Teaching and Learning

PaperArtsy recently ran a Retailer Training Day where several of their designers (including me) taught mini classes to retailer/stockists from around the country - it was a great day... lots of inspiration for everybody (we all learn something new every day!).
Kim Dellow (www.kimdellow.co.uk) demonstrated a technique that was really interesting/inspiring - a way of creating a background that I thought created a sort of 'screen printed' effect.

Kim created A4 sized pieces but it got me thinking that the same technique could be used for smaller pieces - greeting card sized pieces....

I created mini panels on 3x5in plain index cards using 4 colours - Bougainvillea, Coral, Blush and Copper...

(the dainty line of Kay Carley's stamp on the right got a bit lost against the Copper bubble wrap print so I filled in the ends with a black pen)

This is one of the panels without the bubble wrap print:

one of the panels with a die-cut motif - this is what I love about the technique - its so versatile - you can stamp on it, die-cut the created panel, journal on it or lay die-cuts over the top:

 I tried the technique on heavyweight watercolour paper - dragging the paint over the textured paper gives an interesting effect... (paint didn't drag as far or as easily over this paper as it did on the index cards)

and speaking of the index cards here they are before and after being made into cards....

A really nice technique - a big thanks to Kim for sharing it with us.

x

EDIT:  The effect is created by dragging small amounts of paint across the page using a plastic card  tool...or your OLD credit card!  (with the emphasis on OLD) or a store loyalty card... anything smooth and flat... could also use a spatula...

ACP:2 Yellow + E...

... this post is brought to you by the letter 'E'.... Here are my colour choices for this letter... fresh and springlike....

There were several options for this letter - when I look back at the list I obviously had favourites that I'd asterisked....

I found a bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs in the fridge (that were Hubby's apparently) so, purely for reasons of this project of course because E stands for Eggs,  I picked out the yellow ones - took the photo... & because they smelled soooo good I ate them (only the yellow ones, not the whole packet!)

Don't judge me - I didn't like to see them go to waste! lol (very tasty they were too - but you didn't need me to tell you that did you lol)

I didn't just use this project purely as justification for eating chocolate, I had my cunning plan (mentioned in the previous post).  I had a project in my head that featured a big butterfly but we have passed the 'B' point... hhhhmmm what to do..... ENTOMOLOGY!! study of insects - which, loosely talking, a butterfly is one of these! (in my books anyway!)

A 5x10in board canvas..painted and stencilled with Fresco Finish paints and decorated with a bespoke butterfly and die cut seed heads..

E stands for Embroidery - machine, hand and faux (simple stitches), Entomology and I was going to include embossing to give the wings texture but I was so carried away drawing and paper piecing the butterfly together that I forgot! :o(

I really enjoyed making this project - I especially like the canvas itself - so fresh - I almost wanted to keep it without the butterfly and seedheads - but then its not nearly yellow enough. :o)

Thanks for stopping by - I'm feeling a little lonely working through this project by myself - I'm thinking of a way of having you join in as and when you'd like to... I'll let you know when I've come up with a plan... I like 'a plan', almost as much as I like 'a list'!

Take care..

x

PS  There was a bit of a glitch with the link to my 'not so mellow yellow' Pinterest page but its now fixed so you can feast your eyes on the loveliness of yellow HERE

That was then.. this is now.....

I started this piece with no idea where it was going... but that is the fun in creating isn't it

I first read (and still read) Kelly Rae Roberts' book Taking Flight back in 2011 & was inspired by the book to create a panel- with a view that it would turn into something else... you can read the blog post here

 ... & 2ish years on  the panels are still in the studio, and as much as I love how they turned out I need to do something with them/to them ....

Above are all 4 together, I wanted to alter just one and this was the chosen panel (it measures approx 6x4in, 14.5x10.5xm):

Now it looks like this after attaching JOFY flowers (JM34 & JOFY14, 23, 24) cut from booktext, scrapbook papers and painted with Fresco Finish paints (of course!):

'Busier' than I would normally create... and I like it.

