Been to the charity shops again....

It all started cos I needed a vase for some beady twiggy wirey things I bought in a sale last week at local garden centre.  I've got them stuck in this vase at the moment but I do use it for fresh flowers, so needed something else.  Charity shops were my first port of call.

I started at the YMCA charity shop in the town centre.  They don't go in so much for displaying items and most of the stuff is on the floor.  Thats where I spotted these 2 frames.  They were £2 for the pair and once I had them in my hands I knew they HAD to be mine. 


They have 2 panels of glass with the picture 'suspended' between them.  I've not seen anything like this before.

One of them is missing its hanger but that is easily rectified.  It looks like the glass has been glued onto the back using a hot glue gun and it easy to peel off and the picture looks like its stuck to the glass at the back,  but that won't matter once its on the wall.



I have no idea what I'm gonna do with them but something about them inspired me enough to buy them.

While I was in the shop I spotted a walking stick for £5.  As I use a stick all of the time (unless I'm on crutches), I decided to measure it against my own stick.  Its slightly taller than mine, but my Dad will be able to saw an inch off the bottom for me.  I just loved the grain / pattern of the wood on the shaft and its has the kind of handle I like.

The wooden hands came from The Childrens Society shop.  They were £1.99 for the pair.  I have a thing about hands.  They fascinate me and I love drawings and ornaments of them.  I'm not sure yet if I'll leave these as is, or alter them in some way.

All in all not a bad haul for £9!!!  And I saw loads of other things I may have to go and have another look at.

Another workshop (don't do many at all, really LOL!!!!)

A couple of weeks ago Jo and I did a workshop at Graphicus in Barnard Castle run by the wonderfully talented Lynn called 'Creative Frames'.

The workshop was based around 2 frames with recesses in the middle, a piece of grey board, some dictionary paper, Grungepaper, some die cuts from Sir Tim of Holtz range and LOTS of paints and stamps!!!

Of course, as is typical of me, I never even thought about taking my camera, but Lou came to the rescue and took a couple of photos for me during the day.  Thanks Lou!!

First we chose some paint and a Distress Crackle Paint to put over the top.  I chose a Lumiere called Halo Pink Gold and Broken China in the crackle.  I painted the Lumiere all over the frame and recess and allowed to dry before applying the crackle using the brush in the pot.  It depends on how thickly you apply the paint as to what size crackles you get.  Thinly is small crackles, thickly in large ones. 

Lynn had cut us a heart out of Grungebord and embossed it with swirls.  We all stuck these onto a piece of grey board, cut to the same size as the frames, with Golden Gel Medium and stuck dictionary paper over it again using the same medium.  Once it was dry we coloured them with Distress Inks.  I chose Spiced Marmalade for the outside and Broken China for the heart.

Lynn had die cut 3 Grungepaper flowers for each for us to make roses from.  I coloured mine with the same Lumiere paint and used Broken China DI just on the edges of the petals.  Once dry I stamped a Wendy Vecchi newspaper column stamp over it to add interest, before beginning to make the rose.  If you're interested in doing this, there are tutorials on YouTube.

Lynn had also given us a couple of swirls from Grungebord and the birdcage cut from a Tim Holtz die.  I again coloured these with the same Lumiere paint.  For the bird I used Viva Precious Metal paint in a blue, browny colour for the branch and finally gave it a golden beak.  I can't remember the exact colours I used.

I stamped a couple of phrases from Wendy Vecchi stamps in the recess of both frames and across the heart too and punched out some leaves using an EK Success Rock Fern paper punch, before the workshop ended.  It was over all too soon.  I was exhausted again, but it had been so worth it!!

A few days later I got to grips with finishing the frames.  I cut another couple of swirls from Grungepaper and painted them with the same colour Lumiere.  I'm really lucky to have some of Jo's crafting stash at my house at the moment as she is having a loft conversion and has had to move out of her house for a while, so I had the paint!  I made another flower from Grungepaper using a Nestability Peony die.  I again coloured it with the same Lumiere and DI I had used on the rose.

