Colour Perceptions - Violet

 In the ArtVentures ongoing swap of November the Colour is Violet. The pereption/emotion of this colour to me is Powerful.

I started by colouring the base with violet pigment ink then heat set it by ironing it between two sheets of newsprint paper. I then embossed it with a Tim Holtz embossing folder.

I printed a freebie image from The Art of Altering and cut off the bottom and top portions, then coloured it with copics.

I coloured some white glossy cardstock scraps with a violet copic and cut crowns from a spellbinders die. I coloured some little fancy gems with Rangers purple alcohol ink and attached them to the crowns.

I glued the image to the base and attached the crown with double-sided foam tape.

I coloured some white ribbon with plum dye ink and coloured a little sticker "gem" with alcohol ink and attached them to the neck of the man's shirt collar.

Altered Alphabet

Another swap on AFTCM is to alter an alphabet letter representing the first letter of our partners name.

My partner's given name starts with the letter L and she likes vintage, Victorian, lace and filigree .

I took several pieces of chipboard, cut them out in an L shape and glued them together. I covered the piece with some script scrapbook paper.  I had some large pieces of lace and glued it to the bottom of the L shape then sprayed the whole thing with some Dylusions Melted Chocolate spray and some glimmer mist.

I felt like it need something on the left hand side so I attached some wood scroll pieces to the edge after painting them with a deep red and brown acrylic paint. I also sprayed some roses and daisy flowers with the Dylusions spray, and attached them at the bottom left corner along with a leaf and a broken piece from a broach (which is the closest thing I had to filigree!).

I wanted some texture so I added some Stampendous Ancient Wine embossing enamel at the top, edges and on a few areas of the scrolls.

I coloured two little ceramic pieces with Smooch gold and attached them above the flowers along with a home made hat pin and an old safety pin. I layered two Memory Box bird house dies together and put it at the top with foam tape underneath to raise it a bit. I added an old earring at the top which looks like grapes; added a little bird cut from some scrapbook paper. I had a stamped butterfly on my desk so I glued it in with the flowers, then added a little bottle cap with the letter L imprinted on it.

On  the bottom I added the wood embellishment with the word Dream on which I had embossed the edges with the Stampendous enamel; added a little screw brad to it. I coloured two little dragonflies with permanent ink pens and Smooch Ink, removed the backs and glued them beside the wooden embellishment. The last step was to add tiny gems scattered throughout.

A-Z techniques Yellow Melted Crayons

We are now up to Y on the ArtVentures A to Z techniques.

This round I decided to do a wax crayon background and was going to do the usual technique where you rub the crayons on a hot iron then onto the cardstock. To be honest I am not crazy about that method as you have to be sure to clean the iron thoroughly in case you need to iron clothes and the dyes seem to be hard to remove.

While browsing for something else I came across a tutorial for the crayon background which is incredibly easy.

I cut a piece of wax paper large enough to fold over the ATC blank. I placed the cardstock piece on it using a crayon sharpener, shaved several shades of yellow crayons, including a pearlized one on to the ATC. I then sprinkled some Sunflower Yellow Perfect Pearls on top.

I folded the wax paper over the top and heated it till the wax paper and crayons melted. While heating it I moved the cardstock around so the wax spread.  I used a scrap of folded cardstock and pushed it over the top of the wax paper to  move the wax into areas where there were gaps. The Perfect Pearls add a nice dimension to the background.

I stamped a large Hero Arts Y stamp on embossable acetate and embossed it with black embossing powder, then cut it out leaving a small halo so the embossing doesn't rub off.  Rather than leaving it clear I stamped the embossed side with clear embossing powder, added Stamp and Stick embossing powder, (this is a sticky embossing powder which acts like a glue) then added Yellow Glitter Ritz. I adhered this to the background with some Judikins Diamond Glaze.

I then stamped a Stampendous Image on the acetate and coloured the embossed side with markers, cut it out and attached it beside the Y with the Diamond Glaze. The stamp is actually Queen Ann's Lace but I am calling it Yarrow for this technique as it looks close enough!!

To complete the ATC I added a little gem embellishment to the Alphabet.

This ATC is Y for Yellow Melted Crayon with Sunflower Yellow Perfect Pearls and Yarrow.

