Vermeer

Jan (Johannes) Vermeer was a 17th century Dutch painter and is one of my favourite artists. Although he was not a prolific painter (it's thought he only painted about 35 works of art during his short lifetime), his ability to capture the effects of light and his attention to detail within each work is amazing.

Probably his most well known piece is 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' which is an awesome interpretation of youth, beauty and innocence.

I have made this project using the one of Vanmeer's painting's that ranks amongst those at the top of my fave list. This is called 'The Lacemaker' and depicts an industry which was flourishing at the time in the Delft area where Vanmeer lived. I love the concentration on the face of the lace girl as she uses her bobbins to make a border for maybe a tablecloth or pillow.

My piece measures about 6" square and is made from mountboard. I printed the image onto linen textured paper - I like this paper for the 'oil on canvas' effect it gives. I used K and Co 'Madeleine' backing paper and then added a variety of cotton lace from my stash, including a small crocheted coaster/doily which I think once belonged to my gran! The oversized needle must have come in a button pack at one time (don't know how long I've had it.....) and I know the two cotton 'spools' (probably from the same button pack) are not strictly to do with lacemaking but hope I'll be forgiven.

The rose lace in the top corner was cut from a wide strip and the addition of 2 buttons finish my small mixed media attempt!

I am submitting this into Gingersnap Creations C65 - Famous Painter or Paintings.

and Play Date Cafe's Colour Challenge is green, beige and dark brown - and as one of my little 'spools' is dark brown I am entering this there too!

Marrakech Remembered

I chose a fanciful title for this fanciful piece of work! Please click on to enlarge for a better view!

I spent yesterday pricing up the cards and other fabulous things made by Maureen for the charity day and then turned myself away from card making and lifted out a plain canvas. A rather large canvas for me actually, as it measures 15" x 12".

The images are torn from a paper napkin - don't you just love these elephants??!

(Why anyone would want to use napkins as pretty as the ones that I've managed to acquire over the last couple years to wipe their mouths with after eating is just beyond my comprehension!)

Anyway back to the napkin and the canvas..... this gorgeous coloured piece of paper just evoked images of the Souks with their array of wares in strong geometric designs in rich spicy colours.

So the background was done using red, orange and yellow acrylics and a baby wipe, the napkin torn up and stuck on with gel medium. I rummaged through the crafty stash and found these jewels, rings, buttons and tassel and the fabric bag revealed some small pieces of silks and organza in red and orange. (The fibres taken from the edges of the silks were just thrown randomly onto the canvas background whilst wet and I then built up the design over them). The gold jewelled engraved 'tube' I sewed on as well as glueing the length because of the weight of it. I have no idea what purpose in life this piece had. I have put a cklose up pic of it on my Flickr account and maybe somone out there can tell me what it began it's life as?

I am quite pleased of this canvas - I have placed it on the work room wall and every time I look at it I can smell ginger, cinammon, paprika, saffron type aromas!!

Mixed Media Mondays theme this week is Memories

One Powerful Hour has a challenge of Vacation

Gingersnap Creations Theme Challenge 64 is to used Yellow, Red and Orange.

No cards - just a canvas!

Have just put the cards to one side for a few days - have made a present for a friend who's brithday is imminent (so can't show you! But will be able to very soon!!!!) and then just played about a bit making messy! Gel Medium everywhere and bits of torn napkin now litter the floor and desk.... but enjoyed myself!

I am no expert with paper napkins but confess now to looking at them in a different way after seeing some gorgeous creations from other people. I like the layering technique although unfortunately I do have a tendency to be 'heavy handed' so consequently I usually end up with lots of torn bits on the canvas!!

This tiny canvas measures just under 3" square and I use them this size to practice the technique. I used 3 different napkins and I think this may be considered a 'work in progress'. I am off to look for some twigs to make a frame and some rough twine to make a hanger!

Work in progress or not I am submitting this to the challenge at 'Tuesday Taggers' (Canvas) which this week is being sponsored by the fabby Art From The Heart store. Am also submitting into the Gingersnap Creations Random Redhead Challenge entitled 'Sunshine'. Although there isn't an actual sun to be seen on this canvas, it reminds me of sunny days.............and looking out of the window right now I NEED a sunny day!!!!!

The Caged Bird

The Caged Bird title describes how I've felt this week perfectly. I have been longing to put aside the orderly (and OK yes I admit - cutesy - lol) card making stash and make a mess with paints and inks!

