Upcycled candle pot

Over on the PaperArtsy blog, the theme is Shades of White .I entered the other day with a card and, on the same theme, created a pot for Pot pourri, using a candle container that was used up.
Its a fairly large container that burned with 3 wicks and while cleaning it out I thought that it would be a good idea to bling it up for Christmas.
I glued some pearl decor ribbon around, which I had bought to cut up strips of pearls to dangle from Headbands, to sell at the school fair and then added layers of lace and ribbon, with a heart from music paper , some fibres and a few jewels.
I stamped some of Emma Godfrey's so useful words from her EEG12 range of Christmas stamps and sentiments and dotted them around inside the pot amongst the Pot Pourri.

Last minute entry to the PA challenge!

Green journal page

Over on the That's Crafty blog their new theme is Greens. To be honest, they are not often my go to colours, but I really enjoyed playing with them.

I chose a selection of PaperArtsy fresco chalk paints for my background and added some Green Archival stamping.

I chose Carabelle stamps by Birgit Koopsen and stamped them onto some background paper. I drew some stems and added some extra colour around the stems. I added some smaller stamps in the background and stamped a sentiment.

I am entering this into the That's Crafty challenge.

White Winter Wishes

Over on the PaperArtsy blog the new topic is "Shades of White". Fabulous. Needed to join in and have been simmering a few ideas. Great inspiration from the wonderful presentation and designers.
However, when Bryan submitted an entry he sparked me off, and when I saw a piece from Diana Taylor this morning on her blog, I was moved into action.

I chose a square design and embossed a white background with snowflakes.
Next, I assembled some lace, doilies, flowers, threads etc and set to work arranging them. (not my best skill!)
I decided to use some sheet music to add some contrast and cut out a heart shape.
I banged it all together....I am so technical and precise....not!
I tied a bow using some beautiful silk chiffon ribbon and finished off with a quote from EEG12, Emma Godfrey's so useful Christmas stamp, Winter Wishes, which is heat embossed in white onto silver card.
I enjoyed making this card and will probably make a few more now that I have a plan.
I shall enter this into the PaperArtsy Challenge.

Natural forms in pastel

Over on the Stamps and Stencils blog, the new challenge is using Pastels.
I liked this idea and decided to join in.

I recently saw an idea for showing off dried flowers and leaves which appealed to me and here is my first attempt....a card.

I began by selecting some fern leaves and dried Astrantia seedheads from my large collection of pressed flowers and leaves. I can never go anywhere without returning with something to press between pages of a weighty tome.

I used heavy card and persuaded them to stick down with some persistence and trusty Matte medium.

Next, 2 layers of gesso. loads of possibilities arise after this stage.

Then I covered it all by stippling paint using a stencil brush. I used Paperartsy fresco chalk paint in Antarctic, Mermaid and Lilac.
When dry, I stencilled some butterflies using a mix of the chalk paints mentioned and added a little Amethyst.
I chose one of Lin Browns lovely stamps from ELB05, not the whole stamp, but enough to convey the lovely verse.
To complete my card, I brushed treasure gold over the flowers and leaves and created a frame with distress inks.
Double mounted onto a card I feel that it sits prettily. I hope that you like it too.
My pressed flowers are now going to gradually dwindle as I experiment more with this technique.

Very happy to join in with the Stamps and Stencils challenge. 

Annie Ruffles

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending three wonderful days on an art journalling retreat run by Art Workshops. The teachers were Birgit Koopsen and Nathalie Kalbach.
Wow! Did they ignite a fresh creative spark in me!

This piece of work is an amalgamation of inspiration from these two ladies and from Laly Mille, who has also had a great influence upon my work.

Here we go with a lowdown on my creation, which, incidentally, I completed this afternoon and evening.

First, I selected a canvas, 20"x16", and I wrote freely about my lovely Grandma Barnes, my paternal Granny. Didn't worry about grammar, punctuation etc. Just wrote from the heart using a Pitt pen  which is waterproof.

Next, I selected a range of fragile papers and collaged over the top, using matte medium; finger painted some neutral colours and stained it with acrylic inks.

I gradually built up a background, leaving some of my writing visible. I used some of Nathalie Kalbach's Foamy stamps to build up my background.

Next, I placed the photo of my Grandma onto the canvas.

I glued the pic down and sealed the very glossy photo with clear gesso and painted over her with a selection of acrylic paints. I also added some drippage to the top of the canvas and some inks in the bottom left corner for foliage.
I added some darkness around the frame using a black stabilo pencil with a wash and some distress stain.