Lynn had given us some wire to hang the frames from.  I'm not particularly good at bending wire so I twisted it and used 2 swirls with leaves on the hide it.

Between us, Jo and I had managed to put the holes in the centre grey board using a Crop-a-dile Big Bite.  I lined it up while Jo pressed the lever for the punch.  I just don't have the strength now.  Before we left the workshop, Lynn had given each of us a key cut from grey board using another Tim Holtz die.  I had always planned on putting it onto the grey board with the heart on, but it just didn't look right, so I cut another Grungepaper swirl, painted it and 'dangled' the heart from it, although it is fixed in place with Glossy Accents.

I used the rose I'd made in the workshop (with Lynn's help) on the third frame with 2 swirls and more leaves.

I stuck the wing to the bird before sticking branch the bird is sitting on to the bird cage.  I tried to shape the cage a little first, but couldn't get the branch to balance on the cage, so I ended up sticking it on the back.  Not as pretty, but at least its stuck LOL!!!

I used some beads from one of Gran's necklaces to embellish the bottom of the cage.  My Gran had 2 of these necklaces that she used to wear regularly - one clear, one red.  She was wonderful crafter and could turn her hand to anything, so I think she'd be pleased that I'm using her beads for craft projects.

All of the frames and bird cage are linked together using Tim Holtz jump rings which are invaluable.  I now have it hanging on the wall in my living room.  It was quite difficult to find a place to hang it as it is so long, but it fits there really nicely.  And so to the complete piece...

I'm really pleased with it and its a lovely reminder of a great day spent with friends, new and old - Lynn, Jo, Lesley, Margaret, Bea, Joan, Rachel and not forgetting Lou who took the wonderful 'in progress' pics on the day.

Art and Counselling (part 2) - MS Canvas

The second canvas I did for counselling was around my feeling towards my MS. I feel like its a monster that is always behind me waiting for me to relax and it'll 'bite'.


I bought a black 12 x 12 canvas and dry brushed various Ferro metallic paints on to it. My Mam had torn a piece of cardboard from a box in a wonderful shape. I painted that with more Ferro paint in blue.

I had many ideas for the canvas, but none were working, so I left it for a while as I wanted to get it just right. I tore some pages from some MS magazines that I subscribe to and eventually came up with the idea of a hungry sea monster biting at a girl dangling above it. I used a citrus Paint Dabber to colour the monster and a Tippex pen to colour the teeth and put the spots on.

Next I took a picture of a model out of a magazine and glued it to a piece of card for strength before cutting it out.  I coloured her in grey with a wax crayon (the only thing to hand and I couldn't be bothered to stand up!) and gave her red shoes.  If I could, I'd wear red HIGH heels.  The shoe falling off represents the way that each time MS bites (in the form of a relapse) it takes a little of you away.  At the moment its just my red high heels!

I wanted it to seem like a fifties cartoon strip so I gave the monster and heroine speech bubbles cut from MS magazines.  I also did a little 'commentary' to bring it all together, again from MS magazines.



The whole canvas depicts totally how I feel about the MS.  I dangled the heroine string which I hammered into the top of the canvas with a decorative staple.  I say hammered because the speciality stapler it came from wouldn't work like a normal stapler when you can use just the top to staple, so I hammered it in instead!

Here is the front of the canvas.

The back of the canvas is also 'decorated'.  I used pictures cut from MS magazines again to show some of the symptoms I suffer from.  The left one shows how I can never know what is round the corner for me.  The middle is depression.  The right is fatigue.  Even looking at that photo gives me the wobbles.  I know I'd never manage those stairs!

I then wrote 'MS' in orange (the colour of the MS Society) and crossed it out in green, the colour of the MS Resource Centre (MSRC) who I support and sell cards at Christmas in aid of.  They have been a great help to me since I was diagnosed.

