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

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

Victorian Curios (Niches PaperArtsy)

Collecting (well apart from stash we never use) has rather gone out of fashion and the Victorians were certainly experts at collecting and displaying all sorts of things. Snowshill Manor in the Cotswold's  is an amazing example of this type of curio collecting.

So inspired by these Victorian collectors (plus I had a box and some polystyrene eggs) I decided to make a egg display case.

Using my favourite PaperArtsy Fresco chalky finish paints, I  painted the box in Irish Coffee and then used a candle to make some resists marks This was followed by French Roast, more candle and finally a mix of French Roast and Chalk to give a lovely soft grey / blue top coat and a great distress finish.

 For the inside niches I painted in Irish Cream and Chalk.  Using a 12x12" sheet of brown tissue paper I created a master board (needed two in the end) stamping lots of Ink and the Dog Victorian college stamps in Coffee Archival. Measured the niches and cut the tissue into appropriate sized bits and started gluing them in, back, top, bottom and sides!

The front edge of the box was painted in Chalk and dry brushed with French Roast, as were the edges to get the distressed look I wanted.

The eggs were painted in layers of Chalk, Irish Cream, Guacamole, Mermaid to get the soft pastel look of eggs.  Finally a I added some French Roast with a splatter stamp to complete the mottled look.

I'm quite pleased, although the polystyrene eggs went a bit dinosaur scaly egg looking when I used the heat gun to dry the paint, but hey I had fun making!

Hugs

Jo

xx

Creating + Sharing = Happiness.

Well its the 14th February, you know hearts, flowers, romance etc. 

Let me sum up the 14th February in my house, the usual question a couple of days before is one of us will say, "have you got me anything for Valentines Day?"  If the answer is no, there's a sign of relief and if its a yes then there is either some frantic crafting or a quick trip to a card shop.  Its fair to say we don't really do it, I don't need a special day to tell the people I cherish and value that I love them.

However saying that I have made some postcards (nine to be exact) made with love that I will be sending to people to share happiness by hopefully making people smile.  There's a lot to be said for giving, it really does make you,  the giver happy, well it does me.

So I started with a 6"x4" piece of Kraft card and embossed a background stamp from PaperArtsy in Yellow and Orange WOW embossing powder mixed up. I then went over the card with Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey Distress Inks and spritzed and flicked with water. 

I then added a thin layer of Grunge Paste mixed with a little Sand Texture paste and Yellow Submarine and Cheesecake Fresco paints (I am still getting to grips with these brights and I have to be brave). The sand texture paste gives a nice gritty texture.  When it had dried a bit I went back over with the palette knife and scraped again to give me lines. 

It was very yellow, so I added some Tango. Now it was very orange in places. Added watered down Chalk to tone it down a bit more and make it less in your face bright.  It needed some contrast so I added JOFY's new Jade colour, just a couple of dabs top right, held it upright and spritzed with water to get drips down the card. 

I added some more background stamping using a small alphabet stamp from PaperArtsy in black Versamark.  I didn't put in a block as I wanted a clear but not uniform all over stamping.  Looking to achieve the weathered worn beach side look. finally I sewed around the edge of the card with toning thread both a matte and glazed shiny thread.

The photo is one I took on an early morning walk along the beach in Peel in the Isle of Man, I have so many pictures from that morning the bright clear light and the amount of shells, seaweed and worm holes was a pure joy, all that texture and shape!

I distressed the edges and then used both Walnut Stain and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink around the edges. It was stapled onto some stamped beige tissue paper and Chalk gently wiped around the photo to lift it from the background.

So I hope my wormy sandy heart has made you smile, it does me every time I see it and  creating these postcards makes me happy.  

Hugs

Jo

Pink Hearts using the new PaperArtsy Hot Picks stamps.

So this week has been a monumental week over at PaperArtsy with the release of the new paints and stamps from the PA talented family of designers (I don't think they all live in a big mansion and I don't think Leandra is Maria and Mark Captain Von Trapp, but hey, its an interesting idea).

