Tif for January finished and a card for a friend

On wednesday Ellie may and I went here:

It was the Holiday on ice show in Cardiff. I don't know about Ellie but I was LOVING it, it was amazing. The headbangers were so close to the floor, the speed, the costumes were just superb, and Kyran Braken was sublime! You'd have thought I was the 4 year old, I didn't want to leave.

I have finally finished my January TIF challenge which I combined with Emmy's January page for FAF. Emmy's page needed to be a mandala and since mandala's are about self exploration I decided to link this to the TIF challenge of who inspires you. I decided that I would use inspiration from my blogging friends that have been so inspirational over the last 2 years, I would "steal" thier style!So clock wise from the top we have :

Lynda- stitched to paint with emulsion and then ink, beaded.

ME! - I have woven fabric and hand stitched and covered in buttons.

Emmy - I have used sme stretchy velvet and gathered it as I stitched, I tried to capture Emmy's style of covering in stitch, encrusting.

Jan - Jan loves to recycle and so I used a sweetie wrapper and stitched through twinkle organza and then melted back, I added a piece of melted felt and stitch.

Carol M - Lutrador ad lace, highlighted with metallic rub ons and fabric rolled beads.

I hope I have captured some of their style, but kept it my own.

Below is a card I made for a friend. I won't reveal who yet!

Fun and Cyber Fyber

I am starting off today's ost with a bit of fun that i saw on Arlee's flickr. It is a rubik cube maker that uploads your art to a model rubiks cube. I thought my industry pieces would fit in really well, so off I went to have a play. And here they are:

The bottom one fits so well, this was the paper quit before I added the dark turquoise and the embellishment. It just fits the squares so easily. These are so fun.

Now on to the serious business of Cyber Fyber. I managed to finish these cards today to trade with Susan. I used my industry theme, as this is whirling in my brain at the mo. They will be posted off tomorrow.

Mandala for Emmy WIp - also for TIF january

I have made a start on my mandala for Emmy, who was my January partner for the FAF page swap. I am obviously behind!!! I chose if you remember to page hamage to the styles of the amazing internet friends i have made over the last 2 years. So I chose Emmy and her's is the wedge on the bottom left. I have stitched in great amount on to gathered stretchy velevet that someone had sent me that was a lovely delicate green like the palette Sharon set. The next in a clockwise direction is in homage to Jan my good friend, who loves to recycle and so I have usd an only sample of bondaweb on twinle organza burnt back to reveal a turquoise sweety wrapper. Then we have Carol M and a piece of lutrador and lace, highlighted with gold and siler rub on's. The top wedge is for Lynda, and is stitched, painted in emulsion and then ink. and finally is little old me! I have woven some cream cotton and lace and I am going to embellish this with buttons and shell beads which I love.
The backing is a piece of painted cotton and I have left to integrate these to the background now.
This is my piece for Val for the calendr girls swap this month. Visit the group's blog to see more about this.

Paper quilt done - at last!

I have finally finished the paper quilt for the true colours challenge. I am really pleaed with how it turned out. I have bound it with cotton painted with acrylic in the same way I did with the actual quilt. It's finished size is 11" square (ish!!). This was a very satisfying piece of work, in no small part because of the lessons learned in it's making. Thanks to all of you who gave me advice and help with this work.

I have also 2 other things in the pipeline, my calendar girls febuary post card which is for Val, and my piece for January's TIF challenge. I have nearly done this, it has been combined with Emmy's FAF page for January as she wanted a mandala. I decided to make my mandala in the style of the people I admire, and I am about 3/4's there. I hope to finish it tomorrow or monday.

This months TIF s based on :
What are old enough to remember? and.......
Now being the baby of the bunch in many cases here, I feel ashamed to say what I remember. I unusually don't have many early memories. My strongest was my deep love for Wonderwoman, man I wanted to be her! Torville and Dean at the olympics, the Bolero! and hence why i am taking Ellie may to see Kieran Bracken in Cardiff on wednesday to see the holiday on ice. Later it was pop groups like take that and Bros and Kylie and Jason (still love Jason!!! Yey for Echo Beach!). Now this all seems a bit too superficial, but and the last bit will give you a laugh. This was taken on Charles ad Di's wedding day, I remember as the outfit was made for the street party. Note the attention to detail, gold rope and cuffs, but what was my mum thinking with the socks! Why no red boots!!!!! I think I might make a wonderwoman inspired something. The other in the pic is my sis Vicky, just to shame her!You all laughing now!!!!!!

Cre8tivethreads - go check it out.

