Oh Romeo Romeo ...

So my dear husband is acting this week and next in the annual open air Shakespeare amateur production by the Masque. It's the first time he's done any Shakespeare even though he's been acting for years and I'm really proud of him. 

He's playing the Friar and it's first night tonight!  So in honour of such grand thespian pursuits I made this little memento using stash I haven't used yet.

To be honest the creation was one of those ooh "actually I think I'd rather use the bits that were going to go in the bin rather than the shapes I meant to cut" moment.  The original idea was to cut two shapes from the Vintage Cabinet Card die, one as a base plate and then the second cut in half vertically to make doors.  But then when I cut the shapes from mount board I really liked the waste and how they stacked together to make a really deep recess for an aperture.  So I cut a back board to act as a base plate and set to work colouring and stamping.

The background was paper I painted in stone colours and used Distress inks and stains in old linen, wild honey, pumice, crushed olive and tea dye. As luck would have it the PaperArtsy Arched Apertures stamp fitted perfectly in the recess so that was stamped as a repeat across the card in grey stazon. Bit more inking to tone it all down.

For the top of the aperture I again coloured some paper cut out the shape and ran it through the bricks embossing folder, more stains on top finally finishing with some black to highlight some bricks and the aperture. 

Finally the balcony, I coloured a scrap of paper with the same paints and inks and used the PaperArtsy stamp Swirls and Curls 4 to suggest ironwork.  This was mounted on a scrap of mount board to raise up from the aperture to give some depth. 

I'm quite pleased with the result  - as is the thesp! 

If you like it too then why not leave a comment, it would be great to hear what you think.

Hugs

jo

xx

Do you think I'm fixated on the colour blue?

Well fancy that no post for nearly a month and then two come along almost at once!

These four canvases are an amalgamation of three different projects that individually weren't working, but take them apart and reuse the various bits and voila!

I'd made the the four ATC's ages ago from mount board that was painted and distressed and stamped with perhaps one of my most fave stamps from PaperArtsy in grey archival.  I had intended putting them on an A4 canvas, but  you know they just didn't look right, so they ended up on that "um" pile. 

And then I made the pink moths (PaperArtsy again) for another project that again just didn't look right, so they ended up on the "um" pile.

Anyways, the other week we went to the garden centre and I was mooching round the bargain books bit and spied these A6 size canvases - good price, can never have enough canvases knocking around for that moment of inspiration.
So last weekend I painted four of them in a light grey paint, put some crackle glaze over the top and then over painted in a dark grey, added a few dry brush bits of pale blue, rubbed bits back to the pale grey with a a wet wipe and there they sat on my work desk till this Sunday.

This Sunday, I knew I wanted to add a bit more texture so used a big background text stamp from PaperArtsy (the Blackie book one) in mushroom and then weathered wood distress embossing powder over some Tim text stamps and a postcard stamp.

Edged the ATC's with some old silver inka paint, glued on with my trusty glue gun and then thought - they need something else ... tum-te-tum MOTHS!

So rubbed back the pink moths to the silver, spread some dark grey paint over the top waited a bit and wiped the excess off, did a bit more sanding, bent the wings and glued them on. Finally edged the canvases in tissue tape and rubbed over some dark slate ink.

I'm pleased with them and I think they'll compliment hubby's fishes (see previous post) top and bottom in the place we've identified to hang that canvas.

But I think I do now need to move away from the blue paints and inks and try another colour combination - possible pinks seeing as I purchased a number of pink fresco paints from LB Crafts on Saturday!

Hugs

jo
xx

Did ya miss me!

How vain am I!
So I haven't posted for over a month - bad girl.  My excuse - well we had a week away in the sun (read books, ate nice food, drank wine and beer, got in the pool occasionally, used up a lot of suntan lotion and watched people) and work has been rather busy. To try and keep on top of things, meet deadlines and create myself some time to dedicate to big projects I've been working late and working at home in the evenings.  I know, I know work life balance etc etc but Friday saw me finally break the back of most of it and I didn't bring any work home for the weekend - hurrah!

In amongst this constant slog of work I did manage to make this for my hubby for his birthday.

It's a 12x12 canvas which I painted in a denim blue paint, stuck downs some bits of torn book pages around the edge, colour washed over the top in a darker shade of blue , rubbed back bits with a baby wipe and sprayed over the top in places through a swirly stencil with a tattered angels ( I have loads of them I must use them up) glimmer mist in a silvery blue to represent the sea.  I put tissue tape around the edge and swiped a pale blue over the top of it to tone in and add an edge to the front of the canvas. 
I love using tissue tape in this way as it covers up any spills and seepage from sloshing paint around on the top (I'm a messy crafter)!

The central panel has come out really well, it feels and looks like old leather. It's a piece of old crate paper so it's quite heavy anyway.  I painted over in a dark midnight blue paint and then some crackle glaze and then a watered down pale blue.  I've now got the hang of this old crackle glaze and it's about getting the top layer of paint to the right consistency (single cream) and enough of it to give a good but not too thick layer - practice does indeed make perfect(ish).  

Some text was added in brown ink - very subtle (which means you can't really see without looking very closely - but I know it's there and I know it adds to the look and feel of the piece) I made sure I added some paint to the reverse of the square as I knew I wanted the edges to curl up a bit.  Finally added some stitching rounds the edge to anchor the piece.  The longer it dried the more it began to feels like leather rather than paper.

Finally the fishes,  these were the starting point as my husband loves fish - to look at and eat on occasion!

