The Artist and the Craftist

Chocolate box

2011-07-11T22:05:00.002+01:00

Well this isnt a chocolate box obviously, but for some reason this card makes me think of one. I love the precious pets (or is it pampered pets) cardmaking stuff. Im not keen on the paper but i love the images and stamps etc.

Mixing it up

2011-06-24T18:32:00.003+01:00

I said i'd make a few cards for a friend - just as a pressie really. I don't think she's expecting me to actually do it, so i used a little artistic license here to go where I please (dare!)

Fathers day

2011-06-20T16:08:00.001+01:00

So, this was my fathers day effort this year. For a diy fan. You cant really go wrong with a bear and a spot of lattice.

Fashionable

2011-06-13T14:17:00.003+01:00

These were a couple of cards from a week ago (roughly) - luckily I still jhad a bit of card crafting mojo even if the jewellery making one was absent. A girl would go mad with too much time on her hands!

This was a birthday club card:

and this one for my cousin Niamh

Sparkly!

2011-06-13T14:08:00.002+01:00

I haven't really had the desire to make anything in months (jewellery-wise) so this is a big deal for me! It's not a complicated piece but the beads are so shiny, they're the kind that need to be kept simpler.
The sheen is AB crystal on the square centre - it looks fairly clear but it's really quite sparkly.

I hope this may bode well for the return of the crafting mojo.

closeup

Floral challenge

2011-05-13T23:13:00.002+01:00

Me and my challenges. Last months CCS challenge was to make flowers and incorporate them/it into your card. I've been meaning to use scraps of flowers floating around the bottom of the flower box for a while. Making a whole new flower with them seemed a good idea. I'm not completely sold on the result but it's an idea I may use again.

Knocking on 50

2011-05-13T23:09:00.002+01:00

I've got to get back in the habit of taking pics of the cards... just to keep the post count up if nothing else!
Well, to start us off... this is not a challange card and its for my aunt who's 50 tomorrow. Sometimes the clean 'n' simple look is called for.

A New Leaf

2011-04-05T19:22:00.002+01:00

I don't do much with jewellery at the mo. It was really hard to do anything and at first i thought it was bead looming i was just having no luck with as far as my eyes go but no... i noticed today i seem to work mainly by feel cos i cant really see the bead holes. But, sure working by feel is a skill in suppose! Not sure if you'd bother putting 'bead work by feel' on the ol' CV though!

I was working on a simple enough piece for a friend more into the delicate and soft coloured look than me. Although the piece has a slight pink tinge that just doesn't translate into the picture. The woes of using shiny beads, beads with AB coating, crackle glass (the bigger brown beads) etc... i reckon the pink worked with the slightly bronzed bits - the cage beads are sterling silver though!

as usual you can click on the pic to see a bigger version

Mothers day looms

2011-04-02T22:56:00.001+01:00

I made these almost 2 months in advance - so they were done before i started using the studio again. I was on a bit of a theme here:

Ten reasons to smile: (for granny)

Family vacation: (for mam)

ma wall

2011-04-01T20:53:00.003+01:00

Check out my studio wall - it ocurred to me i should photograph it. I put any handmade cards i get on it. Most are birthday club cards from the last 4 years, some are from my aunt, some are thank you cards or RAK cards - cards from ATC swaps etc.....
I got into a 'creative wall' habit when i was in college - everyone was encouraged to keep bits on the walls / partitions around their own art desk. most students used inspirational art pieces from books etc. I put my own paintings and drawings up but i added artist post cards, experiment scraps that looked good and inspirational or funny quotes (none of that airy fairy sh*t that doesnt do anything but it sounds good) had a few Discworld quotes for variety.
So this wall is a bit different but it does serve the same purpose - its a happy wall to inspire. It's probably missing a smilie or two.

There's probably a dozen cards on the floor behind the shelf - and yes i like a bit of creative chaos, hence the messy area! (click on the picture to enlarge it)

bracelet

2011-03-24T16:10:00.004Z

I finally got this cuff bracelet done. Found a lovely wire frame a while ago in Beads and Bling - i played around with wiring / thread wrapping ideas and then landed on a wire idea that worked - did one section of the bracelet and put it aside - knowing i could finish it fast enough - and told myself i'd do it some evening. About 3 weeks later I said to myself 'for flip sake will you finish it so you can move on to something else' <- i like to work on one project at a time. This is also the reason i like to finbish what i start - in one go. Because i know what i can be like! so here we go

Before i did this i'd been working with bead looming. Wow. They say this is fairly straight forward and i suppose it is. But you really need great eyesight or at least something that isnt sh*te. it was so frustrating because of it. Doing some peyote stitching by hand was actually a bit easier than trying looming. Peyote stitching is something i'll do again: im planning beaded rings at some stage. But all in all this 'knitting with beads' lark is not for me - or for my sanity (or lackthereof) - ill stick to what i do best (or at least enjoy more!).

More buttons

2011-02-22T18:01:00.004Z

So - it seems i take my time these days - more often than not i do a bit of a project at a time - if its somewhat experimental. But it helps the enjoyment factor as you arent tearing your hair out and knocking back the caffeine in order to get it finished all at once (i do do that sometimes!)

So i used buttons again - from that huge box of them my granny gave me years ago (and more the other day when i told her what i was doing with them) and incorporated some regular beading at the back of the necklace too (on bead wire). The cord is pink wax coated stringing. I really need a beading needles if i wanna use the cord for holes smaller than a buttons. Originally i thought i might add a bead between each button.

More shinybeads

2011-02-12T20:35:00.002Z

Well i finally got to add some buttons as i've been wont to do for a while! But i used a shinybead as it complimented the buttons n smaller beads used so we had the same old photo problem. I'll be trying this again with buttons. Have a box of them i got off my granny - who knits - so i've loads! and the effect is certainly different.

tried the sunset mode on my camera - its probably the closest i've ever gotten to the bead colour of the shinybead

More shinybeads

2011-02-06T20:02:00.002Z

More of the self-named shinybead! This on is a dark leafy green although looks a tad charcoal. First time i've used wire stringing in years - i've been using nylon as i had loads. Benefit of the wire is, it doesn't streatch - never has for me anyway.

please excuse the teastain on my bead board!

and i was messing around with creating a drop in the centre.....

GLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBE

2011-02-02T21:44:00.002Z

I saw these large globe-like beads in Beads and Bling and fell in love with them. I'm not sure what you call these styles of beads as i've seen them labelled as water beads and catseye beads amongst other things in bead shops. Ive always loved them. Hard as hell to photograph due to the way the flash hits them. but beautiful under light.
I had the idea of doing a tier necklace but the nylon wasnt long enough to create much difference in the 2 strands and i also didn't think about the weight of the big bead - lets call it a shinybead, i doubt one more name will hurt... as it is sat in the middle of both strands of nylon combined.

So it didnt turn out as originally planned. But i like it, the colours and the 'look into my crystal ball' effect.

without the flash:

chandelier necklace

2011-01-15T15:56:00.003Z

Ive wanted to try one for a while. Finally got around to it, after a recent trip to london i felt inspired - as i found a bead shop in Covent Garden i went a bit mad in!
As always, what i start with (an idea or design) altars as i go along. I'm the same with cards and paintings etc. Some of the findings (like chain) and the centre piece that looks like a medallion, were rescued from bits of old broken jewellery. The stringing material is nylon. I focused on keeping the movement of the necklace free/fluid. You learn as you go along too. When i do it again i may use pearl string at least for some parts of the necklace. and id also like to try using more eye pins to create a chain. maybe even a chain maille piece.
It seems to be one of those necklaces that will look different depending on your neck. Although just loosening it makes it less like a semi-choker effect.