Mini Theatre

On AFTCM there is a swap where we create a mini theatre with a theme based on Edgar Allan Poe. I chose to do Annabelle Lee.

I used a piece of board that my hubby gave me for the base and cut out a Birds custard tin for the stage and the top. I covered the top and bottom with scrapbook papers. I printed off an image of a woman and a picture from one of our trips to Scotland.

I used embossing powders at the top of the board and incorporated the sea picture onto it. I then cut out the woman three times to make her 3-D. I added embellishments to the top, button, a seashell and a chipboard piece coloured with gold paint and gems added.

The sides are chopsticks which I painted and covered with ribbon. The bottom pieces underneath the chopsticks are pieces of a pencil. I printed a picture of Edgar Allan Poe and put a page pebble over it added a frame around it. I coloured a shell with gold paint and glued the framed picture in place.  I attached the shell  to the bottom stage piece. This almost made me give up as it kept falling off and I tried every glue in my craft room till it finally stuck!!

I attached the woman to the stage with a little easel and placed a couple of shells beside her. I had a wee bird but it fell off when I took the picture so that has been added back on afterwards.

I felt it still needed "something" so I decided to make some curtains. I took some cheesecloth and sprayed it with some Dylusions sprays and Tsukineko glitter spray. When it dried I attached it to the top portion of the theatre.

I was bored so thought I would make another mini theatre based on The Raven. I covered another piece of wood with some scrapbook paper that reminded me of vintage wallpaper. For this one I chose a different shape for the bottom. It is made from a small box and covered with some lovely ribbon that I received in a Secret Santa swap last year. I covered the top with some wood paper. Added a little piece of scrapbook paper to simulate a rug.

I took an old thread spool and painted it with a Krylon pen and added a little circle of the wood paper to the top to make a wee table. I printed off a picture of Poe's wife from Wikapedia and added it to the table, along with a little book and a teacup.

The images of the Raven are 3-D and coloured with artist grade pastels.  I added little piece of glittered tape to simulate a valance and added beads to each side. I put a little clock face on a die cut and placed it above the "valance".

The curtains are a piece of fabric that was wrapped around some flowers that I received for Valentine's day, held to side with some handmade tassels. 

I glued the beaded fringe to the top, then took a grunge die-cut stamped text on it with a white paint dabber and covered it with distrss stains. I put a bit of the white paint on a metal button and glued both pieces to the top.

I am not sure which one will go to my partner, but I enjoyed the challenge of creating something that I have never attempted before.



Bird Ornament

On Mixed Media Misfits I am participating in a swap where we create a bird ornament using a free template from a blog that one of the participant's discovered.
http://vintiquitiesworkshop.blogspot.com/2010/03/bird-ornament-tutorial-friday-winner.html

I downloaded the template, traced them on some cardboard and cut them out. I took a worksheet wonder (a piece of computer paper that I place on my desk and stamp on) which had some nice images and colours on it. I covered one side of the birds body with this Added a stamped swirl on the tail and punched a black circle for the eye.

I covered the wings with some homemade tissue paper that I had coloured with various inks and sprays. I stamped the swirl on both wings, and added the gem swirl to the front one.

On the back I covered the body with some scrapbook paper that I had stamped and embossed in gold using a large alphabet stamp. Took another piece of the worksheet paper and stamped a Magenta stamp in coal Ancient Page, and added a gem to one area.

For the crown, I glued two different words from a freebie collage sheet  on cardboard and cut out the shape, adhered to the birds head.

I took and old key and covered each side with the two different papers and cut it out, then went around the edges with a marker and Krylon pen. Punched a small hole in a piece of gold metallic cardstock then a larger circle and placed these on the hole in the key and added two more words from the collage sheet.

I decided that instead of gluing the wings in place I would make them movable. The only problem was to figure out an attachment that would make it look good on both sides. I decided on some Tim Holtz embellishments and attached them with a brad, and to disguise the posts on the other side I cut them down pushed them down well so you don't really notice them.

Easel ATC

On DCI I am participating in a swap where we are making an ATC with an easel.

I started by printing of some Bingo ATC backgrounds by Lisa Vollrath. I then stamped and embossed a Tim Holtz flourish in Gold on the right-hand side. I coloured the edges of the ATC with Vivid and Adirondack inks to add some depth.

