Time for Tea with Jenny

Life is like a cup of tea... to be filled to the brim and enjoyed with friends.

Time for Tea conjures up all kinds of ideas... but eventually I nailed one down and started making Sharon a pot of daisy tea. The Tim Holtz Paper Dolls dropped by to help :)

I've made it with quite a few layers, not always happy with each one but it eventually turned out ok. Bright, colourful, full of sweet elements.

First thing I did was take the pages out of the ring binder and glue down some pretty doilies with a gel matte medium.

I then dragged the pages through puddles of Distress Oxide Ink (Squeezed Lemonade and Iced Spruce) on a craft mat but it seemed to stick to the paper rather than spread out. Nice colours but not quite the marbled background I envisioned.
Moving on, I sprayed both Distress Ink Stain (Twisted Citron, a gorgeous lime green) and Distress Oxide Sprays (Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio) to the pages and it seemed to liven it up! I finished off the background with Distress Oxide Spray in Fossilized Amber (earthy yellow).

Once the inky background was dry, I gathered a couple of my fave Tim Holtz stencils (ZigZag and Blossom) and added their patterns using Dylusions acrylic paint (Mushy Peas and Calypso Teal) and an ink blending tool (foam applicator).

The next layer was made with the Finnabair Paper Texture Paste (it dries like homemade paper) and Tim Holtz stencil (Lace), spread with a plastic spatula.

An overview of the page so far...

While deciding what to do next, I stamped out a Darkroom Door teapot (set called Time for Tea), cups, spoon and teabags with black Ranger Archival Ink on white mixed media paper. I was toying with the idea of a colourful teaset... but I think the simple black and white is best.

Now the plaster was dry, I added Ranger's Gloss Transparent Texture Paste through the Tim Holtz stencil, Flourish, letting each section dry before adding more beautiful swirls.

This photo (above) is of the texture paste drying, with spots of Nuvo Drops scattered around.

The teapot was made 3D with the help of an Action Wobble... being adhesive backed help hold the Tim Holtz Idea-Ology paper flowers and little teabag strings in place too.

I coloured the flower centres in yellow ink and drew daisies onto the teabags. I was going to use real teatags but they were too big.

The rest of the elements are butterflies, daisies and roses from a pack of Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Botanical Layers, washi tape (more butterflies!), and a pair of Tim's Idea-Ology Paper Dolls.
The silver spoon is stamped using silver watercolour paint, then coloured some more with the same paint to darken the silver paint.

The final touches are a sticky note stamped with the quote, more butterflies, dribble of honey, glitter (sugar) on the spoon and another paper lace doily along the bottom.

Its turned out to be a pretty floral Spring-like page in the end. Thanks for reading :) Hope it makes you smile!

Happy Creative Day!

:)

Jenny

Maasai Costume / fasion

World fasion, hmm I am about as up with fasion as I am american football, and that is zilch.  However traditional costumes interest me and I was flicking through a magazine with striking Maasai women and they have distinctive costumes, layered free flowing fabrics, fine beadwork and very little hair.

Once I sketched it and added some watercolours I looked them up and found some sisters who are sadly oppressed and need help.  If you would like to support the Maasai girls education fund please do. 

Its not a very bright and cheerful page but the world is not always a very bright and cheerful place.

Arts Decoratifs

Rozzie's lovely repurposed book journal has been gracing my desk for too long, my appologies fellow artists.

I have been in a bit of a slump and really just working lots and not doing much else. The above pages are mums spread. I used her materials and hope she likes it.

These pages are my spread and I carried the gold stencilling across to join us together.

Its a new year and I need to try and get on top of things.

Janie's Nature Journal

Another lovely topic close to my heart. 

I'm an avid gardener and love to spend as much time as possible in my garden. 

I'm also a member of a sustainable living group, whose  aim is to encourage everyone to plant a tree in their garden, no matter how small. Even if you only have room for a small citrus in a pot. 

I have a large lemon scented gum in my back garden which I love. Infact I love all trees. So with that in mind, I started Janie's pages by laying down a base of recycled papers. 

