It's All About The Paper

I love paper and so does my cat Hugo - I came home to a huge disaster today. I walked into my lounge/diner only to find all my crafting materials and papers I left neatly stacked strewn all over the place, chalk eyes everywhere with lids missing, glue, scissors, pencils, and pens rolled under the furniture! But turning to look at Hugo - butter would not melt! He sure had fun getting up on the table and attempting to sit on the paper, but in the process sending everything flying - I think he must have had a bit of a scare when it all fell.

Anyway, Gothic Arches has given the challenge to use the technique of paper patchwork for this week. What a good opportunity to use all those odds and ends of papers that you keep in the thought that 'I will use that one day!' - well, today I did.

This arch is all pieced together using strips of paper left from layouts, odd circles left after cutting frames, pages from an old book, and punching a few butterflies from the same papers. I layered and glued the papers together for the background and then added some Gesso in areas to blend them together and make them flow, I rubbed it on with my finger and then rubbed most of it away again to get a smoky feel. I then finished by smudging some dark brown chalk eye around the circles. I hope you like the end result.

Faeries.....

As a child I used to spend hours in the garden looking for the faeries. My mum was good at telling stories and giving tips on how to find them - the circle of mushrooms in the lawn was a constant source of fascination for my sister and I - we even found a mini skipping rope once (well done mum, as we found out once we were grown!). Despite that I still believe in all things a little mit mystical and magical.....

For the Small World of Inchies I have made one twinchie using a stamp by Crafty Individuals, coloured with watercolour pencils and then detail adding with Glossy Accents and Stickles.

Then I made these two inchies using silhouette stamps and chalking the backgrounds. Again finished with Glossy Accents and Stickles.

Remember they are out there just on the edge of your vision...

The Witching Hour....

Is nearly upon us, and I have created these two ATC's for TMTA and MMM this week. I used two different Tim Holtz stamps, chalked the backgounds with blue and brown and then drew over the top of some sections with black glaze pen to make them stand out. I added wording to one, and brads to both as detail, and finished by chalking a dark edge around.

Detailed sections:

Thanks

CBH set the theme to create a piece using the word Thanks somewhere in it. I have chosen to share some cards I made at the last CROP I attended hosted by Scrapbook Sisters. These were a make and take on the day, taught by Karen. I am not a big card maker, but enjoyed these and was pleased with the outcome. So, thank you Karen for teaching me how to make beautiful cards.

Follow the Arrows

Arrows is the theme set by Make A Moo. I chose to create two different Moo's this week. The first was created by painting Old Paper crackle paint onto the background and then rubbing Soot Black distress ink over the top. I then stamped Cupid (from Cherry Pie Arts) and added a grungeboard arrow which has also been painted with crackle paint - Fired Brick. For the second Moo I stamped the cat at the bottom and drew a small bumble bee above, surrounding this with three arrows which have also been painted with crackle paint. I finished the edges with chalk eyes.

Men...

What else do you need to say!! Well Men was the theme for SPA this week and this is my postcard inspired by it. I created the background using crackle paint and distress inks. I then stamped the flourishes on top and the car. I then stamped the car separately and added colour over the top in pen. I added this to the background with foam pads. The title is hand written separately, cut out and doodled before adding to the card.

Haute Couture

Who doesn't like to browse the windows every now and then at all that Haute Couture out there. Some of which I like and wish I could fit into and the rest just think 'there is no way I am spending that much for practically nothing!'

This is my take on the Gothic Arches theme this week. I used by New York Style stamp, stamping it directly onto the background and then again onto another piece of card. This second image I couloured with my pens and added Liquid Pearl detail, I then cut it out and mounted it on top with foam pads last of all. I also stamped the background with the word Fabulous and outlined in a glaze pen, then handwrote the word Darling! and again added this with foam pads so it is raised. I added blue and pink chalk eyes to the background.

Ophelia

This is the theme this week for TMTA. This is my take on Ophelia. I stamped the face first and then masked it out to stamp the background texture image on top. I then punched a range of flowers from those leftover pieces of paper from other projects, used white pen to add detail and glued them in place. I finished with a small pink heart punch. Hope you like the end result.

There are so many different interpretations that can be made of Ophelia, it was hard to pick just one!

Numbers

Creating with numbers I can do quite happily, but apply numbers to maths - that's another matter entirely!! I had a maths cover lesson to do this week - fractions of all things! That made me stretch my memory to help the students with the work that had been left for them. Anyway I would much rather be creating work out of numbers instead, and for the Arty Girlz challenge this week I chose to take inspiration from one of my favourite artists - Jasper Johns, and created this mixed media piece.

I began with a shocking pink piece of card, drew my numbers on so they all overlapped and were differing sizes, I then painted them with acrylics. Once dry I added pen on top, stamped the clocks and added a few gems too.

Can you find all the numbers 0-9?

Spooky Part 2

As promised here is the second part of my Spooky uploads. This is a project I was asked to complete for Scrapbook Sisters. I was given a Melissa Frances tag box with fold out book and asked to create a piece around the theme of halloween. This was the end result:

I had fun creating this and have crammed in many different techniques and products. I used orange and black cardstock and patterned halloween paper by Karen Foster: Hodge Podge; stamps by Inkadinkado, Stamps Away and Autumn Leaves; Quikkutz skeleton; embossing paste in black; various chalk eyes, Stickles, Stazon and embossing powders; ribbons; and Glossy Accents.

If you have not tried altering anything, I recommend you have a go, it is great fun, adictive and anything goes.......