It looked unfinished somehow, I knew that the sky needed something else. Over to my large box of leaves and some lovely Acer leaves from my garden that I pressed last year. they echo the colours on my Grandma's coat really well.
A few close ups.

In this photo, you can see that I drew in the missing pieces of the tyres.

So, the final piece. I am so relieved that it turned out so well. It meant so much to me to use this wonderful photograph.

Thanks for looking. This has been one of those pieces that makes my heart beat faster.

Snowflakes and Stars.

I was thrilled when Leandra asked me to play with Emma Godfrey stamps for the Pearlescent challenge over on the PaperArtsy blog.

Teamed up with Kay Carley's snowflake stencil, it was a perfect match. 

I began with Emma's stamps in a rustic style. Using brown card and Kraftcard, PaperArtsy fresco Metallic White Fire provided a great sheen for my background.

I also used White Fire and Metallic Pewter fresco paint to stamp with.

I brushed on a little mica powder and also stamped with Archival Coffee ink. The embellishment came from some old jewellery and I added stickles. 

Next, using Kay's snowflake stencil, I created a variety of backgrounds by spraying mica sprays through the stencil.
The first ones were monochrome.

Then coloured mica backgrounds.....

And gelli print backgrounds.

The common denominator in all these are the snowflake stamps which are stamped with either Fresco Metallic White Fire, or Pewter paint.
Using a variety of beads, embellishments and stickles I dressed them up for Christmas.

I happily made 50 cards, which are now sitting in a shoebox waiting to be written! Happy days! 

thanks for looking and don't forget to visit the PaperArtsy blog challenge. 

Autumnal Fern

At the beginning of the month I chose to create my CVC post based upon die cutting. Well, I enjoyed it so much that I have once again turned to this beautiful die set.
This time I have cut the basic frame from textured brown cardstock and used a variety of autumnal colours to die cut the leaves and flowers.
The die cut frame displays the real, dried fern leaf beautifully, and to finish off, I have used Perfect Pearls for flower centres , metallic sticker for the words and a Finnabair paper for the background.

There is still plenty of time to join in with our topic this month. Don't forget to pop over to the CVC blog for lots of inspiration.

Products Used:- Foliage Memories die; Tim Holtz Metallic stickers.

Beautiful memories, special people.

Having just returned from a fantastic 3 day retreat in Coventry run by Art Workshops I was keen to play with some ideas inspired by the amazing Nathalie Kalbach and Birgit Koopsen.

I worked in my large journal beginning with brayering colours, then Nathalies' foamies stamps, gradually building up a background.

The image is a photo of my dear uncles Len and Edgar. Edgar, on the right, is a happy and independent 92 year old and Len left us a couple of years ago.

I wanted to paint them in a happy place with happy colours and it just evolved naturally and I love it.

The paints are PaperArtsy frescos and the stamps at the top are Birgit's from Carabelle.

I am entering this into the Mixed Media Monthly challenge as the colour inspiration is bright.

Thanks for looking.

Today is all about you.

What a great topic on the Country View Crafts blog this month. Mixed Media with Autumnal Hues. 

So many possibilities here and something a little different for me.

Die cutting has never been my "Go To' style of crafting, but, I see many beautiful examples everywhere and feel urged to introduce it into my work.

I began by choosing a Die Set from Sara Davies' Signature collection, Autumn Morning, Foliage memories. It gives you a framework and also many flowers and leaves to add to it.

I also chose to use one of Tim Holtz papers as my background. It is from Wallflower paper stash.

I began by cutting out my framework from Black card and then used lots of autumnal colours and bookpaper to cut out some leaves and flowers.

I like the contrast between the image and the black frame.

I added my flowers and leaves around the image, also some little white mimosa type flowers to give a 3D effect and centred some of the flowers with a few assorted jewels.

I finished off with a few words from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Small Talk.

So, I can enjoy die cutting, and with these dies, it was a pleasure.

Thanks for looking and please pop over to the CVC blog for more Autumnal Inspiration.

Products Used:- Foliage Memories Dies; Paper Stash Wallflower; Tim Holtz Small Talk.

Exhibit A.

Here is my second piece for the Country View Crafts Challenge on the topic of Metal.
I was sorting out my craft room yesterday and sitting on the highest shelf were a collection of bottles.
So, ping!...lightbulb moment. CVC challenge, heat embossing onto a bottle.

Here is my starting point, I decided to use Gold Embossing Enamels, Stampendous Aged Gold around the neck, using a leaf stamp........this went a bit out of control but I like the effect...

.....and Ranger Embossing Powder Gold around the bottom which is more controlled.

I glued on a few embellishments...some from a broken Christmas bauble and others from collections of metal charms and then wound some twine around the stem.

