Another dash of bitumen .....

Recently introduced another friend to the bitumen thing, and we did mirrors.  My friend is a great fan (get it!) of anything oriental, so a paper and bamboo fan was deconstructed, and some of the piece used, together with a few coins.

Here it is before any paint was applied.  The fan sides look a little like chopsticks, and the mirror area is framed by 4 of the pieces that held the paper fan together.  I like this idea of framing the mirror area.

After a few coats of paint, using black, with some red/brown and gold, to imitate an antiqued oriental finish ....


.....Koko ni aru
(I hope that means here it is, in Japanese!)

For my mirror, I decided to continue with my love of all things steampunk, but this time I did an all over blue wash, and then highlighted in copper with a hint of pale gold.

I also used more metal bits and pieces, plus a tiny face (can you find it!).

I'm probably all bitumened out now!

From Ashtead to Picadilly!

Last Saturday was the first all-day workshop of the year for the Ashtead Card Making and Card Club, and I lead a session on that bitumen technique (see post of 1 June - Good company, scrummy food, and a dash of bitumen - another perfect recipe! ).

I decided to do a small project to enable me to assist others, but at the same time demonstrate each stage of the technique.

I had been given a really old and dilapidated box which I thought would be suitable to keep my special pens and pencils in, and was perfect for this technique.

First stage is to cover with pieces of plain and embossed card, and die-cuts.  Any objects to hand can be used - though should preferably be flat backed.

The sides of my box are quite shallow, so I used some plasterboard tape (available in any DIY store),    which gives some pleasing texture.


Using acrylic paint, cover with black paint and when dry, diluted brown paint.  Highlight and/or drybrush some areas with metallic paint and a little colour.

Finally, brush on some diluted bitumen (diluted with white spirit), and when nearly dry, wipe off with white spirit.

Ta - da!

Go to the Club's blog and see the other productions.

Must mention my trip to the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition yesterday (on Piccadilly).  Fab show, with 1270 pieces of work on display - always controversial ..... "why was that included!"

Quite an exhausting day, as we walked round it twice - I had 6 favourites, but you are not allowed to take photos -  there were a couple of oils on canvas I loved, a messotint and watercolour, a mixed media one, and a bronze sculpture.  But, my absolute favourite was "Mule on mule" by Tim Lewis - an interactive mixed media construction of a metal mule which (when you turned the handle) drew a pencil drawing of a ... mule.  Fell in love with that one - and very clever too with the construction of the mechanism to draw the mule.

There are always a couple of exhibits in the courtyard, this huge hanging one is "Tsiatsia - searching for connection" by El Anatsui, consisting of aluminum (bottle tops, printing plates, roofing sheets) and copper wire.

Happy creating!

Good company, scrummy food, and a dash of bitumen - another perfect recipe!

Got together with some lovely people on Thursday, to lead a workshop on creating a decorative mirror using die-cuts, embossed card, loads of paint, and a bit of bitumen.

Here is my mirror at the stage where everything has been adhered to the mirror, using mod podge.

After several layers of paint, and bitumen (most of which is removed with white spirit), this is my finished mirror.

I thought we would be having a short lunch break for a sarni and a cuppa - but a veritable 3 course feast we had (albeit a  healthy one)  - lovely homemade stuff - really scrummylicious.  So, our "short" break was a couple of hours!  And then, afternoon tea with cake!

I should have taken a piccie of the "spread", but I left my camera in the workroom.  I did manage to take one of some of the group.

Here we have reached the bitumen stage, which is a bit potent, so open all those windows and doors!




Another perfect day, and maybe the start of a new trend of Gourmet & Crafting Workshops!