we are....December already....how exciting....and here is my first Christmas piece for Country View Crafts.

I began with a plain piece of silver Mirri card and used Leonie Pujol's fab embossing folder entitled "Let It Snow".

Next, I stamped a Paperartsy Home stamp HP1601 onto white card with Black archival and cut it out. i coloured in the windows with yellow Posca pen and attached it to the background. Added some snow and sparkle and mounted it onto a card. 

Used peel off greeting to tie in with my theme.

I hope that you like. 

To see more Christmas inspiration, please pop over to the CVC blog.

Products used:- Let it snow Folder; HP1601.

Positivity Pocket

Hello my friends and thank you for visiting my blog. Today, I present my Pocket of Positivity!

This is my design to tie in with the Paperartsy topic of "Bleach".

To be honest, I was flummoxed at first, as, apart from spilling onto my clothes etc, I had no experience of bleach in art.

So, my first step was to play with Paperartsy Infusions on tags and then bleach out some of the colour with stamping.

I sprayed water lightly onto tags and liberally added a mixture of infusions, spraying and dabbing until I reached the desired effect.

Next, I spread thick bleach onto a Tear Off Palette and dipped in my PA stamp! Scary, but has survived many dunkings! I used a HotPick for this that had chunky style. HP1604EZ.

You will see in the picture my pocket, which is an end cut off an Amazon envelope.

Next, I selected some fragile papers and glued them on both sides of the pocket. Then I sprayed all over lightly with water and rubbed in some Burnt Umber Acrylic Ink. I used a baby wipe to control the amount of stain.

I rubbed some Black Soot distress ink around the edges of the tags, threaded some wool/ribbon through and backed them with paper from my stash that is suitable for writing on.

I also added some positive thoughts to the fronts of the tags from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Small Talk.

For the front of the pocket, I also attached a tag. I added an "old Soul" photo, some corrugated card, large pin with tassels, hessian and yummy rusty wire. Oops, and a tiny butterfly, symbolising hope. 

On the back, I have added a poignant poem by Rupert Brooke and a word band.

The idea behind my Positivity Pocket, is to use it to collect positive thoughts, happenings , phrases , poems, throughout the year adding to the collection and turning to it in times of either need or celebration. I hope that, by this time next year, it will be stuffed full with more tags and lots of hope and inspiration.

Turning into a philosopher in my old age! Thanks for looking and do pop over to the Bleach topic over on the Paperartsy blog.

To the Evening Star

Here is my second piece for Country View Crafts on the topic of "Stars." I based it around the very inspiring poem by William Blake entitled "To the Evening Star".

I began by creating 3D stars through a stencil with DecoArt Crackle Paste. (having gessoed my book page first.)

When dry, I sprayed the page lightly with water and sprinkled Paperartsy Infusions, Royal Blood and Violet Storm onto the sky. I controlled the colour by dabbing with a baby wipe.

I couldn't decide at first, whether to write my poem in black or white pen, but, as you can see, I went for white Posca pen.

Next, with Tim Holtz Wildflowers stamps CMS253, I stamped over the top with Black Archival Ink.

Because the background has a little texture, I went over some of the black stamping to make it denser using a black Posca pen.

Finally, to frame the piece, I went around the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink applied with some Cut and Dry foam.

If you would like to see more ideas on the theme of stars then do pop over to the Country View crafts site for inspiration.

Products Used:-Infusions Royal Blood, Violet Storm; Decoart Crackle Paste; Star Stencil; Wildflower Stamp.

Typography, Diana.

Loving the new topic on PA blog and needed to join in. Was greatly inspired by the presentation that Darcy gave us. Typography,Fonts and Quotes is a great topic.

Here is my entry, inspired by the beautiful Diana Ross.

I began by selecting a few fashion adverts from magazines and glued them to my journal.....A4 size.

Next, I selected a pic of Diana Ross from a magazine and outlined it onto my background. The most crucial step was to paint over the outline of the person with Clear gesso so that I could paint onto the shiny magazine surface.

Here is the face partly done...looks a bit scary. All the paints are from the Paperartsy range.

There are several areas where the background magazine came through...probably because I overworked it in parts.

I enjoyed once again having a go at a face and combining it with the striking images of magazine lettering.

Here is my final piece which I am entering into the Paperartsy challenge.

