Plant Pot Makeover!

 

 

I have been meaning to give the tatty green plastic plant holder in my bathroom a make-over for ages, and as I took it down to dust it today - I decided today was the day!

 

The pot was painted with Pebeo modelling paste mixed with Bindex and Hot Cinnamon and Snapdragon Luminarte Primary Elements in a random fashion.

 

When dry I stamped on the water lily and the koi (Sheena Douglass a little bit oriental stamps) with white Stazon to give me an outline to work on.  I then used titanium white acrylic on the images, and when dry over-stamped again with black stazon.  I then painted the images with various Primary Elements mixed with the glaze medium that comes with them.  Being translucent, the black stazon outlines still showed through.  I was quite pleased with the koi, as I finished them off with primary elements on a "stencil" brush, and it really made the fish come to life!  Of course I then had to use the same technique for the shading on the lily!

 

Finally I applied a coat of Crafters Companion Spray and Shine.

 

It looks fab in situ, and now can't wait for the pink flowers to bloom on the cactus!

 

close up

Oriental Card

 

 

Today I decided to play with my new Sheena Douglass "A Little Bit Oriental" stamps, and I must add here that I do not profess to be a "stamper, and am not that good with composition.

 

The background was created using my distress markers, big and juicy "mountain meadow" ink pad, and my ink duster.  I put the bottom of the card through Sheena's Water Ripple embossing folder.

 

I then stamped the bridge and the trees.  The bridge was initially painted with water colours and the trees sponged with distress inks.

 

I then stamped the water lily pads and the water lilies with stazon onto the acetate (a first for me), and coloured them with primary elements and then back painted with white titanium acrylic.  I then decided to use some of the primary elements on the bridge, and also sponge the trees with the same medium.

 

It is by not brilliant by any means, but for a first effort I am quite pleased with it!

 

If I don't get time to make him one, this may be my husband's anniversary card next week!

 

 

Beaded Bracelets

My friendship bracelet

 

Mr daughter and granddaughter were lucky enough to have their emails drawn out of the hat for a bracelet made by Kleshna.  So having seen the one that my granddaughter received, I decided I wanted to figure out how it was done.  

 

I was a bit limited by what beads and thin cord I had in my stash, but pleased with the result.  It is vry dainty and much less chunky than a normal shamballa bracelet.  I want to try and do some variations on the design now.

Below is the inspiration:

Granddaughter's bracelet made by Kleshna.

When my granddaughter visited she wanted to make a bracelet similar to the purple and white one I made a couple of weeks ago with the snowflake bubble spacer beads.  She had free reign to do what she wanted - so she did a different combination of beads to the one I made - this one uses alternating 2 pink and two silver beads.  Gorgeous isn't it.

 

I love the effect, and shall now play with different combinations of colours/beads.

 

 

 

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Another Slate Heart

I took advantage of the sunny weather yesterday and ventured to the Den for a play, and to top up on some free Vitamin D!

I still had a couple of slate hearts in my stash, so decided to play with one of those, with no particular  plan in mind.   I used Sheena's A Little Bit Sketch - Flower Power set of stamps. 

I realised I didn't have an ink pad up in the Den, so undeterred I tried a quick experiment.  I put a drop of white titanium on my craft sheet, and with a little water spread it out thinly and then put stamp in it and stamped on the slate with it! - success!  (I was good and wiped the stamp clean immediately!).

I initially painted the flowers with primary elements and the medium that comes with them, but of course being on the black background they didn't show up that well, so they were over-painted, having mixed the primary elements with white acrylic.   I then added the freehand painted leaves and little daisies.    I then added some little sprays of white dots using a cocktail stick, but didn't like the effect, so continued by adding dots all over the heart.  With the white paint and a cocktail stick I added the details to the flowers and leaves.  I found this easier than trying to get a fine line with a paintbrush.  Finally a spray of CC Spray and Shine.

Felted Picture - Part 2

Well here it is - the start of the needle felting.    I am glad I took a picture as it is easier to appreciate what needs doing "at a distance".  I am not happy with the background trees - so will rework those.  (That's the advantage of needle felting - if you don't like what you have done - you just pull it out and start again.  So I could be working on this picture until I am 90!  lol!)