Ive been lucky and have for the delight of playing with some of the new paint colours, Emma Godfrey's new stamps and the new Hot Picks and boy have they given me ideas.  So over the next few weeks you'll be seeing me use these new products to give you ideas of what you can do with them.

So today Hot Picks range.If you haven't seen nip on over tho the PaperArtsy blog to see the full range or watch the video!
  

 There is a lot of stamps on all the sheet, so I decided to use the whole of HPXTO6 as a background stamp.

In my new A4 art journal (thanks Darcy, the paper is good).  I created a border using washi tape. I then brayered Prawn from the new JOFY range of paints, Rose and finally Candy Floss.  I then stamped the Ink and the Dog Backgrounds Plate 5 in Archival Blue Violet Ink.

Once this had dried I stencilled a swirly design with Prawn and gave the whole page a wash of Sherbet, just to soften it. 

I finally inked up the whole sheet of HPXT06 with Claret, turned the sheet over and stamped on the page.  I love how it gives a billboard / destinations style of background.  Once I'd dried this I gave it a light sand. With Black Soot Distress Ink I lightly went round the edges and carefully (well tried too)  pulled the washi tape off. I went round the edge of the pink panel with a pencil just to add some shading and make the panel pop.

The hearts were cut from Kraft card that had some of the natural tissue paper PaperArtsy had (id forgotten I had it).  I scrunched it up then glued to the card and painted with Prawn and Candy Floss.  Stamped over in Sepia Archival with Backgrounds Plate 3 and cut out large and small hearts. On the 3 small hearts I stamped yesterday, today and tomorrow from HPXT09.

All the Hot Picks have great versatility both individually and as a whole plate, The trouble I'll have now is splitting up the plate from HPXT06  as I love it so much as one big plate - special request Maria and Captain Von Trapp, can I have a special stamping of the words in one big plate just for me?

Hugs
Jo

Fragile Papers

The theme this week over at PaperArtsy is fragile papers, all that texture, all that age, all that yumminess.

Its is fair to say I have quite a bit of fragile paper knocking around in the craft room at Chez Myhill (ask my husband and he'll say there is quite a lot of other stuff knocking around in the craft room as well), so this should be relatively easy.

And do you know what, for once it was, no angst ridden: is this working, I'm not sure, go way and think about it for a bit.  No it was wham bam, paint, dry, distress, staple stick!

I started off with a manila tag and added a coat of Cinnamon fresco paint.  A layer of crackle and then Dolly Mix on top with a paint brush to get thinnish cracks.   In Magenta Hue Archival Ink I stamped the text ( I think its upside down!) from Hot Picks 1304 all over. Flicked watered down Cinnamon and Eggplant mixed with Amethyst over it for age spots and finally edged in Vintage Photo Distress Ink after scuffing and roughing up the edges.

For the focal point I've built up layers of fragile paper starting on the top with some handmade paper that my Mum had used in her art course eons ago.  Part of her final year show was themed around family history and this scrap of paper had the marriage year of her parents George and Daisy on it.  Carefully painted the reverse with Amethyst and Eggplant ripped it apart and stapled it back togetther again.

The middle layer is some Crunchy wax paper that has been scrunched and torn.

The bottom layer is an old book page with an accession stamp on it from a discarded poetry book from my library.  

To finish off some ripped cotton, a chipboard flower, button and ribbon. I then glued onto a piece of corrugated card and then stuck in my spare paint art journal (basically any spare paint on the brush or cut and dry I just open a page in the book and paint it on).

Hugs

Jo

xx

Have faith

Sometimes you have to trust yourself.

I very nearly painted over this last night to start again.  I felt it had got too "muddy" and that Id over worked it.

 

I couldn't really see it properly as there was no natural light.  So instead of painting over it,I put it aside and looked at it this morning.

