It's a tactile thing

I am still really enjoying creating texture, it's just a shame you can't get to see this in real life and touch it because it is full on 100% oozing texture!

This started out as a plain 5" x 7" canvas, but you will not believe how many layers of paper and texture paste this has had on it (well you might if you know my work well).  This is the third layer of art on this canvas and the previous layers (which I just paint over when it isn't quite working and start again) have added to the strength of the canvas.

I painted over what was there before (text paper, old grunge paste, some paint and goodness know what else) with gesso, only a light layer as I didn't want to mask the texture just give me a neutral colour base to work on.

Then a layer of Grunge Paste scraped on with a spatula, not all over the canvas, very messy and definitely not smoothed out.  

I bought a new product recently to give me some more grainy texture.  It's called Sand Texture Gel and well that's pretty much what it is. This was applied on the right hand side of the canvas. Let this all dry to give you a really interesting base to work with colour on.

I used the new Caramel, Toffee and Tango Fresco paints with Vanilla and Autumn Fire to add colour.  Did some flicking to get spots of colour and stamped Mini 23 in Archival Monarch Orange.

The fabric is cream sari silk that I dyed with watered down Fresco paints and then stitched onto felt and cut up and re-stitched together! Little bit of Antique Photo Distress Ink around the edges and then sprinkles of Stampendous Fran-tage Embossing Enamel in Aged Scarlet.

Some stitched fabric and paper for the central piece with more watered down Fresco in Rose and the lovely new Mini 96 flourish stamped in Archival Potting Soil.

The heart was painted with Nougat and Rose Fresco, more Stampendous Fran-tage Embossing Enamel in Aged Scarlet melted on it.  Then it was sanded and inked with Antique Photo Distress Ink to complete that shabby look.

The canvas background really looks and feels like weathered sandstone (we have a lot of it here in Northamptonshire) and I still love using ripped and cut fabric in this way with paint and silky coloured thread to add even more texture. 

It really is a shame you can't touch it through the magic of the Internet!

hugs
jo
xx    

  

I'd like to thank ....

Wow and wow again. 

It's been really hard work keeping it a secret that I was one the new guest designers for PaperArtsy and probably even more nerve wracking planning, designing and writing up my three first pieces.

Hidcote Manor June 2013

I have been overwhelmed and very humbled by all the positive responses I have got from everyone who has looked and commented, so a big thank you to you all.

I really appreciate it.

Putting your work out there and getting feedback both positive and constructive is really important. It's how we grow, it's how we stretch ourselves, it's how we learn.

My day "job" is in a University and this week I have been meeting new students to tell them how the library can and will support their learning, how much learning is a creative interactive energising process and having the opportunity to learn is one of the most precious gifts we can have in life.  Wanting to learn should never leave us and that's why it has been great this week to share my enthusiasm for learning in both my day job and my crafting life.

If you haven't looked at my guest designer week these are the links:

Project 1
Project 2
Project 3

I'm really looking forward to my next designer week and have already got some great ideas to share with you.

hugs
jo
xx

Still kicking that seaside vibe

Well I so enjoyed the colours on the last piece I made with JOFY seaside stamps, I needed to do some more.

I used the same Green Olives, Tinned Peas, Sage and Concrete PaperArtsy Fresco paints colour combo on this square canvas.

I also added some stencilling with Grunge Paste(gotta have some texture!)

The wooden fence is actually lolly sticks that I wiped Sage and Concrete lightly with Cut-n-Dry.  Cut the ends and then used rusting powder to distress further.

The little row of beach huts were stamped on a scrap of patterned paper that I'd swiped some Concrete on and them stamped and embossed with brown embossing powder and cut out. 

These were stuck onto a scrap of linen that had a little bit of Walnut Stain smeared over it and finally the sentiment added on a scrap of the patterned paper.

A tiny smidge of Sherbet over the stencilling just to add some contrast  and pick up some of the colour on the patterned paper just finishes it off I think.

Really pleased with the rusty fence, I think it looks great as another layer of texture on the canvas and continues the beachy theme.