As always, it's so so hard to photography shiny things or pearlised things with a regular camera and location. And most of the thing is shiny! the glass hearts have golden/copper edges and a slightly pearlised glass. the seed beads (the yellowy beads) are really quite pearlised so they look golden. The long beads are actually gunmetal coloured with twists and also a pearly sheen. The large round beads are crackle glass so that means there are bubbles inside the bead that reflects the light. So, all in all, no matter how i photograph it, it looks a bit different, so i tried a few ways....

no flash used here:

Pengi kindly posed, to show how different it can look:

Matching earrings:
sans flash:

and with flash:

hello kitty continues

2010-11-30T18:11:00.002Z

As any crafter knows, when you have your craft mojo on then keep going till you run out of steam, as it can be hard to make yourself start (much easier to keep going once youve started, i find this with most things in life. especially a packet of biscuits, bar of choc, bottle of wine etc)!
So i was feeling more creative as i went. Cut hello kitty out (and chopped one of her whiskers off) for a few cards and raided my regular craft stash box not just the xmas stash box - that really helps on the variety front.

i'm not only doing HK cards, there were only 24 HK cards to start with and i do have a few cards i want to try.Before today's steam ran out i finally used 2 decoupage images a friend gave me several years ago. The various puppy pieces were too fiddly unless you're handy with a craft knife. A nose here, a bow there... so i just used the base images as they're so cute.

Snowflakes

2010-11-28T17:49:00.002Z

How could i forget to add the all important snowflakes. Originally i was gonna make a mobile/wind chime type decoration. But the nylon just wouldnt hold knots and the snowflakes kept tangling with each other. So i'll add some ribbon and et voila, xmas decorations. Even the smaller ones are almost as big as my hand. Some of those beads have that shiny vampire look - its just the flash honestly!

The really bright ones in the middle of the pic are really a golden lustre colour. Theyre called catseye / water beads for a good reason - shiny!

closeups - the really shiny looking big beads are actusllu purple and the others are red. with some light stripes.

xmas cards time!

2010-11-28T16:30:00.002Z

the thing with xmas cards is, it's different than a normal handmade card. you need to be able to put them together in a way that doesnt take an hour to do - most of that time is spent deciding what design to do, themes etc. Well that wont do if you have 30 plus cards to do!
Its no seceret im hello kitty crazy. so when i saw a small box of 24 hk cards for 2 euro i couldnt resist. theyre very small, almost tag sized. so i had the idea to put the backs off and put them on a larger card and sprinkle with decorations as needed. |Spice them up. I have 5 done..... many more to go. I do like how theyre going though

here they are as they come out of the packet

and the spiff-ified 'me' cards

Hairpiece

2010-10-26T14:48:00.002+01:00

I forgot to upload the 'secret wedding hair piece' i mentioned a few months ago. Safe to post it now as it's after the lovely event.

Insipred once more

2010-10-26T14:29:00.002+01:00

A trip to Spain left me inspired to make jewellery more. Problem is i cant really see the bead hole, the bead or the wire but i get there in the end!

Just a random bracelet with 2 strands, i wanted to try:

I finally got around to using the butterfly - it was a decoration on a hair tie! quite complicated cos i tried to create a dual strand necklace (including the butterflies tail) in one single piece of nylon/wire. i dont recommend 1 piece. definitely should be one long dual piece of nylon on each side of the necklace! (takes longer than it should otherwise)

Those rectangles are parts of a broken bracelet

teddy fashion

2010-10-06T23:59:00.001+01:00

I know it's been pretty quiet but i've fallen out of the habit of photographing things. It's mainly been ATC's lately though. This is a card!:
teddy is sporting the latest in male fashions. Although it would be a daring man!

HEART my dog

2010-08-10T23:27:00.003+01:00

I haven't been TOTALLY quiet on the craft front - mainly ATC's! A 'secret' wedding hair piece and a couple of cards, including a challange. I love this 'i love my dog' image - you can get a rubber stamp with it - but i never bought it cos i doubt id use it often enough to justify it. But then I got this decoupage image so i was keen to use it - and one of my special paperclips!

Jewels jewels jewels

2010-07-15T21:56:00.002+01:00

I have been getting back into the jewel thing as i mentioned - i hadn't been making much since last summer - mainly as i couldn't see what the feck i was doing!

My aunt (and everyone else who sees it) loves this necklace below - it was a cheap thing i got somewhere for 11 euro and its just light hollow beads.

I love it too - and the reaction inspired me to give it a go and see could i recreate it - particularly with colour - so i made this as a gift for that aunt:

I hadn't been totally bone idle when it comes to jewels - I made this as a prototype for a wedding hair piece for my cousin last january. We're going down a slightly different route as - as much as she loved it, the beads didnt nmatch the dress - so it's ok to show!

Carding

2010-07-15T21:40:00.002+01:00

An amusing titbit 'Carding' is also a term for stripping a dogs underhair by hand - a groomers term - i groom my own two as a hobby. Yes, i seem to collect hobbies. I spent today carding but not stripping the dog, no, i got out the glue etc.

here we go - i was never a huge Smirk fan but i really like these images - the image isn't supposed to have eyes! I remember a friend telling me her 4 year oldgot into her craft room - and she had just been stamping out some Tilda images (like the smirk's but they have eyes - but no mouth!) - the 4 year old says to her mam 'why has she (the image) no mouth?' 'so i gave her one' and proudly shows off the pile of images her mother painstakingly made - with smilies drawn on. but it was so cute - and the child had logic behind her - so she made a collage out of the images.
Here's a Birthday Club card:

And a card for a 7 year old's birthday - shes a girl nicknamed bee so yes thats a play on birthday boy i did!
I made the jigsaw below it to stick in the 'doggie bag' - i got a few blank jigsaws in spain. so i stamped out the image, coloured with copics and glitter and used some peel off chains cut up in to flowers etc.

Crafting Lately

2010-06-08T23:30:00.003+01:00

I have been crafting but mainly ATC's and occasionally a piece of jewellery but i have been doing more cards the last month or so. Mainly challanges. Mum gave up smoking a year ago because the doctors told her to, after a long time smoking heavily (her vice). I was surprised as anyone that she gave up her magic sticks. So a year of that warrants a celebration:

Beads beads everywhere

2010-05-03T00:33:00.003+01:00

And i do mean everywhere - i took my laptop to the shop to be fixed as the keyboard 'c' was jammed. Turns out there was a seed bead stuck underneath!

So here's the first necklace I made in months (before the one in the last post) - waterbeads are beautfiful. Great sheen. But they don't photograph well at all! The beads on this one are ivory gold coloured

There's also a waterbead in the beaded dude - that thing in the centre of his 'head' is actually purple. Which you can kind of see in the pic with no camera flash. Trouble with no flash is, there's also feck all detail but it is good for showing things that are too sparkly or shiny.

Neck designs

2010-05-03T00:12:00.002+01:00

I started the jewels again. I hadn't done anything since january when i made Averil's wedding hair accessory and it's probably been since October since i made anything jewellery-wise. There was another necklace i made just before this, must upload the pic... but this is the one that turned out better i think. It has that Egyptian look cos of the colours and imperfect shapes. I'm keeping this one as I was after something with those blue dangly beads anyway (theyre glass)

S.P.R.I.N.G

2010-03-30T00:56:00.002+01:00

Spring, Easter... spring, the run up to summer. We had a spring themed atc swap and i chose to do spring fashion. i had the picture in my head of doing a sort of traditional baseball collectors card art. the art they used before they used photo's instead. so.... retro.

I also thought this year - how about something other than an actual chocolate egg for the kids. they get plenty of choccie etc. and i quite fancied a little painting.

hello!