1 down 3 to go... maybe book covers for the darker 2....

I hope this 'inspires' you to alter a 'forgotten' project that is lurking somewhere waiting to be altered, repurposed and given a new lease of life.

xx

Classes!

I'm teaching a class at the local college - 10 weeks of beginners Card Making- which I'm enjoying a lot.

That runs in the evening and during the day you can find me at several shops in the South East running a class or two - I hope you can come and join me for some inky/ painty fun - call the shops for details & bookings  :o)

(I'm going to be uploading photos of classes in stages because Blogger is being a bit tetchy today! lol)

Classes at ImagineThat, Upminster:

25 April 2012 (wednesday)

10:30-13:00  Hats Off

14:00-16:30  Path of Least Resistance

24 May 2012 (thursday)

10:30-13:00  Path of Least Resistance 

14:00-16:30  Hats Off
09 June 2012 (saturday)

10:30-13:00 Hats Off

14:00-16:30 Path of Least Resistance

Otto & Adelaide!!

I've finished my two projects from the Lynne Perella/ArtsyCrafts weekend...

First up is Adelaide (the Adventurer)

 
When I was making this piece I had to make up a back story for her to make sense of what I was putting in the piece so that (for me) it all made sense.... So, here is Adelaide, an Edwardian, educated, Lady who has a taken a pile of the Family money and gone travelling.  On her travels she has become interested in nature and has a particular fascination for birds.  To give here a slightly sassy look I cut off her hat and repositioned it over one eye - gives her an air of mystery or a polite 'I might be a gentle woman but don't mess with me' look lol
I couldn't decide whether to put Adelaide behind glass or not - I like it being open because of all the elements but then Bertie (cat) took an interest in the bird on her hat and the other feathers and the decision was made - she's safely behind glass! lol
I really love how this piece turned out - it's so gentle and calm but still with a lot going on (all the layers), and it was a great image that Lynne Perrella gave us to work with.

.. and now for Otto!!  I love Otto! - He gets his name from the book cover page that I used on the background of his assemblage.

 
So Otto's back story is that he was once a famous concert clarinetist - he played all over the world, was famous and adored by fans.... but now his star has faded and he makes his living tutoring people to play the clarinet... (I gave him this story because I felt he has such a proud but slightly sad face - but he should be proud - passing on his gift of music to others.....)
(he's not behind glass due to the twigs sticking out over the frame but he is up on a high shelf where hopefully my furry fourlegged friend can't reach him... fingers crossed lol)

So that how things work in my head - paper people are given stories so I can create an assemblage for them out of this'n'that... lots of fun! (but maybe I overthink these things rofl)

I've got spray paints & cartidge paper and I'm not afraid to use them.. Part 1

.. & not afraid to make a mess either!  Embracing the 'throw paint at it' approach. 

I mentioned before that I gave up my studio space and everything there had to come here which meant a big sort out was needed.  I have been sorting out, throwing out and its been a really worthwhile experience - I've rediscovered all kinds of things -
lots of things to alter
lots of babywipes
and lots and lots of card blanks!
but more importantly lots of inspiration!!

Its a win win scenario - more space, more inspiration!

So lots of masks were rediscovered (while putting away the ones I already had)(putting things away - how novel lol) - I was distracted from tidying up to quickly cover a page in my sketchbook:

I really like how the scrap paper looks when you move it away from the project - love that big clean space with the colour around it.
Then one thing lead to another:  I left the sheet on the desk and used it while playing with more stencils and masks... (I've been looking at the work of Roben-Marie Smith of PaperBag Studios, Christy Tomlinson, Dyan Reaveley (Art from the Heart), and Dina Wakely and how they use colour and layers in their work. I don't want my work to be as colour heavy as theirs but I enjoy the free-ness (is that even a word?!) of what they do.)
This was definitely a 'throw-something-at-it-and-see-what-happens' page - just playing with the masks - positive and negative versions of...

added a bit of detailing around the edges - this silver pen is FAB - a Faber Castell Indian Ink pen (Christy Tomlinson got me onto those)

 .. bit of 'journaling' - saying: I made this, its mine and I 'own' it (ie it came from me and I should stand by it...)