So there you have it, my MS Canvas and it was very, very cathartic to do.

Art and Counselling (part 1)

As I've already mentioned I'm seeing a counsellor at the moment to help with depression and also the wider aspects of my MS.

She'd been really interested in the crafting / artwork I do and she's asked me to take pieces along to the sessions.  During one session while I was feeling particularly irritated at life in general, but couldn't put my finger on what it was, she suggested I do a journal page around the feelings I had.  I went one better and did a canvas.

This is my 'Irritation Canvas'.  I really enjoyed making it and it really helped me get my frustrations and irritation out!

I started with a 30cm x 40cm canvas and painted it with and Ikea wax paint which is meant to be used on wood.  Then I scraped some it off with a spatula.


I used a Paint Dabber in citrus through some sequin waste (which took a lot of frustration out when I started hammering the dabber down on the canvas LOL!!!!).  Next I ripped a piece out of a magazine (the black piece to the left) which sort of felt like what was happening in my head and stuck it on with Golden gel medium.  I then went through my many pieces cut from magazines to find some words and I also found the cartoon image of the man tied up with string (bottom right).

The lines were created by accident.  I wanted to put some yellow on the canvas, but the paint dabber wouldn't dab, no matter how hard I hit it so I stirred it with a bamboo skewer.  In true crafting style I couldn't just waste the paint on the skewer so I dragged across the canvas and did the same with a Cranberry dabber and a skewer.

The canvas sits in my living room and is helping me to relax whenever I feel irritated!

A tale of two mirrors, well OK 4!!!!

I've been to a few workshops since my last post and have suffered the same, if not more, exhaustion.  Two were back to back, the week before treatment so you can imagine how tired I've been!

Anyhoo, onto mirrors.  Every crafter worth their salt has discovered the humble Ikea mirror.  Sold for around a pound, they can be altered in any number of ways and are a great substrate to use for just about any technique.  They come in plain, black and red (at the moment) and I have had at least one in each colour.


I've been to two workshops that used mirrors as their basis and we learned loads of techniques around decorating the mirror.

The first one was a while ago and was a 'Ranger Techniques Mirror' and dealt with the crafting goodies produced by Ranger for Sir Tim of Holtz, Suze Weinberg and Claudine Hellmuth.

First we painted the mirror using Claudine Hellmuth paint.  I chose blue, while everyone else seemed to choose light colours.  Then Lynn showed us how to pour UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel)  into molds, and onto stamps with a memory frame on top to create a framed piece of textured UTEE.  As I wobble, Lynn poured mine for me and as you can see the results are fantastic!  Once solidified, I dusted Perfect Pearls over the top to accent the texture.

Then we all chose an image from a pile of pages Lynn had printed out from various free image sites.  I chose a lovely lady and used Sticky Back Canvas to transfer the image using the technique Lynn had used during the Open Day (see previous post).  I left some of the 'lint' from the back of the paper on the image as I liked the way it looked!

Then Lynn showed us how to stamp on Sticky Back Canvas using Golden Gel Medium as a resist and painting over it with a wash to bring out the resisted image.  Unfortunately I just couldn't get my stamping to resist.  I did everything right and tried 3 times (even with Lynn watching me) and I still couldn't do it.  Absolutely no explanation.  I will try it again.  So Lynn had to give me one she had done.

I finished it off using fragments over stamped images, some alcohol inked and some sprockets and gears.

Next to the sprockets and gears is a UTEE flower made from a mold (made with mold 'n' pour) from an ornate button.

And finally the finished mirror.  Excuse the view of my spice rack in the mirror.  Its really difficult to get good light without things reflecting in the mirror!





The next mirror is done with wax.  This was in a workshop done last week called 'Waxing the Melt Pot Way'.

