Paint and paper

 

We've had a lot of drizzly, chilly days lately, which has been rubbish for getting the washing dry but good for staying in and getting on with crafty things.  Mainly printing, it's got to be said.  I joined Facebook a while ago, only to get access to useful posts on my slimming group's page.  But I've since discovered a few craft groups that look interesting.  I've just joined one for swapping ATCs - artist trading cards.  Not that I consider myself an artist, but I like splashing around the acrylic and messing about with stencils and my Gelli Arts plate.  So, I've been trying to make ATCs that're good enough to swap.  The only rule is that they're 3 and a half inches x 2 and a half.  I've cut rectangles from thin cardstock and tried to come up with ideas.  I like these red and pink ones, but they need something extra.  A focal point on each card, and I don't know what to include yet.  Maybe some text?  

The Facebook group has an artistic prompt for each month, and October's was Pop Art.  I had a quick go at something pop arty, but didn't really make any decent headway with it.  This was my only reasonably successful try.  

I'd bought an eraser to try carving into, to make a DIY printing stamp.  This eye stamp was the result and I used black acrylic paint on tissue paper, which was then cut out and glued on to a collaged background.  I was also messing about with printing pinks and purples on to card tags.  I painted and stenciled and splattered and .... it just wasn't working out.  

They looked so dull.  Lacking in that certain 'oomph!'.  So I did what I usually do in these circumstances, and cut 'em up!  I trimmed them to ATC size, and was happier with them.  I still want to add something on each card though.  Again, don't know what ... 

Finally on the subject of ATCs, I made these which also have a kind of purple/pink colour scheme to them. 

I'm happy with the scruffy, grunge kind of layers, the faint marks showing through, the odd splodges of bright colour among the washed-out shades.  

Right, let's move on ... to more messing about with paint!  (Honestly, I'm getting no sewing done at the moment.  There're various patchwork bedspreads or throws that need quilting or binding, and I really ought to devote some time to them.) 

During my browsing through YouTube, I came across Birgit Koopsen, who produces fantastic prints.  Online meandering took me to an old blog of hers.  There were decorated tags on a blog posting, and I decided to make something similar.  I die-cut half a dozen large tags in thin cardstock, then painted them white on one side.  When that dried, I glued on small pieces of text torn from a newspaper.  Over that I splodged random splashes of turquoise, green and red paint.  It all looked very messy, but fingers crossed it'd come together in the end.  

I added more white paint in the form of a bubbles stencil, and flashes of gold acrylic too.  The more layers went on the tags, the better they looked.  

I added more stenciling and reached a point where I decided they were done.  They'll be glued back to back, and form part of a journal.  I'll take a photo or two when that's assembled.  

Meanwhile, here's the cover of an earlier little book I made.  I decided the other evening to add a couple of dangly bits to the front!  For no other reason than I thought it'd be fun.  

There's a few lurex threads, a wee bit of punchinella and a little bit of collage.  If you're still in the mood for more, here's a double page spread from a notebook I really liked.  

There's something very pleasing about all those circles.  Okay, I'll finish the meandering post with my print that came from laying sage leaves on the gell plate.  

It's not entirely clear on this photo, but the veining on the leaves comes out really well.  Okay, I'll stop here.  Wander back tomorrow if you want more of my blathering on!  Hope you have a good day.  Bye! 

It's always worth rummaging around ...

Sometimes you mooch around a charity shop and find nothing of interest.  Just the usual racks of cast-off Primark and Tesco brand clothing, endless DVDs of films you'd never want to watch, plus books ghost written on behalf of celebrities you've never heard of.  Then again, sometimes you strike lucky.  

Today's rummage was very productive.  I found this battered but still handsome vintage confectionery tin.  Apparently the Squirrel Confectionery Company are a Stockport based business, and the picture on the tin's lid is a reproduction from Sir Edwin Landseer's painting 'A Piper and a Pair of Nutcrackers'.  The tin was a mere £2.99.  I spent another 99p on this handy basket in turquoise and pink.  Always useful to have a basket for storing reels of thread or any number of odds & ends.  

I also paid 99p for a pack of  'Thank You' stationery, complete with pink envelopes.  I like the seventies feel to the floral design on the paper.  A quid bought me two packs of 10 white cards with a cut-out heart design.  Not sure what I'll do with these, but I'll find a use.  Added to my haul were a couple of applecore die cuts by Debbie Shore, the pack never having been opened, and finally - ta dah! - these fab cards in cream coloured card. 

I think they're for tables at fancy events, to show the table number so you can find your seat.  I love the stylish grey numbering, and want to use them somehow for my October Make a Book challenge.  Probably joined in a long line to make a concertina book.  I'm waiting for an eBay order to arrive, lettering stencils, so these cards could be printed with an alphabet theme.  Perhaps in black & white only.  

Well, apart from my charity shop delving I also nipped into Lidl for groceries, and besides a calorific white chocolate cookie I snaffled these rolls of washi tape.  

Couldn't resist 'em, just too pretty.  Especially the kitties.  Don't you agree?  

Ooops! Been neglecting this blog ...

