Old School New School !!

What better way to show you care than a hand painted birthday card ???

Like many of us I started out as a old school card maker and still possess lots of left over card blanks and envelopes which rarely see the light of day since I discovered my new mixed media passion.....

No more !!

I am on a mission at the moment to use up lots of old supplies that are gathering dust in drawers, cupboards, boxes and bags in every room in the house (yes I do have that much to use up !!) 

I used Dina's fabulous paints in lime and turquoise to create my background on a brown Kraft card scratching patterns into the wet paint with the end of my paint brush !!! (I always use Dina's brushes they are fabulous). I then allowed this to dry before roughly sketching out my flower. I painted the flower with Dina's magenta acrylic paint and allowed to dry. 

Once dry I used my fabulous Rranger Fudeball black marker pen to add detail around my flower and to also add an outline to the painted area. Finally using it to write the word 'Thirty'

I added some further details with a white pen to finish off. 

Just for fun I decided to add a matching envelope design and repeated the processes and colours again on a smaller scale in the corner of the envelope. 

It's a long way from the cards I used to make in my 'card making' days but love that I can use my new found passion for paints and inks etc to take me back to my old school roots in a new school way !!! 

Thanks for stopping by today

Bright and painted hugs

Tracy

Xxx

Flying bird thing.....!!!

Hello!
In between all manner of organising, plotting and planning this week (did I mention I'm the new Craft Stamper Magazine Editor?!?! squeeeeeeee!!!), I actually managed to squish in some crafting time. I made a 'thing'............ with birds on!

My rainbow birds are by Tando. I didn't do anything complicated to them, just painted with bright colours. The wing s are separate parts, so these were glued into place before I doodled and added dots...

The birds were glued to some wire that I had coiled by wrapping around a skewer. The wire was then pushed down the centre of a white painted spool. A little cut up book page 'frill' (or grass maybe?) to hide the hole!
I cut lengths of cord, and knotted it around the spool to decorate. I really love how that turned out, will be doing that again!

Some tiny stickers for the word, and it was done!
A bit mad, a bit quirky...just a 'me' thing lol!!
Have a great week,
Trish xxx

Art Doll : Freedom

Hello!
Oh look...I've made an Art Doll! Never saw that coming did you lol!
Even if the theme is a bit 'same old, same old', I've used a few brand new products , just to freshen things up a little!
Here she is...

She's not small, around about 30cm in height!
Her body is thick card, with a smeared paint background (for those who may have missed it, I shared a video tutorial on how I create my smeary backgrounds HERE)
I added some stamping and stencilling...

The stamps are from a Natalie Kalbach set , and the large white stencilled dots were created with the free stencil that comes with the stamps!
The detail on the body is created with 4 Finnabair bottle caps...

I covered them in gesso, then coloured them with the same paints used for the body. The circles inside the caps, and the quote are all from the brand new Finnabair stamp range, these are from the 'don't forget to fly' set.
I also used the plain butterfly from the same set as the wings for my Art Doll. Simply stamped onto painted cardstock, cut out and adhered behind the shoulders...

My Doll face is an image from Vera Lane Studios, coloured with pencils. I glued it to some card, then extended the hair a little!

The face plus all that hair was then glued to a painted 'pendant' (looks like a large bottle cap to me!) from the 961091 set from Prima Mechanicals , and then added to the body.

 I was aiming for a halo type effect behind the head, and the large bottle cap/pendant was the perfect size. Using a digital image for the face means you can manipulate it to be the perfect size for whatever your project needs!
I hope you like her, I had great fun making her!
See you soon,
Trish xxxxxxx

Charade....

Hello!

Right...take a deep breath and be brave! (that's me talking to myself btw.....but if it applies to you as well this morning, consider yourself told!)

Today I'm sharing a first for me.... I made a video tutorial! (well, I made three, but more about that in a minute!)

I created this page using loads of colourful paints... with a few background stamps thrown in too...

Lots and lots of layers...

and a quirky figure too!