2010-03-30T00:51:00.002+01:00

'oh, hello kitty - yeah on ATC's, hello kitty looks so cute to me'
so, hello kitty themed atc's - they look pretty i think. but i love this topic of course!

it's all go on the hello kitty front! i altered my walking stick - it's just for me, not a sale thing! (hello kitty being a licenced product!)
before and after:

Egyptian ATC's

2010-03-01T23:34:00.002Z

Been busy on the ATC front, i have 120 or so in my colledtion now! and counting.... Been working on a group swap theme 'apples' - d'oh, didn't take pics... and group swaps with a group on facebook.

I took pics of these - phew - i was on a bit of an ancient Egypt theme!

Birthday club

2010-03-01T23:26:00.002Z

There's a birthday club on a forum i frequent - it's a nice idea: we make so many cards for others but it's nice to get them too! So there's a group of us, we make cards for each others birthday - about 20 or so per year - so you get a nice haul of cards on YOUR birthday too - i've gotten out of the habit of photographing my cards, i must do it more... here's two i did for this February birthdays:

a slightly strange one!

and a naughty one

this was a new baby card for a friend - i like that dress shape for babies....

and this was a forum challange - you had to follow a recipe (eg 3 flowers, a ribbon, 4 brads) - i needed a birthday card for a friend too. i was watching Pretty Woman at the time - hence the sentiment!

18th bookatrix

2010-01-08T23:48:00.003Z

This was a special card for my cousins 18th - the quote reads 'if the shoe fits buy one in every colour'
i really like bookatrix shaped cards for those extra special occasions

and this was a card for my secret santa giftee - she's guessed who it was so i can share it now!

my first foray with candle stamping

2009-12-20T18:46:00.002Z

candle stamping is surrisingly uncomplicated, but it does take practise. i had the heat gun on my first candle too long, so it melted too much. you also need to practise with your various colour types to see what bleeds on tissue paper - cutting tissue very specifically-shaped is also more skilled than cutting your average page! made a few oopsies

they are hello kitty but theyre just to go on my shelf - personal use. ill try more stamps etc at some stage!

December birthdays

2009-12-20T18:37:00.002Z

Anyone i know with a December birthday really doesn't like it when gifts are constantly combined with xmas gifts (some are ok and if its special then its ok but they feel a bit miffed if theyre all combined cos you either have nothing to open on your bday or on xmas!) and most dont like xmassy themed or coloured bday cards. they just like to keep birthday and xmas seperate. so i had 2 birthdays - well there were 3 but i only made 2 of the cards myself.

so... following on the 'a piece of me' trend i had this month. i gave mam a hello kitty cards - a bit of tropical sunshine in december

and for Grace i wentsparkly and zingy. im fairly sure she likes those colours!

i aldo had dads bday last month - i made this card during a trip to kerry. i didnt know where it was when i got back but found it in the paper box. then by the time his bday came id lost it again so he got the card 2 days late!
another 'piece of me' card. for his 50th. its supposed to be from his favourite feline (me)

Christmas cards 2009

2009-12-20T18:30:00.003Z

last year i set myself a challange to make cards primarily with cut outs and maing toppers using the cards from the year before - to recycle. giving hem new leases of life with glitter or ink etc. i did that with one or two cards this year. i wasn't gonna make many aat all. it was a bit late in the day for me. i usually do mine in august or so! i started these at the start of december. but i ended up making a fair few!

i do have one more but as it was my secret santa card i cant show it, at least yet.

Deck the halls....

2009-10-12T16:11:00.002+01:00

I haven't had any crazy moment in weeks - i've been doing work stuffs. Well, the crazy shopping at the craft fair isn't a proper crazy moment!

I finished a few xmas cards last night - yes Xmas cards - for a lady who might be interested in some. This isn't bad, last year I made my xmas cards in July during my summer holidays from college.

So heres a few... I quite like them but i'm a fan of the bright mad stuff. About as mad as I get at the mo!

I love that stamp but it has a tiny fault in the centre, so i turned it into a beauty spot

ATC'S for supercrop

2009-10-06T13:27:00.003+01:00

Of course we had to do some ATC swapping at the Supercrop - I've said before I adorw collecting and making ATC's, i'm always on the lookout for swaps!

Those are just a few of the one's I made. I forgot to upload the pic of the one commemorating the arrival of my new puppy Monty. I liked that one.

Craft fair fun

2009-10-06T13:14:00.003+01:00

The last few weeks have benn 'we-he-hey!' -

First there was the GBCE - Great Big Craft Extravaganza - in Athlone. An annual event I hope! I saved for months because well, I knew.... madness would ensue. I was planning on going to the knit and stitch show but it's not all about papercraft. I am ;)
There were wall to wall shop stall (or stash stalls!), demo's, classes and a raffle. I didnt do any classes, I wouldn't have had time and I prefer to observe. I had such fun, arrived at 10am, had a quick cuppa at 11. Had spent most of my money by 12. Coffee at 12 ish. Looked at some demo's. Lunch at 1-2. Looked at more demo's for the rest of the day. I met Neasa, Helen n Karen.
After the 2 hour drive home, I fell in the door fed the pets and threw on a frozen pizza. Blissful day.

LOOKIE! my stash from the day

The next weekend - last weekend - we had Supercrop, which is in aid of the trust. A day of crafting, more shops, goodie stall, bottle stall, raffle... CAKE STALL and more. I cant begin to say how much i enjoyed that. I have the most supportive and wonderful friends....

check out these felty flowers from Sian's felt stall!

CS

2009-10-05T15:52:00.005+01:00

I can't seem to add this to my gadgets list!

Craft Supplies is a great place to get your stash, they even have an open shop a few days a week WITH wedding invite sample books I really recommend a visit!
Tired brain cant get the special 'blinkie' working

wwwcraftsupplies.ie !

crafting / crop / eeeee

2009-09-23T16:41:00.004+01:00

Im a ball of excitement wrapped in a ball of 'hee' - by saturday ill also be wrapped in a ball of eurphoria. Athlone! the great big craft extravaganza! Athlone shall be a Mecca for the day. There will be shops and wall to wall demo's. I'm also bound to run into some of the girls.

Then the following sunday 4th oct is the supercrop in dunshaughlin! the craft fair in aid of the trust. im wondering how we will fit it all in in a few hours. stamping and shops, demos and crops - and tea.

Thank THEE

2009-09-23T16:29:00.002+01:00

Crafting never let up - that's probably why my hand took a bit longer to heal than it should! - but then any crafter knows it's hard to hold you back when you get the 'urge' - that's right - crafters have urges harhar.

So i needed the first round of thank you cards.
i like the fact so much of it is reclaimed stuff - the pendant is a button from a bag gran gave me, the gold is a springy thing i foung, the purple paper is from a bag i had! its a card to say thanks for donating a big jewellery voucher for Adams Jewellers in killarney.

Most of the cards were thank you's related to fundraising - this was a thankie for Geraldine for her hard work on the trust - and for giving me Monty (dog)!

I love that stamp,,,, a general ty to the patrons, members etc at kilcummin GAA bar

Im including this one cos i like the green bit - it's actually a piece of garden party garland - felt.

Advertising

2009-09-08T20:30:00.000+01:00

We were at a kids party at the weekend - a 6 yr old - the parents got her some Mood sand - which she assked for and we got to talking. I asked why she got it, it looked kinda boring - you make a things and then lose interest. Also, the sand colours mix - which some kids don't grasp is a bad idea to do. I was told they saw them on tv.
It reminded me of when I was a kid and saw something arty on TV, that I just had to have. It was never as good as it looked nor as fun. You get completely reeled in by the jolly music and great camera angles and dolled up kids.

The thing t hyat also hits me now is the stuff in the ads might have been made with the kits but they were done by adults, they are to be on tv afterall. So a kid hasn't a hope of theirs looking like that. Which was disappointing at the time.

I was disappointed with what I managed to make, how fun they were to use and how long the interest lasted with that mr frosty ice pop maker thingie, fashion wheel, those plaster cast things, candle maker and pottery wheel. There were loads more.
A lot of them were very straight forward and didn't take much creativity because it was all there.

