A Little Bit Of Gesso & Ink

Making background papers is always fun - and useful too - so I put together a little video tutorial to share with you on these. They're very quick and easy to do, require only a few ingredients and will give you some lovely results!

I have been having some time off from creating to nurse my poorly dog who's got pneumonia but he is, thankfully, on the mend now so I thought I'd ease myself back into things with a little play time. Hope you enjoy watching.

Hot Work

It's been incredibly hot here for the last three weeks or so, too hot really for printing before the paint dries on the plate, but I have finally got round to doing a little something. In a previous post I mentioned that I'd won a Gelli Arts giveaway and had some boards to make texture plates with as well as a 6" gelli plate. So here are my first attempts.

The top picture shows a plate made with stencils and modelling paste. The band across the top was done with Golden crackle paste which, as you can see, produces a craquelure finish when it dries. The one in the second picture has stencils and modelling paste again with the addition of glass bead medium across the top.

I have to say I had mixed results with these when I used them on the gelli plate. Joan's post here shows some excellent prints using this idea and I was hoping to have something similar to share. However, for whatever reason, I wasn't totally satisfied with my results. The patterns didn't always show up particularly well on paper and that may be to do with the way I constructed the plates - perhaps the modelling paste isn't even enough, or perhaps it was something to do with the heat or my choice of paper, I don't know. I will try again though and report back, and if you fancy having a go yourself I highly recommend the video I linked to above.

Anyhoo, here's a card I did make successfully with the texture plates - gelli printed and collaged!

My New Toy!

I finally jumped on the Gelli wagon! I've always loved printmaking so, better late than never, I got myself a Gelli Arts plate and started experimenting with different paints and inks. If you'd like to see the process here's a video:

I have to say, it is great fun to play with and I plan to do lots more trying stuff out on it. The prints I pulled will mostly be used as backgrounds and I'll likely add other elements to them such as stamping, drawing and collage. Might even make them into a small journal when I've got enough!

Neon Psycho-delia

A strange confluence of things going on here. I'm still battling with labyrinthitis which is affecting my balance quite badly and making me dizzy-woozy so I haven't got a lot of new stuff to show you. The doc gave me medication for it which helps but hasn't got rid of it. 

However, when I got round to reading the leaflet that comes with the pills I discovered that as well as being a treatment for seasickness and inner ear problems they're also an anti-psychotic used to treat schizophrenia and anxiety! Now I have suffered from anxiety for many years but not, as far as I'm aware, schizophrenia. So maybe if they don't fix my ears they'll stop the panic attacks huh?

Anyway, I digress slightly. I got meself a cool new stencil from Crafters' Workshop. Reminds me somewhat of a Bridget Riley painting. I tried it out on top of a background of neon pink and orange combined with some chalky lilac and baby pink craft paints. I think I'm on a mission to make things which once looked at will burn themselves onto your retinas in perpetuity!

I partnered it with a little tag which has a somewhat quieter feel and uses the negative imprint of the stencil, this time in distress inks. And bees - love this little bee stamp and I think the whole thing fairly buzzes so it seems quite appropriate.

Things I Almost Need

I'm sure I've explained this before but some of my sisters-in-artiness and I have this habit of being drawn to art supplies which we feel just have to be purchased because we 'almost need them'. So, I was in the art store the other day and, as always, perusing the paint aisles when what should I see but tubes of fluorescent acrylic paint! 

Normally I wouldn't go for such a thing, imagining these could only really be useful for posters or other in-yer-face kind of advertising projects, but I felt like a bit of experimenting so I picked up a fluorescent pink and orange and took them home with me. And you know what, it was a good call. They add a nice punch of unexpected traffic stopping colour on this tag and I'll be experimenting further to see what else I can do with them!

In The Background

Working in my journal trying to make something that would 'pop'! Think I succeeded.

Look at all these fun brushes I picked up for just over £1. They were in the children's art and craft section at the home and garden store. Well worth checking out!