The twine was grey and so I added some Treasure Gold Brass using a paint brush.

Next, out came the Ranger Liquid Pearls and I enjoyed creating patterns at the base of the neck and at the bottom, around the leaves. 

I went a bit jewel mad and stuck on some self adhesive crystals. Very blingy!

I selected a word band to hang around the neck of the bottle and added some Treasure gold Onyxite to age it. Because I needed a chain to thread through, I stumbled upon this old necklace which wasn't part of the plan....there never is a plan really! Anyway, the necklace was added and so was the word band.

Also on my top shelf were some drawer knobs which I had had for ages. I changed it from Silver to Gold with good old Treasure Gold and glued it in place.

Here is a side view.

I am pretty pleased with my blingy bottle and will add it to my decor at Christmas! 

Thanks for looking and don't forget that our challenge at Country View Crafts is still open.

Products used or similar;- Ranger embossing powder gold; Treasure Gold, Brass, Onyxite; 

Ranger Liquid Pearls; Word Bands; Stopper.

Adventure Awaits.

Here is my 1st of September creation for the Country View Crafts Challenge. My dear friend Miriam chose the topic of Metal and I immediately thought of Tim Holtz and cogs.

To begin with I chose some silver metallic card with a dull finish and I embossed the cogs using TH embossing folder.

To this, I rubbed in a selection of Treasure Gold colours to enhance the relief. 

Then I started to have fun with PaperArtsy Infusions. Spraying the surface with a fine mist of water and sprinkling Golden Sands, Rusty Car and Black Knight, letting them run and controlling with a few dabs of kitchen roll.

I was going to add some die cut cogs that I had aged and rusted, but on reflection, discovered that plain shiny black die cuts worked best as a contrast. 

So, I arranged my TH diecuts and glued into place.

I spent a while mounting the card onto card and onto card and finished off with a phrase from TH metallic stickers....Adventure Awaits.

So, my card was complete and a little Black Soot around the edges finished it off for me. 

I hope that you will be inspired to join in with us at Country View Crafts and be in with a chance to win the voucher for £20.

Thanks for looking.

Products Used:- Tim Hotz embossing folders; Tim Holtz dies; Paperartsy Infusions; Paperartsy Treasure Gold; Tim Holtz Metallic stickers.

A Vintage Town

In May, this year we spent a wonderful, if rather damp week in the town of Honfleur. In the Normandy region of France, a town filled with character that has inspired many famous artists.
I have recently been inspired to start a watercolour journal of my travels and this waterfront scene was an obvious addition to my growing collection.
I sketched quickly the collection of buildings using an ink pen and then added watercolours which soon brought the scene to life.
I am happy to enter this into the watercolour challenge in "A Vintage Journey".

Be Bold, Be Brave.

For my second piece this month on Country View Crafts, my "Blue and Green" ensemble is based around an" Everything Art "set of stamps, more paint card samples and lots of ribbon.

I began in my recycled Girls Annual by gessoing the page and stamping some of the Everything Art stamps from PaperArtsy EEA02. I used a selection of green and blue archival inks.

I used the paint cards and stamped onto parts of them also, so as to continue the background stamps.

I arranged some ribbon and lace and added some swirls of cotton for added texture.

My focal point is a lady from one of the Tim Holtz collections.

I splattered some inks from Posca pens and created a subtle frame with a wash of Distress ink.

The butterfly, buttons and words complete my piece. 

I do hope that you find time to check out the beautiful work on our CVC blog and hope that you will be inspired to enter our challenge! 

Products Used:- EEA02; archival ink; Tim Holtz Photo Booth.

Blue and Green should never be seen!

Here we are on the Country View Crafts blog into August and our challenge is Blues and Greens.

This saying from years ago always sticks in my mind. Whoever decided that blue with green should never be seen?

I began in my Dyan large journal by spreading randomly some PaperArtsy Fresco paint in Green Patina and then dipped some string into some Fresco Paint China.
I let the string fall in swirls and then removed it.

Next, I added some more string printed lines, stencilled dots using Archival Inks, some drippage and circles using Dina Wakley scribble sticks.

I chose to use a stamp by Dina Wakley which is actually of her Grandma....she told me this at a class in Harrogate.

So stamped in Archival ink and given a light wash of colour and lined up down the centre. I imagined that her generation believed and lived by this motto, although if she was anything like Dina she would not play by the rules.

Thanks for looking and please visit the Country View Crafts blog for more inspiration.

Products used:- Fresco Paints; Archival Inks; Scribble sticks; Dina stamps MDR44468.