We started by choosing images from a pile Lynn had provided for us again as well as magazines.  Then we placed them onto the mirror to get the presentation right, then heated the wax up in our melt pots.  You have to heat the wood (or any solid substrate you're using) first so that the wax will adhere properly.  This must be done in between each wax layer too.  The paper has to be completely covered in wax by placing it in the melt pot and using tweezers to take it out and apply it to the mirror.  You have to burnish the paper between every paper layer to ensure good adhesion.

Once we done this and had all of our paper waxed to the mirror, we started to apply wax to the parts of the mirror with no paper on, with a natural bristled brush.  Then  we started to build up the wax on the corners on the mirror and add texture using stamps (they must be heated first) and and onion net, but anything can be used. 

We used Perfect Pearls and Bedazzles to highlight the texture on the mirror, and here is the finished article.  I haven't had the inclination to clean the mirror yet, so it still has dribbles of wax on it.  Also the pink feet you can see are from a Piglet beanie I have sitting on the top of my wardrobes!

And the fourth mirror I have to show you is one loosely based on one I saw in Craft Stamper magazine a while ago.  It uses Ten Seconds Studio (TSS) metal with alcohol inks to colour it.  I've made another 2 in plain silver as gifts since making this one.

Tara

I had to say goodbye to my fur-baby Tara on Tuesday.

She was 17 and on Monday started to hide in the back bedroom under a pile of pillows, not eating or drinking, just sleeping.  I honestly thought I'd wake up to find her gone on Tuesday morning, but she woke me up instead with a huge mournful 'm-e-e-w'.  I booked an appointment at the kitty doc, but the earliest I could get was late afternoon.  I spent the whole day knowing that I wouldn't be bringing her home with me.  I was a wreck.

I know that it was the right decision and Tara had told me herself.  I lost my younger fur-baby, Martha, almost 2 months ago, and I seemed to take that harder.  I suppose its because poor Martha was poorly for a while before I had to let her go and it was a shock.  Losing Tara wasn't so much.

I've been out today and bought a planter and a Yukka plant to put her ashes in when I get her back.  I did the same with Martha.  So my two girls will still be close to me by my garden bench.

My Mam and I started to deep clean the house yesterday.  I've moved some things round in my living room, just so the place feels all new, to try and stave off the emptiness.  I've found myself putting music on all the time cos its just too quiet!

Mind I think they're haunting me.  Yesterday I'd washed my hands to make lunch and got a huge lump of cat hair down my throat.  No idea where it came from, but I had to gargle to get rid of it!!  And all because my Mam had said something about getting something for the house that I couldn't have had with the girls.  Very weird!!

I'm strangely OK.

Thank you to all who sent my lovely messages on the Graphicus Guild Group, and for the e-mails too.  And a big thanks to Jo and Carrie who had to listen to me 'snotting' down the phone on Tuesday, before and after.

Here are a few photos of my girls in their favourite places!  Tara was the silver grey Tabby and Martha was the 'Heinz 57'.  You can see on the first photo the indoor Yukka I had was all chewed on the ends of leaves by our Tarz.  That's why I've bought a Yukka today for her ashes.

And finally, the one and only photo I have of them together.  They didn't get on and Martha bullied Tara something rotten.  Tara's eyes are almost closed because she was so laid back she nearly fell off the windows sill a few times.  Martha's eyes always seemed to do the 'laser' thing.  Mind she was a little minx!

Another workshop and another bout of sheer exhaustion!!

Saturday saw Jo and I attending another workshop, this time run by Lynn Robinson-Hunter and called 'Canvas Creations'.  All we knew was that it was on canvas (suppose the name gave it away LOL!) and that we were gonna be working in a neutral palette, a first for both me and Jo.  We're the ones that are practically guaranteed to have the brightest colours of any workshop which are usually purple and green for Jo and orange for me!!

I drove on Saturday as I felt fine.  We met the other two participants, Joan and Karen.  Joan's daughter Rachel was ill and lying down in the car outside.  Bless her she finally made it into the workshop for about the last hour or so, but she got so much done!!