I cut some light blue/gray cardstock to fit the top of the ATC and coloured the edges with the same inks. I then stamped and embossed the word stamp Postcard (Lost and Found Stamps) in gold. I attached this to the top with double-sided tape.

I printed off an image from Moonlight Journey's Autumn sheet and cut out the girl after adhering it to some cardstock and attached it with double-side foam tape.

I took some printer paper and coloured it with the same inks as the ATC and stamped a word stamp (Lost and Found) then ripped it in half and adhered it to the bottom of the card. To finish it off I coloured some paper flowers with Smooch Ink, added a little heart shaped gem to the centre and attached it to the top of the scroll.

I then made the easel and attached the ATC to the top portion. I added some decorative paper to the inside of the easel. I cut another piece of the blue/gray cardstock coloured the edges with the blue inks, punched a circle from different decorative paper and placed a little embellishment in the centre. I attached this at the bottom to make a stop-guard for the ATC.

Heart Swap

I signed up for a swap on Art-Ventures where we are required to make a decorated heart. I started with the heart I had done for the Julia Andrus Book Study - Corrosive Effects. I wanted to brighten it up a bit and added some Siren Smooch Ink over the surface.

I had some little heart pieces with beads on wire, that I had not used and decided to do the faux sea glass ( Julia Andrus-Paper Transformed) on the hearts. I used pigment inks on each one then added clear embossing powder. I rubbed them with perfect medium and applied Pearlex powders, then clear embossing powder, heated them and sprayed with water to pit the surface. I wound this around the heart.

I dug out some little flower shaped beads and added a "gem" to each one and glued them on the heart. I took a picture of a little girl (sorry can't credit the site as this image is from my computer which is in the shop for repair) and cut it down to fit under the heart. I coated it with Judikins MicroGlaze which protects the image from water.

I attached some dangly beads to the bottom, then cut out a piece of cardstock in the heart shape and adhered it to the back.

April Charm

I decided to use some thing from my stash for the CCSwaps April charm.

I started with some metal tags and covered both sides with some old book page pieces and coloured it with distress inks. I added some gem pieces then covered the piece with Glossy Accents.

Unfotunately the piece did not scan well and it looks like there are a bunch of air bubbles, but it is not at all like that in "real life". It is actually smooth with some colour depth around the maple leaf gem.

I was not really happy with this one so I decided to do something different. I took some clay, conditioned it then stamped into it with a text stamp, then hit the highlights with some Mica Magic Gold ink.  I took a little flower embellishment and coloured it with Cranbberry Alcohol ink, and added a little pearl on a wire in the background.  Much happier with this one and it will be making it's way to my swap partner next week.

A surprise for Autumn

Autumn had signed up for the Mini Memory swap on DCI, but dropped out as her life was a bit hectic. I had gone gung-ho on this swap and had all mine made early on. Since I had made one for Autumn prior to her dropping out I decided to send it to her as a surprise.

She had chosen women's faces and blues/greens and patinas for her theme and colours.

I started by painting a coaster with various blues and greens and copper. I added some embossing powders and stamped into it while hot with a flourish stamp. I took a chipboard flourish and embossed it with  copper and green glitter embossing powder and added some gems.

I stamped the "Woman with a Pearl Earring" from Chapel Road  (one of my favourite stamps) and coloured it with Lyra pencils; attached it with double-sided foam tape.

I took a label holder die-cut and embossed it with distress embossing powder, rubbed some off and added various Patina Perfect Pearls over the top. Stamped a portion of a background stamp on a piece of cardstock coloured with fluid chalk inks and placed it underneath the label holder and attached it to the coaster.

I hope Autumn will enjoy my little piece of art and it will be a nice surprise.

B is for.......

We are continuing on with the Alphabet swap on CCSwaps so this month we make something starting with the letter B, for theme, technique or medium.

I came across a blog with some beautiful exploding boxes on it (http://magic-boxes.blogspot.com/) and the lady was kind enough to provide a tutorial on how to make them. I thought I would give it a try and use butterflies as my theme.