It was ok, it wasn't too muddy, the contrast was there, the depth and texture were there. So I finished it off by adding the fabric panel, clock face and photograph elements all made yesterday.

I started off with an old canvas that had already had stuff on it. gessoed over and then added some ripped Tim Holtz tissue paper in places

On top of this, some scraped on sand texture paste and then some Grunge Paste through the Mini Harlequin stencil.  where I wasn't happy with some of the stencilling I just smooth it over. 

Texture down I started to add colour.  Well I say colour, I only used four paint colours on this: French Roast, Slate, Chocolate Pudding and Snowflake and some of you might say they aren't colours! As my mother said on the phone this morning - Joanna you tend to favour a certain "shade of browns" (you know what I'm saying- slops, slurry, cowpats).

There is some stamping, there is more stencilling with the beautiful mini Rosetta stencil, glimmer mist spraying, dry brushing and Distress Inks and paint splatters. 

The focal point is made up of scraps of fabric, organza and lace stitched together using the gorgeous delicious silks from Patricia Wood at Mulberry Silks. The colour combination Patricia puts together for the mini topics, well they are hard to resist I have to say. The photograph is one of mind I have added filters too, distressed the edges and stapled to a scrap of embossed and inked card. 

For me the creative process is just that, a process, not necessarily the end result, the finished item.  Its the journey through the stages, the complete and utter absorbtion and submersion into thinking about the colour, the texture, the design, the composition.

But I really must try some "colour"

Hugs

Jo

Using up those scraps

So, I had a big tidy up last weekend in the craft room,  there was stuff EVERYWHERE and frankly I hate having stuff everywhere on every surface whether its on my desk at work, the kitchen, the dining room or my craft room.  I find I can think clearly and feel overwhelmed if there is stuff everywhere (stuff everywhere get me down - can you tell!)

So I chucked out some stuff, re-arranged some stuff in the wardrobes in my craft room and put a lot of stuff away in this wardrobes (I just need to remember where I've put everything now).

But I still hoard "bits of paper" you know what I mean , those small (tiny slivers I can chuck) bits that just might be useful.  I have a whole box of plastic food bags (thank you IKEA)  that contain coloured themed cut into sheets of 12x12 papers all ready for a "project".

Except I get new 12x12's out and use those instead on the next project.

So I had an idea, not an original idea but a good idea on how to use those scraps.  ATC's. Lots and lots of ATCs using up all those bits and quick enough (ummm that bit might not be true in reality, but I try) to get a a crafty fix in my full throttle life.

But then what would I do with all the ATCS, just have them lying around making more stuff lying about everywhere????

What to put them in?  A BOOK of course, I could make a book with some of the scraps and use even more stuff.

So that's what a I did.

I had a load of long thin envelopes bought in a sale that I'd never used because I don't really make cards anymore.  But folded in half they were just the right size to have an ATC stuck on them.

I'd bought some JoFy stamps ages ago and hadn't really used them (I struggle with painting in the lines if I'm honest, more of a slap it on grungy shabby kinda girl). So took some Chatwsworth card (I just love the weight of this card, so strong) and painted in a dark grey as a base layer. Crackle Glaze and then Chalk over that.  I wanted a shabby seaside look on the cover so used the Vaseline technique to act as a resist for some blue and red streaks. 

Stamped in Black Archival and carefully coloured in with water colour pencils. 

I lined the inside with a piece of that scrap.

I looked up the tutorial on 5 hole pamphlet binding and bound the folded envelopes tot he cover with some strong thin twine.

Two big brads to act as closures and it was done.

 

So far Ive made two ATC's as you can see.  I painted the "page" and added a background stamp and then stuck the ATC in.

There are still loads of scraps and envelopes to be used.  But I reckon Ive found a solution.

Hugs

Jo

xx

Peeled Paint Delight

A technique to that gives me a shabby, distressed grungy look?  YES PLEASE!

