It's done

Ha! it's finished AND hanging!! not the one that should be attended to (Courage) but at least I'm trying. It's up on the wall and will probably fall off the first time someone shuts the front door, one nail is not enough me thinks! I photographed it on a beach mat as summer has finally arrived and it's a warm one.

I stayed with the greenish tint but 'iced' it with a bit of textured structure gel then a final coat of translucent gel. I think it gives it the cake like quality of my earlier mini canvases.

Do you recognise your stamp Linda?

I'm rather relieved it's all finished, I'd intended to use each word only once but well you know... my darling daughter kindly pointed out the words I've used twice! but as i said to her if I'm going to repeat myself then fun and friends are not such a bad choice

Oddly productive

During the first week of the summer holidays I've been surprisingly productive, I think when I have time I tend to waste it and when I don't have a moment I make the most of it! strange but true! I often check out YouTube links and every now and then I discover something that just makes my jaw drop, this time it's a series of tutorials here
http://thealie.over-blog.com.over-blog.com/

I did a trial run and although I was working in colours that aren't really me I'm pleased with the results. This is the first time I've ever done an entire piece without using a brush and paint. I discovered one or two traps for young players during the process but will certainly be doing more of this technique, my mind is racing at the possibilities.

Perhaps a different format, three instead of two, or a hidden book, hmm...

I have one lonely pot of crackle paint which I'm trying to use wisely!!

cutting and pasting

I'm not sure what to say about these other than I was watching telly at the time and was slightly distracted or maybe it was the glass of red, or two...

Buried treasure

Seth over at http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/ is running a 'Buried Treasure' event today where he's asked Bloggers to feature their fav posts. Mine is called courage and is a canvas I did back in Februry this year. The original post can be found here http://aliceandcamilla.blogspot.com/2009/02/courage.html

This one remains a firm fav as I love the colours and the way it came together out of a few bits of old card and some dictionary pages. Like many other creations of mine I still haven't managed to get it up on the wall and it remains propped up on my shelves!

getting there

And 1 became 94, only 6 to go! I think I've used just about every photo or part of that I own

I covered the canvas with the Lexicon pages, a slop of Gesso then proceeded to put a slightly green wash over the whole thing, WHY??? see, this is where I just know there's something wrong with my eyesight or perhaps it's the effect of the hols...

School's out

School's out and we've got five weeks to fill! my life would be a bit easier if the sun would shine and stay shining for more than a nano-second. Anyway, I've decided I need a little project to keep my sanity and have started a 12 x 12 inchie canvas, inspired by Angela Cartwright's article in the mag below.

The idea is to punch out 100 inchies and use an image and text on each one, kind of like a paper quilt. She said it was quick and easy and it's surprisingly so, a lot of fun and a great way to use up all those bits lying around. I haven't decided how I'm going to attach them all yet, probably some kind of structure gel or paste.

Nov/Dec 2007 an old one but a good one!

sneak peek!

Patty's Marie Antionette themed card arrived last week as part of our Round Robin swap. I was totally inspired by the beautiful blues Patty used and set to work on a couple of pages for her. Below is a sneak peek, Marie's been shopping...

some flowers for her hair

and an old chair...

In the post

I finally managed to get myself into gear and get a couple of pages done and into the post for our Queen Bee swap.
Taking part in the Round Robin are Nathalie, Linda, Patty and Carole and we're creating a couple of pages for each other based on our own themes

I chose 'winged things' as my theme although the pages I've made are nothing like I'd imagined I would do!

My pages are now winging their way to Linda http://lindajos.blogspot.com/ to do her magic!

All packed up

The church at the end of my garden is undergoing a spot of restoration and is now all packed up and ready to go. On numerous occasions the local youth have made their way to the top followed by the plod in hot pursuit and it's become a bit of a magnet to all and sundry. Anyway, yesterday was the official viewing and we were invited to climb the scaffolding to admire the view and afterwards take a tour inside.

Very cool to see the roof so close and learn how they do the restoration.

Nathalie I so thought of you and your gravestone visit! why didn't I take a sheet of paper and crayons?? look at the flowers on the top of the bell, sigh...

When I went early afternoon they were only allowing us two thirds of the way up, but by the time DH went on the last tour with half the town's architects he managed to get to the top, jammy so and so...

Assorted

Many thanks to Carole and Jen for the muslin offers but I finally managed to lay my hands on some here! I tried a spot of tea dying and am quite pleased with the results. I also dipped a couple of crepe paper rolls and finished the edges with antique ink sprayed with water.

I've also been having fun with acrylic, plastic wrap and transfers. The techniques have been around for yonks but there are some particularly nice examples in the publications below. Artist Trading Card Workshop by Bernie Berlin is a superb book jam packed with paint techniques and ideas. A while ago I mentioned Claudine Hellmuth's Collage Discovery Workshop: Beyond the Unexpected but I'll say it again as it's such a great book! She uses loads of plastic wrap and sticky back plastic to make backgrounds. You can see her here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9mL5hk6ieQ demonstrating transfers. The Sept 2008 issue of the German mag Just Stamps features an article on Image Transfer by Anke Humpert http://h2u6a2n6a4.blogspot.com/ who uses watery acrylics to create a background for her transfers, really beautiful effect.

I posted this pic of my rellies earlier which I transfered onto fabric using a Laser print and Gel Medium. I made a backing out of thick card and decorated it with lace and buttons from Angelika http://dragonquilts.blogspot.com/ This piece has now winged it's way to Nathalie in the US complete with one of the folded paper stars she sent me!

Roses

I collaged some cards using acrylic, stamps and scraps

I plan to wire them together to make some kind of hanging ornament, not sure quite what yet