Link for you!!! Please go take a look and wish Jan Lewis well, she has been a timid blogger and i want her to keep it up as she does such amazing things. Go check out all her 10 posts on her work for a new exhibiting group called Meniscus. Big kisses Jan, so chuffed your work has come together sooooooo well.

Nearly there

I am so much happier with this piece now, infact i have finished all i am going to do in terms of decoration, I just have the backing and mount to do. I have painted up some cotton in the darker colour tonight and am waiting for it to dry now so that i can bind and back. I am now ususally a fan of binding, far too precise for me but this piece calls for a definate edge i think so i am going to do it. It was a sod to photograph this as the metallics were bouncing light all over but this one is pretty accurate in colours. i have added some text at the top and finished the beading now. I chose to say "True colours shine through" like the Cindy Lauper lyric. I think this ran through my head from the start of this task, although i did consider "Hidden gems" as well. Funnily enough I had only been talking about having you own internal soundtrack the other day with Enid my C+G lecturer, she caught me singing and mumbling away(under my breath of course as I would never unleash my voice on others!!!!) as i drew in class and was amazed that I have my own in head IPod! I hear music in my head all the time, it really shapes my thinking sometimes, and she was really jealous that I have this capacity for music.Anyway the point being this probably shaped what I chose to write. I did it in dark blue ink to start and highlighted in a blue and silver metallic pen, but this didn't have enough impact, so i went over with a black pen tonight and I am much happier with it.
Close up's were hard to get too but I thought you might like to see it closer. Thanks to all for all the lovely and helpful comments you have left me on this piece, having such a supportive community of artists is such a big help. On that note I wanted to say that i am trading with Susan Lenz on her Cyber Fyber idea. She is single handedly organising an exhibition of artists from the Blogging world and trading a massive amount of cards and ATC's. I am going to trade one of each and am definately going to do one in the style of this piece of work. Well done Susan on having the guts to follow through such a massive undertaking and on the wonderful group of artists you have brought together for this show, I look forward to it with great anticipation.

I got brave!

Well I got brave and added a darker colour using black and turquoise acrylic mixed and applying with a sponge. I think it is much better now. I still have to add more beading and I can't decide on the stitching or the lettering, but there is time yet!

Additions

I have made additions to the paper quilt taking into account what michelle said about adding a large circle. I felt that the eye wasn't able to travel around the piece very well so i have been beading away, so much so i have worn a groove in my finger!!!! I wanted the beads to look like crusty corroded bits. i have tried to add a circlular shape all be it a broken one. I want to do what Debbie suggested too and darken up the edges, but I don't think i will go quite as far as black maybe a much darker turquoise, mixed up with black. I may put a black binding on however. Thanks girls for all your help and advice, this is what i love about blogging. I think I might add some stright stitches in a dark turquoise perle to help the circle shape. I love deb's idea of text but i don't know what I want to say yet!

Layout - Watcha think?????

I wondered if some of you lovelies would give me some honest opinions about this piece, I have added some copper and some of those things from the backs of Ellie's toy packaging. I have added some washers painted and couched on too. Now i want some opinions, I am not sure about it??? Thanks for your help in advance!

Paper quilt on the move at last

I have made a further go at my paper quilt, I may well meet the end of january deadline for textiles challenges. My plan for the true colours quilt was to use my work for my industry unit as a theme. I showed you this piece a few posts ago. I painted it with copper acrylic. Today I over painted a new layer in stewart gill pearlise in mermaid and when that was dry a layer of turquoise acrylic. When this was dry I used a damp cloth to rub back through the layers . My idea for the quilt was True colours - What lies beneath the surface. I wanted to give the idea that yur true colours shine through the layers of yourself, deep or what!!!!All I need to do is find a focal point now. The top one is the full layout and I have worked in thirds and I have some nice indutrial looking bits I have been collecting, from the fastenings of Ellie's toys. I hate toy packaging, it is always a mass wrestle to get them out and for a long time i have been thinking there must be something I can do with them. Here's a close ups. Any ideas on focal point gratefully recieved!

Further to the drawing more design work

This term we are looking at form in college and i explained last post that i have decided to look at the plight of the Welsh miner's wife as the source of inspiration. We had to do paper mache and so I used the flat iron as a mould . I had to cut the paper off the iron and rejoin it but it has worked out well. Enid asked me how i was going to decorate it and so i had thought about emulsion and ink but then having idea showered the topic, i thought about make do and mend and how my grandmother would make her childrens clothing so i found a vintage child's pattern in school for a dress and used that to finish it off.

I also made an armourture from newspaper for a large peg. It isn't as porportianal as i would have likes but I am pleased with it.