I've added another photo in to show how sunny it was on Sunday (husband was happy as he could keep his shorts on for WW weigh in, he's dreading having to be weighed in jeans and suffer a bit of a gain!) and how the colours look so different 

Well until next time, hope you are all enjoying playing with your stash from your latest shopping venture wherever that may have been (clears throat to admit I haven't put mine away from Ally Pally yet ...).

hugs
jo
xx

ssssh, it's been a bit quiet round here lately

Yes I know I haven't posted in ages but I've been rather caught up in changing habits of a lifetime and creating a new lifestyle.  Both husband and I have decided that enough is enough and we need to eat smaller portions and move a lot more.  So that's what we've been doing, between us we have lost over 30lbs in 7 weeks and visiting the gym on a much more regular basis (they don't laugh now when we get our cards out as there is no dust flying out as well through lack of use).  This week I have started the excellent NHS couch to 5k running programme (aren't pod casts great) and a new weights regime.  I can't quite look at myself in the mirror when I'm lifting the weights as a) I'm trying to concentrate on breathing right b) I forget to breathe and go red and c) I'm sure I'm pulling right gurning faces as I lift the weights above my head and that will make me laugh and possibly drop the weights.


But last weekend I did manage to do some art and here it is using the fabulous JOFY stamps from PaperArtsy.

 























Rather than a beach scene I ended up making it look like a garden shed, but that's the versatility of the stamps.  

This one is JOFY Mini 23 which I stamped on a ripped out book page lightly painted on Concrete, stamped in black and then painted in Sage and Tinned Peas (sometimes neat sometimes mixed) . 

The really deep mini canvas was painted first in Tinned Peas, Crackle Glaze layer and then in Concrete and Sage mixed.  

Sanded on the edges and then stamped using the large clocks stamp from Clock Plate 2 and embossed with green  embossing powder. Some beautiful lace on the edge, ripped crunchy waxed craft paper and string and finally some buttons and some driftwood.

Well here's hoping I can manage to find a balance between eating less, moving more and crating as well!

hugs
jo
xx

Some things don't change

This was taken by my Dad in July / August 1972 on holiday in Looe in Cornwall.  Its me, my brother and my baby brother who was 6 weeks old. Apparently my Mum had been to the hairdressers hence the very beautiful coiffured hair.

The base canvas had stone and cream acrylic paint added to it and some old Frayed Burlap crackle paint on top.  (I was clearing out old paint and couldn't quite get rid of the neutrals). I also added some ripped bits of Tim Holtz tissue paper stuck down with Gel Medium and some Tinned Peas green added in places. 

The fabric layer was made up of an oblong of cotton that had some Fresco stencilling in green dots and lot of layers of silk strips, merino wool, stitching in different variegated threads to make the vertical stripes. I then sliced it up (big deep breath to do this but it was worth it) and stitched it back together.  the horizontal stripes of fabric and lace where added to give loads of texture.  This was then sewn onto a base layer of felt to give some strength to the fabric and just raise it up a bit from the canvas.

The photo was photocopied and then transferred onto water colour paper using PaperArtsy Satin Glaze.  I also sealed it with Gloss Glaze after I'd sanded it a bit to distress (hence my rubbed out brother bottom right!). Edges roughed up and Vintage Photo Distress Ink added.  This was attached to some kraft card that had strips of ripped Crunchy Waxed Paper sewn on and more stitched added everywhere!

I have always loved this picture, I don't remember it being taken (hence the into a memory stamp from Sara Naumann Eclectica 6) but it looks so serene and you can feel the love from my Mother looking into the lens and the love my Father has because my Mother is completely in focus whilst us children are slightly out of focus.

I look at this picture and so many thoughts and questions come into my head of my family, of me, where I came from and where I am.

But one thing I do know is that I still smile like this and I still stand like this with my head to one side, some things don't change no matter how old we get.

hugs
jo
xx

Salty corrosion

Decayed, distressed, peeling, shabby, no I'm talking about me as I creep towards OAPdom (when I do get there I will be doing it elegantly even if bits are falling off and failing!), but about textures I really love and adore. Those gorgeous natural textures that happen over time as the sun, wind and rain (lets not talk about chemical erosion shall we) batter wood and metal from their pristine newly painted / created state.