The only problem is that the measurements are in millimeters and I am still not too great at the conversion from metric to inches!! I did fine with making the box but wasted quite a few pieces of cardstock getting the lid to the right size. My boxes certainly need more practice but I am happy with my first attempts. The first one I tried was my "protoype" for the technique. I used light weight blue card stock for the box and the lid and 130Lb for the inserts. I got a bit heavy handed when scoring and ripped a bit on one of the sides but left it as I knew I would be keeping it.

I stamped a leaf stamp (Magenta) and added some little die-cut flowers. The butterflies (Stampendous)  were stamped in black pigment ink and embossing powder and coloured yellow and green then added some glitter.

The next box: I stamped the butterflies on both sides using  Christmas Night glitter embossing powder and coloured them with markers and glittered the top with some Stickles. I stamped a leafy scroll on the side and bottom pieces after doing direct-to-paper with pigment inks and added some "jewels". I then cut slits in the bottom insert and attached the butteflies with pieces of acetate, and glued a butterfly to the lid.

The picture of the lid is fine (oops! I think the edge piece was a bit loose-will fix that!)  but the others are not the clearest as of course I had to take pictures of them with my camera and I am not that familiar with our camera since I don't take a lot of pictures. The colours are more intense in real life.

Necklace

I am in a swap where we make necklaces and send to a partner.

Thinking of the postage cost I decided to make the focal point of my necklace from Paperclay. I conditioned and rolled it with a brayer then cut it out with a heart shaped cookie cutter. I then imprinted it with a stamp from Hero Arts. Coloured it with various Perfect Pearls and Pearlex. In the instructions, it says you can bake the Paperclay to dry it (275 degrees for 15 minutes) so I did since I was being impatient to get it finished!

I took a Jewellery charm thingy that I got at the dollar store and added some "gems" to it then glued it to the heart.

I strung some beads in coordinating colours and attached the heart with a little ring.I also attached a clasp although I don't think it was really necessary.

Altered Container

I also joined up for an altered container swap. I chose to alter a little flip-flop box that I had in my stash.

I started by painting it with Gesso. On the top I used an old plastic doily and embossing paste to give it dimension, then painted it and added some gold acrylic paint on the highlights. Added a charm (that my friend Chrissy gave me in a 12 days of Christmas swap) which I coloured with alcohol inks, then glued some jewels to the top portion of the flip-flop band.

I painted the bottom a sunny yellow since I was thinking of warm weather, although it is not as cold here as it was in December and early January. I added some words to the bottom that I stamped on white tissue paper.

The inside is also painted and I added a piece of a page from an old book to the bottom.

ATC booklet

I belong to a group which is strictly for ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) and each month all the cards uploaded are entered for a prize draw with all the members voting. The list owner then sends out a small prize to the winner.

Since it was the Christmas season and there was a close second, I volunteered to send something to the second place winner. Since the group is all about ATC's I decided to make a booklet to hold them.

I started by taking a piece of my handmade backgrounds and cut it to size for the back and front covers. I added some embossed flourishes, then I attached some patterned papers to the inside of the covers. I then took a little vellum envelope and attached it to the front inside cover and put a few small images inside for the recipient to use on her ATC's or other projects.

The front cover was completed by adding an image from moonlightjourney.com, a quote from quietfiredesign.ca and some "jewels"using colours which coordinated with the image.

For the ATC holders I used heavy weight badge holders, then bound the whole piece together with my Zutter Bind-it-All.

Christmas Gift

I am participating in a swap on CCSwaps were we are exchanging Christmas gifts. I made several items but was not completely happy with them. Today I received a newsletter from Stampington and Company and they featured a little bird made using a small chipboard box with a clear lid. This inspired me to try something similar.

Of course I have no little boxes like that so had to improvise as usual!!! I had a small circular tin from some hand cream so decided to use the lid as the body. I covered it with moulding paste using an old plastic doily as a stencil to give it some texture. After it dried I sprayed it with Memories and Tattered Angels spray then added some Posh Impressions metallic ink in the same color family.

I took an embellishment that I bought at the dollar store and added a pearl to the centre and some little gems around the perimeter. Glued this to the body then attached the little letters to spell out "Fly".

For the head I printed off a bird picture, adhered it to some 130LB cardstock, cut it out and then covered it with some modge podge.