I had to try Liesbeth Fidder's peeled paint technique showcased on the PaperArtsy blog this week and I knew exactly the photo I'd use as well (well to be honest I have a whole series of rusty metal hinges, locks and peeled paint ones taken at Southwold, it was just a matter of choosing which one would work).

I started with a 12x12" sheet of Tim Holtz paper cut down to 11x11" to fit in my scrapbook and then proceeded to cover it in a mix of Very Berry and Blood Orange (it originally a pink piece of paper).  Next I used a whole range of Ellen Vargo Eclectica stamps in Maroon and Sienna Archival inks to go all over the paint.  Very subtle and hardly seen in the finished article, but they just pop through in places..

Next a few layers of  watered down Irish Cream to add depth and a very light layer of colour, it also knocks back the pinkness of the base colour and stamping. I then stamped some of my favourite PaperArtsy Words and Ephemera stamps in Black Archival.  I was going for the faded wall advertising you see on the sides of buildings (I tend to photograph that when I see it as well!) 

Finally the Vaseline!

 

I smeared in places over the black stamping and added a layer of Nougat.  When that had done its magic (see Liebeths post for the full technique) I added a bit more Vaseline over the Nougat and added Mocha Mousse.  For both the top layers I varied the amount of paint I dded so that in some places you could still see the brush strokes.

Chicken wire stencil in Elephant and crackle stamp in Watering Can Archival in places to add more layers.  Distressed and sanded the the edges and added Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress Ink with water spritzing 

The photo was distressed and scratched and Vintage Photo Distress Ink added. I then stamped and cut out a lot of label stamps from the PaperArtsy range.  These I scrunched up and added Distress Ink to the edges and the folds to add further shabbiness. Layered all this up with two tags and before adding the photo I flicked watered down Snowflake and Chocolate Pudding.

Really happy with this.

Right today will be would you believe stripping and peeling wallpaper off the walls at my mums new house.  She's downsized and the bungalow is stuck in a 70s time warp of yellow, oranges and browns.  Very retro as I keep telling her but hard on the eyes!

Hugs

Jo

xx

Peeling Wallpaper

Well i was supposed to be tidying the craft room and perhaps finishing some started projects. I didn't though because I made this from scratch instead (and possibly made some more mess).

Whilst moving the piles of paper and card and canvases and photos that are in a pile on the floor I found a square piece of cartridge paper that had a little bit I think of Blush PaperArtsy fresco paint on it.

I love distressed old decaying stuff whether that be rusty metal, peeling paint, weathered wood or peeling wallpaper, faded flowers. Even possibly bones, but I draw the line at decaying food though. 

So, lets see if we could replicate some peeling wallpaper.

I added some Sherbet and then some Nougat through a stencil (small squares) and finally some Sage through another stencil (flowers). Base layer done.

Next I smeared some Matt Medium over the paper and stuck down a couple of pages from my old trusty Thesaurus (best £5 I ever spent), let it dry for a bit and then started ripping it away. a finger nail really helps to get a little bit and then rip - just like peeling wallpaper! 

Now some sanding.  I'm quite brutal with my sanding as I want to take layers off to reveal the paint layers and the base layer of cartridge paper.  I also had a real go at the edges as well.  A thin layer of Snowflake was added with a babywipe over the text and then Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  Spraying it with water helps it to really sink into the base layer of paper and add that depth of decay.

By now I'd thought about what I was going to do with this creation.  It needed a photo and it needed some backing Kraft card as it was going in one of picture frames that I have going up the stairs.  I have a number of picture frames with large A4 prints of my flower photos and I'd been thinking for a while I needed to change the photos.  

The Kraft card has some Snowflake paint wiped on with a babywipe.  Some heavy sanding again to rough up the texture of the card. Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Inks added and some text from PaperArtsy Sara Naumann plate 5  added in the Distress Inks again.