Fruits of last nights labours

This is my next study in pencil. I had to tear one of my photocopies of my still life from last week and colour in the bit we tore away. I am really really pleased with mine. I am having real fun with this topic.

Inchies

I know you have all forgotten about the inchies by now! and honesty so had i until i tidied my stash today. So I decided i was going to get them on the canvas that i had bought all that long ago. i glue gunned them on as they were all sorts of textures on the back and I didn't want to show the stitches to hold them. I love how they look together, like little treasures. It is hanging in the kitchen now and is lovely, so thanks to all who sent me their little bits of gold treasure.

Industry unit

Well I am working on my resolved piece for my industry unit. I have been looking at metals and rust and decay and particularly the pictures of Pixamanique on flickr. I have been using up my painted foil fabric paper. After the piece I did the other day called sliver, I have been playing around with painted cotton and embellishing felt through from the back. Today I embellished copper organza and angelina fibres through also. This really gives the feeling of a corroding piece of metal as you get the original colour and then the felt gives it texture and brings a deeper colour through. I have then used the automatic stitches on my machine to hold down the foil. I have been dodging the automatic stitches as they don't really excite me, but it is getting better now I have made a start.

I haven't been idle!

Well school and all it's strains have hit back in full flow and my posts are getting fewer and further between. I hate this term, it is always so hectic with the race for GCSE coursework in full swing. However we did have a most wonderful course today with trainner called Barry Hymer who was so inspirational and has made me re-evaluate how I deal with my pupils. I don't often talk about school here as these two parts of my life don't really meet but I am so fired up about what he has to say about how we deal with young people I wanted to let it out.

Anyway, look at the lovely card I got from Debbie in the calendar girls swap. Check out the pretty button on the side if you want to know more. (If you are viewing on internet explorer you will see no pretty picture just a title but it should still work) I bought this nice frame in IKEA on a recent trip, and it is perfect for displaying the cards.Thanks Debbie it is so much more depth and vivid in colour in real life.
The next thing is what I did in design this week. Our new topic is homes and since my house is full of toys I didn't want to do anything of mine so on brainstorming home, I came up with terrace houses, from the valleys where I grew up and from there I got on to the lives of the welsh miners wife, the welsh MAM. So this week we had to draw in tones as we are doing form, and I chose to draw artifacts from the turn of the century that a collegue lent me. I had an iron kettle, and flat iron, a churner, a ceramic rolling pin and some dolly pegs. I had a blast! It was so good to be lost in the drawing and at the end to feel pleased with what I had done.
Very productive I think. I am also working on my idea for TIF, I have made a start but will show more when more is completed. Have a great weekend.

Arch page and winners

I have just completed my first arch page for a trade on Textiles challenges. 13 of us have signed up to trade one arch page a month. My first partner Carol R and she had put keywords of gothic, fantasy, nature and fairies. i decided to go with Gothic as my theme. She had expressed an interest in blues and purples and so i took a piece of fabric from my fabric painting course that i had done a few months ago. I printed 3D medium with a stamp i made for the central image and then I used embossing powders over the top and blasted it. I then stamped the clubs and painted the lace. I added beads and painted papers too. Then finally a binding. The main thing I did with this piece was I challenged myself only to hand stitch. I didn't use the machine at all, it was fun. I love the way it turned out. Hope Carol likes it.
Now as to the last post with the postcard give away, I wrote down all the names of the 6 comments and Ellie chose 2.
The two she chose were Lynda and Anna. I will post them off tomorrow.I will let Anna have the one she expressed a preference for.

Up for grabs!!!

I was delighted to open my emails a little while ago and find that Anna had tagged me with the make my day award. Now what a delight to recieve this award from anyone but from Anna, this is so fab, it really made my day! I love Anna's work and (don't take this the wrong way Anna!) I want to be Anna when I grow up!

So the rules of this are as follows-
"Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about Blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times!"Some of you may have received this award already, if so, please do not feel any pressure to participate again".
So my choices are as follows:
Lynda
Carol M
Emmy
Mags
Val
All these ladies are an inspiration to me and so I would like to pass it on. If your reading this don't feel obliged to do anything with it!

Now up for grabs was the heading. So I have these two cards up for grabs, if you leave me a comment I will get Ellie may to draw a name from the hat. Hopefully someone might want them.

Mixed up post

Today's post is a bit of a miss mash to be honest but i thought i would show you what I have been completing this week so far.
I have completed the other 3 postcards for the January theme on Calendar girls group . These have been a lot of fun to do and so nice to work on different lay outs. I have made a start on the Febuary card and will hopefully be able to show it to you by the end of the week.