I knew I wanted to use metal and puts lots of texture on using embossing folders, paint and alcohol inks. I also wanted to bend and shape them so they didn't sit flat on the paper. They sort of worked and if I'd had more time I might have roughed um up a bit more.

And the arrangement - well I'm a pisces, so they had to go that way!  He really liked it and now we are just trying to work out where to display in the house!

So, leave a comment if you like, it's always good to hear praise and constructive comments (honestly I can take it - I've been staff reviews for the past fortnight so I'm well versed in giving and taking constructive feedback on performance).

Hugs

jo
xx

So who would you recommend?

Hi everyone,

I like blogs, they are a fab invention (I know when they work) because they allow me to see other people fantastic art work, get ideas and inspiration and read little snippets about their lives, what makes them happy and what makes them sad.

I do follow a LOT of blogs ranging from crafting, sewing, interior design (great for colour ideas), food and the odd work related one as well.

But as I was blog hopping the other day, posting and reading comments I thought which blogs would my virtual friends recommend I go and visit?????

So bloggy pals, your challenge if you wish to accept  - who would you recommend? Leave me a message and I'll go and check them out.

This is my recommendation, Lovely Clusters by Rachel, beautiful photographs with superb colour combination suggestions  http://lovelyclusters.blogspot.com/ - enjoy!

jo
xx

So this blogging lark is about staying in touch - right?

I know, I know, I know, I am a bad blogger but I have been manic at work and most evenings I can be found on the sofa snoring and drooling by about 8pm.  (Sometimes my husband leaves me there sometimes he attempts to wake me up and suggest I go to bed).

Plus my mojo appears to have gone into hibernation for most of that time as well, so projects I was working on just wouldn't come together and sat on my desk forlornly looking at me every time I poked my head round the door and stared at them.

But last weekend it popped back to say hi and gave me the necessary light bulb moment to finish something.

Ages ago I made an A4 canvas that now hangs my living room on one side of a large frame of some black and white photos of ironwork.  It all looked great if somewhat lopsided, it needed a partner on the other side to balance up the composition. So I started painting and stamping an A4 canvas in similar colours (stone, reds, rusts and brown). That fab papillon stamp was used with some distress embossing powder to add some butterflies and text.

I distressed some handmade paper, sewed round the edges and stuck that down. I wanted add even more layers so cut some ATC's painted and stamped them, I really liked but they didn't go with the background canvas - um stumped.

As I said I'd got various projects on the go in the craft room that individually weren't quite working, but then the aha light bulb moment happened and I though what if I take the picture frame from that project and put it with the canvas A4 frame from this project??????

Yes colours worked. It had already been painted in PaperArtsy fresco paints and crackled (finally getting the hang of this) so I added some tissue tape around the edges and stamped a small PaperArtsy script stamp in my favourite mushroom over the top.

The flowers are Tim Holtz tattered flowers and I used my glue gun to give some height between the layers. the stems I made from florists wire wrapped in tissue tape and some expresso colourwash wiped over then to ages.  Leaves were made with some fab brown gingham checked ribbon. 

With the last bit of 12x12 paper I'd made the flowers from, I distressed the edges and concertina folded it up and stuck across the frame to hide the bottom of the stems. The label was made from a Tim Holtz die just to further hide the stems and balance out the flowers at the top.

So it now hangs in place in the living room and balances out the composition.

Right the best of the sun seems to have disappeared already and it's only 9.00am, so I am forced to retire to my craft room and play with new goodies from LB Crafts ands make a birthday present for a friend.

Have fun everyone.

jo
xx

When do you give up?

So you start a project and it's going really well and then you hit a wall and you look at it and you think:

• I don't whether I like this
• I don't know if this is going to work

What do you do?

• Carry on
• Put to one side and do something else
• Throw it away

Can't decide - humph!

jo

xx

Oak leaves

I have been itching (not literally but you know what I mean) to blog this but as it was a present for a friend at work and I know Sarah does occasionally look at my blog I couldn't show you until she'd seen it.

I bought the Paperartsy oak dies at THAT event in February and I knew I wanted to us them to make a wreath, Sarah's birthday seemed an ideal opportunity to test the idea as she loves nature (a quick look in Brewers Dictionary of phrase and fable tell us that the oak was sacred to the druids so even more appropriate for Sarah)

I painted a square canvas with lots of green and blue and then  thin washes of white ove the top. I then added some some perfect pearl powders over a text stamp and used an old credit card to put some lines of paint on as well to give it the usual texture look.  Around the edge (which you can't really see, but trust me it is there)  I put some tissue tape and rubbed over some green and blue distress ink.

Then down to cutting the leaves, I selected some card in shades of browns and greens and started cutting, it was quite theraputic cranking that old machine (no vagabond for me - yet)  and I ended up with lots of them! 

Some I stamped with the corresponding stamps, some I inked with distress inks - but they still looked a bit "flat" So out came the embossing folders!  Yes that worked,so I added some more distress inks to empahaise the raised bits

I cut out a ring of corrugated card to act as the base and then started gluing the leaves down with the trusty hot glue gun, started with the large ones first and then moved on to the middle ones and finally the small ones.  When it was dry I sprayed some antique gold at a great height to lightly dust the leaves and then glued to the canvas.

Finally a raffia bow to complete, I ummed and aahed about adding a button in the middle of the bow, but in the end decided not to and I think it was he right decision

I think it was fair to say Sarah was chuffed with it and I really enjoyed making - want to make one for myself now!

jo
xx