Felted Picture - Part 1

I decided the easiest way to communicate what I am trying to do was to create this little page in CAP. 

 

On Monday we went to our local Craft Community and learned how to make a felted picture.  We had to take a picture with us as inspiration.  Last night we made the background with the wet felting technique, and we have to finish it at home, using needle felting, once the background is dry.  So it will be a case of watch this space - work in progress!

Beaded Baubles

 

Last year I treated myself to a couple of beading kits at the Sandown Bead Show, but never got to do anything with them and finally decided to remedy that when the weather changed recently and it was too wet outside,  bit of a nightmare, and many things went wrong, including almost getting to the end of the beading the second time, and then dropping glass bauble on the floor!

 

I climbed into the loft to see if I could find a suitable replacement, but nothing of anywhere near the right size.  I decided to "play safe" and used this non-glass bauble - of course the top of the bauble was a much larger size - so it was start again time!  ... and I also had to adapt the pattern to fit this slightly larger bauble.   It is nowhere near perfect, but as my old dad would say "a blind man would be pleased to see it"!

 

Undaunted - I turned to the second kit, and discovered from my book that I bought alongside the kits that this was an easier level!    I really enjoyed making this - incredibly simple to do and no fiddling trying to get beads to meet under the bauble.  I love it and it is so pretty!  (added to which I didn't break the bauble - lol!).

 

I am now browsing the book to see that else I can make, until such time as a) glass Christmas baubles are in the shops) or b) I go to the next Bead Show and buy some more kits!  

 

I am currently under strict orders from doc to do nothing strenuous, following a little scare at the weekend, so am looking for projects to keep me "out of mischief" for a while.  So it looks like I shall have to abandon housework/gardening/cooking for a while and just sit quietly and craft!

Hibiscus Revamp

 

Inspired by watching Sheena Douglass this morning, I decided to re-vamp one of my cloud clay pictures this afternoon.

 

As you can see from the next picture the original "play" was created using the hibiscus stamp, which was painted with acrylic paints.   I wanted to "bling it up a bit" and initially used some gilding wax.  I still wasn't really happy with it - and it was in the Den awaiting some inspiration,

 

Well today was the day I decided to repaint it using the Luminarte Primary Elements.  I wasn't sure if they would work over the gilding wax - but Yes, they worked.   It really has brought the picture to life.

 

 

 

 

Below is another photo taken with the flash, which has caught the "bling" of the mica a bit better.  It still doesn't reflect the effect that you get in the flesh so to speak.

 

 

 

Purple and White

 

I had an email last week from Beads Direct about some new "snowflake" spacer beads in various colours.  Oh WOW! I just had to buy them.

I had a little play with the white and purple.  I alternated the beads, and it almost looks like a kumihino bracelet.  I added a couple of pearls and a purple hematite, and the whole thing is just threaded on elastic.  Simples!  Good cheat if you can't manage beaded kumihino bracelets!

 

 Below is a photo of all the scrummy colours!  I have a stash of silver snowflake spacers, so the next experiment will be to use the colours mixed in with them.



White, Pink, Gold, Purple, Rose Gold, and Green

Ice Cream

 

I am a member of a Facebook page for Craft Artist Users, and this month's "homework" was blending.  This was my first effort, and I thought I would share it on my blog.

 

In the picture below you can see the three photos I used to create the memory page.  The middle photo on left was made more transparent.  I also cut out the image of me prior to making the background, and made me lose some of my windswept hair!  I the cut out the waddling swan, and added that to the background.  Finally I gave the ice cream photo a oil painting look and added a blending frame.   Finishing touches was a bubbly frame, and some words.    

 





showing the elements that made the memory page

 

 

Finally I should add that I really need to redo the page, as I was convinced the photos were taken last year, but searching for the original photos again to create the layout in the second photo for the blog, I in fact discovered it was taken in October 2011!  (Oops).  So it was an Indian Summer Day and not a Summer's Day!  I think actually it was our Wedding Anniversary on reflection!