The sheet is quite big (a2) and so I decided it was going to be more useful to me cut down to postcard size than an A2 sheet! So now I have yet more postcards waiting for.. erm.. something.

For the curious ones of you out there- this is the cartidge paper I'm using (rediscovered in the move - yay!), Windsor & Newton.  Its a really nice weight to work on - doesn't get soggy too quickly...

(smaller pads are available lol)

ooooh I do love a box canvas!!...

... but I'm not fussy - I think canvas (any type) may be my new favourite surface to work on...

Back in June I showed you this:

and teased you that I'd made something else but couldn't show you what it was... well I think that was a bit rude of me! and so here is what I created..... 

Its a box canvas created with Claudine Hellmuth's Bloom stamps - clear and foam. Love these stamps.  Paints are PaperArtsy's Fresco Finish.
It makes me smile each time I see it - so summery and pretty... and I think, judging by the amount of rain we've had recently, this is as close to summer as we're going to get at the moment! lol

"I'm going to throw some paint at it & see what happens"...

...was my not very scientific answer when asked what I was doing...  Sometimes its the approach you have to take - and its all part of my free-er, less planned, mistakes-are-good-for-learning curve at the moment.

So I created the above, after this photo was taken I added black drawn line around the hearts and circles, added some phrases.. but it wasn't working for me and so I cut it up - nothing wrong with that - making something better (hopefully) - I tell myself 'its mine, I can do what I want with it!' 
It might not have ended up as planned but thats not always a bad thing is it.....  (yep, it ended up as tags - & you must know by now that I do love a tag or two.. lol) (they're quick and good for reference)

At the same time I was "throwing some paint" at these I was doing the same with different types of paper I'd just bought - pads of watercolour & acrylic painting papers - good to try/play with different media & papers to get the most interesting results.. pushing your own boundaries and knowledge.

So that's my experiments of the other day - Now its your turn - Go on - go and 'throw some paint at it and see what happens!'  Its just paper and paint - not rocket science - and its FUN!!

Tags.. Part 2

This tag, created again for demo'ing at the AC/TH event, is a bit of a sampler:
the tag has been partially embossed accented with Distress Inks & Lava Gold 'Goop' (love that stuff - so shiny!!) (& versatile) (and now comes in smaller pots - yay!)
painted & water splashed Distress Stains (top blue half)
Die cutting (the flourishes)
Tim Holtz tissue tape & Adage Ticket
and a distressed flower created with the spiral technique - I flatten/ distress these by hitting them with a small hammer... which is quite satisfying! lol

2 tags down, 2 tags to go... see you tomorrow.. same place same time.....

Things that make you go 'hhmmmm'

Another 'something' where I was just playing with 'stuff'.... acrylic paint resist, stamping & resist, cuttlebug embossing, die cuts, shimmer sprays, perfect pearls sprays - you name it I used it - layer on layer, on layer, on layer...
Sometimes you have to get inky, and random, and Embrace the Inks!

Just playing....

I bought Kelly Rae Roberts' 'take flight' book a while ago - great book... & yesterday decided I was going to make something - nothing in particular - just something - just play around and see what happened and I took my inspiration from the book & made a mixed media panel.

Started with this:

I added pretty much every type of medium I had at my disposal and made this.  I cut the panel into 4 and accented each panel with different colours of pencil...

I really enjoyed making this - kept thinking ooh I'll add this and then worried about what if went wrong... so what?! - paint over it and try something else - its only cardboard & paper covered in ink & paint!
(and if its really terrible I'll keep it to myself and not tell anyone! rofl  but I quite liked it (well, liked it a lot actually) so I thought I'd show you....)