I cut out a cardboard mask of trees and scumbled the whole area with a mixture of blue acrylics. 

Once the mask was removed, it looked rather funny but once I added a bit of shading to create some definition it started to take shape. 

I then added a few branches and a suggestion of leaves.

I lighten the sky alittle and added a few dots because I like dots.

Lastly l added a message dear to my heart. 

Plant more trees. 

A Bucketful of Art for Meg

My Bucket List is art, art and more Art!

A bucket list isn't something I've ever really thought about until now. It turns out that dreams are just like a bucket list and I've had plenty of those... as you do! They've changed over the years but there seemed to be a reoccurring theme...! lol

At 4 or 6 I was going to be a prima ballerina! At 9 I wanted to be an artist, writing and illustrating books. At 16 I decided I wanted to work as a designer in any full colour magazine (and wrote to lots, ending up with an apprenticeship as a compositor (typographer, graphic designer) at the local newspaper then eventually (many years later), as a designer for an embroidery magazine). At 20, I wanted to travel around the world and climb huge mountains, go on a cruise ship, read more books and colour, stitch, paint and draw. Thanks to a fab paying job, I saved up and at 23, I did all but the cruise ship, unless ferries count! lol :)

Fast forward past the dark years to a "few" years ago... 2006 ... started working towards a new dream of working for Pixar or Aardman Animation as a digital artist, illustrator, clay modelling sculptor and animator. As much as I loved what I was learning, I'm not quite good enough and don't live in the UK or USA (and wasn't moving).

So now I have a new bucket list... one that I'm now working on creating. Business mentors call it a goal, people in the real world call it self employed... I call it living the dream!

Have an art gallery and studio, guesthouse B&B for art retreats, online and real world classroom, and little shop. Creating, sharing, teaching, inspiring, healing and helping. By the seaside, anywhere in Australia. I'm getting there, one tiny ant sized step at a time! So, a life of art, art and more art :) Why not!

So that's what I've created for Meg - thoughts about art. Its more like a sampler the way it got created but art doesn't have rules or must have any particular look.

I shared a pic on Instagram the other day but blogging has been delayed due to work and life interrupting. Time is so precious as it goes super fast - and I'm not the best at managing how I use it. Its on my to do list, or rather, my Bucket List, to manage time better.

I've taken a gazzilion photos so will do an easier to follow tutorial soon on my blog but here's the long story short...

Smoosh and blend green and blue paint over the background using my fave little tools, the Mini Ink Blending Tool from Ranger - fyi, the foam discs are washable if you wash them at the end of the day, before the paint is dry!
The large Darkroom Door "Crackle" stencil was used to add a bit of yellow, and the Tim Holtz "Grime" (my new favourite) and "Splatters" stencils were used with blue paint. And some green and yellow...

I've blended paint through all the stencils using the same foam tools, one for white, the other for everything else.
The wording stencil is from Darkroom Door called "Creativity". Its perfect for this as its all about art :) Blended over the whole page using white paint. Then I added Maisie, a Dylusions stencil and mask set (this one's the middle child), also using white. Then more white to create definition in her hair, skirt and boots.

Above : Art is the window to the soul ... I saw this as I lifted off the Maisie Stencil after painting her basic shape - so of course it had to be photographed :) The border or rather, window, is the stencil of her head. Seemed perfect at the time! lol :)

Making pencils... in the past I've used skewers and tooth picks to make pencils and paint brushes, coloured with paint and for the brushes, squishing the ends to make into faux bristles.
This time I've used skinny flat sticks (spatulas or thin iceblock sticks) and cut to shape using scissors.
I coloured each with the Distress Crayons, then blended the colour into the wood using my finger.
I wanted shiny 3D pencils, so gave each a coating of Ranger's Glossy Accents then left them to dry somewhere flat and level.
Of course I forgot they were on my book when I put something down on top of them! whoops. Didn't matter, they still dried shiny :)
I've glued the pencils and paint brush (its only about 15 years old) using gel medium and held them in place with pots of paint.
Had to leave that for a while cos each time I tried to do something else, I moved the brush.