The Photo is one of mine. I distressed the edges and the corners with the Prima Distressing tool (I love this tool). Added Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the edges and used the babywipe that still had some of the Snowflake paint on it to soften the image and make it a bit opaque, but I wiped away over the pinkest flower head to give a focal point and draw the eye in.

Some file tabs, dyed lace, more Sara Naumann stamps and of course stitching to finish it off. 

Ok, off to check the cricket score and possibly move the pile of stuff in the craft room into another slightly different pile of stuff! That's tidying isn't it?

Hugs

Jo

xx

 

My photography, my art

This morning I was doing my usual wandering around the garden early morning taking pictures on my phone. We have a large rose bush that every year gets smothered in roses, a soft apricot that fades to cream and sometimes has a pink tinge to it.  I love it from its tight buds to full blown petals falling decay.

So this was one of the shots I took this morning, I then put it through Pixlr to add filters, overlays and other effects.  I printed out various sizes on photographic paper on the home printer. I'd been working on an 11x11" background in pale pinks, neutrals and browns that I wanted to use a rose print on, but this smaller size just kept calling as the large 11x11" page was drying.

I started with the frame which was a cheap plastic metal effect one I bought on impulse and has been languishing in the "stuff to alter" box.  I carefully took the glass out (well I had to smash it to get it out to be honest) and gave it light sand and then sponged on Fresco paints in Mud Splat, then Taupe and finally Vintage Lace mixed with the Taupe left on the craft mat.

 On a page of old book text and added some light washes of Taupe and Vintage Lace and a light spray of Pearl Glimmer Mist. This got glued to a 6x4" piece of toning Tim Holtz paper.  I just put glue on the paper (not all over) and stick the text on, leave it to dry for about 5 minutes and then rip away the excess unglued text to give that raggedy look.  Sanded and scuffed this to further add to the decay look.  I lightly tickled the edges of the text and the Tim Holtz paper with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. 

Stamped one of all my all time favourite PaperArtsy text stamps with Sepia Archival Ink.  Finally added some gold flake over the text and under where the photo would go.

I attached the photo to some spare card, distressed the edge and inked with Black Soot Distress Ink.  I then added Fresco Finish Gloss Glaze on top, this streaked the ink from the printed photo, it can be a slight panic when this happens if you aren't expecting it, the key is to only brush once over the image so you don't get all the ink splodging together.  I really like the effect, it adds another layer of shabby grungy. The photo was glued to a peice of cork table mat, I use this a lot to raise up elements of my art work as it gives a solid but light base that makes the element look as though its floating.

Finally Renaissance Treasure Gold was added to edge of the frame and the Tim Holtz paper. 

As I said really pleased with this and as I have a couple of other frames I think I might make some more and finally might take the plunge and create my Etsy shop to sell my art.

Hugs

Jo

xx

Shabby poppy

Ive enjoyed looking at Jenny Nuttall's fabric inspired pieces oer on the PaperArtsy blog this week especially the Fabric Hanging.  You know me, any opportunity to play with fabric in my art I'm happy!.

Well this is my version.  

I kept pretty much to Penny's description in terms of fabric, stencilling and stitching, but veered off track quite quickly by adding Grunge Paste (GP) and text paper to my linen top layer.

I also used a very neutral palette of colours compared t Penny's brights (comfort zone).

First, Nougat over the GP and text as a base for the stencilling and to knock back the text.  Mocha Mousse was the first layer over the JOFY poppyheads stencil. Over this I added a mixture of Nougat and Chutney to soften the the Mocha.  When it was dry I rubbed back a bit of the lighter layer to reveal the Mocha at the base. 

Little bits of texture stamping using Tree Branch and Fern Archival in the corners and some Glimmer Mist in Marshmallow all over and Cinnamon on the corners.  

I further defined the poppyheads using a soft brown water colour pencil and stamped the Sara Naumann quote in Potting Shed. 

Various eyelets, jump rings and pins to make the hanging bit and some wire wrapped around a bit of driftwood stained with Alcohol inks.

