LET IT SNOW!

Winter has certainly shown its face here at last, with some icy winds and frosts in our area and snowfalls in other parts of the country.
This month's inspiration photo for Pixels and Paper makes you think of the cold, misty mornings so the criteria is winter and what it means to you.

For this I chose photos from our first snow experience,  a trip to Tasmania's Mt Wellington , Hobart. The tower in the photo, moments before this was taken, had been covered in sheets of ice, which fell off and smashed. Bushes covered with flowers had turned into ice crystals; a real wonderland.
The page was smooshed with white distress ink to represent the feeling of mist and cold. I added strips of Kraft paper as well as glittered paper to give the snowy, crystalline effect that we saw when the sun glinted off the ice. Snowflakes were drawn on.

Pop on over to:pixelsandpaper and check out how the team has used the inspiration photo. Why not come and play. We'd love to see your ideas.
Cheers for now,
Di.

REST!

Hi and welcome! At the moment I'm having heaps of fun experimenting with different mediums to make background papers, some of which I've used to create the layout for this month's ARTastic challenge. The added criteria was to use wood veneer.

The background was part of a paper created in a class held at timetocreate last month. On this we sponged paper soft- colour, through different-sized stencils. This paper soft is a wonderful product which gives fabulous effects. The shapes made were stamped. In the white sections remaining I added some of my tangled patterns with a black sharpie. I also used green, purple, copper and gold sharpies to some sections of the design.
The leaves were made from another piece of background paper I had made last year, using a distress ink smooshed tissue paper glued onto cardstock. This was then stamped with distress and archival inks.
To go with the quirky inspiration art piece, I used a photo of a tawny family from a few years ago. The youngster was definitely AD/HD and stayed awake quite  few hours during the day when it (and parents) should have been sleeping. This was just one of the photos we were able to capture of its antics!

The wood veneer came into play with the speech bubbles, title, butterflies, leaves and owl.
To complete the piece I added some fibres.

Pop on over to artasticchallengeblog to check out what the team has done with this amazing artwork.
Thank you for coming by. Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

ANGEL'S WINGS

Hi and welcome! this month's challenge at pixels and paper is all about monochrome.
My layout has been done in tones of brown including deep creams.

 

 The photo is of some gorgeous stalactite formations in the Hastings Caves, Tasmania. These have been called Angel's Wings and certainly do look like wings. Stamping, stencilling and edging have been done with Distress Inks: Ground Espresso. I've also used diecuts, chippie embellishments (heat embossed) and gauze. One of the papers in the piece is actually a piece from a wallpaper sample.
The inspiration photo makes one think of yummy indulgences.

 

 

Pop on over to: pixelsandpaper and check out what the rest of the team has come up with for this challenge. Remember you don't have to use the colours pictured. You can choose any colour providing the colours used are in the same tone and hue range as each other.

Catch you again soon.

Cheers, Di

GRAB THE BROLLIES!!!

Hi and welcome. As I'm writing this post, the temperature outside has dropped and I know we're in for another chilly night.... just right for snuggling up in a warm doona!
Our inspiration at ARTastic this  month was based on the artwork of Shirley Charlton (aka Shirlroma) called "Umbrellas, wet street". 
I loved this piece, with its wet, reflective appearance, the pops of colour from clothing and umbrellas and the texture on the pavement. 

I had a photo taken on our last holiday in Tasmania, showing the reflective view of yachts and old buildings on the waterfront area of Hobart, and the rain falling on the nearby Mt Wellington. This, was just right for our theme and added criteria this month. Minutes after taking this photo we had to make a dash for cover... no brollies on our holiday!

The background was stencilled onto white card, using a new stencil which I thought went so well with a flagstone look.

 

This was left to dry slightly before spraying with various ink sprays and building up layers of colour using Glimmer Mists and Lindy Stamp Gang Sprays. These gave a beautiful metallic , watery sheen to the whole of the background. Once these were dry I sprayed sections with Dylusions Ink Spays and let them dribble freely down the page... helped by misting with water.

 

 

 

Umbrellas were made from papers which had also been sprayed or inked in some way. This one I stamped with versamark and heat embossed using a white embossing powder. It was then overstamped and coloured with Inca Gold 'Rose Quartz'.

 

 

Two of the brollies were cut from smooshed Distress Inks, using some of this year's colour releases. two were cut from paper sprayed with Dylusions Ink Sprays, and the remaining one on the centre of the grouping was cut from tissue paper which had been painted with Dylusions Acrylic paints (the most yummy colours!)

