Colour Perceptions - White

In ArtVentures the next colour perception is white. To me this colour is cool and pristine.

I started with white cardstock and using a stencil and Viva Decor Mother of Pearl modelling cream I embossed part of the base. I added some white lace to the right-hand side. I cut out a die from a cuttlebug embossing folder from 120LB cardstock and adhered it to the centre of the ATC.

I punched a circle from some lighter weight cardstock and coloured it with Moonlight Smooch ink by Clearsnap. I embossed the back and attached it to the centre of the die with some Scrap Dots (3-D glue) to allow it to keep it's shape, then placed it on the centre of the die.

To add a bit more interest, I covered a piece of white scrap cardstock with Sookwang tape and covered it with Glitter Ritz white glitter, then punched out some little flower shapes with a hand punch. These were adhered to the ATC in a few areas using glue dots. To complete the card I added a little paper holder brad to the bottom.

  

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.

Altered Book

One of the latest swaps on AFTCM was to alter a book with drawers with the theme "Romantic Era".

I had a bunch of empty matchboxes on hand so I used them for the drawers.

The hardest part of this project was cutting and gluing the pages for the little drawers. I made four niches and used four of the little match boxes to which I attached tassels with heart shaped brads.

I also decorated a few pages at the front of the book and left some blank for the recipient to alter. I painted the whole book with black acrylic ink.

For the book cover I took a piece of 130 LB cardstock and did the stamp smoosh technique with reds, blues and pink pigment inks. I then added various colours of Opal embossing powders and then some blue iridescent pearl embossing powder, heated well and stamped over it with my favourite Hero Arts Flourish stamp.
I added a picture of a couple from Lisa Vollrath, which I printed in black and white and coloured with artist grade chalks. I covered the picture with some acetate and then added lace around the outside and some gold rose trim on the inside edge.
The little shoe is a charm that I had in my stash and coloured with permanent markers. I thought it was a perfect addition to the cover. I added it over some netting and a decorated hat pin.

To complete the book I coloured some chipboard letters and spelled out romantic on the spine.

Fabric Postcard

I recently joined a new group that is doing different things with fabric and are currently running a fabric postcard swap.

I have not sewn in years and just got my sewing machine repaired. To be honest, I think I need to relearn how to use all the fancy stitches and bells and whistles!! I also don't have a great variety of fabrics at the moment so I had to use what I had on hand.

I started by sewing a few different pieces of fabric together than added a glittery organza type fabric over the top and stitched some fibres over this.  I took some pieces of fancy lace items and coloured them with fabric paint and sewed them on. I then attached some little roses on by hand. The edge looked a bit raggedy so I attached some trim around it. Still not 100% pleased with it.

Took time today to figure out how to thread my Singer Tiny Serger; bit frustrating but finally figured it out thanks to the step by step pictures in the booklet that came with it. As I was not happy with the edging on the piece I took my tiny serger and went around the edges and think it looks a lot better now. At least I am much happier with the look of 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.

April Quote of the Month

The April quote is: "Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."Langston Hughes

I really struggled with this quote for some reason and looked through a lot of pictures, stamps, stickers and things on my computer.

First Attempt: The background image and the frog are stickers, and the little girl on the bird is from Lisa's Altered Art. This was my first attempt and I was not happy with it, so back to the drawing board!

Second attempt: The canvas was completely stripped and painted over with gesso then painted in a deep red, brown and a smidgen of black acrylics. I added some lace at the top and some text paper at the bottom with a bit more of the same paint and some acrylic pewter paint over it. I am still not happy with the overall effect.
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Third and Final: I had some worksheet paper that I had on my desk that was covered in paints, inks, Krylon pen, embossing powders, stamped images and glitter. I decided that I preferred this to the previous backgrounds, so adhered it to a piece of 130 Lb card stock.

I lightly stamped a few more images on the background with Ancient Page Coal; stamped the "Believe" stamp with pigment ink and embossed it with Pearl embossing powder.
I attached the picture of the little girl (flickr-chicks 57)then added the transparency with vellum tape and attached the quote. I am finally happy with this and can now sign up for the swap.