Cockerel

Paper piecing over on the Paperartsy challenge. Likey, and decided to have a play at portraying a cockerel.
I decided to do this while England were losing to Iceland! May as well use my time sensibly.
I began by roughly sketching my cockerel onto my large journal page. Then, because I am a "get done yesterday" casualty, I sprayed my background and sprinkled Infusions and mopped with a tissue.
Next, I went for the easier option of monochrome, and cut out pieces from a paper pad called Paris Nights. It is a bit cobbled together in my usual haphazard style, but is rescued with black pen outlines. I used some painting that little Rose, my Granddaughter did recently for the wattle and comb. the legs are just drawn with pen.

The quote is the beginning of a poem by Margrit!

I shall enter him into the PA challenge. 

Tired but content

I have recently been following the work of Deb Weiers and she has inspired me to do more face drawing.
Here is my "selfie", which I scribbled quickly this afternoon. I drew what I saw in the mirror.
Some kind friends have said that I don't look as old as this....but, I don't mind. Feeling blessed to be here to have lines. They are really interesting to draw too.

I am entering this into Kim Dellow's face on Friday.

Ellie notebook

I was lucky enough to spot some tiny jeans and dungarees on my daughter's charity shop pile the other day. 3 year old Rose has grown out of them.
Snip, snip....loads of possibilities, but started simple and made a notebook using a pocket.

With the aid of iron on Vilene and a few fat quarters, I layered up colours and stitched it together. The structure is created by ironing the vilene to cereal packet cardboard.
I cut some mixed media paper for the inside and filled the pocket with crayons etc.
To embellish the pocket, I stamped the elephant from PA Friends, from The Cat's Meow selection onto tissue, painted with fresco China, and glued down with Matte Medium.
Happy with my little notebook which measures 6" square.
I shall enter this into the PA challenge, Fabric!

Echinacea

I have been inspired by Wanda's wonderful contributions on the PA blog and also by a lovely post on Lesley Ebdon's blog today.

I cut some cotton fabric, sprayed it with water and sprinkled infusions. Limoncello on my first piece, and Royal Blood and A Bit Jaded on my second.
I used the beautiful stamps from Jo FirthYoung JOFY14, and stamped them in Coffee archival.
On the first one, I painted the flowers using fresco....Tango and Yellow Submarine, and added a little Liquid pearls.

On the second, I painted with the infusions and added Liquid pearls.

Finally, a bit of machine stitching and a hessian background.

Much prefer my second attempt, and am entering them into the PA Fabric challenge.

Inspired by Deb Weiers

Darcy highlighted the fantastic work of Deb Weirs over on the Paperartsy blog a while ago, and I now follow her on Facebook.
She has recently drawn a double page spread and it caught my interest.
At first, I was going to copy her style, but, instead, went for my own.
I really enjoyed this.
First, I gessoed my book pages and scraped fresco paints across with a credit card. Next, I put a wash of Snowflake over and drew my person. This time, I did her out of my head rather than copying a magazine pic.
Added some doodling and made up a phrase.
I am entering this into the Kim Dellow Face on friday challenge.

Felting machine card

The new topic over on the Paperartsy blog....Fabric....urged me to dig out my felting machine.
First, I cut a small piece of blue felt 9cms square and selected a range of ribbons, wools and lace. I lay the ribbons etc, across the felt and ran my needles over them, embedding them into the felt background. To finish, I sewed on a few buttons and mounted it onto a small square card.
Got the urge to make a few more now!
I am entering this into the Paperartsy Challenge.

Padstow harbour.

I have just spent a lovely week in Padstow, Cornwall. I took lots of photos, made sketches and visited lots of galleries.
So, as the topic for the Paperartsy blog is currently Houses, I knew what I wanted to do.
It has been a bit rushed because I thought that the topic ran for another week.
Anyway! Here is my entry.

I began with a piece of card that had been swooshed in ink at some point.

It needed knocking back with Fresco Chalk.

I prepared a neutral palette of fresco paints and chopped up a credit card so that I could paint the different houses with different sized bits of plastic. I dipped the card into the paint and dragged it on the background to create houses and roofs. I cut very tiny ones for windows. It gives it a rough feel, which I wanted.

I cutout a few bits of magazine print to add a little texture.

To finish off, I added a little drawing with a black stabilo pencil, and painted a couple of boats.

Quick, happy bunny and will play like this again. to be honest, when I saw some of the prices that "artists" charged for their work, it inspired me to have a go! 

My rendition of Padstow Harbour.

Crackled landscape

Over on the Country View Crafts blog our topic is about Crackle.
I chose DecoArt White Crackle Paste for my creation.
I started with a piece of Heavy Grey Board which measures 7"x5" and roughly drew a few guidelines.
Next, I selected some Paperartsy fresco paints in blues, greens and purples.
I mixed each colour with my crackle paste and applied it in layers onto the board. While it was still wet I added some Mica flakes and Beadazzles onto it.

Next, I dripped some Dina Wakley Night acrylic paint which was watered down into the crevices, dividing up the colours.

I then outlined the contours by adding bling. I stuck on loads of jewels, beads and added some stickles.

I thought about adding a sentiment, but decided to leave it just as a piece of art.

Finally, here is a close up of the crackle! 

I hope that you are inspired to join in over at Country View Crafts, where you will find lots more crackling ideas!

Products used:- Decoart Crackle, Dina Wakley acrylic paint Night, Paperartsy frescos.

Broken

Over on the Country View Crafts blog the topic for June is "Crackle".
There are many crackle products and the one that I have chosen today is Crackle Glaze from Paperartsy.

I began by painting Fresco acrylic French Roast to a rectangle cut from a cereal packet. Next, I applied the crackle glaze with a palette knife and allowed it to dry. Finally, I painted over with Vintage lace and the crackles started to appear almost immediately.
When it was dry, I stamped, using Black Archival, sprinkled clear embossing powder over the top and heat embosssed my image. She is from Lynne Perrella, Paperartsy LPC033.

I chose some fabric as a background, which I thought complimented the image and chose more frescos to match.

I painted my image using the above colours and framed it with a gold leaf pen.

I also added a die cut frame in gold card which I rubbed with Treasure Gold in Aquamarine.

After I had stitched the fabric, I attached the panel with glue and added a Kaisercraft Bookplate. I made a hanger by shredding the fabric.

Here is a close up of the crackle effect.

Finally, just because I could, I added some bobbly trim at the bottom and around the hanger. A friend of mine used to run an upholstery business and kindly gave me all her samples. 

Thankyou for looking and I hope that this has inspired you to get crackling! And don't forget to visit the Country View crafts Blog for more crackling fun.

Products used:- Crackle Glaze, Clear Embossing Powder, LP stamp, Book Plates, fresco paints.