Take a deep breath and do it!

So,  some of you may have realised from my sneaky peeks and hashtags that I've taken a big leap this year in brand "shabby dandelion" 

Actually Ive taken two big leaps.  Ive finally set up my Etsy shop "theshabbydandelion" (link on the left). there isn't much to buy at the moment but i will be adding more after completing my other big leap. I like my artwork and I hope that other people might and like to buy.

The other big leap is that I have taken a small new designer stand at the Stitches trade show at the NEC this weekend to showcase me and shabby dandelion.

Runs around screaming in panic and delight!

Its a great opportunity for me in my grand plan to become a demonstrator / teacher and share my techniques and ideas with other crafters.

Developing "brand" shabby dandelion has been interesting.  Firstly I had to try to define and describe what my "style" is.  I think its:

• shabby
• texture
• grungy
• muted
• layers
• backgrounds
• focal photographic images

Secondly marketing.

The blog is my main showcase for this but also Instagram has been a fabulous tool to get my images out there internationally, to follow like minded artists and comment on their work and hop that they follow me! ~Its called developing a community of practice in academic circles which basically means like minded people getting together, sharing and communicating.

I also had to design a business card to give out at Stitches.  I wanted it to "show" my style so it had to be one of images of a dandelion of course on a crackle glaze and ripped text layer background in nice muted tonal colours and a simple font with contact details.  

I had great help from the local printer I used to get my cards printed, who told me about bleed lines and not taking the art work to the edge. I decided to go for a postcard size so that the image didn't get "lost" It was so exciting to see them coming off the printer and seeing my name and creative mixed media artist!


Finally the art work.

I wanted to make some big impressive pieces that would be eye catching and draw people in.  So in my 2x2m space with a back wall I've created 3 A3 size canvasses using my favourite techniques and products (PaperArtsy of course). 

I'm also dressing the set with props to showcase some of the smaller items I make like my rusty tins, smaller canvases, scrapbook and fabric collages and raggy garlands and hoops.

So Saturday is set up day, I'm bringing along my trusty husband and brother to help and then doors open on the Sunday through to Tuesday. so if you are attending come and say hello, you'll find me on Stand LO5 (near ther seminar theatre and workshop area) smiling!

Hugs
Jo
xx

Experiments with Wax #1

Wax, I like using wax in my art, I like the resist you can get in a batik kind of way by rubbing a wax candle over areas of art you want to protect.  And I like the soft ethereal look you can with wax when you spread it all your art.  I even gone so far to buy books on encaustic art, but that a whole new resource requirement and the subsequent drain on finances!

So when the challenge topic #3 Wax was announced on the PaperArtsy website, I knew it would lovely to play along.

I used an old A4 canvas that was originally dark green with texture on it and painted over with a few coats of white acrylic.  I used an credit card to scrape the paint over and that left interesting marks.  I then went over this with Candy Floss Fresco in the same way.

Now for some stamping.  I made a collage plate of the phrases and words from Emma Godfrey's EEG07 plate and stamped over the canvas in Coffee Archival.

Over this I added a washes of Blush and Chalk to tone down the "pinkness"

I added some Finnabair Texture Paste Clear Crackle in the corners and left this to dry.  I'm still getting to grips with this product, trying to get even layer and understand its drying properties. I wasn't sure at first but now I'm liking it more and more each time I use especially if I don't spread too thickly and leave to dry naturally which can take a long time  so that I get fine porcelain type crackles.

Once dry I rubbed with my fingers some watered down French Roast into the cracks and also spritzed with water to get drips.  To be honest I could have left it there as it looked so good!

 

First layer of wax to seal all these layers in and create a base for the next layers.I use wax pellets and heat with my heat gun and spread the melted wax with an old credit card. 

Then it was a case of just adding more layers of paint and stencilling. In the picture below you'll see  I stencilled in Chocolate Pudding and added some smears of Chartreuse. Using Chalk when I needed to knock back the colour and blend it together. 

This then had another layer of wax.  The interesting thing was that as I used the credit card it moved the Chocolate Pudding stencilling around.  Not what I was expecting, but, hey it added to the texture!  I also added more word stamping again as that layer had started to disappear under the layers on top.

Now I knew it needed a focus, so I had a look through my photo and transfer image folder and found this altered images of Lupins taken last summer.  the colours were a spot on match for the background.  It needed a frame to sit on so I got out my Portfolio pastels and some more pastels Id got and selected greys, whites  and browns.  I just scribbled them on and then heated.

Oh er, it was alchemy! The Portfolios melt and set, but the oil pastels moved around and spread. I got so excited by it I forgot to take a picture of that stage. But of you enlarge the picture below you'll see where the colour spread.

A layer of clear wax pellets to seal this layer.  It needed some extra elements to frame the image so I added some of Emma's lovely scribbly blooms in Coffee Archived and lightly painted in Chalk to get a scuffed translucent look as I didn't want them to distract from the main image. I added a quote from EEG14 as well (oh so very true).

Some close-ups (click on them to enlarge and get even closer!)

 As I said on Instagram, (see links on the left), I really, really love this, some definite actions and some happy mistakes to make gorgeous, if I say so myself, art.

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

 

Grungy heart

Grungy, shabby, distress, ripped, layers, collage, depth, that pretty much sums up my art and this encompasses all of that. 

I've had the idea of strips of distressed card layered onto more card for ages, its sometime I do with fabric and I wanted to see how it translated to card. 

Picture heavy, but I know that's what everyone likes!

I started by creating an master board using a PaperArtsy paints. I brayered and wiped,, scraped and stencilled with Buff, Cherry Red, Garnet, Vanilla and Chartreuse.   

