Words never fail me!

Update on the craft room overhaul - room is now clear, but all the stuff is spread around the house (which is not big) so I'm negotiating a maze of boxes to get to the bed, and watching TV over another heap of stuff in the living room - I made sure there was a line of sight for the remote!  I've also constructed towers of boxes in the kitchen - no room to do any ironing then (woo hoo!). Work starts tomorrow on the decorating - so I hope this time next week I'll be putting everything back!

This week's Craft Barn Challenge is all about words.  I recently made a card as part of this year's Ashtead Craft Club challenge, and thought it very appropriate, as it uses a quote from my vast collection!

Simple black and white, with a little bit of sparkle.

Happiness is a (relatively) tidy house - so I can't wait to get back to normal!

A cage went in search of a bird

That's a quote from Franz Kafka.  But it's OK, this cage is a paper one, and couldn't hold a bird if it didn't want to stay!

At the Ashtead Craft Club's monthly workshop on Wednesday, I will be showing how to create a birdcage.

This is a good project for upcycling stuff - for the base I'm using  a cheese triangle box, such as Laughing Cow or Dairylea, or those Camembert ones would be good too. I'm also using some strong acetate from packaging, together with bits of card from my off-cuts box.

Using patterned paper, draw around the box base twice, cut out, and stick to the inside of the box and underneath.  At the same time, cut 2cm strips from the same patterned paper - enough to go round the box sides (but don't stick that on yet).

Cut 4 x 1cm strips from white card, using the whole length of an A4 sheet.  Mark the centre of each strip, make a hole, and fix all the strips together with a brad.  Space the strips evenly.

Lay the evenly spaced strips on top of the box base and make a pencil mark on the box side where each bar will be glued.  Do not glue yet!

If a hanger is required, do this now, before the bars are glued into place. Take a 1cm x 8cm strip of white card, fold in half, then make a small fold inwards on each end.  Glue to the uppermost cage bar, tucking the small folded ends under the brad.








Before the bars are secured, create what will be inside the cage.  I've used a bird, but anything is possible! Flowers, hearts, animals, butterflies - whatever takes your fancy!

Use  strips of strong acetate (the kind you get in packaging) to create invisible anchors for the cage contents.

Fix inside the cage base.  If any part of it is going to stick out through the bars you have the pencil marks to show where the bars will be.








Now you can glue the bars onto the base, using the pencil marks as a guide; the brad will allow any adjustments to be made.

Next, fix the strips of patterned paper around the base sides.

Embellish to your heart's content!

This was fun to make, and would make a perfect alternative to a birthday card if a greeting was included, either inside or outside the cage.

I hope you have noted - no paint or ink was involved in the making of this project, and come to think of it - no blue either!

Small is beautiful!

I'm currently working on project demos for the Ashtead Club, one of which is to create a mini canvas. I have to bear in mind that our evening sessions are only a couple of hours, and I also wanted to try and keep away from brushes, and show that you don't have to be an artist to create a fun little canvas.

And it is also perfect for the current Paper Artsy challenge which is miniature art!

In the end I did use a tiny brush (briefly!), but I mainly used a credit card, plastic palette knife (or coffee stirrer), and the eraser end of a pencil.

Using Fresco paints, I first did the background, using three colours, and made some marks for the basic layout.











I then used the pencil eraser and credit card to create some stalks and flowers, doing alternate layers of stalks then flowers, more stalks, more flowers, and so on, using a heat gun to speed up drying time between layers.

The tiny brush made all the small dots, and the Van Gogh sky created with more paint, a baby wipe and my finger.  Lastly, added a little glitter glue.

This little canvas came with its own cute easel, and the set was really cheap at £1.50.

So no excuse - happy painting!

End of one challenge .....

The Ashtead Club 2014 challenge has ended.  It seems such a short time ago we were given the details, and that was back in January!  This is going to be my longest post yet - so hope you stay with me!

Called Dec this Journal, it was based on Wreck this Journal.  We were given an A4 file folder, and a list of page ideas, the object being to create a minimum of 10 A4 pages all linked to the page ideas. Some of the pages were also part of the bi-monthly challenge.