Star

Gosh, November the first. What an exciting time of the year. I think that most of us will be getting starry eyed about the Christmas season.
For the wonderful topic of Stars, over on the Country View Craft site, I chose a 3D approach with a die.

I began by using some offcuts of Mirri Card and my "Die'sire Star of Wonder Die" and cut out lots of star shapes on my Big Shot die cutting machine. I rubbed the die with a tumbler dryer sheet first to enable it to pop out of the die easily after cutting.

Next, I selected 3 gold stars and glued them onto red tissue paper. Making sure that I lifted them after gluing with matt medium so that they didn't stick to my craft sheet.

I cut off the excess tissue and folded each star down the middle. 

I wanted to dangle beads and found an odd earring which just fitted the bill.

Finally I threaded some cotton into the top to hang it.

Here it is dangling in a conifer outside. It was hard to photograph as the wind kept spinning it around.

I hope that you have enjoyed my little project and that it may inspire you to do something similar. Single stars would look nice with acetate behind them and a few hanging in a window would make a nice display, or just attached to a Christmas card.

Products Used:- Ranger Multi Medium Matte, Die'sire, Star of Wonder die.(replacement) bought from CVC last week but doesn't appear to be available any more!

Thanks for looking.

Grids and Squares

Over on the Paperartsy blog the current topic is Grids and Squares.

I was inspired by a piece of art that I saw in  gallery in Padstow. It was a Damien Hirst piece with coloured circles arranged onto a black glittery background.

First, I cut out lots of squares from coloured papers, more than i needed because i knew that I would need to select and play with the colours and shapes.

I chose one of Ellen Vargo's stamps for this particular one, EEV03, and stamped with black archival and heat embossed with Clear embossing powders.

It was an interesting exercise to use just one individual stamp in a variety of ways. I love playing with the relationships that the shapes create.

I mounted each square onto black card and spent some time trying different coloured glittery backgrounds. The chocolate brown worked the best.

For added interest, I chose a linen box frame and also mounted the squares onto foam pads.

I went on to experiment further, this time using a variety of stamps. I feel that this can be adapted to so many creative uses. Christmas cards would look good by using parts of a Christmas stamp.

Thanks for looking, and you will find more inspiration on the theme of Grids and Squares over on the Paperartsy blog.

Beeswax Trio

I am in the middle of a wonderful online course by Laly Mille.

It is so my thing and I am enjoying every tiny bit of it.
This week I have been playing with beeswax. I don't want to go through all the details as I feel that it would be disloyal to my tutor.

I worked with hessian, plaster Gauze, a few bits of handmade paper and some images.
I also incorporated some die cut leaves using Paperartsy Crunchy Wax paper.

The images are some drawings that I did a while ago during the Wanderlust class and I toned the colours down to fit my theme.

Here are the panels one by one.

I am entering these into the very inspiring topic of Die-cuts over on the Paperartsy Challenge.

All things Spooky 2

Helo, and welcome to my second post for CVC on the topic of All Things Spooky.

I mentioned in my last post that I am not really a fan of the Halloween malarkey. Nothing against it other than it does not float my boat.

So, thinking of ways to create the feel without the relevant images.

First, in my trusty Girls journal from the 1940's, I gessoed the page and then painted a layer of PA fresco grey paint over it. Think that I used Elephant, which is now probably replaced by another similar grey. I wanted to create an air of drama, so, I sprayed some Hickory Smoke and Pumice Stone onto my craft mat and watered them a little and dropped my page onto it to create the Wrinkle Free Distress effect.

I cut out a white circle for the moon and added a little Hickory Smoke ink to create some shadows.

Next, using Watering Can Archival and Black Archival Inks, I stamped some Fir trees in the distance.

I hand drew a tree and painted it and the birds with Paperartsy fresco Little Black Dress and highlighted the trunk with my white Uni Ball pen.

To finish, I drew a pumpkin onto orange card and added features and the very last thing was to draw pairs of eyes in the woods......OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....Spooky!

Thankyou for visiting my blog and I hope that you will visit the Country View Crafts blog  too, for even spookier works of art.

Products Used:- Hickory Smoke Distress Spray; Pumice Stone Distress spray; Watering Can Archival; Black Archival; Tim Holtz Tree stamps.