I sound like a granny!

Necklace of love

2009-09-05T01:16:00.002+01:00

I may be down a paw - one hand out of action - but you know me, not much stops me. Bridie (friend) asks do I have any jewellery made? Only, she used a necklace I made as the main prize at the last coffee morning raffle and the next is soon. But not before I'll be bandage-less. So I said i'd make one. Dad offered to help!
I designed it, did the findings (endings) and wired up the heart but dad strung the beads. Thanks Homer!

as usual, click to enlarge!

Orders

2009-09-03T19:11:00.003+01:00

It's not that i haven't been crafting -i surely have. But when it comes to sharing / updating this blog.... (!) i've mainly had card orders - well, 2. A lovely lady I know is probably my biggest 'customer' - i love the chance to mix it up and add variety. but i havn't made much else. The eyes still aren't 100 percent - but ALOT better.

It is unfortunate though cos 2 fabulous ladies from crafting circles are organising a craft fair / supercrop for oct 4th in dunshaughlin, meath. i felt i should add to it substantially as it is about fundraising for my treatment - www.petrastrust.webs.com - but with my eyes the way they are... but i did have some paintings already - incl. the psycho doggie and the buttons! i cant begin tothink of an appropriate thank you for babs and liz.

Now im out of action for a few weeks as my hand is bandaged after an operation - doh! thankfully i did prepare and grt these done first!

Most of these are tailored to likes/favourites

kid who loves butterflies, cats, pink and purple

woman who likes purple, green, flowers

no brief for this one

kid who likes pink / purple / butterflies

general bday

general bday

general bday

Psycho-doggie

2009-08-03T23:13:00.004+01:00

The famous psycho-dog is finally ... a dog. It took me so long to actually decide what to do for a face . Ioriginally had the idea of recreating my cousins king charles spaniel Misse. To me the dog is still Misse in essence but my plans for a more realistic representation gave way - as usually happens - to somthing stranger. I go with the flow and the current usually drifts me to WTF? land.

It's a canvas I reused. It had a generic floral print which I bought in a supermarket but as it's the size of a standard living room tv screen I thought 'that's the biggest canvas you'll get for a fiver!'

It's a pity the camera can't really show the texture, you can see the lumpyness but it looks more messy here than textural and the colours - apart from the golen bronze - are neon bright. To be honest I think it looks kinda flat there - even the baby pink looks beige...

Buttons gallore

2009-08-03T23:05:00.002+01:00

Buttons! buttons! Granny gave me a bag of old buttons (and I just realised I never posted the oilpainting of grandad, I fear I might have deleted that from the camera...) she saves things. I had to get my womble ways from somewhere. She particularly likes to save buttons as she knits things herself so she knows herself you never know when you'll need a button. I remember when I was 12 she gave me a box of them to give to my art teacher.
Well she saves things but she is also practical and palms things off on people who'll use them. I've many a scrap of wool. Well, there are only so many buttons I can use on a card so I suddenly had a vision of a circular canvas (which i had), sunshine and buttons.

Altered rack

2009-08-03T22:54:00.002+01:00

'show us your rack' they say. But the desire is to see a bathroom rack which I gave a new lease of life to, not my lady shelf. Whether this is a good thing or not i'm not sure.

So here is proof i'm alive. The blog feels a bit neglected! I have crafted a bit of late but my eyes have been playing silly beggars for weeks. But household chores will wait for no man and finally I could put it off no more. The bathroom rack was overloaded, rusty, paint was chipping and yep... rusty. Bit of an eyesore. So I sand it and spray a base coat then 3 quarters blindedly stood in the sun (best ventilation - get thee outdoors to paint when you can) painting my rack a deep lilac to match the bathroom walls. Then I spy some purple sample paint i got in a DIY store 5 years ago and get an idea.

It's still an overloaded rack but it's not rusty

Thinking

2009-07-05T23:31:00.003+01:00

You'd be surprised how much time an artist spends thinking. Even ones like me, who like to dive in ASAP. Well if you're a fellow crafter maybe you won't be surprised but ...... take the thinking time and multiply it by 10 or even 100 at times. I dither unreasonably over some projects. Like this oil painting of my granddad; I drew out the base sketch months ago. I haven't had any 'must finish that psychedelic dog picture' feelings either.

I'm one who finishes a project she starts but I do find that i'm slower to work if it's just a piece for me or for 'no reason'.
I have been doing cards and that.... I wake up at the worst times of night thinking 'I want to make several cards like NOW' but I never do it as the studio is hardly warm at the small hours.

Truthfully I have had no major urges to paint since I did mam's mural but I have been thinking. I've been planning layouts for a few pieces and trying to coax myself into finish P. dog - although I do know it will happen when it happens, if I force myself i'll just force out a piece of rubbish. Maybe that's what most artists do - gear themselves up to things and contemplate. In fact, my college tutor didn't believe I contemplated things enough. Perhaps that was true once... but you live and learn.

I don't want to end up being one of those who constantly mean to do things - they mean to sit down and write or they think about a book they intend to start or finish for years and never do it. They could have a genuine reason. But I have no reason not to do my thing!

So for now i'm in semi-silent contemplation but I am not in any shape of form of a yoga pose.

New Cards

2009-06-26T23:19:00.002+01:00

As promised, some of my latest cards. I did mention a more.... erratic looking style. But it comes and goes! I never do the same thing, I like to mix it up a litte (as the saying goes).

So.. some of these are charity cards... some are cards I made to send.

Erratic baby boy

this has to be one of the most erratic. I didn't like it. Well.... I wasn't sure where the heck I was going with 'erratic' at first!

I have stamps, not that i use them too much. But i've been trying to lately, so it doesn't seem a waste to have them. I also started a bit of love affair with buttons here - I suspect it's more than a passing fling ;)

I did a padded parcel card a few years ago. Really like the effect, thought it was about time i QA/ try it again and B/ use my flippin' stars!

This is one of those papers I saved but never used. So I thought after owning it for 4 years, it was about time I used it!

I will have to hold my hand up and admit that I was channel hopping one day and there was flip all on, I came across a kiddie art show. I mean REAL kiddie. They looked about 6. They were doing the basket weave thing with paper and i'm thinking 'i've gotta do that, it's yonks since I have'. So it's a bit of an experiment card with chalks, ink/stamps/hairspray etc.

So I needed some baby cards for my own godson and I saw this FAB idea of making a card look like a piece of baby furniture. I wanted to do a wardrobe but I also wanted to do it with a trifold card and had no cardstock (technically I could do it on a regular card but I was pretty adament on this particular card) so did some baby drawers instead. Its a shame I didn't think to put a baby nappy (hehe baby 'drawers') on the drawers at the time.

and finally.. (this is glittery but... camera's eh..) my godson was - according to scans - a girl. But when he was born it was glaringly obvious that he was not in fact a girl. So I played with that and added the joke to the card. It says 'baby girl' under the 'baby boy' sign!

Paper thoughts

2009-06-21T00:56:00.002+01:00

Elisa posted a layout on her blog. Talking about how she seems to save her best papers. That's familiar! It seems perhaps a popular trend with crafters to save their best paper and try to use the 2nd best. It got to the stage where I had heaps of pretty paper and had to tell myself to use the better stuff as well.

I always save a paper thinking 'i'll use that for X's birthday' or 'for X occasion' and when the time comes I decide upon something else and it's usually not one of those saved pretty papers I saved. Simply because I end up having a design idea in mind that doesnt suit that paper or something.

At this stage i've been crafting so long that shopping for paper has become a skill. I don't have any 'naff' paper! I may have some that is just stunning and some that is not so stunning but is still pretty. You develop an eye for this kind of thing. But if, like me, you often buy paper in pads or packs then you'll inevitably end up with some that don't really strike any chords in you.