I managed to completed 15 pages - so for posterity's sake, they are recorded here!  I have posted some previously.

I decorated the file folder cover with brayered acrylic paint and a little stamping.

Take a book page and highlight the words you like

This page is from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll - well, it had to be didn't it!

The cut out words  read "a cautiously curious consequence of the prettiest sheep".

Showcase a stamp you like and a stamp you don't

Love the moth stamp, but not the winged cats one! The border stamp is a favourite too.

A page that includes a stamped fruit or vegetable image

Images stamped with acrylic paint, using celery stalks, cut celery base and cut celery pieces used in a squiggly fashion. Celery is my favourite veg!

Bird stamp is hand drawn and cut from funky foam.

Embrace one of your least favourite craft techniques

I dislike anything too cutesy, so found some free digi stamps, (including a spooky half-face one), which I coloured in with ProMarkers and Copics. Also used a yukky decoupage thing found at the bottom of the unwanted box!

All on a not very nice flat coloured background!

Ink blot challenge

Acrylic ink dropped onto Yupo paper, and an awful lot of puff through a straw.

Used very little ink, but as the paper is completely non-absorbent, the ink goes a long way.

Birds cut from randomly painted card.

Cover a page with circles

Used ProMarkers and Copics to make the small dots, and all my different sized circle punches to create the eyes!

Add a photo of yourself that you don't like - deface it so it looks better!

This is my passport photo - much better now!

Cover a page using just one word

My favourite word - serendipity - the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

I used various dilutions of iridescent acrylic paint to create a serendipitous background!

Hot Hot Hot

Some Like It Hot - one of my favourite films.  I created a digital collage, then prepared the background with acrylic paint and used some die-cut scrolls.

Cover a page in tape

Acrylic paint brayered background, then used all the tapes I could find!

Aluminium tape, plasterboard tape, washi tape, masking tape, paper lace tape, measuring tape.

The flowers are made from washi tape and masking tape with a thin layer of gesso and Distress Ink.

Take the first letter of your surname - dedicate a page to it

Introducing the B family, probably starring in a B movie!

I mainly used pens, with a few alphabet bits found in my unwanted box (that box is quite useful!).

Fill a page with colour and pattern

Acrylic paint brayered, stamped and stenciled. Used Distress pens to colour the humming bird.

Tried to resist using blue and nearly made it - the bird was when I came unstuck with that!

Provide evidence of eye bombing.

If you have never come across this before, just google it!

For a few months I always had some googly eyes on me, just in case an opportunity arose!

Stick in leaves and/or other found items.

A watercolour background, and a collection of nature's bounty dried in a very large and heavy American dictionary!

Plus a little irridescent paint on the sycamore seeds.

Choose a colour - make a collage.

One of my favourite techniques, and it had to be blue!

At the time I was learning about making faces, so this gave me an opportunity to have another practice!

I used lots of different blue papers, and the blue dress is cut from a fashion magazine that featured a blue dress!  Finally, a little blue trim.


This was an inspired challenge and I really had fun, doing stuff I wouldn't normally try.  And the bonus?  I won!

Thanks for sticking with me to the end!

A good ol' yarn!

At the Ashtead Craft Club on Wednesday evening I will be demo-ing how to make yarn/twine flowers.  Very useful as decoration for cards, tags, pressies, and anything else you care to think of!

These are very simple to make.  First you create a loom with cardboard and pins.  The size of the flower is dictated by the size of the cardboard circles.  Instructions can be found here.

Two different sized looms used for this card, with some sparkly yarn. Then added a couple of buttons for the centres, and some thin wire for the stems.

I tried satin ribbon too, a little tricky as it is a bit slippy, but very effective.

Another raid into my mother's old button tin, and some scalloped die-cut circles from painted bookpages to finish.
















I've tried all kinds materials; as long as it is pliable enough to wrap around the loom, it will work!

Happy wrapping!

Draw - Stamp - Wow!

At  last week's Ashtead Club workshop the theme was to create your own stamps. - and I had an amazing lightbulb moment!

Using funky foam, draw anything with a sharp pencil, and this is sufficient to make an impression for a stamp - what a revelation!  I had no idea a sharp pencil would create such an effect!

