HANG IT ! All for a mini-challenge

Hi everyone!  I'm pleased to be hosting the mini-challenge at Anything but A card this week and am so looking forward to seeing what the end results will be. To enter this challenge, pop on over to:
http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/

I chose the theme "Hang It", firstly so that crafters / artists with many varied interests could perhaps be tempted to join in. I'm visualising anything that can be hung; including from people (jewellery, scarves, hair adornments, ...), walls, ceilings, windows, posts, mailboxes, trees, gates...  (the list could go on and on and on......)  and out of any medium.
As a retired teacher, space was often an issue in the classroom, especially when wanting to display work. One of the easiest and in the end, artistic, ways was to hang it, either on wires stretching across the room or as mobiles.
For the inspiration piece I have made a sun catcher/mobile. This is going to be photo heavy, so please bear with me, but it was the best way to show you what various elements looked like.

Photo taken when hung on the verandah

close-ups  of  sections of sun catcher taken indoors

The materials used were: a piece of stainless steel wire, wrapped around a bottle to create a spiral and acetate from packaging. This was treated using two different methods. Flowers were diecut and coloured with alcohol inks. This was applied directly to the acetate and then daubed.  Some were edged with glass effects gel medium. The remainder of the designs on the sun catcher were stamped on the acetate with Stazon black ink. The reverse was coloured using Tria pens and Peel-off pens. Both of these have a permanent ink base and a lovely brush tip.

die cut flowers photographed on white card

Chocolate Baroque Mackintosh Windows and Macintosh Beauty Sets. Black thread was replaced with fine wire.




To add some more sparkle to catch the sun I threaded lengths of crystal beads onto jewellery wire and added them, together with some 'jewelled' braid. The other item used came from my son's fishing supplies... swivels used for his lines. These allow the various bits and pieces on the sun catcher to move as they catch any breezes. On a sunny day, the glints of light bouncing around the room are really beautiful!
I do hope you feel tempted to join in the challenge so I can visit your blogs and leave a comment.
I know I truly appreciate comments left on my posts.
Catch up with you again soon.
Cheers, Di

 

Splishing and Splashing at Pixels and Paper and some news!!!

Hi and welcome to the New Year.
Already this year is shaping up to be a busy one, with quite a number of exciting and challenging things happening.
Pixels and Paper have a great inspiration image to work with this month... summer fun in the water.

Although it may not be summer where you are at the moment, we hope that you will still join us, by scrapping some of your great photos of your previous summers. Pop on over to:
http://pixelsandpaperchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/ to see what the rest of the team have been up to.

I loved the fun feel of this image, with the children splashing and enjoying themselves, the soft golden light bathing the area and the movement of the water.
My layout reflects some of these elements. The background paper has been stamped with inked bubble wrap and stencilled with sequin waste. Circles to represent bubbles have also been cut from inked bubble wrap.

Added to this is a piece of organza, kind of representing the steps in the image. 'Splashes' have been cut from silver mirror board, acetate and metallic crinkle paper. The silver board and acetate have been alcohol inked. When I applied some to the blue crinkle paper, I discovered that the alcohol ink totally removed its colour!

The other embellishments are discs of card stock patterned with silver metallic gel pen, to have therm look like sea urchin shells or sand dollars. Part of the title was painted with white acrylic and then repainted with glitter paint to add the sparkle.

The photos are of our son taken when he was 2 years old. The splash pool would have been a pressie for Christmas. He was a real water baby at the time and loved nothing else than to play in water.

 

And for my news.... it is a thrill to let you know that I've been asked to join the design team for ARTastic. I'm looking forward to the challenges on both of these teams. Thank you for visiting during the past year and thank you also for all of your encouragement. your comments have been inspiring, as have your blogs.
We would love to see your work at Pixels and Paper so feel free to join us in the fun and the 2014 creative journey.
Cheers until next time,
Di.

 

 

Autumn Tag

Hi and welcome. Tags are becoming one of my favourite forms of mini-art. I've a long way to go, but am enjoying the experimentation process.
This tag is for the current challenge at Anything But A Card: Fall into Fall.  Pop on over to: http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/  to see what the DT has been up to.

I used a Kraft tag for the base and smooshed it with gold metallic alcohol ink, as well as the colours previously used and left on the applicator. I loved the effect this made and it's one I'll use again. I was surprised to see how well a non-glossy surface took alcohol ink. the edges were swiped with Inca gold.

For the next layer I added a smaller tag made from a  metallic gold vellum. The edges of this were swiped with 3D Stamping paint. The next tag was made from acetate packaging, alcohol inked and then put through an embossing folder. On the front I rubbed on some Inca gold and 3d stamping paint. The leaves were die cut using the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die. These were also cut from acetate packaging and glossy cardboard packaging. The surfaces were treated the same way as the base with the addition of metallic gold alcohol ink.

 

 

Some images from Graphic 45 "Place in Time" collection and a snippet of an autumn poem from  an old poetry book (smooshed with Distress Ink) completed the tag. It was finished with a bow made from seam binding, spritzed and sprayed with Dylusions Inks, Glimmer mists and water.
 
 
                                     
Thank you for visiting and for your lovely comments.
 Cheers, Di.

BIRTHDAY MEMORIES

Hi and welcome. Today I'm sharing my take on the October Challenge for Pixels and Paper where the inspiration was candles. Maybe you think of celebrations, light and shadows, colours seen in the photo, or the number 11 (there being 11 candles).

This is a great photo to take inspiration from. Pop over to Pixels and Paper at: http://pixelsandpaperchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/  to see what the design team has been up to.
I've chosen to go with the birthday theme, but have also used some of the colours that can be seen in the inspiration photo.
The photos I've used are of my son's 4th birthday afternoon tea party, with his Nan and Pop. he had 2 cakes, one made by Nan (chocolate and cherries) and one made by me (taken straight from the Australian Woman's Weekly Birthday Cake Book), decorated in the form of a clock face. So, 2 lots of candles to blow out and 2 cakes to cut! Cherries were a particular favourite of my son's at this time, and many escaped to his plate before the cake was cut!

I didn't do too  much with the background cardstock; just some stamped balloons and sentiments,  as it was great the way it came. Since it was a birthday I just ran a couple of lengths of washi tape down and across the page, to make it look like a ribbon around a present.
The photos were double mounted, and glitter quilling paper was used to wrap the mounting cardstock sheets, as well as forming the Number 4 on the candle. The candle was cut from one of my stencilling experiments, involving acrylics and distress inks. The flame  was cut from acetate packaging, and alcohol inked. Outsides of the various elements were swiped with 3D Stamping Ink for a bit of extra glitter.
Thank you for visiting and I would love to see your work at this month's challenge.
Cheers, Di