Paper Folding

Ummm, where do I start.

A day or two ago I went blog hopping and came across a posting on Finnabair's which

grabbed my attention and literally inspired me to have a go.

I began by finding a suitable book.
I initially began by imitating the word inspire, I quickly found out the reason why an encyclopaedia was used, (thin pages and lots of them).
My book had about 400 pages and they were quite thick.
After unfolding my previous attempt (ready to start again), I printed a few sheets of graph paper and
drew the word art.

 Using the lines on the graph paper and a ruler as a guide (so that I didn't fold to close to spine of book) I began folding.

This is how it turned out.

 
 As yet I haven't decorated my cover, that will be a job for next week when the girls are back at school.

 If you fancy having a go yourself there are many videos on you tube to show you step by step how to create your own version.

Bye for now

Black Gesso - Yum!

It's official I love using black gesso!

Todays experiment started with an 8"x 8" box canvas and a double coat of black gesso.

Next came stencilling using Marlin Limited Edition Paperartsy paint, followed by the addition of art words stencilled in Yellow Submarine paint and random stamping (also in paint).

 The  image was stamped onto smooth watercolour paper,  then colour was added to highlight the facial features with watercolour pencils.  This was cut out and the edges distressed with Black Soot Distress Ink to tone in the cut edges.

Two pieces of cardboard were layered together under the face image to lift it of the canvas.

Double sided paper was cut into 1cm strips, the edges were distressed with black distress ink and layered onto the canvas criss crossing using both sides. This was stuck into position using "Glue'n'Seal", then applied to the whole of the canvas to Seal it.

The face image was stuck into position.

A cogs die cutting set was used to make flowers in black double sided pearl card, this was treated to several different treasure gold colours which made them appear metalic.

Sapphire, Emerald, Classic and Spanish Topaz. 

They were then layered together with a white daisy type flower with black beaded buds in the centres and added to the project.

The words on the canvas ran along the bottom edge of the double sided paper, as the colour matched I cut them out and distressed the edges then stuck them down. Flowers from the same double sided paper were cut out and added to the canvas in the corners just to add a little something.

Classic treasure gold was added to the edges to add a finishing touch.

Hope you like it.

Christmas Cards for Rainbows and Brownies

A few weeks ago my friend Kim asked if I would design and organise cards for brownies and rainbows to make for Christmas.

 "No rush we're planning on doing them  2nd December," she said.

Not a shock really as I have been doing this for a few years now, however I had a sudden mental block.

 Several days later this is what I came up with.

The card for the rainbows is sort of a triangle shape so that it stands up on its own and not fall flat. The hat pulls up to reveal a Christmas greeting, they will have to put on the scarf, the hat rim and all the facial and body features and add a touch of glitter.

The Brownies will have to stick their slay onto the base card and cut out the Christmas gifts, then add bling and sparkle. 

Hopefully they will enjoy doing them and also have time for a chat to their friends as they work.

All I have to do now is cut and prepare them all, wish me luck.

Christmas Home Decor

Christmas is getting closer, before we know it, it will be here.

So, with that in mind and using  inspiration from my previous birdhouse post I decided on another home decor project this time with a Christmas twist.

Using the  "finn" birdhouse back as a template I cut a base from mount board.

The roof was created from small wooden sticks, the kind you use to stir your coffee in coffee shops.

The sticks were stuck to the top edges  to simulate a roof, torn corrugated card added  texture to the project. The whole thing was painted in Teal Paperartsy Paint and dry brushed with Chalk paint.

Treasure gold was added to the roof edges in onyxite and white fire, a small amount was added to the edges of the house too.  A small circle frame was also painted  to match and layered onto a  solid circle to create a bird house door.

 A few flowers were layered  together, twine, wire, lace etc. A wall stamp was stamped onto the flat background and a christmas sentiment stamped on dark brown card then embossed with shabby blue embossing powder, followed by adding white gesso which was put on the
edges of the  flowers, leaves roof edges etc, along with a tad of glitter, just to bling it up. 

Hope you like my little project.

Altered Bird House

I saw a lovely bird house by Finnabar  and I liked it so much, I bought one !!!

This is my finished version, details below tell you how.

As I was sitting looking at my purchase the idea of a fake wall in the centre of the piece (left to right) with rough plastered walls  partly  missing, along with a bit of wooden die cut wall  on the back of the piece just popped into my head.  Once the idea was implanted a just had to go with the flow and the project just grew from there.

I began by taking the back off for better access, then found some white corrugated card and used the back panel as a template  to cut around. I tore a piece off  to make an imitation broken down wall, then used the discarded card to overlay on top to create a smooth edge (crinkle edges together). I painted the whole card insert with French Roast Paperartsy paint followed by a coat of crackle glaze then a top layer of nougat paint. I sat back and watched the magic (crackle). Treasure gold wax in Onyxite and White Fire was added to the edges and the ridges of the card.

At this point hubby came home from work not feeling to well, so, I had to pack up and let him have use of the table to carry on working, nice of him to bring his germs home to share with his family.

A few days later (shock, horror) I felt I wanted to alter the back panel too.
I used the original panel as a template again, this time using mount board for a solid base to work on. I used the same method as with the fake wall using French Roast, Nougat and crackle glaze then fixed it all into place.

The next bit was messy.
Most of the elements used were metal. I wanted to keep the metal tones to one colour (mostly silver/pewter) so I decided to paint the elements. To do this I used a Coat of gesso followed by a couple of coats of Honey Dew paint.  Next I used Prima Bloom Sprays in Lime Wedge, Sunshine and  Precious Stone to add colour. I do like these sprays they work well on paper or an absorbent surface,
however, I have found that they stay wet and sticky on metal embellishments even when blasted with a heat gun. It's been a few days now and the flowers are tacky (any advice to dry them would be
welcome).
I found a small frame hiding in my stash and a few fake cotton reels and decided to make them into a planting area "ish" with a bit of modellers fake tree greenery. All the bits and bobs were arranged and stuck into position. The twine on the top came attached to the house already and I felt I needed to use it. Using a bit of wire shaped and woven between the twine and couple of rusty bells, then a key added to complete the project.

Here are some more photos.


 

Hope you like my project.

October Art Journal Page

I must admit that this page was done months and months ago. 

Inspiration stuck me on the head and I just had to go with it.

It's a really basic page, black card stuck onto the page to create a base, followed by stamping in white dylusions ink sprayed onto a ink pad.

Various papers cut into journal boxes size edged in distress ink, a few staples and fini.

Scraptastic

I had a bit of a hectic day yesterday, here, there and everywhere and today isn't any better.

However I did manage to finish an 8x8 scrapbook page.

I prefer this size, I wouldn't say it was quicker as that depends on how many layers and the details and embellishments you add to it.

I did start with an12x12 sheet and cut it down to size as I liked the size of the print and I used the cut off pieces of paper to create more layers which were layered under the photo.

No waste there.

A bit of lace, a few metal embellishments painted black and distressed, sanded, altered etc and stuck down with Finn's new 3d gel. (will check it out later to see if it's stuck and see how long it takes).

And it's done, have to do one of my other daughter now, just to keep the peace.

Or, maybe just cos I enjoyed doing it.