ACP Week 6, part 2: Ssshhh, don't show my Valentine...

This post was supposed to load up yesterday - last day of red & cream.. but hey ho - it didn't, so today's the day:

A card for my beloved (my 'good catch' - his words not mine, tho I obviously agree  lol) for Valentines day - but ssshhh lets keep it just between you and me that I've put a picture of his card on here before I give it to him (lol) but I think I'm safe to do so as he's really busy at work at the moment (too busy to be on the www looking at stuff...)(hopefully! lol)

I created a heart stencil using a nestabilities die and layered it up with some tiny sequin waste - or maybe its punchinella - not sure as it was given to me - I like it a lot though. 

I like creating my own stencils - cutting them from a drawing or using dies.

I hope you're all getting along ok in the snow - its certainly hanging around isn't it!

Take care

Plants & Postcards

Art Trail in Leigh last week - the Studio gets cleared, prettied up and ready for the public to come and look at the work that's been produced over the last year... Tricia, Tessa & Bronwyn had some really lovely work on show.

Bronwyn, as well as her gorgeous photographs & prints (go here to see more), has these adorable little plants planted in vintage china (tea cups & saucers)... I really like the colours and the layers of the 'leaves':

I think the bottom right is my favourite - the way the colours fade from green to that aubergine/lilac colour.....

(and the way the leaves are just the right size on each layer- the repeats are almost perfect... aaaagh my neat and tidy side rears its head again!)

We take it in turns to sit in the Studio while the public visit.. and during my time there I sat and coloured, wrote and doodled these - they're just little experiments - postcards measuring 4x6in - and I just tore things and stuck them down, coloured on top - it was just about freeing up how I do things - not being concerned about whether its right, wrong, straight, smudged - just seeing how it goes....

Each one led to another - kept me quiet for a few hours! lol

I'm off to Chelmsford today to teach, shop, and then back home for a Hen Party - all of which are going to be fun in different ways! lol

Whatever you're up to - have a good day!

"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!!

What I did on holiday.... Part 2

So here's what else I did on holiday.. (as well as laying in the sun, reading books (4), feeding iguanas (who are fond of bananas - who knew!) and drinking cocktails)(responsibly, obviously)....  I created these with my holiday art kit (see previous post)... Tags: decorated, simply- with just sketches & colour.

Each one has a memory attached  - its part of my holday scrapbook  - I think my favourite is the skull wearing a hat - makes me smile - a nod to the Mexican 'day of the dead' and its to remind me of the day I felt like death after getting heat stroke after 3 hours looking at Mayan pyramids! 

No worries- these episodes all add to the holiday experience don't they (not that I'm recommending getting heat stroke - oh no no no.... what I would recommend when sightseeing is an umbrella to shade from the sun, lots of water, loose clothes (fully covered) and not walking around in the bloomin' mid day sun for 3 hours!! lol) It was worth it though - the Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza - amazing structures, I wouldn't have missed visiting those - how did they build them!!! Amazing.

... and to give you an idea of their size look to the right of the pyramid - the small white rectangle with red circle at the top - thats a person with a brolly.

What I did on holiday.... Part 1

.... normally when we go on holiday I take some art 'stuff' with me (because I start to get twitchy in a 'I-can't-lay-on-this-sunlounger-for-much-longer,-I-need-to-be-doing-something' type way) and sometimes the kit doesn't get used, so this holiday I pared down what I took: 1 ink pad, set of alphabet stamps, some blank tags, neocolor watersoluble pastels, black pen, white pen, waterbrush, scissors, rubber, & a pencil.  ooh and a small light sketchbook... now that might sound like a lot but it isn't really - quite a basic kit... and more importantly - NO RULER.. nope, nothing to draw a straightline with - and I like a straight line - I like neat... but I have been embracing my messy, just-go-with-the-flow side recently- and its been very liberating.

It took 'til about day 10 of this holiday before said twitch started (thats good for me) and so I created this, inspired by Kate Crane's grid calendars. 

She uses a block of colour for each day but I wanted the grid to be coloured and the boxes to be white/pale....  for me the most important piece of this was to create a freehand grid - no ruler and not being too concerned if the boxes weren't square, level or central.... focussing on the grid rather than the blocks.

Love NeoColor water soluble pastels - vibrant colours and really easy to work with...  and oh, not only was I drawing grids without a ruler but I was sketching too!  actual sketching! 

and all this with a pencil in one hand and a cocktail* in the other! .. multi-tasking!!

* speaking of cocktails I can't recommend a 'godmother' cocktail enough - vodka & amaretto!!!!!!!!!!! How have I got to the age of 40 without having tried one of those!  A very tasty tipple.. possible too tasty.. lol

xx