In case you're wondering what I used here is the roll call:

we are memory keepers scrapbook papers

watered down acrylic paint (blue - horrible, babywiped that straight off - though it did stain a little)

watered down acrylic paint - white

Glimmer mists over a flower stencil

Pearfect Pearl mists

CraftyNotions Shake'n'spray

CraftyNotions Opaque white

masked circles

stamping & embossing in white

Stamping & embossing in pearlescent green

colouring pencils - blue, black, green, white,

Phew that's a lot of stuff - could have used more...
and there still time......

but maybe i'll save that for the next masterboard.....

Thanks for popping by... I'm off to tidy my poor neglected craft room.

Y? Why not?

I made this earlier in the year and can't remember why I haven't blogged it?? and if there was a reason I wasn't posting/blogging it I can't remember what it was now!.... so here it is

I love little boxed panels like these - I have no idea why.. this one is quite small (9.5x7cm. canvas is 12cm) and is very managable (love making small things) - the vintage printers tray that I have sitting waiting to be... well, erm.. I don't quite know whats going to happen to that yet - isn't quite so managable... a proper plan is needed for that! The above came together in about 1-2 hours (probably less)... so you see I'm working up the printers tray -  little steps! started with the above, then there's a similar one with more sections, then I'll alter/fill the 7Gypsies printers tray and then.... then I'll have worked out a design/plan/ theme(?) for the vintage tray! 
(I feel I should point out that I'm not being flaky - the vintage tray is quite big!! its about 3x2ft and I don't want to think how many sections are in there... let just leave it 'a lot' shall we! lol)

(the section box is mounted onto a canvas board, painted with acrylics, the sections have been lined with embossed metal, book text, Hambly acetate, K&Co papers, and sorry but I can't remember where I got the lovely swirly wooden pieces)

November!

A pinch & and a punch for the first day of the month! by that I mean a pinch of embossing powder and a Martha Stewart punch - of course - what else could it be?! {chuckle}

The pc is now mended - yay - though after the tower was fixed the screen died! ......

So, I like a tag, or several, they're great for using up scraps from the desk, or testing out new stamps and/or techniques - whatever the reason - I like tags!! (and now I've bought Tim H's big tag die I'm liking them all the more because I can cut them out of all manner lovely cardboards, acetate, paper etc etc etc - the list could go on!

This tag was created with a plain luggage tag & a piece of leftover corrugated cardboard - love the HotPicks PaperArtsy stamps : the flower head is from HotPicks 1005, long 'branches' 1008, & words are from HPXT04.  I liked how this turned out - especially as I am continuing to embrace yellow (if you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that I'm really not keen on yellow but now I coming around to it)(when I find the photos I'll show you my recent ArtsyCrafts project - lemon&lime!! bring it on!)

You'll have to excuse the wierd angle of this photograph (in the folder its landscape oriented but on screen Blogger seems to think it would look better portrait! gggrrrr) aaaanyhooo - I wanted to include it to show two level of black image stamping - I stamped the long branches, dried them, and then stamped the flower heads & added embossing powders and heated.  I liked how it made the flower heads 'pop' as they are now 'shiny'. (you can just about see that in the photo - tilt your head to the right.....)

Edit:  I altered it in Photoshop - yay for me! lol - see you learn something new every day!!

This tag is again using a parcel tag & another piece of leftover corrugated cardboard - there's a lot of that on my desk at the moment! lol  These dimensional paper flowers are all over crafting projects at the moment - I think this is first/second one I've made and they're really easy to make - though to glue them in future I'm going to use hot glue.. Leaves are PaperArtsy dies, the loopy border strip is a Martha Stewart punch (punching atlas paper) and the wording is a Tim H stamp.. oh and there's a little Sizzix flourish die in there too.. & some distress ink, silver versacolor & a scrap of book text....

Take care