OK, the stamps will have a short life, but if you want to create a unique background, or have a stamped image look, then for me this is the way to go.  I immediately went out an bought a pack of funky foam (which is very cheap), and started drawing.

I also thought I would try mounting the stamps onto something for ease of use.  I do have a habit of collecting packaging, and it is always a good feeling when your hoarding instincts pay off!!!  I used that thick acetate packaging you get with a lot of craft supplies (e.g. embossing folders).

Here are my first stamps - the green ones I created at the Club workhop.

I cut outside the outer edge lines, so they would show up on the final image

In this photo just the bird is mounted onto acetate with PVA glue.

I wasn't very patient and started using the stamps before the glue dried, so there was a bit of slipping and sliding going on!  First results, using Distress Ink.

The word ART needs a little work, I made it too fussy.  The happy people need a bit more detail, but overall I'm pleased with the initial results.


Think of the possibilities .....
just doing a little dance of joy!!!

Ink, Paint and a lot of Puff!

The next bi-monthly art journalling challenge from the Ashtead Club is an ink blot one.  We could use any type of ink to create a blot picture.  So with a choice of splatter, spritz, drop, squash or blow - which to chose!

I discarded splatter, as my Jackson Pollock moment had yet to manifest itself - see my post on the latest Craft Barn Q&L challenge here (in case you are confused, I don't necessarily post my work in chronological order!).

I decided to use acrylic ink on Yupo paper.  I'm still experimenting with Yupo. This synthetic paper is completely non-absorbent, so I thought it would be a good base to use for this particular challenge.

This is A4 size, and a couple of drops of black acrylic ink went an awfully long way - I huffed and puffed through a straw, and it just kept going!  I think I ran out of puff (and paper) before the ink ran out of movement!

Because the Yupo paper is quite thin I backed it with some thicker stuff, which made it more stable.

The birds are cut from a randomly painted piece of card from my scraps box (the contents of which never seem to diminish).

Think I'll get in training first before I do another one of these!

Pan's Pastel adventure!

Next Wednesday evening at the Ashtead Craft Club monthly get together, I will be demo-ing the basics of Pan Pastels ..... which give a soft colour to any project.

Just using Pan Pastels to colour a background is quick and effective, especially if the card is slightly textured.

Then just add some stamped images.

Use Versamark ink to create a stamped background.

Here one stamp has been used for the background and then stamped again in black.

The Versamark ink grabs the Pan Pastels and gives a stronger colour.

It is very easy to erase Pan Pastels from a stamped image, to get a lighter, near white, shade; seen here on the butterfly, and to highlight the flower stems.

Finally, this is my take on the Northern Lights effect, using Pan Pastels.



















There are special Pan Pastels  application sponges, but they are expensive.  I've found that make-up sponges work just as well, though they don't last as long.

I usually buff my finished pieces with some kitchen roll.  You can also seal your work with either a pastel sealing spray, or cheap hairspray.  I usually don't bother with sealing cards, but would seal a piece of artwork.

Explore your soft side .....

Spread your wings .....

It is the second bi-monthly Craft Club art journalling challenge, and this time the prompt is "showcase a stamp you like, and one you don't".

The Club provided a heap of weird and wonderful stamps that could possibly qualify as an unloved one - depending on your point of view.

I chose a  stamp depicting a heap of cats with wings.  Now I like things with wings - but cats?  No, I didn't like it at all, though I'm sure some of you out there will love it!

Keeping with the wing theme, I chose one of my favourite moth stamps.   Entries have to be A4 sized, so I brayered paint over a sheet of watercolour paper, and used white paint to stamp "yes" and "no" over each half.

To ensure there was no confusion (!) I  put a black cross over the stamp I didn't like.  I also used a favourite border stamp too.

Still on the wing theme, I visited the National Gallery this week to see the Veronese exhibition, which has 50 works brought together from all over the world.  Fabulous exhibition - here are a couple of my favourites (I bought the postcards!).

Lots of winged angels and cherubs in this one -

The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, about 1565-70

Veronese did a lot of commissions, and  this is one of his portraits -

Livia da Porto Thiene and her daughter Deidamia, 1552

If you love Italian Renaissance I really recommend this fabulous exhibition, which ends on 15 June.

