VESPERS

Archi-scraps has started the New Year off with a challenge using the architecture of the Cloud House in Melbourne for its inspiration. If you haven't checked out this site before, why not pop on over to:
archiscraps and have a look at what their team has done with the inspiration.

My take on this is centred on photos featuring clouds.

This has been put together fairly simply with just the addition of brown paper, smooshed and sprayed with inks and dyes, scrumpled while wet,then randomly torn and pleated once dry and some sparkling bling. The photos were taken at sunset along the Huon River while on a trip in Tasmania. The title from chipboard has been painted with liquid pearls.
Thanks for dropping by. Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

ART JOURNAL FOR 2015

Hi again. This month at Anything But A Card, we are looking at new beginnings. This can be interpreted in many ways and I have chosen to start a new art journal for the year, in the hope that I can be more organised with my experimentation and discoveries.

I started with a plain A$  2-ringed folder / binder. I covered this with an application of gesso then sprayed and spritzed with various sprays and inks through a stencil as well as freely.

When dry I decided to use a new stencil (large flower)  using Viva modellier creme to create the flowers. These were then either outlined with glass effect gel (black) or dotted with viva decor pens in copper or sparkle.

Black stamping was also used....another new stamp from Visible Image.
Added also, were quotes stamped onto tissue paper and then applied to the folder.

Pop on over to anythingbutacard and check out what the rest of the team has come up with for this month's inspiration.
Cheers, 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

NERIDA WELCOMES IN THE NEW YEAR

Hi and Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2015 brings you much joy, good health, love, peace and the chance to indulge in your favourite pastimes.
The full impact of summer has hit us in the southern regions of our planet and in light of this, Pixels and Paper Challenges have for your inspiration a theme that will sure to have you searching for the summer fun moments.

My take on this can only be described as different, as it brought out the inner child and my love of fantasy.

Let me introduce you to Nerida in her wondrous under-the-sea grotto. With her you'll also see some of her close friends.

 

I've used a large canvas board on which to create this artwork. The surface was coated with gesso before spraying with various inks including; Lindy Stamp Gang, Perfect Pearls Mists and Dylusions Sprays. I use combinations of blues, aquas, greens, yellows, and silver before a final quick burst with Perfect Pearls "Perfect Pearls".

 

 

Once dried, the background was stencilled with Viva Decors Modelling Cream, again using sea-toned colours. The Mother of Pearl was the perfect one to use for the bubbles,

Nerida, a mermaid from a Chocolate Baroque set, was stamped, photographed and then copied onto A4 laser print paper, to give me the size I required. She was coloured using a water brush and the same set of modelling cream colours. I also used these for colouring the other stamped pieces (small seahorse and seaweed).
The dolphin is a photo of part of a large door feature I did while teaching. Again, the photo of this piece was printed onto laser paper and the dolphin cut out.
Chipboard sea shapes were inked with chalk edgers before decorating with Viva Decor Pens.
Strings of beads were added to make some interesting underwater plants.

Larger beads were added to the top of the grotto. These were placed to look as though they were swaying in gentle ocean currents.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Nerida and her friends.
I really had fun doing this canvas and I am loving the effects that can be done with a combination of sprays, modelling creams and stencils.
Pop on over to:pixelsandpaperchallengeblog to see what the rest of the team have done with our inspiration photo.

 

 



 

Thank you for stopping by. Cheers, for now. Di

COMFY

Hi. Just a quick blog. This month Archiscraps Challenges has featured an amazing bridge, shaped like a dragon Their criteria was to use an animal either In the photo or as an embellishment.
With this in mind, I've  used  3 photos from probably the quietest tawny youngling  we've  had in the garden.

This little one was quite content to snuggle up between tree branches and just watch inquisitively from time to time. I've distressed the edges of the paper by tearing, inking and popping in some scraps of paper under some of the rolled sections. The only other embellishments are a chipboard tree, heat embossed in a soft grey/green, and some bronze-coloured metallic leaves.
There's still a little time remaining to enter the challenge, so pop on over to have a look at their amazing bridge ans the layouts completed by the DT members. You'll find them at: archiscraps.blogspot

Cheers for now,
Di

CARNIVALE MASQUE

Hi and welcome.  It's such a busy time of the year so  thank you for dropping by. Anything  But A Card, this month, has been delving into the theme "Celestial", which has meant quite varying things to members of the team.
After a play day at  timetocreate  exploring different ways to change background papers, one paper in particular screamed.. Celestial!!!!  The whole piece, once finished, reminded me of some distant planetary system with moons, satellites, planets. I originally was going to do a mobile featuring such planetary objects, but after a very vivid dream, and one which oddly for me stayed in my mind the day after, I came up with the idea of a festival mask.

Completed mask with photo edited on a night setting to show the glitter.

The background was a glossy black A4 card.  This had been daubed with metallic acrylic paints in copper and bronze.  radiating from these were lines of Viva metallic pens. In between we stamped with silver  and added imprints from the end of our daubers with gold 3D Stamping Paint.

Close-up of mask how it looked at first

To the mask shape cut from this background I added some gold glittered stars, (these have come up silver on this photo), stars cut from gold and copper-coloured mirror board (finished with Kindyglitz bling) and tinsel pipe cleaners bent into star shapes . I added additional silver finishes around the outside of the frame and eye slits ( dabbed on silver ink).

Mask shown in natural light

 I thought that this would be the finish but after further contemplation decided to add another element.. a "Man in the Moon cut from pearlised white card and edged with Kindyglitz. Unfortunately the eye details and edging have not shown up on these photos. The mask is held by hand. This leg has been made from a thin piece of dowel, with tinsel pipe cleaners twisted around it.

mask with the addition of a moon.







Thank you for stopping by. There's still time to get your celestial muses working. We'd love to see your art at anythingbutacard so  why not drop on over and have a look at the amazing pieces done by the rest of the team.

Cheers for now.
Di



 

DISENCHANTED

ARTastic this month has a great challenge which can be Christmas -themed if you wish and has also added a colour palette.

I've chosen to use a photo of my son's first Santa encounter at 15 months of age.... he was so NOT impressed, as can be seen by his facial expression. Normally he would have been smiling as at this age he loved having his photo taken ( how THAT has changed!).

The background was originally done as an explore piece at timetocreate  and involved colouring- up  this diamond checker-board patern with Pan Pastels... the first time we had used them. To the layout we also added a decoration (made in the same class) and an embossed frame with added highlights of Inca Gold. The background has been sitting around for about a year now in my UfP (unfinished projects) pile. The title I originally went with didn't work out, so I cut out sections where it had been, as well as additional segments,  and placed  the lot onto a smooshed red background.  Green,blues and yellow, as suggested by the colour palette, were also added to the embellishments and parts of the diamond paper. This was done by inking with chalk edgers.

The gold stars are tags, which I've also smooshed and decorated with Perlene Pens.

Pop on over to artastic and have a look at what the rest of the team has done. You'll find amazing ideas to inspire you. I hope you can join us this month.

Cheers for now,
Di