 

The title was also cut from the same types of paper and then given a coat of Glossy Accents to give them a wet look. This was also applied to the ribs of the umbrellas.
A lot of messy fun, using techniques and mediums I love to play with.
If you want to play with us, pop on over to:artastic and check out what the team has done. We'd love to see your art here.
Cheers, for now.
Di

 

 

DORRIGO: DT Piece for ARTastic

Hi and welcome. I hope your new year has been everything you'd hoped for so far. ARTastic has a fabulous challenge this month, using as their inspiration, some street art by Fintan Magee. Fintan is an Australian street artist known for his murals throughout Queensland and later, in New South Wales.

 

I've taken the bricks from the mural as my inspiration for my layout.
The background has had double layers of stencilling. The first layer was a light coat of gesso was done over a smooshed  and sprayed background. Then I used a brick / stone wall stencil with Modellier Creme (Chocolat)

To this, I also added torn pieces of washi and Tim Holtz paper tapes and various stamps in black archival ink. Under the photo (which is of a mosaic tile mural on the wall of a building in Dorrigo, NSW), I have used torn cardboard from packaging. This was embossed and then smooshed with distress inks. The journalling was done on crumpled glassine paper. A white Sharpie paint pen was used for the writing.

There is still time to join us at  artastic this month, so why not pop on over to the blog and have a look at what the rest of the team has done with the inspiration image. We'd love to see your art.
Cheers for now.
Di

MAISIE VICTORIA DAVISON

This month at ARTastic, the inspiration photo was a beautiful heritage styled painting depicting a fabulous jacaranda tree in full bloom.  To see this painting, pop  on over to the ARTastic blog at:
http://artasticchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/  and also have a peep at what the rest of the team has done for this month's challenge.
Jacaranda trees are out in all of their gorgeous blooms throughout this area and particularly in the not- so- far- away city of Grafton, where they hold a Jacaranda Festival each year in October. Although not native to Australia, they have become an icon in many streets and gardens. Personally I love these planted next to an Australian native, the Illawarra Flame Tree, also in brilliant bloom at this time of the year. This tree has a gorgeous coral/red flower which looks stunning next to the vivid blue/purple of the jacaranda.
 But enough of these musings and onto my layout!

The photo I' ve used is of my mum, taken in 1929 when she was 18.  This particular photo is a reproduction of the original, made about 40 years ago and given to family members at a reunion in 1974. Mum loved roses, blues, mauves and laces, so I have incorporated these into the layout.  She was also a fabulous crocheter and I've also used some snippets of crocheted doilies.

I've chosen to reflect the hues of the jacarandas in the papers I've made the roses from and in the laces I tinted with Distress Inks. (Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac). The same Distress Inks were also smooshed onto the papers.

Some of the papers for the roses and flowers were made from smooshing the colours onto a white cardstock and also giving them a light spray of Glimmer mist. Other papers are from cardstock I've had for ages. The roses and some of the other flowers were diecuts using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die. Others were punched.

To go with the heritage style of the painting I have given my layout a shabby chic/ distressed look with distressed and punched edges and inserts of laces and different papers. These have torn and rolled edges which were also inked with the 2 lilac colours as well as Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
The chipboard flourish has been daubed with distress stains and sprayed with glimmer mist.

I've used a material vine to complete the piece and hidden journalling tags (also edged with lace).

Thank you for popping by and for your comments.
Cheers, for now,
Di

STEAMPUNK TAG

Hi and welcome. This month at ABAC, we've been exploring the very versatile steampunk theme. As it was recently Father's Day here in Australia, I decided to do a male orientated tag.

Firstly I cut a tag from cardstock which was originally an experimentation piece. I then stencilled over it using silver Delicata ink (shown up as white, below).

 
After this was dry, I stamped in versamark and added black embossing powder to some of the edges.

 Cream cardstock was put through an embossing folder and smooshed with Distress Inks (Black Soot, Weathered Wood, Faded Jeans and Barn Door). This was mounted onto metallic black card and attached to the tag base.
The stamped playing card was smooshed with Barn Door. Cogs were die cut (Tim Holtz) from crumpled layers of aluminium foil and attached .

These looked too 'new' so I tipped on splashes of alcohol ink and vintaj patina then scratched off some of the colour in parts. Some black stazon was also added on some of the cogs.
A couple of metal embellishments, also treated the same way, completed the tag.
Thank you for stopping by. There's still time to enter  our steampunk challenge, so why not pop over to: http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/ and check out what the rest of the team has done this STEAMPUNKTEMBER!!!

Cheers for now, Di.

FIVE FACES OF ME?

Hi and welcome. Over at Anything But A Card we have a week long challenge, based on the Number 5... five of anything. Pop on over to: http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/ to check out the challenge and what the rest of the team has done to inspire you.

For this, I've made a tag. The base is  card which has been used initially as an overspray/ inking sheet. To this I added additional smooshings of distress inks and splattered with water.

 

 

This was then sprayed with Dylusions ink  and Glimmer Mist. Gesso was also applied through a stencil. As this was added while the sprays were still damp, some of the green was able to bleed into the gesso.