This project has been spinning round in my head for 4 days and today I finally finished it. I have, on several occasions, been really frustrated with myself as it never seemed to be about to 'come together'. I'm not sure it ticks all the boxes as far as cohesion is concerned but I confess that it was good to get back to the satisfaction that mixed media chaos brings to me after being more concerned that what I was making had to satisfy other people's tastes and not my own!

This canvas measures 12" x 10". I painted the background with a mixture of acrylics, watercolours and distress inks in shades of green, brown and white. Whilst the paint was still wet I put some plasterers jointing tape over it and brushed over some thinned down paint then quickly removed the tape to leave a small chequerboard appearance. Once dry I stuck on the script background (by Artylicious and printed onto glossy paper), used some alcohol inks first then painted it with gesso and then stamped the edges of the canvas. I used black Stazon for the crackle stamp and white Versamagic for the flourishes.

The large images on the right were cut from a Graphic 45 sheet that I have had for EONS -(I steeled myself before cutting into it- lol) and the one on the top left is an image from an old book with some gold paint, gold mesh and 3 small metal pieces added.

I used some Paperartsy and Elusive Images stamps for the foliage and the large bird was stamped onto a piece of acetate. The butterfly was a present from a fellow crafter and I used some Glossy accents on the wings and some tiny black gems. The caged bird is also acetate attached with clear glue.

Please click on the pic to enlarge.

The theme at 'So Artful' is 'Shy Beauty' - and I believe that the women's faces are beautiful (shy I'm not sure???) 'Lots To Do' has challenged us to use Alcohol Inks, Gingersnap Creations (GCSP3) has their Blue Moon challenge theme of 'Take on a Tutorial' and I chose the tutorial on 'Creating a Background With Acrylics' , the Sunday Stamper's theme is 'Free (as a bird)'. Sunday Stampers is also having a blog candy give away to mark their 100 weeks! Click on the link in my sidebar! and last but not least Mixed Media Monday's theme is 'Look what I've found'....and as I 'found' the courage to use the paper, I've submitted my canvas!

Am a bit like a bus today... not seen for ages then 3 come at once! LOL


Have taken advantage of the weather and been in the workroom all day - haven't created much - apart from a couple of cards the only other thing I made was a mess!


Anyway here's the third post for today.


This card fits two challenges - Tuesday Taggers theme is Black and White and Gingersnap have a Once in a Blue Moon challenge of Monochromatic Clean and Simple Cards.

Background done with the Cuttlebug 'Spots' embossing folder, and I used one of my favourite stamps on black textured paper and embossed with Seafoam White embossing powder. Matted and layered onto white then black card and mounted onto the background with 3d pads to give some depth to the stamped image. Finished with some spotty ribbon!
I was going to put a greeting on this but decided to leave it blank so it can be used for any occasion.... hence the small seed heads matted and layered in the top left corner!

Enjoy the Moments

I was going through one of the stamp boxes today and when I saw this one by Paperartsy, I thought about how much pleasure I had this morning from taking some time to just enjoy the view - one of the sentiments on the stamp plate was simply 'enjoy the moments' which kind of made me grateful that I could take some time out to appreciate things that surround us.

I made this card using K and Co papers, a Martha Stewart border punch, the Paperartsy stamp and a chipboard clock from Etcetera. The clock background was white and looked too stark so I rubbed some Tattered Rose Distress Ink over it to blend it in with the background papers. I added some ribbon and was tempted to add a few more embellishments but after positioning the usual butterflies, flowers, bows etc I couldn't find anything that I liked so decided to leave well alone and let the text speak for itself. I still feel however there is something missing but can't quite work out what!

I have submitted this to the 'Time' theme at Gingersnap Creations Chestnut Challenge.

A Gem!!

Well I am stunned...... and chuffed to little mintballs!! Can you believe it? I was one of five chosen by the team over at Gingersnap Creations to receive their first 'Ginger Gem' award - I can't believe it!
I entered the beer can wall hanging with the winter's theme into their 'Winter Wonderland' challenge and they chose me (and four others! LOL) out of all their entries.
So here on the sidebar of my blog is their award - if you click on it, it will take you right to their challenge site which has loads of varied and interesting challenges to blow away the cobwebs!
First Wednesday of the Month - Chestnut Theme Challenge
Second Wednesday - Spicy Supply Challenge
Third Wednesday - Color Challenge
Fourth Wednesday - Random Redhead Challenge
Fifth Wednesday - Once in a Blue Moon Challenge
All the challenges last for 3 weeks so there's plenty of time for you to submit something and they're open to to papercrafters and mixed media artists !