I've had this photo of a mussel shell for over a year. I took it on holiday in Southwold last July when I went for an early morning stroll along the beach (husband was till snoring in our classy shabby hotel and we've been married too long for me to attempt to wake him for some romantic adventure). The flat east coast light as it came over the horizon was superb and I spotted this and immediately thought it looked like a heart.  Experiences like that for me are like topping up my natural battery of happiness, storing away the feelings and memories for days when the battery of life seems a bit flat.

I've manipulated the photo slightly with some blue colour saturation on the PC and printed it out on photo paper.  I distressed the edges with a tonic tool, added some rock candy over the top and then some distress embossing powder and walnut stain on the edges to grunge it up a bit more.I took a scrap of kraft card crumpled it up and put walnut stain round the edge then used some staples to attach the photo to the card. The my heart sentiment was from the Sara Naumann 7 Eclectica plate.  I stamped it on piece of balsa wood that came with some canvases - you know the "bits" in a plastic bag stapled to the back of a canvas (what are they for???). Sandpapered the edges and did the same thing with a bit of kraft card.

The middle layer is a piece of mountboard that has been thoroughly painted to look distressed! I intended to use really bright colours to remind me of our recent holiday, the expanse of saturated blue sea against swathes of clean yellow sand was so intense. So a first layer of Brown shed to act as a base and then layers of South Pacific, Beach Hut and  Bora Bora were added. Then some thin layers of Cheesecake and Vanilla, followed by some more layers of the blues.  Finally a layer of crackle glaze and some more Cheesecake and Vanilla, thickly in places, less thick in others to get different grades of crackle. 

Round the edges I used Brown Shed, Walnut Stain and rusting powder to get the weather beaten look I was after. Once I'd sprinkled the powder on, spritzed with vinegar (ahh chips) I tilted the board to let it drip down and carry some of the powder with it and left it to set.  the longer you leave the powder the "redder and rusted" it seems to go. I added some stamping in Coffee Archival from Hot Picks 1201. My new screw brads were added in the corners.

The frame was another old one knocking around, the old art taken out and the frame revamped with Beach Hut, South Pacific, Brown Shed and Stone.  All really thin watered down layers, sometimes left to pool in places other times dripped down the frame.  You have to be really patient and trust what you are doing and that the paints will dry much softer than they look when you use them in this very wet fluid state.  Lots of sanding to reveal some old texture paste underneath and finally some fish / sea related stamping in Black Archival from Hot Picks 1111 and Hot Picks 1202 

This took me quite a while to make but I am really pleased with the outcome. For me making art is a relaxation, not a job with deadlines (although I'd possibly quite like to make it a job and I really should start thinking about attempting to sell some of my art if only to make space for making more!), so slow contemplative creation works for me, just like decaying and rusting!

hugs
jo
xx

Shabby bunnies

Some things just make you really happy don't they?  Well this does for me.  

I've loved this stamp Crafty Individuals Alice Palace Crowned Bunnies stamp ever since it came out and it took me ages to find it (very popular it must have been) and for a couple of days once I'd parted with hard cash for them I just looked at them and sighed (and occasionally stroked it has to be said) .

But then I plucked up the courage to use it. 

I took some fabric and scraped some Grunge Paste over it and let it dry.  On the reverse I added a thick layer of PVA to strengthen the fabric.  When that was dry I turned it back over and stamped those lovely bunnies with WOW Pepper embossing powder. Added some text stamping using the lovely Mini 26 with Cinnamon fresco paint.

This was stitched onto some crunched up PaperArtsy crunchy waxed craft paper that had some Snowflake added over the creases and I also added some grungy staples. This layer was then stuck onto some distressed Kraft card that was edged with Walnut Stain Distressing Ink.

The frame was an old one I had knocking around.  It had already got some sort of texture paste (Grunge Paste would do it) on it that I'd stamped into.  Originally it had some green Inka Gold on it so I added a couple of layers of Concrete to cover that up.  Then I added some thin layers of Mocha Mousse and lots of sanding to distress even further.  It looks sort of blue because I think the original Inka layer is showing through but it looks fantastically distressed I have to say.  Finally some more stamping with the same Mini 26 around the frame.

I think these gorgeous bundles of loveliness may have to come to work and sit on my desk so I can gaze at them in times of stress (that's most of the time then).

hugs
jo
xx