I videoed the entire process, and then split it up into three separate tutorials. The smeared paint background, the secondary layers (stencilling/stamping etc), and lastly adding in the figure.

The whole process lasts less than an hour, but it's much more accessible in three 'chunks!'

The first video is below...the other two can be found today over on my blog HERE, or you can watch them all via Vimeo (just search for Trish Latimer!)

I really hope you like them...

Ruby Tangerine

Hello!
Another 'challenge myself' project today...create a project that looks really colourful but has a minimal colour palette. I chose to use just two colours, red and orange, alongside black and white. Both paints from Dina Wakely, Ruby and Tangerine....

I used my 'go to' technique of the moment to create the background...smearing paint. Watch this space for a smearing tutorial video....this weeks challenge for myself is to finally get into the video tutorial field!!
Anyway....smeared paint, with a brayered layer of white to take the edge off the colour, as otherwise the figure won't 'pop' enough from the background. A little collage stamping...

The figure is created using Stampotique stamps...hearts in two sizes, and a quirky face...

I added a halo effect using red Prima wired thread. Fab stuff, gorgeous colours and keeps its shape wonderfully...

As is usual with my projects, it wouldn't be finished without a random bit of book text..

Hope you like her!
Trish xxxxx

Calm Cat

Hello!

I'm back again with my fist DT project of the year, so happy 2015 everyone!

Along with lots of you, I have a few goals that I want to achieve this year...pushing myself into getting better at things I'm scared of! One of those is embracing my own handwriting. Hate it, think it looks rubbish....which is precisely why I need to do it more! My creation today has handwriting on, and more than a little washi tape! Another 'goal' - use up my stash!

Here it is...

I've got lots of step by step pictures for you to look at....

Going along with the theme of 'use what you have', my substrate for this page is something I'm sure you all recognise...

A good coat of gesso later and you're all ready to start..

Gather up your washi tape, any colours and designs, the more the merrier! Tear strips, and then start to add them to the page.

Save even the tiniest ripped bits, as you can use them at the end to fill in any gaps. Create a colourful washi background...

Now, I'm going to be adding lots of wet media on top of the tape, so it really needs to be all sealed. I have given the whole thing a thick coat of clear gesso...

I used a thick coat because I wanted to scribe into it, creating more texture...

The thick coat means it dries a little more opaque than a thin coat would, but once dry it is pretty much clear!

As a comparison, the pic below shows a before and after...

   No gesso..............................Dried clear gesso!

The gesso gives a great 'tooth' for the media you are about to start layering up!

Add a bit of paint..

I have smeared tiny amounts on with my fingers, trying not to obliterate the washi tape, but adding colour in the blank spaces. A little white paint blends things nicely, and tones down the stark clashing washi colours so the whole page looks more cohesive. I added a little stamping and printing...

This is the basic background finished.... any doodling and edging will be added after the image/words are in place!

I collaged my weird quirky figure using a mixture of stamped images and hand cut shapes...

Once she was glued in place, it really looked like she was meditating...so I thought the word 'calm' would be a good one to use! I practiced on scrap paper before drawing it on lightly in pencil, then used acrylic ink in a waterbrush to actually write the final version. 'Calm' was SO not the feeling actually using the ink directly on the page!

The washi background shows through wonderfully, giving colour and pattern in a funky but understated way....

So..... there it is, first one of 2015!

Hope you like it!

See you soon,

Trish xxx

acrylic paint sale...

We still have a selection of Claudine Hellmuths Studio Line paints, in both pots, mini bottles and kits still available. Some colours are now running low stocks. These paints have always been one of my favourites with the creamy texture of these highly pigmented artist quality acrylic paints. With a collection of 15 semi-gloss shades you can create an endless palette of colours by mixing them without them going muddy. We do still have some stocks left of the multi-mediums and extra-time as well and you can find those here

We are now running on very low stocks of the Jenni Bowlin Dabbers which were recently added to our sale section at a bargain price. As with the Claudine Hellmuth paints once these have sold out we will not be able to restock them.