I much prefer using embossing powders for abstract art and creating raised layers. Its certainly much easier than how they're used in cardmaking and scrapbooking. Plus, if you get spatters, it doesn't matter!

How I coloured the lettering :
1 ... apply some embossing ink, glue, paint or gel medium to your die cut shape (I smoothed out the squiggles but for something different, they could be used as they landed).
2 ... fold a sheet of dry paper in half and unfold, pour on some embossing powder.
3 ... dip your sticky shape into the powder. I jostled it around a tiny bit and lifted and patted it into the powder, making sure a really thick amount was stuck. If you find its too thin a layer, repeat the process. Fold the paper and pour the excess powder back into the jar.
4 ... using your heat tool (also called a hot air gun - not a hair dryer, its too blowy and not hot enough), gently hover over the powdered piece until the colours melt and blend. Careful not to get too close or stay in one spot too long - but then, charcoal is a nice colour too!
You will need to use something to hold the piece as you're heating it, so you don't burn your fingers!
If using glue or gel medium, the powder seems to melt better if left to set but not absolutely necessary.

Above... Maisie's boots were created in the same way as the alphabet. I painted on an abundance of gel medium and poured on some powder. Pink for the boots, yellow for the trim, then lifted the page to let the excess powder fall back onto the folded sheet of paper.
Rather than wait for it to dry, I heated and melted the embossing powder straight away. It only bubbled a little bit, hardly noticeable.

To cover up my embossing splatters, I painted in the ground using green and white acrylic paint.
While the paint was drying I added some stickers, words and a butterfly.

Accept who you are and revel in it.

Wise words stamped onto plain paper using Tim Holtz rubber stamps. The words "to do" is a sticker from Dylusions Dyary collection (hoping it makes it look more like a proper bucket list) and the "Create Art" banner is an Idea-Ology embellishment from Tim. This is a better photo of Maisie's boots :)
The flowers are hand painted after using foam daisy stamps for the initial placement. Sometimes its easier to just let the stamps go where they want and then alter and add to them. All the spots and dots and splatters are from the ends of my brushes and tools being dipped into paint.

So much for long story short...

Have a happy creative weekend!
:)
Jenny

Diving Deep in Melissa's Magnificent journal

Melissa's Under the Sea journal is a truly beautiful creation.
 Her pages and construction are such a privilege to have around.

I took liberties and created 2 pages
 just because there are so many pages just waiting for play.

Gaia and the Earth for Louise

For Louise's theme, Gaia, I've created a highly textured mixed media artwork with a "few" left over yarns, wools, ribbons, strings! The ribbons and yarns were used to create the hair of Mother Nature while texture paste was used to create the Earth. Most layers seemed to take forever to dry... normally my forever is 10 minutes, but some (the hair) took a couple of days! Well worth the wait :) She's turned out much better than anticipated (phew!).

Starting out, I scribbled ideas and thoughts into my notebook and once I knew where I wanted to go, I sketched the idea onto a large sheet of Strathmore Watercolour Paper.

Above photo shows the sketched image with a few wooden embellishments. Normally I'd use a watercolour pencil to draw the outlines but as I needed face and hands to still be visible after the next few steps, I've used a 2B graphite pencil.
I worked on a loose sheet of paper as I didn't have the book yet :)

To create dimension on the Earth, use a spatula to spread the Tim Holt Distress Grit Paste (its a totally groovy sandy feeling, thick texture paste) for the land. This paste doesn't shrink so what you place down is what you get, whether raised for hills and mountains or smooth flat for the plains.

Left to dry... only for a short time while I gathered my ribbons.

Wools and ribbons are the best inspiration for hair!

I used Ranger's Tim Holtz Multi Matte Medium to adhere all the strands in place, crossing my fingers that it would even stick the plastic shiny ribbon... which it did!

In the photo above, you can see how I've twisted and woven the ribbons, string and yarn to give an illusion of wavy hair. I used the gel medium to glue down the wooden pieces as well.
Left to dry for a few days...!

I love texture... all the hair was covered completely with white gesso.