There were 8" x 8" deep frame canvasses waiting for us on the table with some dictionary paper and a Tim Holtz Ornate Plate. Lynn then began to tell us of the colours we could use which she had totally restricted to the neutral palette and that we had to try and build texture on the frame.

I began by using one of the Tattered Angels Masks on the top left hand corner of the canvas and pushed Golden Fibre Paste through it with my finger - YUK!!!!  I hate having anything gooey on my fingers.  Lynn had gone in search of palette knives, but I just thought 'be brave' and off I went in with my finger.  I was still picking bits out of my nails on Sunday even though I'd washed my hands thoroughly!!!

I then used scrunched up dress making pattern tissue paper crumpled into watered done PVA glue and arranged it in the top right corner of the canvas.

While we waited it for these to dry Lynn showed us how to make flowers from fabric by twisting round.  I had quite a bit of difficulty with this as I couldn't manage to hold the flower as well as twist the fabric at the same time, so Lynn made mine for me.  That's how its so perfect!!

By this time the fibre paste and tissue paper had dried.  For anyone who knows Graphicus you'll know how hot it was in there!!  Lynn asked us all to hand draw a flower (EEEEK!!) onto the canvas and begin sticking paper on as well.  I stuck pieces of torn music as well as a gorgeous piece of hand made paper Lynn gave us onto the canvas with Golden Matte Gel Medium, being careful to leave my 'flower' undisturbed.

Once we'd done that we had our lunch and browsed the shop and bought some 'necessary' bits and pieces with the 10% off for attending the workshop, but who needs an excuse?!

Then we started to paint.  This was difficult for me because although all the colours went together I had a problem choosing which to use!  I started with a Ranger crackle paint which dried almost immediately.  Then I moved onto Ranger Paint Dabbers in various shades and a Ferro paint in Old Brass.  I paint my 'flower' in using paint from a Paint Dabber in copper squeezed on my mat and watered down slightly then drew round it with a black Sharpie pen.

Once I'd finished painting, I used melted wax to dribble down the canvas at strategic points.  In other words, I slapped it on and it went where it wanted!!

 

This photo shows the wax over the fibre paste and you can see the texture peeking through.  I had (for some unknown reason) decided to trace round the curls in the texture with black.  Putting the wax over it toned it down - thank goodness!!

Once all of this was dry / cooled I applied gold leaf in certain areas just to highlight.  Lynn had to stop me before I went gold leaf mad!!

Earlier we had each done a canvas transfer using Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas from images Lynn provided.  I chose the Mona Lisa.  The idea was to put the ornate plate over the part of the image we wanted and place it on the canvas.  I chose her face (obviously!) and Lynn triple embossed the image with the frame in place for me.  You can see the texture of the dress pattern on this photo too.

Once we had the canvas the way we wanted them, Lynn showed us how to cut scallops from the dictionary paper.  One quarter of a piece of dictionary paper was enough to fill one side of the canvas and the depth was right once we'd cut the scallops.  We adhered them using Golden Gel Medium again and once dry we drew round them with a black Sharpie pen like we had with the flower. Then Lynn gave each of us 2 ornate head nails to bang into the sides of the canvas and a piece of wire to hang it with.  I had to get Lynn to do this for me as there was no chance of me bending the wire properly, and me with a hammer ..... NO!!!

Once all of this was done, Lynn gave us each a selection of ribbons to tie to the wire.  I had decided to add another embellishment to the canvas when I got home and was 'with it' again.  I'd told Lynn it would be one of the Tim Holtz Word Keys.  On Tuesday when I felt OK, I tried one of the keys and it just didn't work.  So I made wax seals with silver sealing wax spelling out the word ART and touched them with gold rubbing wax.  That was what I needed to finish it off and it is now sitting waiting to be hung.

And here is the finished canvas.  I love it even though I was completely exhausted after doing it and have only just recovered now!