So thanks Penny for the inspiration.

Hugs

Jo

xx

 

  

My Dad

Today is Father's Day here in the UK (and I understand in other places around the world as well).  My Dad died a few years back and yes I miss the old devil everyday.

The "memory bit"

My Dad loved me very much, even if he did say to the midwife when she showed him me in my cot in the hospital, can I have that one instead. I was his first born and his only daughter and I was a tomboy, never a girly girl and he expected me to stand on my own two feet and not expect anyone else to do things for me (which means I find it really hard to accept help and people being kind today).

My Dad used to write me long letters when I was at Uni that he wrote over a number of days in the most beautiful copperplate handwriting learnt at the same primary school I went too. He'd tell me what was going on at home, what my brothers were doing, which cats were sat with him, what they'd all had for tea and what did I think to the Archers storyline this week.  

My Dad would come and pick me up from Uni early on a Saturday morning whenever I wanted to come home (I only got badly drunk on a Friday once, trying to pack suitcases on a Saturday morning with a hangover wasn't good).  We'd have to stop at the tool shop just outside Wolverhampton (where I went to Uni or Polytechnic as it was then) so he could buy another drill or socket set, he didn't need them, but tools were goodies, shiny new things to play with (umm sounds familiar, just swap tools for stamps)

My Dad used to laugh hysterically at the London Marathon every year when they used to show the poor souls who'd hit the wall and we're falling over and staggering along, he knew it was bad but he just couldn't help it.

My Dad a shy man who made a speech at my wedding in front of everyone and became every ones best friend and a disco king at the evening reception.   It took my Mum 30 minutes to walk him home from the Village Hall reception (its a 5 minutes walk max) because he walked into the hedge three times and fell off the kerb twice. He was desperate to phone me when he got in, Mum wouldn't let him and he never remembered what he wanted to say. 

My Dad was the first person I heard swear, the man that introduced me to photography, the man who'd be tutting at the state of my wheels on my car (get that brake dust washed off), the man who helped us make our vegetable garden, the man that introduced me to sitting in the living room with the curtains shut watching the cricket, the man who would wait patiently for the Grand Prix on a Sunday and then fall asleep withing the first 10 minutes, the man who would tell us to be quiet so he could watch the weather (a habit I've now developed), the man who played wrestling with me and my brothers every Saturday afternoon in the living room and nearly cracked his head open on the hearth when we'd all pinned him down to submit in Big Daddy style.

There are so many memories that I shared with my Dad, but this photo is his memory, his time doing National Service in the late 50's first in Honiton on basic training and then in Germany in REME, before he got married, before he thought about kids. A young man in the big wide world, who apparently went AWOL after missing the ferry in Harwich, refused his Sargent's strips, laughed on parade and wrote the best ever accident report his commanding officer had ever seen (even if he did drive a metal spike into a German road in order to tow a truck out of a turnip field in front of a busload of German housewives).

My Dad xx

The "art bit"

I stuck a load of scrap Kraft card that I'd embossed in folders on another piece of patterned Kraft card. A layer of Taupe Fresco paint, then Crackle Glaze and then a top layer of a pale grey Eco paint. 

Distress Inks on top of this in various Browns to catch the embossing and Glimmer mists in brown lightly misted on.  I also added a few drops of a Slate Glimmer mist to add contrast and pick up the black and white of the photo.

Stamped the clocks in Potting Shed Archival 

The photo is a photocopy that I glued on a page of text and then added layers of Fresco Matte Glaze to seal it. A thin wash of the pale gray to obscure the text top left and bottom.

This was stitched onto a piece of linen.  

Added pencil lines around  the photo and the Dad or Daddy definition.  Finally a layer of beeswax added all over and then Pebble alcohol ink in the corners. 

A spare piece of embossed card under the linen and a tag with various PaperArtsy word stamps.

Hugs

Jo

xx