weeds and more embellishing

This ATC is just a little sketch of a weed in the garden, using my pitt pens.  The background is a piece of mattboard, which I scribbled and smudged on using crayola slicks and a tiny bit of water.  The word is just made with my ancient Letraset (rub-ons) sheets and the bit of paper lace tape was a last little thought.

When I was cutting flowers the other day, I also embossed (with the same machine) using a clock embossing folder.

This is the folder, It also has a little lacy flourish.

This one is on heavy foil - can't wait to use this one!

Handmade paper.

Tracing paper.  I love how it makes white lines on the transparent paper.

A piece of plastic packaging.  Ditto the white lines.

A piece of light rainbow spun/lutradur

And finally, A painted face wipe

i really love this design.  I think I am going to have to design a mixed media piece to use all of these lovelies.
I did other bits and pieces of embossing, but that is enough eye candy for today, I think.

bird on a wire

Just a quick blog tonight, The internet is very slow as it seems to be in bad weather.
This ATC is one I did after playing with some different coloured wires.  The little metal rectangle is an old feed dog cover and has a hole in the centre for a needle.  I poked my wires through that hole and arranged them.  Originally, I wanted to leave the hole to be seen, but the little bird wanted to sit there and who am I to argue.  He is just free cut out of felt.  The background is fabric paper made using inkjet prints which bled and pattern tissue.

poppies and other flowers

I did say the other day that I liked my dragonfly stamp on a blob of paint here and thought it looked like a poppy.  So, I made another stamp for the poppy centres and used it here on some lutradur circles sewn down with a french knot.  I thought the background fabric sort of suggested stems (artistic license)
After I had done this, though about what it would look like with some clear embossing powder over the top.  Of course I would have to use cotton for those poppies, or even paper!

Yesterday, I made a lot more flowers!

I borrowed the die cutter from out art studio.  This one is a big one.  I have only a teeny weeny one.
I recently bought a new die to use in the big cutter that I thought would come in very handy.

This is what it cuts.  It's a Tim holtz die.
I cut lots of paper ones

And I cut lots of lutradur/rainbow spun ones

I also tried out some fabric, too.  I found that with fabric, it is best to have paper top and bottom of the fabric whilst cutting (even lutradur), so I made even more paper flowers out of scrap paper at the same time.
When fabrics such as organza have been stiffened (I use dilute PVA, just like making fabric paper, but without the paper), they work extremely well, and some work even without stiffening, but sometimes some threads are not cut - one or two and when you remove the flower, the thread pulls. 
anyway, I think I will be making a big batch of stiffened satin and organza very soon. 

I even cut some thin foam and ended up with a stencil and some stamps!

The only probelem in using dies, is the waste.  but you know me, I will be recycling the paper bits into my journals and artbooks and the fabric ones.....  Well I have a few ideas in store for them.

But now I have flowers to last until.....at least next week!

embossed and embellished

This ATC did not turn out as I planned, however I will show it.  It is made with a piece of heavy foil, embossed with my embossing machine which is a teeny tiny one.  The piece of foil had three holes in it, since it came out of a computer, so I added three die cut flowers.  The green is an experiment with alcohol ink that went wrong.  I was hoping the ink would stay where I wanted it - but no, it had a mind of it's own (message to self - alcohol ink is very runny)

these are a few embellishments I made a week or two ago and hadn't gotten round to posting. the top two are made with milk carton caps, which I have a collection of, lol.
I covered them with a scrap of satin or silk, yo-yo style, then embellished the top with sequins and beads. 
Oh. before I started, I punched a hole through the top with my soldering iron to allow for adding the beads.
I actually have made more, but obviously haven't taken a photo yet.
The bottom embellishments are made from these tiny tag shaped bits of metal I got from laptop frames.  I loved how tiny they were and the cute shape, but had to think about the holes for a bit.  sequins and beads were the best way to jazz them up  and fill the holes at the same time.

Here's a few more being made.  I am looking forward to making a piece with some of these on.  But as you know thinking is a long winded process.  It will happen when it's ready.

another one and some journalling

Another ATC from the same source as yesterday.  I like this one because I like how the blob of magenta alcohol ink at the top with the dragonfly stamp looks like a poppy.  I think I will have to make a stamp just for poppy centres and do more, perhaps even on red organza - yummy.
alcohol inks, dilute lumiere spray, Handmade and commercial stamps

Have been very busy - out most of the day doing forward planning for beading classes at our local community house, so just a journal page, today.

After I had played all over this page with lots of stamps and textures, I decided 'Chaos' was a good word to describe it, lol. So I dulled it all down with a bit of gesso and wrote the message.  I certainly had fun doing it!

a gem or two

This ATC started it's life as a piece of mountboard, but the paper layer came off since I added so much water and I had to mount it again on card when it was dry.
Green and magenta alcohol ink, gold lumiere diluted with water and sprayed, then finger painted dots of other lumiere colours that were on my palette were added.  I painted the word with halo rose and a small brush, then added the red and white highlights after.  The dragonfly is a handmade stamp with a sticky rhinestone on it.

This journal quilt was thread sketched then painted with lumiere paints.  I added hot fix crystals to the top wings.  I don't like the yellow effect of the gold paint, although it is not this lary in real life.  I have not finished the edge of this one yet, and I may still play with a bit more stitching and beading.

Beady beautiful and bit of cardboard

 

This ATC was  just made with a little charm square I was given.  I loved the fabric, but what to do with such a little piece?  Ah when all inspiration fails, bead it!

This journal quilt came about from a visit to recycle rescue.

The silver bits are pieces of cardboard, which are what is left over when circles are cut out of silver cardboard in a factory.   they reminded me of a double wedding ring pattern.  I placed them on a black background, then placed some filmy chiffon with a blue rose design over the top.  I did seed stitch with black thread in the melon wedges in the centre to define it then did running stitches in a low contrast thread outside.  I liked the way the rose or the underlying design is visible depending on how you look at it and I especially love the texture of the stitches.

I agree, that the inconveniences of remote rural life are outweighed by the creative benefits of the landscape.  Our land backs onto state forest, which begins about 100 metres from the back door and it is an inspiration to me all the time.  I can always go up (Yes, it is all uphill, lol) and find something to inspire my work.

Here's an example of something I found today.

 A tiny, tiny wren's nest hanging from the tea trees.  So beautiful.