It all comes down to what you do with it. even the plainest paper will look great with the right design on top. So I have different degrees of paper. muddy paper, too-expensive-looking-to-user-much paper, cutesy paper, children's paper, classic-looking paper and the list goes on. It's a shame i haven't a huge storage unit to separate it all! I mentioned before, I love paper. I'm a total paper womble. Collected 'fancies' as a kid. So for me a paper is quite often my starting point with a card.

If I did have a huge storage device for paper you can be sure I would still have a 'my best paper - donta touchie' drawer. No matter how savvy a paper shopper you are; you'll always have a special selection. A special selection you have to force yourself to use.

Crop: Card

2009-06-16T12:52:00.002+01:00

This is the card from last weeks crop - as promised. I wasn't keen on it when I made it, it's very busy and I thought it was too haphazard but people seem to like it... maybe cos it's shiny and glittery. Anyhoo since people like it, I hate it less. Well I don't hate it. I do like flutterfby's lately and this card was made for someone special who had a tough time with health so the butterfly is symbolic.

I seem to be working in this fashion lately... more 'ballsy' design/layouts like this. I'll post some more card pics soon to show what I mean. I did think I was just not feeling crafty so I wasn't working on form. But now I wonder if my style has just developed. I just wanna point out my cards are all different but there is a discernible style there: colour and well... something I can't put my finger on.

the cost of creativity

2009-06-15T23:31:00.003+01:00

I've just been very busy with non crafty stuff and between that and generally not feeling crafty most days I haven't felt like it. I will get some cards done this week. I hope!

Even when we aren't feeling crafty, an art or craft-related hobby isnt cheap. Even if you make use of recycling or reuse canvas', paint will cost an arm and a leg. I've certainly flashed the cash. The price of a good hobby. I suppose if you look at it this way... say you took up line dancing or kick boxing or whatever. You'd pay for the classes and the shoes, possibly even clothes. And they'll need replacing at some stage. Not many hobbies are free!

I'll have pics of the card I did at last weeks crop tomorrow... and maybe some of my latest makes... I have to admit I haven't done the planned ATC's yet! Partly due to lack of motivation as I haven't swapped the last batch yet.

Lets hope it gets more exciting here soon, we all have our down times i guess.

papercrafts

2009-06-09T19:51:00.001+01:00

I have been crafting a bit... emphasis on BIT. I just haven't felt very creative lately and the weather was glorious last week so I wasn't gonna be stuck inside! I also have no inclination to paint at all since the last mural... I blame the weather mostly. It's fun to blame it all on the boog... er... weather ;)

I WAS at a crop this morning. A crop is basically a group of crafters getting together (over tea) to make cards or scrap etc. Sharing ideas and getting a bit of a product demo. Cos we all have some products others wont have. Never been to one of these before. It gets you out of the house ;) and I now have my eye on a certain crafting machine.... due to lack of cre ative urges, I didn't pick up any ideas or techniques but had I been living less in La La land I might have!

I w as trying to remember an origami fold someone showed me. The Blintz Base. They make great card toppers. But couldnt remember it really as I was shown it a while back. So I worked on some weird variation of it that was less origami. I'm not the most patient of people so I'm not great at getting even measurements cos I work so fast.

Fixed mural

2009-05-30T23:17:00.005+01:00

'Fixed'... that should say 'made presentable'! It's not perfect - what art is.... but it does the job and covers the unsightly butterfly. I think i used too big a brush for some of it and mum thinks i painted over a butterfly only to paint a goldfish in the flowers! (Says if you tilt your head you see a goldfish in the left side - staring ahead) well it was a learning experience. Plan... Better. And the chance to practice with the brush is always good. Although I would have preferred to be outside in the (rare) sunshine! It's not often that the Irish sun manages to beat down. Even if it is every day at the moment. Rare I tell you!

and a closeup....

I'm pleased I managed to fix it even if I shouldn't have had to! (i.e. woulda been cool had I not messed up!) You live and learn and I do think I got something from each mural so far...

When murals go wrong

2009-05-29T00:31:00.003+01:00

It all started out well,,, things were slower because the mural design required more layers and they were less spread out so I couldn't work on one piece while another dried. The flowers weren't bad. I started work at about 11am-ish.... and finished the flowers at about 8pm. It all went wrong when I started on the butterflies for two reasons... mental fatigue is no one's friend, certainly not an artists! I was physically my usual banjaxed and very sore self but my mind was trying to catch some open-eyed Z's.

Coupled with the fact I didn't prepare the butterfly design enough. I should have planned shape and colour. I DID plan vaguely but it wasn't a style that suited the flower type I did.And definitely not with those colours. Imagine a cartoon butterfly that had a run in with a paintbrush accident sitting on a very classy flower and you might get the picture!

Knowing it just didnt look right at all, I tried to fix it. Got very frustrated. I hate to fail and felt like I had and just felt like painting over it with magnolia wall paint.
So I actually said 'i'm not finishing that, we should paint over it' but after sitting down to my Thursday sesh with Bones on the TGV, I was a bit less 'ah-freak-out-waaaaah!'. The butterflies were painted over with magnolia but the flowers were left. The only problem is there's an (unsuitable!) butterfly in the flower mass. So.... in a day or two I'll go back and paint over it - more flowers. I think for my sanity i'll leave the butterfly idea! Maybe i'll paint one on a canvas.....

A week of craft

2009-05-26T15:02:00.003+01:00

I'm not up to any one particular project this week. I'm still working on the psychedelic dog I mentioned and some charity greeting cards.... I'm also gonna do a mural of flowers and butterflies on mum's wall. Well her room is a boring magnolia mostly so she needs something more fetching to look at and i'm keen to give murals another lash. So I need to sit down and hammer out a design. Kinda like flower arranging on a wall I suppose :P Can't have them every-which-way. I'm also keen to do a decent butterfly motif. I'm collecting digital one's on Facebook at the mo', so is mum. So there'd be no excuse for a dull wing.

This morning I also got some fab ATC stuff from Isobel. I don't usually use pre-made images on my ATC's but they're little tiny postcards with great photo-style images. I have an idea... i'll make a set of ATC's with the images and use quotes and wording... maybe to illicit memories or feeling particularly for history. So it's a project in a way....
Let's see.... 'they said she was the ship of dreams'..... 'men at arms... lest not we forget our history'
and some are more recent history. Childhood (even if the pictures depict children from the early 1900's and I don't think we have many folks who go back that far!) 'ice cream and deck chairs'
There's about a dozen. I'm wondering where in the world these post cards came from. I THINK they were probably sold for ATC's simply because they're the right size but who knows... I love old stuff. If they were real I don't think I could do this to them ! On the other hand, if they were real it'd almost be a sign or respect so long as they weren't cut up or actually stuck down (being able to read the back!)

Scrapbooking - favourite things

2009-05-22T17:58:00.004+01:00

I haven't scrapped much (scrapbooking for those not in the know) - I like it when I do it, I just don't tend to make stuff without a reason (even cards). So this is actually my 2nd scrapped page.

What is scrapbooking anyway? Crafters could give you lots of answers so i'll answer from my perspective. It's basically about creatively presenting a photo or photo's. You tie in the theme with the photo or occasion. Or tie in the colours... there's lots of ways to go. This is craft after all! Just as there is a pretty much endless choice of embellishments - presentation - colour combos - layouts etc. A scrapped page can be devoid of photos. You might like to use a poem! Some of them go on display in giant 12 X 12 frames and some go in an album. It's a lot like carding in some ways (card making) but you have a lot more space to work with so what works on a card wont necessarily work on an L.O (layout - same thing as a scrapped page. So that's a basic answer - basic!......

