Clare's technique messed with by me..............

Well I loved Clare's workshop so much I couldnt leave the idea alone that I had/needed to paint another lady.............. I went through my stash of photos and images and finally found something to paint - "The Face" then I dragged out a canvas thats been stood against my wall for a couple of years and set to using the Multi Purpose Sealer from DecoArt................slathered it on then found an old book and pulled out the pages wincing at every page ........... I was brought up to not vandalise books etc so this was completely against the grain but had to be done.......... these were supposed to be soaked in water with some coffee round the edges to age them but they were so flimsey and aged anyway I missed this step out........... what a mistake the central page is the only one that didnt wrinkle and thats cause I kept reapplying the paint brush over and over to flatten it out with my hand underneath the canvas for leverage!!  Next time I will soak the pages (Oh yes there will be a next time I love this technique and look) and do what Clare said!!  I lay the pages onto the wet MPS and applied more and more MPS............ the canvas was awash with it by the time Id finished but at least I knew the pages wouldnt peel off.........they wouldnt dare!! tee hee

I then got a sheet of clear plastic and laid over "The Face" and carefully traced with a permanent black marker pen.  When the canvas was dry I traced using graphite paper and then outlined and started to enjoy my painting relaxing into the flow and watching the paint make magic.  When it came to the hair I wanted full lions main type hairstyle with curls, waves and spikes.  This was great fun and I had to restrain myself cause I could have filled the whole canvas and swamped The Face which would have been silly.  I checked with Clare and she gave me some pointers (I needed them!!) and then felt I could step back............... Silly me asked hubby what he thought and all I got was silence.........

There you go then....................

BADFA Convention - Clare Holmes technique

I went to the 20th Anniversary BADFA Convention at Crick, Rugby, Northants (31st May/1June 2014) and what a brilliant time I had, I made so many friends I was a little emotional coming away on my own in my perfect little car!  I took 3 workshops:  2 Saturday and one Sunday.  Saturday I started off from my house at 6am and arrived at 7.10am which was brilliant as the M1 is a nightmare at the best of times, I found the Ibis Hotel and parked up going into the lobby and waiting for the ladies to all start coming down for breakfast. My delight at seeing Gill Hobbs from Bude, Cornwall and enjoying a huge hug from her.  She was my first workshop of the day and we painted a little traditional piece which was fun to do then we had coffees and did some chatting and the like!!  Next was Clare Holmes workshop which was something completely different in the it fell into the category of Altered Art having first pasted book pages onto board for us to then trace and paint the little girl with a flower.  I adored this technique........... We all enjoyed her workshop immenseley and then went to settle down for the evening meal.  It was on 2 tables and we all had plenty of conversation and a fabulous meal together.  Then we went for the evening "Make & Take" which was Dian Harris putting out some crafting goodies, stamps etc and letting us run free with it.  She had kindly made a bag with the contents to make a concertina book and was brave enough to let us loose on her stencils, stamps etc.  Everybody made something different and unique and we all enjoyed ourselves so much.  The next day I did the Andy Skinner workshop which was an altered art journal.  This was very different from what we usually do and brought out the best in us all!!

Sorry about the lopsided images doesn't matter what I do I cant get my photos to stay up the right way around..........

Key Cupboards for Joyce

I painted the first cabinet using Peggy Harriss' bee and butterfly designs from her book and the queen anne's lace and took the seperate elements and composed it all together.  She was so happy she asked me to paint another one for her daughter with a fairy sitting on a toadstool so I looked through my Ritva Rasmusson painting books and spied this cute little fairy sitting in some flowers so made her sit on a large mushroom and painted the ones as if she was surrounded in a fairy ring of mushrooms.  This was  a fun project and I used some mica paints to give a pearlescence to her clothes and wings.

Mum's 90th Birthday Cake - took me 2 weeks to make all these sugar flowers!!!! Was so worried as I was baking it hoping it would be perfect!!

Window Box card

This was sweet I copied this from another blogger as I wanted to try it out......... I think it was a Stampin Up designer as the punch I used for the flowers was one of theirs.  It was so sweet but the instructions were a big vague so I winged this one and used a stamp by Claritystamps for the leaf spray and a Martha Stewart edging punch for the butterflies (I kept the scraps but didnt used the edger on the card).  The next time I make this one I want to find my wood stamp to give the flower box some more realism.  The second attempt on this card I used the brick template to look like a wall at the back of the flower box which was fun.

Patchwork Stamps from Chocolate Baroque

The first attempt at this card was through looking at a member of the design teams from Chocolate Baroques and copy it with just the scant instructions that it was made with 2 6 x 6" card blands and that they were interweaved at the front.  Well I had a go as I love this set of stamps and the look of the distance between the layers.  I didnt have the die for cutting the fence at the front though so of course improvised and I used a Martha Stewart punch.  When Id completed it I was really satisfied but then remembered that Id bought a stencil that was brickwork so decided the the fence should change into a brick wall with trellis on the top.  This was fun to make but very labour intensive and I was frustrated as the greens were too dark and if they were lighter they seemed to turn blue.  I used a selection of Promarkers, Sharpies and Prismacolor pens the latter 2 being obtained fron the USA!!  God bless America cause the UK is rubbish at variety of markers apart from the really really expensive ones...........

Peggy Harris' Workshop 19, 20 & 21 Oct 2013

Well we all started out all eager eyed and bussy tailed (a bit like that squirrel!!) it was the first time Id painted in oils apart from a disasterous attempt at school some few years ago!!  I struggled and struggled and as we were working under electric lights this poor little fella looked green to me......... in daylight he looks yellow so best to keep him in the dark till I get used to him.  The oils were kept in an airtight container to use later on in an attempt to finish him off.........or me!!  the latter being the case as they set hard and were useless so Im stuck with him now.  The only colour that would work was the yellow which I liberally daubed onto the leaves to give him an autumnal feel........

Day 2 and I was feeling optimistic that maybe the bunny would be a little easier to cope with........Hmmm all those well laid plans eh!  I was nearing the end and went to put the dark blue shadow on the back of him to show off the moonlight..........of course too quickly I realised that the fur hadnt dried out and was wiped clean away with the float of watery dark blue which was slapped over his back and hindquarters........  I do try honest I do!!  I blotted it off and reapplied the fur cause I didnt want a bald bunny and left it be till today (Fri 25th Oct)  when I was certain that the paint had dried!!  You cant float over wet paint........... he also got his fireflies tinted yellow and a few stars scattered in the sky.

Day 3 was supposed to be the easier of the 3 projects.......... Oh I got on great with the dragon flies, birds nest, eggs, feather and snail but the butterflies ........... couldnt believe what a mess I made of them.  Anyway I worked on them again today and they do look a bit better or rather more lifelike..........

It was so lovely meeting up with the ladies from all over UK looking forward to seeing them come next April when we'll be painting with Maureen McNaughton!!