The above photo shows an overview of Mother Earth keeping an eye on the planet and her hair as it all dries. Took another day or 2... lucky I like to watch paint dry :) lol

Back to the Earth, added 4 or 5 drops of Finnabair's Liquid Acrylic Paint in Ultramarine (blue) to the whole area. Sprayed the blue paint with 2 or 3 splashes of water and encouraged it to spread using a flat wide paint brush.

While the blue paint was still wet, I added 7 drops of Finnabair's Liquid Acrylic Paint in Pure Yellow onto the raised areas of the page.
Finnabair's Pure Yellow looked slightly green in colour until water or medium was added, then it turned a gorgeous clean yellow. Its quite amazing!

More water was sprayed... I love watching paint blend.

The yellow got carried away so added more blue paint to the rivers and oceans.

Using Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks in the dark brown, I coloured the whole background and skin areas, added water and blended with a waterbrush. I added more dark brown paint into the shadow areas. Not quite enough so let it dry and started the hair.

The hair was painted using a paint brush with Finnabair Art Alchemy Liquid Acrylic Paint in Avocado Green. Even though all the strands were covered in gesso, they all took on different tones, some soaking in more paint than others.

I put on two coats of Finnabair's Avocado Green Liquid Acrylic Paint and it turned a beautiful dark green seaweed colour.

And because I'm so heavy handed with paint, it had to dry for an eon... not as long as the gesso or gel medium though! Only a few hours :)

Using the Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks, I coloured the background areas around the head and hands with dark pink and orange in the triangular areas.

Then with a waterbrush, wet all the pink and orange to dissolve the paint and make them blend.

Added more dark brown (Scribble Sticks) to the face and neck leaving the eyes white. I like making the shadows darker to create a more rounded look rather than flat.

Highlights on the hair were painted on using Finnabair Art Alchemy Sparks Acrylic Paint in Fairy Wings... a gorgeous shimmery pearlescent green paint.

The valley areas of the hair was painted sparingly with the Finnabair's Ultramarine Blue Liquid Acrylic.

The two little wooden birds in the hair were painted using Finnabair's Art Alchemy Metallique Acrylic Paint in Pearl White. Then I added a smoosh of blue...

Finished off the face with paint pens for the eyelashes, eye pupils and white highlights. Scribble Sticks were used for the green eyebrows and heart shaped lips.

I didn't do her nose very well but I figure its art, not a photo - and besides, Mother Nature isn't a human so can look however she wishes to look!

Leaving the page aside to dry completely, I stamped out a bird from Dyan Reaveley's rubber stamp set "Clockwork". Coloured him in with Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks (pink and brown) using a waterbrush to blend the colours.

I cut out some leaves from watercolour paper using the Tim Holtz Thinlits "Skeleton Leaves" die templates (and die cutting machine), trying to keep some of the leaves intact and separated the inners from a few others.

Coloured all the leaves and spare pieces of watercolour paper with yellow and green Scribble Sticks.

Glued the leaves with separated inners to the spare watercolour pieces using the iCraft Mixed Media Adhesive (just like gel medium). I then scribbled on some dark brown to the edges of each leaf while the glue is still wet and encouraged the brown paint blend into the outer edges with a waterbrush.

In the photo, the colours look a bit murky but the glue dries completely clear with a matte finish, allowing all the colours to show beautifully.

On the craft sheet I added some gold metallic watercolour paint and both dragged the side of the leaf across the gold paint as well as used a brush to paint it onto edges of the leaves.

In the above photo with the leaves, I've also applied gold watercolour paint to Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits "Adorned" shapes and have saved them for another day.

Once the leaves were completely dry, I trim off the excess using Tim's Mini Snips. My fave sharp and easy to use scissors for detailed fussy cutting. 

Using the dark brown Scribble Stick, I roughly coloured around all the cut edges of the leaves before glueing them and the bird to the page.

Using the black paint pen, I wrote some words, drew some leaves and added curly tendrils all around her head and hands. The hands also have dripping blue from when I took photos while the Earth was still wet :) Looks like water!

Thanks so much for reading and checking out my artwork. I do love creating with so much colour and texture. I hope it makes you smile!

Have a wonderful, happy creative day!
:)
Jenny