I enjoy the challenge of trying to make my craft materials fit such a huge space. Designing an eye catching layout.
Thisd was actually a monthly challenge set on the crafty forum. The brief is simple 'my favourite things' - which can be done on a card, scrapped page, altered item etc.
Ok so CATS is hardly 'wow, who knew'..... I did consider (for a laugh) taking a photo of a blank 12 X 12 page. I'm a real paper freak. Love it.... Then (for another laugh) I considered taking a pic of myself and sticking my prescription painkillers in a spiral on a 12 X 12 page - making it look like im eating. But I decided A/ that might be taken the wrong way (I love my tablets cos they help but it could be misconstrued as addiction!) and B what a waste of meds!
I have a load of ... all sorts floating around the studio. I spotted a pic I considered using on that old book project. The cats are called the munchkins. They were foster cats staying with a friend of mine who found them in her garden. Anyhoo.... they were really gorgeous cats - Aynia is a photographer and she'd spend hours photographing these two! This one was a snapshot at bed time.

So yes... one of my fave things.... the felid!

curiosity dyed the cat

2009-05-19T22:34:00.002+01:00

I just had to share!
So, I brought a load of stuff back from college, the sofa was strewn with artwork both in the style of semi-decent and utter-rubbish. I go to the loo and come back into the room to see the big black sack of life drawing papers shaking. So I peer closer and Picasso's head pops out (Picasso being my psychotic cat). But wait for it, amusing as this is giving her namesake.... She is covered in bright red pastel! If only I had the camera to hand at the time! She is half white so you can guess the state! I nearly died laughing. Her entire face, both ears, her neck and fore paws....

I'd gotten most of it off with a baby wipe but even now she's quite pink! This is the rascal. Still a bit pink here but she's so bloody white it just doesnt show.

Brings to mind that time the other cat in my life - Jessie (no, not an artist!) - sat on a wet painting and another time she walked across a wet one, leaving a trail of gold paw prints all over the house.

Theory - kids

2009-05-19T14:35:00.003+01:00

I had this discussion the other day with mum but just kept forgetting I wanted to jot down my thoughts! She does like the murals. She told me 'to be honest i'd go for a jungle or something. Cartoons come and go very fast for most kid. They'll grow out of it in in a couple of years.' I was thinking the same thing while I was working on the murals. She also said 'kids are practically brainwashed by TV.... by the time you buy the wallpaper and the lamps and bedding they've almost moved on to something else' Which has truth in it. I don't know that many kids who stick to a cartoon for long. At least after the age of 6.

But... I think at least they get a few years. Like any artist I'd hate to see someone destruct my work (or paint over it) but you have to kind of expect that to happen with murals and just hope they like it enough not to do it for a while.
At least the kids will enjoy them for a while. I liked painting cartoons! But i'd agree if they were my kids i'd probably want to do flowers and butterflies or like a frieze with animals (or cars et for boys) - something that'd last longer. To the age of 10 rather than 6.

You don't always get a choice with kids I suppose. I know Nathan was pretty adamant he wanted a train. Mary wanted the yellow doll but only decided on the day that that's what she wants. She told her mam a couple of days before hand she wanted one like her big sisters! Kinda highlights the point a bit!

Share!

2009-05-19T14:21:00.004+01:00

I have a few things to post about but first I have to share how tickled pink I am about the college finals results. 6 Distinctions, a merit and a pass! The pass was in sculpture and I really didn't think i'd do well there anyway cos while I enjoy it when I start, it just doesn't set me on fire :P I was surprised at the painting score - 90%! the merit was for design. It's only barely a merit. A bit more and i'd have gotten Distinction so that's cool. Good scores all round and considering my lack of passion for sculpture compared to paint or drawing then i'm pleased to have gotten what I did.
I'm still shocked about the Distinction in drawing. I got 2 of these results last year (hard to explain!) and at the time my line work wasn't as confident as it is now - but I still got 93%. I don't think i'm brilliant with drawing or any other art media but it'd be false modesty to say I think i'm rubbish. I will often say where a piece I have made is less than perfect. But I don't make out I can't stand it (unless I really can't that is! in which case it may never see the light of day or i'd work it to a presentational death)

The thing i'm most happy about is that the work is judged on a national level. And the examiner had no idea i'm deaf so there was no slack cutting. The work is judged purely on what it is. I have to admit that prior to examination that very fact might actually worry you a bit! Because often when we look at work we look a lot more favorably on work done by someone we know.

I'll finish banging on about that now!

Murals n Toonz

2009-05-16T23:23:00.015+01:00

Call off the search party! I made it back from Laois in one piece, although a smidge later than planned. Originally I was only gonna do one of the murals this week but I ended up doing all 3. I was enjoying it, definitely didn't seem as bad as expected. So thought 'why not?'

I was surrounded by kids but - unlike in the past - they respected that my paintbrushes aren't toys and they seemed happy to watch (I was afraid they might try to join in or get ideas about drawing on the walls with pencil as i have to draw my pictures like that first). They behaved so work went swiftly. I tell you though... I really hope I never need to do a mural above the top bunk bed again. Couldn't use my KNEES after that...

The second is my favourite. Partly because I didn't need to climb up anything and it's a really big picture. Plus, it's a cute toon... It was basically a joy to do.

From a technical aspect I found that getting the (mixed) paint to spread out evenly can be a real challenge. Consistency over a large space. So either you mix a feck load of paint up front (and risk having way too much) or you find a way to work a little inconsistency into the picture.

Anyroad - the first murals I've ever done. Some popular toons for some friends kids.

1)

2)
I have one of this pic with the kids too, to get a better idea of size. But it won't upload at the mo.....

3)

I'd give it another go sometime. There's a lot of enjoyment there!

Wall plans

2009-05-11T17:23:00.004+01:00

I was in town today (it's bloody gorgeous out there by the way) for some paint. Some family friends asked me to do some cartoons on their kids walls. When they first asked about 2 years ago I said no. The main reason was I just didn't have that kind of confidence with a paintbrush, especially on a vertical surface. Well they asked again a few months ago and I said yes, they managed to tie me down to a date at the weekend. So off I went for the paint.... I'm planning a kind of sandwich... bit of glaze on a blank wall.... then glaze in the paint..... then glaze on top of the dry paint. Should help it last.

I didn't promise perfection - just something that'd vaguely represent their namesakes. I'll do my best and i'm keen to see how the whole mural thing turns out cos i'd be up for doing that some more in the future. Mix it up a bit. But its a good job I have something like this to cut my mural-making teeth on. Hopefully the kids expectations won't be too high!

Anyhoo.... this art shop was always a favourite. It was like THE art shop when I was at college. It's a friggin' great place to get doublesided tape at a decently, disgracefully and pleasantly cheap price for the card making thing. Its ridiculously expensive in stationary stores. It's like an Aladdin's cave of art. If I need a canvas - I go there. If I need any kind of paint (even kiddie) - I go there. They even have some card making stuff and a lot of arty peripherals that can be very hard to find. Amazing how hard it is to find a tiny plastic zippy bag for ATC's or something.
If I needed art stuff for playschool kids - i'd go there. They have a great selection. I was thinking (oh god, the C word....) that it'd be the perfect place for sveral craft related kids pressies next Christmas (agh).

I'm starting the first mural in a few days. Cover my back, I'm gong in and if i'm not back by the weekend, send a search party Laois-ways.

Saturday - craftday

2009-05-10T00:27:00.004+01:00

Saturday became craftday. I'm not sure when it happened. Maybe after I finished college... when I was AT college, I felt crafty enough 5 days a week. It's not the only day I craft but everyone likes a day to relax (unfortunately not everyone gets it). The world seems to go at a slower pace on satudays (not quite the draaaaaaaaaag slow sundays can be), people are in a more jovial mood and personally I just want to get out to the studio more so than on any other day of the week.

