More Gelli!

So still in that Gelli vibe, I saw that the PaperArtsy challenge was mono printing, obviously meant I had to have another play.

Still enjoying the taking the "plate to the to the surface" I started with a square of paper that had some text paper glued on.  First  a layer of French Roast rolled on and using Taupe I started adding some blocks of colour.

I just kept building up the blocks leaving white space around the edge with Taupe, Cinnamon  and Chalk and a little bit of Pewter. 

The new little mini stencils from Thats Crafty git pergectly on the Gelli Plate, so I used the small circle one to add some layers of shapes on toop of the blocks.

I added some stamping in Coffee Archival from the HotPicks plate 1605, sanded and knocked back a bit with Chalk to soften everything 

And finally added one of my image transfers of a faded decaying tulip. I edged the tulip with a graphite pencil to frame it.

Finished piece, I like the juxtaposition of the squares and grid against the circles.  Plus the pop of burgundy from the tulip draws your eye in to the focal point.

Again this will be for sale in my Etsy shop, framed at £45.00 (plus pnp) or unframed at £25 (plus pnp).

 

 Hugs

Jo

She had wings ...

... but sometimes she was scared to use them.

 Since doing the CHSI Stitches I've been having anxiety dreams virtually every night.  The dreams are full on, fast paced, technicolour Hollywood couldn't make up this storyline of jumbled together action and images. They are waking me up (or it could be the cough lingering on my chest and / or he sinuses lingering in my head) and I lay there with a what the  .... was that all about???????

So here is my take on an art doll, she isn't funky or quirky or arty, she hasn't got riot girl striped legs or punky hair who glares at you on the bus with bright red lipstick and Goth girl heavy Kohl make-up .  No, she is a shy shabby style peg doll, who takes the window seat on the bus, takes out her crochet, lays it in her lap and stares out of the window dreaming about what ifs. 

Lots of layers of PaperArtsy paint and paper on the heart, sanding and scratching and flicking to get the distress look.  The wings are a MDF butterfly, crackle glazed, distressed and stamped.

Her dress is a piece of muslin stamped with various PaperArtsy A6 plates, her hair is some thin linen floss and her arms are rusty wire. 

As she gets off the bus at her stop, he swings her basket of crochet, gives a tiny skip and a flap of her wings and although its a bit scary not walking on the ground, she smiles to herself as it feels good and exciting to take that step and try out the what ifs.

Hugs
Jo
xx

Red Tractor

Hello!

Well its been a week I have to say.  This time last week I was trundling up the M6 to the NEC for the first day of Stitches, the crafting trade show.  I was there to sell "me" in terms of showcasing my style and seeing if people a) liked it (they did) and b) was anyone interested in me running classes / workshops (potentially, just need to work out what and prices).

But the best thing was the networking, the talking, asking questions of people visiting, exploring new avenues I'd never thought of (was that weddings I hear you say), talking to suppliers (and not baulking at minimum order costs). Lots to think about what I want to do and who in a business sense I want to get into bed with.

My contacts book is bulging and I need to start going through, following up, planning workshops, putting together brochures for that and booking a stall at Kirstie's Home Made Fair in the Autumn.  

But in the meantime - art!

The theme over at PaperArtsy (can't thank Leandra and Mark enough for the support they've given me for NEC) is image transfer.

I love and adore image transfer and most of my artwork especially at the show was showcasing image transfer.  

I've wanted to work on plywood for some time, the solidness of the substrate and the tone of the wood.  So the nice man at B&Q cut me some 6x8" pieces the other week and early one morning before the NEC I had to have a play.

Basically I used Chalk and Brown Shed to add colour and Red Geranium and Potting Soil to stamp with.

The photograph was taken at Hollowell Annual Steam Fair which is about 6 miles away from us.  Its a glorious affair, with vintage cars, farm machinery, heavy horses, traction engines, hounds steam fair rides and organs, donkeys, small animal petting areas, junk stalls and real ale. And when the sun is shining you think you are in the Darling Buds of May! 

I scanned and photocopied the image (reversing the image as I didn't the MF back to front) and used Satin Glaze to transfer the image.

I do love this, I could have added more embellishments, but I quite like the simpleness of it  and solidness of the plywood is very tactile and fits in with the rustic nature of the image.

Hugs
Jo
xx

Daisy, Daisy ....

This is very different for me colour wise and at times I nearly lost my nerve and painted over it. But I stuck with it and I'm really, really pleased.

At the PaperArtsy Christmas Day we learnt some great techniques on shading from Tracy Scott.  I liked the concept but wasn't keen on the design and wanted to create more of a patchwork effect with straight lines rather than curves.  Well this week as I've taken some annual leave (my tooth still hasn't cleared up after numerous dentist visits, got another one on Friday that I might just have a hissy fit if nothing is done and frankly I'm tired and still dealing with infection pus with isn't a public viewing activity if you get my drift) I decided to try out my idea.  I was also inspired by the Simon Says Monday challenge of a Ray of Sunshine which means yellow.

Um, yellow, not a great fan of yellow, whether its buttery or zingy.  But hey this year is all about saying yes to more to art / craft related things.  So I put my sunglasses on and set to work.