Finally, with the National Gallery being on Trafalgar Square, I couldn't resist taking a photo of another winged thing (no, not the pigeons!).

The giant cockerel on the 4th plinth - in a spectacular shade of blue.  Need I say more!

It was a really dull and drizzly day, so the light was very bad.  This was the best angle to take, but the scaffolding on the Canadian Embassy doesn't provide the best background!

That's enough wings for today!

Curious Challenge Consequence!

The Ashtead Craft Club issues a annual challenge each January, and this year it is an art journalling one.

So, never having done any art journalling before, I'm now taking part in two challenges! The other one is the Craft Barn challenge based on Quotes and Lyrics; as I've collected quotes forever, it really appealed to me. And then along comes the Club Challenge ......

I'm coming to realise the point of art journalling - which is experimentation; exploring techniques and ideas  - and it doesn't matter how it turns out!

The Club Challenge is based on Wreck this Journal, and called Dec this Journal.  A list of subjects/topics has been provided, and there are additional challenge pages every couple of months.  At the end of the year a minimum of 10 pages have to be completed (out of a possible 24).  I've already done some, and I have already shown one in a previous post - The Blue Girl (see here) - where the challenge is "choose a colour, make a collage".

The first bi-monthly challenge was "take a book page and highlight favourite words", and entries were due in at the last workshop.

I turned (again) to one of my favourite books - Through the Looking Glass.  I've got a copy that I found in a charity shop, which I don't mind tearing up! I've also got some Alice stamps - perfect!  I love alliteration, hence my choice of words; but I wasn't sure how it would turn out - and that is the beauty of art journalling - surprising myself!

The background is created by random diluted acrylic paint. The highlighted words read - a cautiously curious consequence of the prettiest sheep ..... and have been cut from the page - up to you to figure out which word goes where on the original page!

The prettiest sheep is hand cut from card, and I think she deserves her beauty contest crown!

Clubbing & Stamping!

On Wednesday I will be demo-ing stamping in layers at the Ashtead Craft Club.

This involves stamping the same image 2 or 3 times, cutting down the top layers, putting a thin edge mat behind each layer, and then aligning each piece with the previous one to show the whole stamped image, broken up by the mats.  Really, it is a different take on decoupage. It can look very effective with the right stamp.

An alternative method is to pre-cut the white card layers, lay them on top of one another in the correct position, and carefully stamp all the layers at the same time.  Any slight loss of the image on the card edges is covered by the mats.

When stamping several images, make sure the card is the same size, and stamp in the same position, thus avoiding a slightly wonky top image when lining up the smaller top layer, as I've done here!  It is not too bad, but I can see that it is not completely straight!

This one is better, stamped 3 times and the top 2 layers cut smaller.

The butterflies were added after the card had been assembled, but it worked out OK!

I do like the black and white look, but any colour will work.

Using a large background stamp works too.

With this card the 2 layers were stamped at the same time.






Happy stamping!

Feeling a little bookish?

Book pages were the subject of the recent Ashtead Craft Club evening get-together, and although I didn't complete anything that evening, I did finish some cards at home.

Using book pages as die-cuts; decided not to add any colour, just a little line doodle.

These were cut from an old gardening book, so the text is appropriate too.

Used a Gelli print background here too.

Old book pages make interesting backgrounds too.

Stamp or doodle, then colour in - I used Distress Markers.

And another one.

For more examples, see the Club's blog here.

New Year Clubbing!

First 2014 get together for the Ashtead Club (blog link on sidebar under favourite sites) on Wednesday. Seems ages since the last one - but it has been 2 months!

A gentle creative start is needed - and I'm going to be demo-ing colour blocking with scrap card and paper, together with white silhouettes.

Using bits of left over card, covering the whole card - either in tonal horizontal stripes, or .....

Vertically using a mix of plain and pattern card and paper.

Or cut three circles from different card/paper, slice them up when stacked together, so when the pieces are mixed they all fit.





Great way to use up bits of card and paper, and a quick way to make a last minute card!