For the last few weeks it's mainly been ATC's, a card, a necklace... some notelets. But the bigger one is a painting i'm working on.
It's 12.30am and i'm currently watching paint dry in the way i've become accustomed to. I bought a cheapo canvas that had a picture of a flower on it... figured I could cover it in run of the mill house paint. It'd be similar to 'reclaiming' an old painting. I actually had a certain pink wall paint in mind. I do not have pink walls but dad (who might not admit it) is a bargain hunter at heart and found a load of great paint going for chips.

I get out all my brushes etc. Then it turns out there is no pink paint, dad had used it with a tin of something else to paint the hall door or the kitchen or something. Luckily there was lilac purple instead. So the idea I had of 'psychedelic colours' was still doable. I spent ages adding layers of purple. Then decided I quite fancy painting a cavalier king charles spaniel. Albeit an electric pink/ orange/ gold one.

And here's where it gets even more different. When I paint I like to work fast. Even if i'm at it for hours, I will prefer to do it all at once. It's the same with anything I do (even reading a book), I just wanna keep going. Which wasn't a popular mindset in college.... I decided to take this one layer by layer by freaking layer. I've done so many layers on my 'psycho dog' so far, it's practically a paint sandwich. Let me tell you, this has been a very different experience. I started this piece a month ago. I don't work on it every day. It could be 1-3 days a week. But still... that is slow. maybe my tutor would be proud of me. Or say that's too friggin' slow. I'm enjoying taking my time and actually finding it helpful. I have to analyse each layer. I can think ahead and plan. Pieces that are done in a day or two are much more.... emotional. Although the brush strokes on the dogs ears do have a certain look. Maybe it's just my style showing through....

One of the first things an artist has to do is let go of the feeling that their work has to look perfect at each stage. I quite often find my work looks like a dogs dinner till its actually finished. I do go with my instinct or intuition a lot, which helps me. I'm not aware of a time where I ever felt my work had to be perfect at each stage but you do have to get used to people being able to see your work before it's done. Whether that is a teacher, a college tutor or a family member. There's usually someone.
During my first few weeks at college I was painting one of my rare full pieces at the time. One of the first actually... one of the other students sat behind me and looked at me through the whole process. At first I felt self conscious about it, especially as I was totally new to painting so fine and he was a student with real arty skills. After a while I just forgot about the fact I was being watched. I felt the same way any time anyone came near me to see what I was working on. There is no magical potion for it except to just get over the fear and get used to it. Nowadays I leave unfinished things anywhere (safe!) - the psycho dog is currently on the sofa. It WAS on the kitchen counter.

The fast and the furious is my kind of artistic approach but the 'go slow' has it's appeal!

ATC collection

2009-05-09T18:06:00.005+01:00

One of the things i'm hellbent on collecting (apart from cat figurines) is ATC's. I'd better explain what that is... i'd been making cards for a year and a half before I even heard about these. Artist Trading Cards. Think 'top trumps', or the kind of trading cards we collected as kids (I had puppy in my pocket ones for a while but nothing compared to my childhood collection/fetish with fancy paper, keyrings and soap). Basically it's a trading card size piece of card all decked out in whatever form the artist chooses. One of the few rules is that they must be 2.5 x 3.5 inches. And that they cannot be bought or sold, only swapped.

I absolutely love them.... it's a brilliant way to use up scraps and 'useful crap' that might not be big enough to be useful on a greeting card. I'm a bit of a hoarder. I hate to throw anything out if it has a use. I only gave up saving cardboard food boxes when I realised that I already had more than I could feasibly use. I'll tare the ribbon off gift papers, ditto with the tags, I have a few bells that came on Easter bunny eggs. It's kinda like recycling I suppose.... just the other week I took the backs from some sticker packs (ok a kid gave t hem to me knowing that I love cats and the image was of a cat....) and incorporated them into some ATC's. Finding uses for something that would otherwise end up in the bin is (not so strangely) satisfying.

There are many things I like a 'good one' of.... I like a well baked cookie, or a good paintbrush and I like a good ATC. I've kept pictures of every one i've made (like with all my art work) with the knowledge that I might put them in a book (at least for myself) someday. That's a lot of pictures.... I recently went through the one's I had swapped and counted 58. So i'll show off the collection. Maybe you'll understand why i'm unreasonably batty about them

I'll show a few of my recent makes:

alot of mine are animal themed - i'd say about 60%

History

2009-05-08T15:32:00.003+01:00

Well, i've gathered some things for now.Maybe i have more but there is such a thing as info overload - and might as well leave something to do for another time (plus, i'm kinda thinking 'Chinese food' here).

I thought it might be an idea to give some background. But to do that i'll have to go all the way back to school. I loved art, always did. When I was 4, I insisted I wanted to be a heart attack when I grew up. (I meant architect). My mother thinks I showed a lot of creativity with drawing when I was small but it all went downhill in the regimented structure of school. But mothers are pretty biase d so who knows...
I absolutely stank smelly beans at art in school. I was desperate with a paintbrush and could just about churn out an acceptible piece of crap. I felt like I was completely rubbish at it compared to how well so many classmates dres. So any art ambitiobs I had died at a young age. I still gave art class a fair lash. I still enjoyed it. But I was aware....
I think things got a smidge better in 5th year. I could paint between the lines... sort of. It was acceptible work. I still seemed to lack any artistic ability compared to everyone else. Maybe my art teacher saw something cos she did ask was I interested in going to an art college. I said no. But only because I didn't believe I had the talent for it. Perhaps I still don't.

I still continued to love art - I took up card making to keep me occupied when I was waiting for surgery on my neck. W hich was a longer wait than we thought it'd be. My card stash started off as a two drawer caddy. It's currently a standard sized garden shed masquerading as a studio inb the garden.
The turning point was when I finally had that surgery and should have lost the use of my arm (which happens to be the dominant one) and when that didn't happen I went for it.... within weeks I signed up for an art college course. I realised that i'm necessairly crap, just different. My own artist so to speak (like anyone is) - thank god I got better at handling a paintbrush and a bloody pencil though.

So here I am... finished college. I don't think i'll ever be a professionally working artist. It's a bloody competitive field. And to be honest i'd rather continue enjoying art. I like to write, gave the journalism thing a go once... emnded up in a barney with the editor and realised i'd only end up hating something I really enjoy if I continued. Pretty much how I feel about art.

I'm no picasso but I love a good paintbrush

2009-05-08T15:19:00.003+01:00

I've done quite a few paintings at this stage - while the subject matter changes there is a discernible style... again with the made, jazzy and funky.
There is one subject matter - or style - or even both... that stands out at the mo. I did a painting titled 'supernova' for an animal rescue auction 3 years ago. It was an A4 piece and believe me I didn't expect it to go for what it did. The style is popular. Since then I've been asked to do it several times. But one thing about me is I never do 2 of anything exactly the same (I did make a set of matching cards once but I think there's a difference between 'matching' and 'copy')
The great thing I have found is that it's a versatile style. That might not be outright obvious but so far any such painting I do elicits different emotions and thoughts.

that was a backwards version of supernova. Part of a seasons collection, so this is the summer one.

Spring

Autumn

Bizarre? - this is actually a (strange) portrait of my dad. It has a lot of symbol work in there (half the face has no detail for example, but it's sparkly?) and I think it has an Egyptian feel..... Not sure what else to say about that one.

Yummy yummy yummy I got love in my tummy. Most artwork I do - or craftwork - is usually a gift for someone. This was a gift for someone last xmas. You look at it and it speaks 'colourful' but what other function might it have? Makes me bloody hungry, is that a function?

Book destruction

2009-05-08T15:07:00.004+01:00

I respect books, I hate to see them thrown about even if it's a pile of rubbish like a book on tax law. A book is ... a book. Fast becoming a bit outdated, some say. Yet, every time i'm on the bus I see several people with their nose buried in one.