I had a long thin canvas knocking around that had some texture on and was painted white.  Over this I added some colour as a base (Cheese Cake, Submarine Yellow and finally Nougat) with a credit card and baby wipe.

Bright.

I marked out a grid with pencil and started adding colour to each of the squares.  I used a whole range of PaperArtsy pastels in orange, pink, green and mauve. Those that know me, know I don't do pastels, first step up the ladder of moving out of comfort zone.

To add another layer of depth I stamped the square clocks image from Clocks 2 plate in Watering Can archival in the squares.  Added some shading in each square using the mid range colour for that square.

Still bright.

And then to make matters worse I added a wash of Submarine Yellow, EVEN BRIGHTER! 

Left it for a while and thought no, still too bright for me, Chalk colour wash time. Back down the comfort zone ladder I know but it worked for me. Finally went over the lines with a soft brown watercolour pencil and soften the lines with water.

That was all yesterday.  This morning I stamped the large heart from EEG13 onto some white Japanese calligraphy paper in a soft green Archival, created a mask and added some text.  these were glued down and edged in the soft brown pencil.

Now the fun bit, the daisies.  Using both sizes of flower from EEG14 (only just released from PaperArtsy, check out the blogpost)  I stamped in black Archival onto linen sandwich of linen, Bondaweb, linen.  These were then painted with Snowflake and Submarine Yellow.

I cut these out leaving an edge of fabris outside the black so I could distress them  to make them shabby.

So finally it was complete and I was happy.  The pop of yellow on the daisy works for me and actually I quite like the soft washed muted pastels.

 

My husband reckons this is a very commercial make and would sell well.  I reckon this would be a good workshop make, achievable in a day if it was on a 12x12" canvas.  

Anybody interested in me running a workshop in Northampton? 

Hugs
Jo
xx

Just a smidge of red

I'm busy prepping for CHA next month (more on that soon) which is good because I am definitely in a creative zone, so many ideas!

Over on the SimonSays Monday challenge the theme is Love is in the Air  + red.  As I had some scraps left over from my PaperArtsy heart I thought I'd have a play.

I started with an old 7x5" canvas and gessoed to try and eradicate the previous colour (orange / pink). Plenty of  layers later I added some book text and then began adding layers of paint.  First up, a very watered down Mud Splat and then washes of Chalk and Snowflake (all PaperArtsy) to give some opaque and some translucent areas so the book text could peep through in places..

Walnut Stain Distress Ink added, spritzed and flicked with water to get a mottled stained effect around the edges.

The stamping is from PaperArtsy HP1107 in Watering Can Archival. 

Why the clocks? Well lust can be sudden and fleeting, but love, love grows and deepens over time

Barn Door Distress Ink was added bottom right to give that hint of red, lots of water added and spritzed to give water stains and differing strengths of colour,

The heart was a left over scrap from my Grungy Heart. Edged with charcoal pencil to define and some charcoal marks around it to frame  and reflect the grey of the Watering Can archival. 

I'm pleased with the simplicity of this, even though it has many layers of texture. 

Hugs

Jo

xx

 

shabby wrist wrap #2

If you seen tonight's post on the PaperArtsy blog tonight on my take on wearable art then you might like to see the second wrist wrap I made using the spare strips.

I joined them together in the same way and did lots of zigzag stitching using pink variegated thread on my machine.  I then added lace trim to one side.

Disaster (not really in the worldwide scheme of things, but ...) I'd run out of this trim!   Plus the length of the wrap was a big long. So I cut it in half and sewed one layer on top of the other so I had lace trim on both sides and a much thicker wrap.

Attached a press stud to join and roughly over sewed the ends of the wrap in pink embroidery thread.

I love the roughness of the stitching with the softness of the fabric and lace and the stamping just peeping through!

Hugs
Jo
xx

Its Ally Pally time (nearly)!

Well the affectionately known Ally Pally (Big Stamping and Scrapbooking Show) has rolled around really fast again and as you'd expect PaperArtsy are going to be there with LOADS of new stamps and paints, makes and takes and demos to tempt you and hopefully inspire you to have a go!

 I'm going to be there on the Sunday demoing my style of art using PaperArtsy stamps and paints.  I'll be making backgrounds, layering, image transfer,using different types of paper, fabric, lace, string, and even some buttons and sewing!

Here's a quick peek at the kind of thing I'll be doing:

















 


 

Pop over to the PaperArtsy blog and see a full run down of the makes and takes and demonstrators, but here is the key info of when and where:
 
What: The Big Stamping and Scrapbooking Show/ Crafting at Ally Pally
When: Sat Sept 19th, Sun Sept 20th, 2015
Where: Alexandra Palace, North London, Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22 7AY, closest tube: Wood Green
Who: over 60 craft retailers, Make and Takes, Product Demonstrations
Why: UK's largest Stamping and PaperCraft specialist show, and PaperArtsy are there

And to further tempt you I've got two free tickets to give away courtesy of PaperArtsy to lucky readers of Shabby Dandelion all you need to do is leave me a comment telling me your favourite colour and I' ll pick a winner in time for you to receive the tickets and come and see us.