Too Soon?

Yes, it's only October but please don't hate me! I always end up rushing around a week before Christmas having done zero preparation so I challenged myself this year to acquire at least some semblance of organisation. So, having just purchased a few odds and ends from Hobbycraft I thought I'd try out some seasonal tags.

Favourite find was this Confetti Glitter Glue which has stars and snowflakes in it (how cool is that?!) and the Naughty or Nice stamp. I had to play with them right away and tags are brilliant for this; they're ideal little blank canvases and you don't have to stress about making a mess of them.

I rounded up some watered down re-inkers in mist bottles, washi tape, ribbon, the confetti glue and rubber stamp. Spread the confetti glue on the tag with a palette knife or something similar as it's quite thick and let it dry - this took several hours but the room wasn't very warm - then spritz with misters, add the stamp and washi tape fragments and finish with a ribbon bow. Super quick, apart from all the drying time, and easy, and I think it will make a nice addition to my Christmas gift wrapping!

True Confessions

I have too much paper. There, I said it. My studio has several deep drawers and boxes stuffed full of interesting scraps - prints of my earlier artwork, book pages, painted book pages, scrapbooking papers that I've only partially used, little things that I've saved 'just because'. Then there are the junk shops books which I've collected because they had pretty illustrations or were in French or Chinese or wonderful gothic-fonted German. And don't get me started on old Ordnance Survey maps because yes, I have piles of those too!

I know I should part with a good chunk of it. There's enough there to last several arty lifetimes. But, like my fabric stash, I find it impossible to decide what I can really live without. And I know I'm not alone: I can almost see many of my fellow mixed media makers nodding in shifty-eyed agreement. There is, you see, so much possibility in these pieces of paper. They talk to each other, gathering together in pleasing combinations within their confined spaces so that when I pull out a seemingly random pile I discover that they are speaking to me too, including me in their conversation. It would feel rude to interrupt.

Occasionally I print copies of older pieces of work in various sizes so that I can reuse them. The tag and the journal page here have details from just such a piece. I like a bit of repetition sometimes.

A Cheapskate Idea

I love buying new craft supplies as much as, no probably more than, the next woman but some of the stuff I'd like is a bit spendy and I'm always on the lookout for cheap DIY versions of it. Soooo.. I thought I'd share this little tip with you in case it's of use.

I've recently been playing with Distress Inks a lot and I like the kind of watercolour effect you get when you dab the pads straight onto a non-stick craft sheet and then pick the ink up with your paper.

I'd rather not spend £10 on one though so the other day I came up with this quick alternative. All you need is a piece of mat board or cardboard, some freezer paper and sellotape. You can make it whatever size is most useful for you, just wrap the freezer paper (shiny side up) over the board and stick down at the back. 

Notice how neatly I folded and stuck! OK, it won't last as long as an actual craft sheet but it's practically free and you can just replace the freezer paper as needed. I've been using mine for a few days now and it's bearing up well. Just wipe with kitchen towel when you're done and it's ready to go again!

And here's some I made earlier!

Journalling Again

Another page which is the other side of the spread from the previous post and carries on the sunflower theme I'm playing with. This journal I'm working in at the minute has 8"x8" pages but I'm thinking of making one with a larger area to mess about on.

In case you're interested here's what I used for this page:

Materials

• vintage book pages and sheet music
• commercial scrapbook papers
• acrylic paints - Liquitex and Golden
• various stencils
• Faber drawing pens
• Hybrid gel pen
• bee stamp with Stazon ink

Journalling

I recently started working in my journal again, trying some new stuff out. My fave find recently has been a white Hybrid gel pen which actually seems to work over other media - I do not have a good track record with white pens but am enjoying this one so far!

Inspiration Friday

I don't know what I'd do without my books. They provide so much inspiration and hours of delight, not to mention all the new things I have learned from them! Whilst going through my studio I've uncovered one or two treasures which had inadvertently got hidden away so I thought this was a good opportunity to share some of my favourite  titles with you and ask you to share some of yours with me.

