Joy

Hello!
I wanted to create a simple Christmas plaque as my project today... not many colours, not loads of distracting detail... I hope it works!

I covered an MDF panel with music paper, then gave it a wash of white gesso. A further wash of sky blue paint, and that was it!
I covered the panel with a layer of clear gesso, as I knew I wanted to add wet media in the form of watercolour pencils. The clear gesso gives an even 'tooth' layer, enabling the watercolours to move about freely, whilst still being able to see through to the layers underneath.
I sketched out and coloured my figure..

As i mentioned, watercolour pencils for the face, then I coloured her hair with blue acrylic ink. I added sprinkles of white UTEE as the snow, and also drew some larger flakes with a white gel pen..

My word is a die cut word from Hero Arts, I cut it from thin card then used gilding flakes over the top to give the silver metallic sheen..

Have a fabulous day,
Trish xx

ASOI products used:

White Gesso
Sky Blue Paint (Dina Wakely)
Clear Gesso
Watercolour pencils
Acrylic Ink
Hero Arts word Die
White Gel pen

Don't Forget To Fly triptych

Hello!
So... what do you do when you fancy making a triptych but don't have a suitable substrate? Make your own!

This little number was made from a cardboard box. I decided how big I wanted the middle panel to be, based upon the size of the main figure image, then cut two pieces this size from a bit of old box. One of those pieces was cut in half, leaving me with 3 bits....

I joined the pieces together with sticky backed canvas. Nice and sturdy, but flexible. Make sure you leave a gap between the 2 bits of card, as this is how a nice 'hinge' is created.

Stick a bit of canvas on both sides..

Once you've done both sides, the triptych shape is revealed..

Now it can be covered with either copy paper or old book pages...

And can then be decorated!

I used a mixture of Finnabair stamps, the main image figure:

And some circles..

And some butterflies!

Everything was painted with Dina Wakely paint, before grunging the designs up a little. I used black water soluble pencil, then blurred the lines with a waterbrush to create dark shadows.

Have a great day!
Trish xxx

ASOI stash used:
Dina Wakely Paint
Sticky Backed Canvas
Finnabair Stamps
Prima Stamps (on the triptych base)
Black watersoluble pencil

Just playing....

Hello!

Sometimes, just sitting and playing with no real plan in mind is very therapeutic! 

It is also really good to revisit stash that you may have had lurking about for a very long time....

I combined both of these things when creating my latest project to share with you!

I came across a box of white tiles when having a clear out, so decided to have a simple crafty session, just dripping alcohol ink onto one of the tiles to create some colourful wall art!

You can sit for ages, adding tiny drops and watching them spread out and merge with one another... it's very relaxing!

I used Ranger Adirondack inks, in a rainbow of different colours. The whiter dots were added using the blender fluid on the end of a wooden skewer!

Keep going until you create something you love... then you can put it in a frame and hang it on the wall. Or, wipe it off and start again as many times as you want!

Loads of vibrant colour:

Such a nice way to while away an hour or so!

Have a good day!

Trish xxx

Absolutely Ridiculous....

Hello!
Do you ever see a stamp (or anything else for that matter) , and think that it could have been made just for you? I did..... and of course I had to have it!!
This stamp by Darkroom Door is just so 'me' it's silly.....

It had to take centre stage really, so all I did was place it (stamped tissue/Mod Podge method!) in the niche of a back to front canvas.
The canvas was covered with book pages to disguise the metal clip things, then i smeared on white, pink , yellow and orange paint. Little bit of stencilling...

A little bit of stamping....

And a whole lot of FABULOUS text!

This is now hanging on the wall of my studio... and I keep finding myself looking at it, nodding sagely and declaring 'I quite agree' on a regular basis!

Have a good week everyone!
Trish xxx

ASOI product used:
White Gesso
Dina Wakely paint
Darkroom Door stamp

Serenity Art Doll

Hello!
I'm sharing an Art Doll today... it feels like I haven't made one for ages!
Here she is...

I wanted a nice big chunky shape.... and didn't have one, so created my own! Really easy, I'll show you!

I used the middle part of this Tando Arch set as my front shape:

I then drew around it 6 times on a bit of scrap cardboard....

I then cut all 6 shapes out. As I knew I wanted to glue on a head at some point, I also drew the shape on a bit of thinner chipboard, and added an extra tab at the top. This tabbed shape was then glued down right in the middle of the other shapes!

That's the tab sticking up! As you can see, it's now a really chunky shape that will stand up by itself!
I covered it with old book pages to neaten everything up...

For this particular project, I didn't want the book pages to show through, I just used them as the thin paper is perfect for glueing around curves!
I then painted the whole thing using Dina Wakely paints... fab bright colours. The chunky shape means you can decorate the edges as well!

I stamped some stars onto tissue, then glued them down with Mod Podge. Once dry, I added white dots with a paint pen...

The only wings I could find were corrugated metal ones, but this doesn't matter as the stamped tissue technique means the images can go easily over the corrugations...

I added beads for feet, and a typed word as my title...

Her head was created using two circles of chipboard. The larger one was decorated in the same way as the body, and the smaller one became her face. Sketched then coloured with watercolour pencils...

I added extra dots, I thought it needed framing somehow, I'm not used to people with no hair in my creations I think!
I like how she turned out, and I'll definitely be using cardboard to create more chunky shapes! Much easier to get hold of and less expensive than wooden ones!

 Have a good weekend!
Love Trish xxx

ASOI Products used:
Tando Gothic Arch (the middle bit, not the frame!)
Mod Podge
Dina Wakely paint
1m White Posca Paint pen

Anything Is Possible

Hello...
Today is GCSE results day. So quite possibly by the time you read this, things will either be wonderful or horrific in my house....
So I'm just going to leave this here, for all those who may be going through the same thing today!

See you soon,
Trish xxx

Products used:
Watercolour pencils
Acrylic inks

Drawing with paint!

Hello!

I do love it when a new bit of kit comes on the market!

Have you seen the fine tip applicators by Dina Wakely? Don't look like much in the packet, but they're fab!

They come in a pack of two like this:

And you use them like this:

Take your tube of Dina paint:

Unscrew the cap from the paint:

Screw on the fine tip applicator:

The cap of the fine tip applicator then screws off, and you're ready to go:

Notice the pin in the lid? That goes down the tube where the paint comes out of, once the cap is replaced. No clogged nozzles or dried out paint!

Use the tip to draw or even write....

How cool is that?!

When you want to squeeze out colour onto a palette, all you need to do is unscrew the applicator and squeeze directly from the paint tube. Easy peasy.

So.... I made a little something!

I smeared purple paint onto a background to make circles, then used the fine tip applicators to doodle around them!

I used the black paint to draw lines as my stems. Love the random look it gives when you work quickly!

I now have the applicators on all my Dina paints, just because I'm too lazy to wash them through when I change colours!!!!

Have a good Sunday everyone,

Trish xxx

Dina Wakely fine tip applicators and paints can be found HERE.

You brighten my day!

Hello!
A little panel from me today... packaging materials giving nice texture!

The cardboard looked particularly  ridged for some reason, which is great...

I used paint as usual on the base, smearing colour along with white to give a blended look.

The flower was created from stamped images, a heart for the flower head, and a curl for the stem. Both are Stampotique..

The words are from the new stamp set I told you about last time, the Hero Arts one with the die included..

I did a little doodling to finish..

Have a fabulous day!
Trish 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