The wings were cut out of some silver embossing metal. I covered them with some Pinata`inks, then stamped a Magenta stamp on them. With my metal stylus I embossed the stamped portion. I felt it was too monochromatic and removed some of the red & orange, and added some yellow alcohol ink.

The legs are some coloured wire that I twisted to make feet. I covered the back with some cardstock to hide all the bits and pieces and attached a piece of ribbon as a hanger.

I think it might be a bit quirky for some people and am hoping the Debra will like it.

Artist of the Month

We have had another Artist of the Month swap in CC Swaps and this time it was Beryl Taylor style. I, as usual, jumped in with both feet since I was positive that my DH had bought me her book. Well, when I started my project I discovered that I did not own the book, so had to "wing it" when working on it.

I made the fabric paper using cheese cloth, wrapping paper and tissue papers (knew this part from a previous project). I then adhered this to a piece of felt and then to a piece of watercolour paper.

Since my sewing machine is out of commission I had to use glue and double sided tape to add all the elements.

I started by punching out circles from another piece of fabric paper and stamped them with platinum paint. I then punched a hole and added brads to the centre. I punched a second circle out of watercolour paper, sewed them together with metallic thread and added batting to puff them up.

The sides of the piece are lace, the top is a piece of metal tape which is coloured with various mediums, the bottom is a piece of eyelet fabric which I coloured with fluid chalk inks. I also coloured the lace flowers with the same ink and added some gems.

I punched out some heart shapes from a Cuttlebug embossed piece, which was coloured with the fluid chalks and highlighted with Goldfinger gold. I attached the large hearts to gold punched hearts, and the small ones I left as is.

The centre piece was another scrap of the darker fabric paper which I embossed with gold embossing powder. The heart is a doily coloured with the fluid chalks and highlighted with the Goldfinger gold. The final touch was a paper flower with a flower bead as the centre.

I drew Adrienne as a partner for this swap, and I must admit I am a wee bit nervous about it. She has done several items in the Beryl Taylor style so I hope she will not be disappointed with my effort.

Quote of the Month - January and February

I am participating in a swap on CCswaps where we create a piece of art using a quote for that month, which must be displayed somewhere on the art. The quote is: "Great art picks up where nature ends."

For January I used a piece of cardstock and did the Stamp Smooshie technique (you use your stamp as an applicator and smoosh the ink around on the paper-usually 3 different tones of the same colour ink). I then added some mica magic ink over it. I stamped the Safflower Script stamp (Stampington) on a piece of acetate with Stazon black ink and attached it with vellum tape.

I had a piece of cardstock on which I had rubbed off some Mica Magic ink while doing some stamping and liked the look of it, so I chose that to stamp the Magenta butterfly image on and attached it to the middle of the acetate.

I mounted the piece on another piece of Mica Magic coloured background. The final touch was to add the maple leaf brads and the quotes. This is now at it's new home with Maggi.

The February quote is: "Feet what do I need thee for when I have wings to fly." I decided on an altered book board. I used some techniques from Kelly Rae Roberts book Taking Flight. I am really pleased with the book as it has great inspiration and some step-by-step instructions and not just a bunch of "pretty pictures".

The background is similar to one that I learned in an Altered Diva class, where you paint gesso on the substrate, add one coat of paint. let it dry then add another coat and while wet spray it with water, let it sit for a bit then dab it with a cloth. The little circles in white were made by dipping the end of an adding machine roll holder thingy in paint and stamping on the book board.

The body was a stamp (PSX) of a seamstress mannequin which I stamped into polymer clay and baked. When it was ready I rubbed it with a wash of brown acrylic paint, then painted the flowers, heart and ribbon and body with acrylic paint and brushed some Pearlex and Perfect Pearls over the top.

When it dried I coated it with Poly Glaze, then when that set I rubbed some "Goldfinger rub-on paste over it and glued on the gems.

The head is an image from a magazine advert which I cut down and glued into a flattened bottle cap and filled with Glossy Accents. The gold wings were left over from when I was making some Christmas Angels years ago; cut in the middle to reduce the bulk and glued behind the body and added some gold Stickles to enhance them a bit. The seagull was a found item in my stash. This will be going to it's new home at the end of February when the partners list is announced.