Then I created a large collage style stamping plate using a variety of Ink and the Dog stamps and stamped over the card with Red Geranium Archival and finally some stamping of numbers in Watering Can Archival. A light wash of Chalk was put on to soften everything down.

  

 This master board was then cut into 1cm strips and the edges distressed.

 

The strips were then glued down onto a black background, make sure they aren't in the order you cut them, you want  a random look so that the stamping isn't prominent and acts as just another layer of contrast and creates the depth.

 

Finally I cut a heart shape and edged with Distress inks in Brick Red and Walnut Stain after gently distressing the edges. 

The background canvas had a lot of layers of die cut shapes, a sheet of paper and text paper.

This then had washes of Mud Splat, Snowflake and Chalk, stamping using the mash up Ink and the Dog plate in Watering Can and water colour pencil mark. Quite a few layers of wash went over the top to soften it all don so that the heart would stand out. In the centre I added some watered down Mud Splat which acts a bit like burnt umber to get that stained aged look.

 

Once glued the heart was edged with water colour pencils to further define the heart. 

Some close ups to see all that lovely grungy texture!

 

 

Really pleased how this turned out and Id now like to have a go with a neutral palette for the heart, off white, grey, silver or possibly gold, umm Ive got lots of sparkly Frantage stuff I could use ....

Hugs

Jo

xx

All you'll need is ....

Well I have to say it hasn't been the start to the year I'd envisaged, by now I would have been to the gym a 3 times a week, planned our meals weekly, dragged my husband into the study to start de-cluttering (we have different working styles, I like clean spaces and no clutter, he likes to be surrounded by piles of what appear to be waste paper). 

But no it wasn't to be the planned for January, that month of new starts, reflection, cleaning the decks, planning, setting goals in motion hasn't happened Instead the past two weeks have been sort of on standstill as I tackle my tooth abscess. It's finally going down (fourth lot of antibiotics) my face is almost back to normal as in not looking like I have a grapefruit trying to push its way out from the inside.  I'm still in some pain and achy, but no where near as bad as it was, thanks to everyone who has sent best wishes, social media is fantastic when you are cooped up in your personal pain riddled insular world.

Anyway enough of the maudlin. 

The past couple of days I've actually felt like I needed to do something, I'm not very good at standing or even sitting not doing anything, the mind starts churning, ideas pop in and the fingers are itching to "create".

The theme at the moment at PaperArtsy is hearts (ummm, I wonder why as we hurtle towards February)) and this is my contribution using a empty grapefruit tin, PaperArtsy paint, some card, Grunge Paste, embossing powder, rusty wire , ribbon and string. Yes I know I sound like Lesley Judd but as a kid I loved Blue Peter especially when they did craft!

The tin was painted with Little Black Dress all over and then I stippled Grunge Paste that had been mixed with Cherry Red. Over this I stippled Burnt Orange, Garnet, Plum, Chartreuse (just a little bit) in various places. Lots of water was spritzed and paints allowed to drip to soften.  I then went to town adding texture and contrast used a variety of embossing powder.  I used some WOW powders, Frantage and Distress to get the effect and colour I wanted.  I just lightly sprinkle pinches of powder onto the tin, have the heat gun very high up until it starts to stick and then move in closer to melt.

The hearts were stamped using Emma's new stamps EEG13 and EEG15.on a master board using the same colours (and lots of background stamps) on the tin. I really love the circles, that squiggly graphic really appeals to me.

I couldn't decide whether too stamp in white or black, I'm glad I went with the white, it looks good and I think it makes the hearts stand out more than the black. I used some rusty wire for the stems attached with some staples.

In the can is some flower arranging foam so that I can stick the wires into it,  Finally some ribbon and string around the can for more texture, I wasn't sure whether to add this last element as it would cover up the can, but it works.

 

So there we go, and in true Blue Peter style "I'm sure anybody would love to receive such a beautiful gift on Valentines Day"

Hugs

Jo

XX

Transparent layers

Well over at PaperArtsy the theme has been transparency. I completed this last week and then I came down with the mother of all toothaches and subsequent infection that has swelled my face to well, my husband dear man he is just called with Sloth from the Goonies. I'm chucking pain killers down my throat every two hours and antibiotics every six, my constant companion is a hot water bottle to my face. I have to drink tepid tea through a straw and I have to have a dribble cloth. Have I started old age early?

Anyway so transparency.  I'd had an idea of using layers of acetate with various elements on each to achieve a layered see through effect.  It's sort of worked, the depth between each layer needs to be bigger, but I'm quite happy.

Moving from back to front (all paints used are PaperArtsy):

Layer 1: text page stuck in and strips and bits removed. A light sponge of Elephant and White to tone the page down.

Layer 2: Elephant paint sponged on quite thickly and opaque, some stamping in Slate and Black Stazon.  The grey in the centre was scared back to reveal layer 1 and a white paint pen to create a frame.

Layer 3: one of photos (dandelion) image transferred on the sheet and some more stencilling in a light grey. Once the image had dried gently rub away the backing paper.

Layer 4:  white stencilled through small dot stencil and butterflies stamped in Stazon from HP1109.

You can see in the individual layers on my Instagram account @jomyhill, I often post WIPs here.

I crackle glazed an old frame with Slate and White and added a touch of Walnut Stain Distress ink.  I used a hot glue gun to stick layers 4, 3 and 2 togetherness. The frame and layer 4 was stuck over the clips.

Looking at it completed layer 3 needs to be less opaque in the centre as its stops the ethereal look I was after.

As an experiment it worked quite well.

Hugs

Jo

xx