I have taken up Sharon B's Take it further challenge and this month is based on someone you admire and why you admire them. in addition the colour palette below can be used if you like. I like it and will be using it I think.
Now saying who i admire has been hard, I could choose so many people but the whole thing of this being on a blog has got me to thinking about bloggers I admire and the fact that I have found like minded people who give me inspiration, encouragement and drive to do more and more exciting things. Firstly i find colours on the screen hard to deal with so i went straight for a magazine to find similar colours. Then i wrote up my thinking about this piece. i have decided to use this idea for my mandala page for Emmy this month on FAF. I am going to use the influence of styles of other artists I truely admire to complete my mandala. I have chosen Emmy first of all as it is her page and she works with such amazing strength of colour and with a real encrusting of surfaces with stitch. The second is my friend Jan, who has been having a hard time of late and so hasn't had time for her blog, but she does a lot of recycling of plastics and paper and so i am going to do something in her style. The next is Carol M, who makes the most stunning things with metallics and foils and lovely surface texture, like her article on lutrador and lace. Then i have chosen Lynda, i do so love Lynda, as a great mate and in her innovative and amazing style, i have been wanting to do some hand stitch and emulsion and ink for a while so i am going to pay homage to Lynda's many samples in this style and then finally there will be me. My style, my voice is something that I am struggling with at the mo, so this might be an opportunity to define myself a little! I am excited by this and can't wait to have enough time to get stuck in!

The next thing is my effort for Art Journal Fridays. I found this lately and thought it would encourage me to do something in my visual diary. The theme was related to to new year and resolutions and was based on your hopes and dreams for 2008, and here are mine!
Last thing is for Cathy who has been chatting with me about creating with Ellie. i thought you might like to see how Ellie kept herself amused on Sunday afternoon, collaging a picture of her and her friend! Note the curly hair on Ellie, made from curls of paper, and the stamps on the face - don't know why? lots of fun hey! Mum did help with cutting the hands, after all she is only 4! The rest she did herself.

Adventures in foil

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Foil and fabric

I have been reading about Lynda's adventures in foil, and since I have been thinking about industry and rusty metal for my C+G thins month I decided to have a go. Now not being of Lynda' vast wealth!(giggle!) I haven't got Golden gels etc so i used trusty PVA from the pound shop onto muslin and it worked a treat! I also mixed the PVA with the acrylic paint I painted on, now this could do with another coat but other than that it worked real well. I also layed up some textured wallpapers to use for the challenge on TC, my group, this month as we are doing the Quilting arts True colours challenge this month and so I have been thinking about a piece where the true colours come through from beneath, a hidden Gem? So that's what the other bits are for.
Then of course the embellisher I have made a piece from the off cut of the foil paper and added it with the automatic stitches on the Janome memory craft that I have from school. I then embellished the felt backing through to the front which has given it a real nice sheen. I love the embellisher. I also made a quick piece based on the febuary Calendar girls picture, I don't know if i'll use this one as I have something else in the pipeline but I had so much fun with it. I appliqued the petals which were acrylic felt onto a pink piece of acrylic felt and added some silk for the centre and leaves and stems. What fun, I don't know what else i am going to do with it but i can see lots of samples!

Guess what I've got!!!

Ta Da!!! It arrived today my lovely christmas pressy. I got a great price here of £199 and ordered the expression model but I don't know why but got a free upgrade to the FM725! which is worth £249!!! I never get any luck so I am so chuffed! Right see you laterI am off to play!!!!

Fun thing I saw on Anna's blog

The Recipe For Carol

3 parts Originality 2 parts Drive 1 part Elegance Splash of Slyness Shake vigorously

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

I saw this on Anna's blog and had to have a go!
Also if anyone would like to take part in a fabric arch page swap the come an join us at Textiles challenges. We are also doing the Quilting arts challenge this month too, True colours paper quilts!

Kim's page and Calendar girls

I finally finished Kim's page for the FAF page swap for December. Kim chose African masks as her theme and I have already shown you the prep I did in my sketchbook. It just called out for bleach to me, I don't know why? Isn't it weird how sometimes a topic cries out a technique to you! I drew freehand in bleach the face and neutralised it in water and vinegar, don't know if this was right but it stopped the bleach working so I was happy. I had also bleached some stripes onto another piece. I also found some lace that had a shape that looked like a shield so i used that on the back with bleach and I painted them with copper metallic paint to add on. I also beaded a few places too.

I am really pleased with the finished effect. I think it has turned out really well.

I have also just uploaded to the calendar girls site about my January postcard, this group is really fun, so go check it out, here!