Hugs
Jo
xx

I have many hearts.

The heart is a wonderful thing, it keeps us alive, it leads us rightly or wrongly, it hurts, it holds many open and locked compartments of wishes, hopes, regrets, loss, happiness, sadness and longing.

 

Now this 12x12" canvas started out as something very different, a very red grunge paste scratched canvas (check out my Instagram to see the stages). Quite a difference eh?  

There are many layers on this of PaperArtsy: Vintage Lace, Tikka, Blood Orange  and Sherbet.  Some book text very much hidden under all that paint, more scratches and water colour pencils to define and fill in the lines.

The hearts were cut from some A4 Kraft card I'd painted and stencilled earlier with Cheesecake, Blood Orange and Tango. I used an old credit card to scrape the the paints and then added some subtle stamping with a favourite Ellen Vargo dot background stamp.I added some stencilling in South Pacific and Red Bus and some doodling in black and white pens around the circles. 

Finally some random stamping of some mini PaperArtsy stamps in black Archival and then cut out using the large PaperArtsy die.   Each heart was edged in Black Soot Distress Ink and stuck on the canvas. I edged each heart with black watercolour pen to give depth and shadows. 

Now sometimes you want to explore an idea further and I was working on this there were many times when I felt I should have stopped adding layers.  For example I can't see the book text or the stencilled lettering in blood Orange with the Tikka highlights any more which looked really good.  Equally what would the same arrangement look like with a much darker background and lighter highlights?  

Umm, the delight of art mean you can try  those ideas and see, paint and paper and boundless ideas.

Hugs

Jo

xx

Sandcastles

Well Mojo and Inspiration have settled back in comfortably making a right mess on my desk and gently nudging me in the right direction.

I printed out a load of my photos last weekend, manipulated with filters and quite small.  I want to start making greetings card sized original sized art to either sell in that original state of photo's taken of the art and printed on cards.

Well, this didn't end up greeting card size, more 10x8" than 6x4", hey ho!

The canvas had Grunge Paste smeared over it, wetted in places to make it move, dried, scratched, dried and scratched to get the texture I wanted. Some of the lines of dots you can see were made with a dressmakers wheel. Quite like it, need to try it again in slightly wetter Grunge Paste.

Wanted to keep the background fairly neutral so washes of Chalk and Concrete. 

Glued and ripped some text paper an started adding some stamping (Ellen Vargo PaperArtsy) in Watering Can Archival and some stencilling in Sage and South Pacific.  Another wash of Concrete to soften and merge the stencilling.

I'm still loving scribbling in water colour pencils to add highlights and shade. Dampening the scribbles to spread the colour and soften it.  I used grey, turquoise brown and green over the text, at the edges of it and in the scratches. 

The photograph was stuck to some card to strengthen it, edges distressed and Vintage Photo Distress Ink added.  You can't really tell but it is a sandcastle, trust me it is, I found it on Southwold beach on my solo holiday at Easter just before the tide came in to wash it away.I dot mind that its hard to make out, its the colour and shape that appeals to me - abstract!

I stuck it slightly off centre so I could still see the text paper and then melted some beeswax pearls.  By accident (a happy one as it turned out) it seeped into the text paper to add further distress. Some more pencil lines to frame the picture and white, sage and grey oil pastel added to lift the photo from the background and tone down the very citrus green of the photo.

I have to say I had a lovely morning putting this together and its nice to be paint and paper creative again. 

Hugs
Jo
xx

They came back!

So those errant elves (Mojo and Inspiration) have returned, they didn't apologise, just smirked at me and wandered off into the craft room giggling.

As a result of their return I've finally made "something" Its taken me a few weeks with all the various elements and other demands like work and garden, but yep, here is some art.

I'd been tidying up and found  a 12x12" sheet of white card that I'd already splodged some brown paint on in thin washes. I then scrunched it up and keep scrunching it up.  The more you scrunch the more the fibres break, the more malleable it becomes. I then direct to paper added Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and sprayed liberally with water to make the ink run and settle in the cracks in the paper. 

Dried it, more scrunching, more ink, more drying, some Chalk paint in a thin wash and finally some stamping in blue and grey Archival.

I then tore this 12x12" into 2x3" rectangles and distressed the edges. 

The background is a 5x7" rectangle of Kraft card that had Vintage Lace smeared on it.  A dot stamp in grey Archival, followed by the number stamp in grey archival.This was sanded and then a final thin layer of Vintage lace.  At the bottom I glued a scrap of text paper and added some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Distressed the edges and added some Broken China Distress Ink.

Stapled the original 2x3" into an irregular layered shape and added a thin layer Of Grunge Paste on the central one. When it was partially dry I added some dots with a fine tipped embossing tool to give a pitted look.  Dried off the Grunge Paste and painted  a tiny amount of watered down Toffee paint to give a wash over the white  and some black in the pitted holes and finally stamped one of my favourite mini PaperArtsy stamps in grey Archival. 

A little bit of extra highlights were added with water colour pencils and finally some scribbles with with an standard HB pencil.

It feels good to be back.

Hugs
Jo
xx