All things spooky

Now, I must be honest.....all things spooky is not my kind of thing. But I really enjoyed the challenge of creating something without owning any "spooky" related stamps.

So, here is my Spooky midnight scene.

I began by choosing some Paperartsy fresco colours and painting onto my book page.

First, I cut out a white circle for the moon and glued it down.

Next, I chose some of Darcy's Steampunk style stamps of leaves and houses and stamped them with Black Archival and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

With a white Uniball pen, I highlighted some of the leaves and parts of the building. Also, I shaded parts of the building with grey watercolour to give extra depth.

Finally, I hand drew and coloured in my vampire bats......make me shiver....not a fan of bats!

A quick scribble of white to frame it and it was finished.

I hope that this has inspired you to do something similar, maybe starting with a dramatic background.

Thanks for looking and perhaps you will join in with our challenge at Country View Crafts.

Products Used:- Paperartsy fresco paints; Darcy Stamps, EDY08.

Travel Fund.

Hi, here is my second piece for Country View Crafts with the theme of "Travel".

I chose to create a jar to keep savings for future trips.
I began with a Branston Pickle jar and sanded the lid.
Next, I painted the jar and the lid with Clear Gesso.
Using Paperartsy frescos I painted the lid and most of the jar with Sky.
I painted the bottom section with Caramel to represent the sand.
I painted waves using Mermaid and China. Clouds and the sun with Snowflake.

I used the white for the sun so that the yellow (Tangerine Twist), would not go greeny.

I finished with a few birds in the background, with Black fudeball pen.

Because I wanted a vintage finish to my jar, I painted it all over with Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium in Vintage.

I tied a strip from a 1940's map around the middle and fastened it with string.

Next, I selected some labels from Tim Holtz Ephemera pack Expedition and created a Title Tag with Tim Holtz rub ons Words.

This idea could be adapted to use for children to save money for different things using plastic jars and adding their names to them.

I hope that you like my idea and feel inspired to join in over on the CountryView Crafts challenge.

Products Used:- Paperartsy fresco paints; Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium, Vintage; Ephemera Pack, Expedition; Rub ons Words.

Autumn Leaves

Really should have called this, cock up on the gelli plate! As I had this wonderful idea that I could impress real leaves into the paint and print from them. Wrong. They slipped about and were very unsatisfactory.

Anyway....step one was spreading neutral fresco colours onto my background with a credit card.
Step Two, Little round gel plate and real leaves...disaster!
Step Three, rescue by printing with Lin Browns new stamps, ELB29 with fresco paints and archival inks.

This is the A4 rescued sheet.

Step Four, cut it up into four pieces.

Step Five, a little extra stamping of leaves to frame them and a sentiment.

Mounted onto cards and breathe!

If nothing else, this is a good lesson in perseverance and not filling the waste bin!

I am happy to enter my four cards into the PA challenge, Autumn Leaves.

A few drawings

I decided to get back to face and figure drawing this week. There are always images in magazines to whet the appetite, so I had a little play. Each one has featured the fabulous Stabilo, Black pencil, that you can paint a wash over afterwards.

A very quick scribble with a touch of Derwent Inktense.

A piece of torn newspaper scribbled over.

And one with the newspaper more carefully placed.

Most pleased with the fashion one and want to find time to do more of them!

Thanks for looking.

Mark making

I am on the receiving end of a very sore back at the moment. Strong painkillers that I am not at all used to and can't do much at all. Too much gardening this week....will I never learn.
However, as the only chair that I can sit in is my craft room one, then, I decided to have a bit of a play.

Many of us are fascinated by this subject and the power that a mark in the earth, onto paper, onto a person can influence our lives.

I began by selecting some mop up paper. In fact, it is from a paper palette page that I used recently to mix PA fresco paints onto for a colour mixing project. It was a shame to screw them up, so I dabbed with a piece of copy paper to repeat pattern the coloured blobs.

I printed with my home made stamps onto the colourful background using black archival ink.

Next, I cut the rectangles more or less the same size. Couldn't use my paper cutter as couldn't bend over it! I arranged them onto A4 black card.

To finish off, I added some doodling with a White Signo Uniball pen.

Not back for an old crock fuzzed up with opiates....maybe I should do this more often?

I shall enter this into the Paperartsy Challenge, Making Marks.