In the top picture is the very first quilt book I ever bought and if you've never done any quilting but would like to try it this is a really good book to start with. The quilts have enough interest without being too complex and yes, most of them can be made in just a couple of days. Artists' Journals and Paper, Metal & Stitch are both books I would never be without, wildly inspirational and great reference works for all manner of techniques. Colour is a brilliant read which tracks Victoria Finlay's travels in search of the fascinating history and origins of the colours and pigments we know today.

In the second photo you can see two more of my favourite go-to volumes for pure inspiration in design, texture, colour and form and The Artist's Way which I bought quite a few years ago on a friend's recommendation but have never got round to reading. Think I might do so finally!

So, just a few titles from my shelves, but what are your favourite books, the ones you love to look at and go back to again and again? Do tell me, I'd love to know!

*****

Bibliography:

Quick and Easy Projects for the Weekend Quilter by Rosemary Wilkinson

Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks by Lynne Perrella

Paper, Metal & Stitch by Maggie Grey and Jane Wild

Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox by Victoria Finlay

The Artists' Way by Julia Cameron

Kimono: Vanishing Tradition by Cheryl Imperatore

Art Forms From The Ocean by Ernst Haeckel

Kid in a Sweetie Shop

Yes that's how I feel today 'cos I've just had a delivery of some art supplies! These lovely cradled boards are just perfect for some encaustic work and I also got a couple of goat hair brushes for the wax which should be better than the house painting brush I use currently.

Can't wait to get started!

Paying It Forward - Part Deux

You may recall I mentioned Amy's awesome Pay It Forward Art Project a little while ago. Well, the box duly arrived here and I had a lot of fun rifling through its contents, not to mention choosing what I was going to keep!

So the top picture above shows my new goodies which include some beautiful prints and original art from Amy as well as a range of supplies, my favourite of which is the lovely bird fabric by, I think, Alexander Henry. The second picture shows the items I put into the box before sending it off back across the ocean to Andi.

More New Camera Love

Took this late yesterday afternoon with my new Lumix. Needless to say the lighting was poor, a mixture of deep shadows with a few stray shafts of sunlight thrown in and I took the picture without the aid of a tripod. I have burned the background out as it contained the distracting clutter which lives on top of my work table and played around with the colours just a little for effect but otherwise this pic is pretty much straight out of the camera. I really am impressed with how well it handles low light and the lack of camera shake, and all this was on the default auto settings too - often not the best choice with a lot of cameras given the situation.

Anyway, there's a selection of my hand carved stamps along with three little African wood blocks which I picked up a few years ago. Today's been yarn dyeing, and over-dyeing, day and I'm pooped now. Time for another cup of coffee methinks!

Things I Almost Need

My sisters in Studio33 (see below, right) and I often joke about trips to the art or book shop where we will inevitably find, and come home with, a host of supplies which we 'almost need' and therefore just have to buy!

Well I did just that today, although in truth I really did need some of these things. I get large sheets of Murano pastel paper to make my notebook covers because, after lots of experimenting, I discovered that they are the ideal weight, they come in lots of gorgeous colours and they have a really nice texture. They are also a pain to store as I don't have a plan chest or anything similar to keep them flat in. If anyone has any top ideas for storing A2 sheets of paper in pristine condition on the cheap please share, I'd love to hear them!

Anyway, whilst at the art shop I also bought a bunch of card and envelopes to make some more greetings cards for PAD and some foamcore board for.... well see, here's where we get to the almost needed stuff. I got it just because I thought it might come in useful. Ditto the watercolour palette and the acrylic ink and dip pen. And the thing is, as anyone who creates will know, there is inspiration to be got simply from having nice, new materials laid out before you. I can honestly say that I've never come home with art supplies and later regretted buying them. They are always used sooner or later and they're a heck of a lot cheaper than a pair of Jimmy Choos!