So what to do if you have an old hardback with damage (and it was kinda rubbish anyway but the point is, it's damaged) ? Well you could throw it out. Or you could have a bit of fun with it........

Another artist suggested I do something with a book. Right from the start I was thinking of those books with hidden slots for guns and so on.
So I got knife happy and gutted half the book..... pulled a big rectangle of paper from one half of the book.
I don't think the rest needs explaining. But I would like to say I would do it differently if I had to do it again.....

A heat gun was a mistake when i was trying to seal up pages before applying paint. It completely left a lot of .... pocks and strange texture. Which might have worked if I had 'worked' the glue....
The next thing I would chajnge is t he bloody PVA glue glaze I added. You'd think i'd know by now that it doesn't leave things shiny (what I was after) - it might look better. Have more depth, if it was shiny.

The whole development was fun but there's one point that sticks out. I had a piece of fringey stuff that'd be great on a bookmark but it was cream. I wanted purple. Mum bakes a lot but had nothing but blue dye or something.... and the shop here is pretty crappy with selections..... so i coloured ll over a few scraps of paper with really deep purple marker and put them in a glass. stuck the fringe inm and swished it around. Leaving it overnigh.

Apart from the ever changing nature of art - the way it makes you think and find solutions is way up there in the Pro points.

Creatful cards - part 1

2009-05-08T14:52:00.003+01:00

The thing about me and cards is, I like to taoilor anything I do. Include a part of the recipient in the card design. Even just their favourite colour. But of course I do less tailored cards. You'd be very bored if you only did cards for particular people on particular occasions.

But that's where i'll start because - well - why not? I still find t he cigarette shaped one amusing (I dont smoke myself but mum has her vices so it was a good choice of card for her)

The handbag card I made for my gran. It looks a bit young perhaps but she kept it till it eventually fell apart from handling so I guess that's ok. I love to reuse 'useful crap' like I said *(i currently have a pop tart box waiting to be used and yes I know what for ;)). The bag handle is an old set of bangles wrapped in ribbon. The card itself was cut from a large A3 sheet. and the bit of bling on the front was a broken necklace I really liked - couldn't fix - and wasn't gonna feck in the bin.

'The Ciggie' - that magical puff. Mum swears its one of her few remaining vices. For some reason I was thinking 'Puff the magic dragon (down by the sea... sorry I tend to get lost in song)' the foil is a piece of fabric

This may not be a 'piece de resistence' type card. But I loved the challange. One of the girls at the craft forum set a challange: a halloween card that must have the colours used here and must depict in some way a scary movie. I think you'll spot the corpse bride there. Yes that movie is a bit freaky :P
TRhe really freaky think is the bride hangs off the card like she's lunging at you.

Somneone came to me for a card for a visual artist. So I kind of went mad.... took the liberty of going funky with colour and texture. Made a little easel an the rest speaks for itself.

I still quite like this card. When I was at college one of the tutors was leaving so I made the card from everyone. I did a project (about cats - the shock.....) and my drawing style was popular with the tutors so I drew the cat in an artists smock, but in my style of drawing and shading. Found a nice dictionary explanation of artist and went for again....; visuals and texture. I love it when I can go bonkers.....

Just to show I CAN do less 'weird' cards!

Jewellery Exhibition number 1

2009-05-08T14:31:00.004+01:00

I've got so much jewellery at this stage. I started making it in 2006. My cousin Annemarie was getting married and as a bridesmaid I suggested as a gift i'd make keepsakes for the guests. Like Uber table favors. There were 200 or so adults (possibly less but I made a lot of things to be sure) and about 20 kids. Special necklaces for mother of the bride and groom and t he bride and grrom themselves. You'd think i'd be sick of the sight of beads, wire and keyrings.... But after a few months of twiddling my thumbs I got an itch I had to scratch and bought a shocking stash of beads, seed beads and toold. I've been at it ever since. So there's a lot of stuff.... I'll just start with a few bits.

this is the most recent piece and I just realised the person I made it for will probably see it now. Haven't given it yet. At least it isn't a birthday girft or something.....

My fave little 'yolk' to do. The beaded duder. It's my own design but who's to say what's gone before?

I had leftover hematite and had that stone disc sat in my drawer for ages so I though 'what the hey' and wrapped in in wire to make the pendant. Turned out to be one of my fave pieces (and one of the few I make and keep myself)

So I was asked for something specific... a magnetic hematite bracelet for an arthritis suffer. Well of course I HAD no magnetic hematite but aren't shops a handy thing (I'm such a well known Bead customer the girl at the bead shop I use has le arned how to say thank you in sign language) And what do you know... I spotted a magnetic rhodium clasp. Between the claso and the few hematite beads the lady who owns this gets stuck to forks in the cuttlery drawer (I once got stuck to the metal wall by the washing machine before I gave up on the bloody brainstem implant)

Woohoo another project. I made some snowflake shapes. I saw the wire frames in the shop, advertised as Xmas tree decs and said 'they'd make gre at necklaces' - I made for for myself and several xmas gifts. But one lady asked for an Xmas tree dec set so... true to snowflake form I made each snowflake a bit different. Unique. Fun to do even if it hurts the hand bending that (really tough) wire!

Sculpture

2009-05-08T13:58:00.006+01:00

I have a fair bit to go back over (and a naughty wireless keyboard to contend with) so i'll try lump some stuff together. I've only one sculpture to show here, this was done for a college course and it's the only college piece i'll bother showing. Most of the stuff I did in college is experimental. Not complete works. Technically this is a complete work because its more than a scrap of paper with things thrown on it.....

This sculpture epitomises craft meets art in my mind. That's simply because of the aim. It's a jewellery tree - so it's functional. But I made it out of a load of what can only be called 'useful crap'. The centre of the cats body is actually just an empty salt container wrapped in textured paper and finished with a glaze. The head is a giant wooden bead. Wrapped in play do, followed by a layer of putty. The 'handles' that look like hands or whiskers are two pieces from a broken ornament I soldered together. The wire I used to create the body looks like a lampshade but is actually just spare (strong) garden wire (again, soldered)

Believe me I didnt start out intending to do a grungy looking piece. If anythging my own style leans towards the jazzy. But it's not totally unlike me in that it is bizarre. The whole textured look on the body and head gives it a certain unfinished air. But in fact adds to the grungy look. It looks like a cross between cute (well.... cats are cute, says I) and 'well hard'.

Any kind of art has a habit of evolving right before your eyes as you create it. How often does any artist end up with exactly what they set out to do? It's not that we end up with rubbish or something didn't work out. Art just naturally evolves. The best art and most enjoyable to create is the kind where you let yourself go with the flow. You don't lose control of what you're doing!

When I realised how grungy and even GOTHIC my piece was starting to look, I changed the smooth surface and added putty texture. The Final touch was to add that collar. Sticking with my 'useful crap' theme, I grabbed a piece of ribbon from the craft drawer. Some old chain from the jewellery making kit and a needle and thread.

The reason I love art and craft as I do, is nothing is set in stone. Anything can happen.

And we're off

2009-05-08T12:49:00.003+01:00

I'll have to go back a bit, post a few projects to get started. I'm not crafting 24/7 so it'd be slow starting otherwise! If anyone ever has any questions about materials etc. fire away.
There is one thing I'd like to add.... when I feel there are really obvious changes (to me) that could be made if I did that project again, then I'll share my thoughts,

No art is ever completely finished in everyone's eyes, they say. Which is true I guess, the only thing anyone can do is decide when A/ they feel it's done B/ they feel doing more would ruin it or C/they feel it's already too much and of course any alterations at that stage would be too much + some more. But there will always be someone who likes what has been done. I actually had some thoughts on this, which I'll post about again.