 

 

The card was cut to the size I needed. Photos of a juvenile tawny frogmouth were cut out. This particular tawny spent a crazy 30 - 40 minutes one morning,  gyrating and bobbling around on the branch while its two parents, appeared to look on in askance at its behaviour. We were able to capture various moments in this episode between fits of laughter. The juvy just carried on unperturbed. The photos chosen show just  five of the poses and facial expressions we captured... there were many more.  Some of the positions it put itself into made it look like a gargoyle, so this became its name. 

Added to the tag was stamping,  torn net fibre and scrim.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving comments. I always like to see what people think and I like to reciprocate by visiting your blogs and leaving comments as well.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

PS. ABAC is currently having a Design Team call. If you are interested in becoming a member of our team, check out the details.

THE HOUSE THAT WE BUILT..... MINI ALBUM

Hi and welcome to my second post today. Normally. this post isn't due to go up until week three of the challenge at ARTastic, but because I actually finished this one in advance (don't ask me HOW!!!) it's able to go up today.
The challenge at ARTastic this month, includes the use of fabric. Check the inspirational art piece, criteria and the great takes on this by the rest of the team at: http://artasticchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/

I've done a house-shaped mini album. The covers have been die cut from canvas and each page features some form of fabric: diecut flowers from old denim jeans or hessian (burlap), ribbon, torn fabric, or diecut fabric leaves. The inside pages have been diecut from laser print card, smooshed firstly with Distress Inks, then stamped with archival inks. On the pages I've also used a diecut chevron trellis and the leftover cut-outs as accents. Blue and / or black coloured bling has been added, as these were two of the colours used on the inspiration piece.

This post has quite a number of photos, showing the inside pages of the album. The photos were taken in October, 1977, the year we built our house, and show the early stages the building. I've added a very poignant photo of  my mum and dad,  favourite uncle and aunt and myself,. This was the last photo taken of my dad- he passed away the following month... cancer, and therefore the last one of this group as well. It had been dad's wish to see our house built, but I believe he knew it wasn't to be, so he asked to see it as it was and we were so happy that he was able to see at least this much.

 

Front cover finished with a door diecut. The windows were covered with glossy accents, as were the diecut paper flowers to give them a porcelain appearance. A bit of extra bling completed the flowers and roof line. The album is held together with binder rings tied with various ribbons and braids.



Canvas with smooshings of ink

Almost completed front cover

Page 1. The beginnings.



Page 2



Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8



Page 9. Our son standing on an extension my husband built

Page 10. A Giant Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise)... the name really suits this plant as it is now much higher than our house!

Page 11. The namesake of this blog.. one of our much loved tawny frogmouths. The tree is a chipboard piece, coloured in 3D Stamping Paint, then layered over the top with Glossy Accents... very sparkly effect!

 

 

Page 12. A shot of some very special hippeastrums, which flower mid-late winter and early spring.

Back cover.



Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have time to drop by the ARTastic site.
See you soon.
Cheers, Di

HEART AND HOME

Hi and welcome. It's a lovely, sunny winter's day here in our little patch, with just enough crispness for some extra layers.
This month at the ARTastic challenge has been distressing!! and my DT piece for this has certainly been distressed.

My piece started off as inside packaging from a box. The corrugated cardboard was already framed and recessed, making the perfect surface to work the distressing on.
The frame was torn to various depths to show underneath layers. Some bits were rolled and others left partially raised to give an old wood/peeling paint effect.

The whole surface was sprayed with Baseboard and Chalkboard mists with additional layers of colours from Distress Stains and Inks. Gesso was used for the stencilled leaves while the undersurface was still damp.. love the effect that this gives!

 

 

 

 

 

  

The photo I used was from an oil painting given to me by my mum. This was by an artist / teacher, Ken Harris. Mum took up painting classes with him when she was 70 and really enjoyed her new hobby until ill health prevented her from continuing when in her 80's.

 

 

This was mounted on a gelli plate print done with acrylic paints. This was still too bright for the effect I wanted, so it was also smooshed with Distress Inks.

 

 

 

Edges were torn, rolled and inked, with pieces of old manuscript music tucked into some of the gaps,

before attaching.

The original background I'd prepared didn't look right, so I used a piece of brown cardstock, dampened it with water and scrunched it up. When dry, it was inked and edges were torn for a more rustic look

 

 

 

 

 

More torn and inked music manuscript was placed around the frame

To this I added acetate leaves coloured with Vintaj and glass effect gels, die cut leaves, heavily scrunched and then shaped, and real gumnuts.
I really enjoyed this challenge and if you are tempted to join in, have a peep at our inspirational guide artwork at   http://artasticchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/  and while you're there have a look at the fabulous creations done by the rest of the team.

Thankyou for stopping by. Catch you soon.
Cheers, Di                                                                                          .