Tuesday 19 January 2016

Fairy Awakening

Hello!!
I have just had the most awesome weekend attending a workshop that I will remember for the rest of my life!!  It was like a awakening for me, hence the title of my finished piece 'Fairy Awakening'.  This was the second workshop I had attended by the most awesomely talented Susan Farrell of Susan Farrell Art.  Whilst I really enjoyed the first one (which was totally different to this one), I wasn't expecting this weekends workshop to be more than a great escape and some 'me time', WOW was I wrong.  As crafters or artists we are told to 'let go' and 'there are no mistakes' it is often hard to do it, but after the introduction to Susan's workshop where we were lead by some guided meditation to release our inner child I decided that 'it was just paint and canvas' and if i hated it, I could always cover it in gesso and start over!  I decided I was just going to 'go with it' and let it be what it was destined to become, and I have to say I am pretty darn Happy with it!


The first layer was basically a little colour and alot of stencils, not much thinking, just lots of doing!
  



The second layer was a bit more colour and some more random marks here and there.... Busy isn't it!

 

The third layer was pure colour!  Those Golden fluid acrylics just glow!!  At this point I wasn't sure where it was going to end up, but I was thoroughly enjoying the process.  As per usual, I thought it might have a fairy or 2, so at the end of day one I rushed home, went straight to the laser to cut me some fairy stencils, and a few others! (Will be available in the next Whichcraft new release :) )


 

And here is my finished piece.  It is quite large, 30 x 30 inch (75cm x 75cm).  I love how you can make the background disappear or bring it right to the front of the canvas.  I have created many items in my time, but never have a created something on this scale and wanted to start another right away.  I am so inspired by this past weekend.  The people I have met and the 'Awakening' that I have experienced.




 
I cannot encourage you enough to check out Susan's page.  She also has E-courses available for those who cannot attend a workshop in person.

May all your fairy dreams come true! xx



Saturday 9 January 2016

No Beauty Shines Brighter Than That Of A Good Heart

Hello Crafty friends.  Today I am sharing my '3D Steampunk Heart Canvas.
 
There is a link to the process video available at the end of this post.

My goal with this piece was to 'stagger' the Whichcraft Steampunk Heart (available from Jan 11 2016 along with the wooden gears) to give a 3D appearance to the canvas.  Its hard to see from these photos, but it does actually look quite staggered and dimensional in person.

Please feel free to ask any questions!


All the products are listed in the video.

 



Thanks for dropping by :)

Tuesday 5 January 2016

LSG January Challenge

Happy New Year!!  I have decided that this year I am going to enter more challenges, do more youtube tutorials and spend more time creating, so to help me kick off the New Year on the right foot I have decided to enter the Lindys Stamp Gang January color challenge.
 


I didnt have those exact colours so i have used:
Salt water taffy
Frenchys pink pouf
Baby blue eyes aqua

Hopefully the blue/aqua is close enough to the mint green :)


First I took a Whichcraft white chipboard tag and used Finnabair's snowflake paste through a TCW 'Mini Specimens' stencil.  After I dried the paste I spritzed the tag heavily with water.  While still wet I sprayed the LSG colours mentioned above all over the tag to create the colourful background and dried with heat tool.

I also sprayed the Whichcraft mixed size butterflies with the Lindys and inked the edges with black archival ink.  I used the lid of the LSG bottle and an empty paper towel roll dipped in Liquitex white ink to make some more circles on the background.


I coloured the Whichcraft mini Evie frame (not yet released) with distress stain in black soot.  I blinged up the butterflies with stickles, rhinestones and flower sequins. I shaded my circles with some gelatos to give them some dimension  All the items were layered and adhered and some random stamping with a 'grid' type stamp (kaisercraft maybe?) added to the background. I added a fitting quote with some Tim Holtz chit chat stickers added to finish off. 


Thanks for dropping by!