I haven't posted for a while, and can't give you any good reason for that.  Day to day life gets in the way sometimes. Odd jobs and irritating tasks need doing, and sometimes have to take precedent over taking pictures and wittering away on Blogger.  

Well, we managed to miss the worst of Storm Babet in this part of Yorkshire.  The rain fell continuously for an entire day, and I discovered there was a tiny gap at the top of the sliding glass doors leading to the conservatory, and through that tiny gap rain dripped down for hours!  I can't complain though, can I?  I mean, all I needed to do was deal with several sheets of soggy newspaper and a few damp cloths.  Nothing compared to the poor people whose houses have flooded.  I can't imagine how awful that'd be.  

Today's foggy.  It's nearly lunchtime and it's not fully lifted.  I've been indoors this morning, happily splashing acrylic paint around and producing yet more prints using my Gelli Arts plate.  The photo above is from a couple of pages in an upcycled board book.  I've got half a dozen babies board books in various stages of completion.  Is it any wonder my front room regularly looks like a bombsite?  Or that I never get to sit and eat my meals at the dining table? 

I treated myself the other day - damn you, Amazon!  stop tempting me with your clever marketing - anyway, I bought a couple of punches.  One is for cutting 2 inch circles and the other's for cutting corners, quite literally. 

I've already been putting them to good use.  I incorporated circles into this upcycled board book, marking the different pages to make them easy to turn to.  

I particularly like this bird.

I also used circle cut-outs on this handmade book, part of my October Make a Book challenge (which I reckon is going to carry on during November too).  

It's a concertina book, very simple to construct.  I'd got a few pages of painted paper left over from another project, so made those into a strip, joining them with circles of paper stuck on.  

Upcycled cardboard was used for the covers.  

Here's another photo of the painted pages. 

I also used several tags made of thin cardstock to make another book.  Similar colours were used throughout to give this tag book a cohesive look.  

I only meant to punch a single hole in them, but made a mistake so ended up with three instead, which worked out well in the end.  

I made a not-very-professional-looking video, flicking through the pages, and stuck it on Instagram.  It's really tricky to flick through a book with one hand while attempting to hold a phone steady with the other.  While I was finishing off printing these tags I played around with another surface to print on too.  Interfacing.  Yup, the stuff you iron on to your flimsy fabric in order to strengthen it.  According to a nifty video on Gelli Arts YouTube channel, you can print on interfacing, then stick it into your art journal.  It adds interest to your page, but also strength to the paper, especially if you're also stitching on the page, whether by hand or machine sewing.  

I'll wait for the interfacing to fully dry before having a go at ironing it onto paper or fabric.  What else did I print on this morning?  Well, this made an appearance.  

I'd bought this Filofax from a charity shop for 99 pence.  What, I wondered, would the pages look like covered in acrylic?  Would the flimsy paper stand up to layers of paint?  Yup, they did.  

I'm going to stencil and stamp them further, but I was quite pleased with how these once-pristine white pages turned out so far.  

Righty-ho!  There are only two more things I have to relate.  Strange but true.  Firstly, egg cartons make really great patterns in paint!  A random fact, but ...

Who needs fancy shop-bought stencils when you can delve into the recycling bin?  Oh, and plastic sink mats make pretty patterns on the gell plate too.  

A plastic non-slip mat measuring 40cm x 30cm, I cut it into pieces and it's great for adding texture to prints.  Cost about £1.50 from one of those Poundworld/Home Bargains type shops.   

Love that geometric design.  

Okay, that's all for today.  Bye! 

 

Wednesday Craft Book Review & October: Make a Book - nearly November

 

Can you believe it's halfway through the month already?  The days have certainly got colder, and my woolly jumpers are emerging from the wardrobe, along with gloves and a pink cashmere and silk pashmina picked up for about three quid in a charity shop.  One of my better finds.  I've got a few things to blog about today, so I'll crack on.  As it's Wednesday I'll review a craft book.  This time it's Maria Shell's 'Improv Patchwork.'  As you can see from the cover, it's subtitled 'Dynamic Quilts made with Line & Shape', and that's pretty much what the book showcases.  

It's full of colour photographs, and if you're a fan of modern improv quilts, and stripes in particular, it's the book for you.  It's a comprehensive book, going into a good amount of detail, as can be seen from the contents pages above.  There are some craft books that're ideal for browsing.  Flicking through, looking longingly at glossy photographs of inspiring quilts.  But there are some craft books that require close reading and attention to detail.  

I think if you're wanting to graduate from enjoyably making patchwork for yourself, and move on to producing quilts that wouldn't look out of place in shows or exhibitions, this book would be useful for making that step up.  

There's a lot about colour theory, understanding how colours relate to each other in designs, about using pattern and repetition.  It'll make you itch to get sewing, and piecing up your own stripes, zig zags, crosses and checks.  

Maria Shell's improv patchwork is very distinctive, and you're spoilt for images of it as the book's packed with them.   

This was one of my newer purchases, first published in 2017, and it's been a welcome addition to my bookshelf.  Well worth the cover price.  

Okay, from a published book to my October Make a Book challenges.  I might've gone a bit overboard with book making ... 

These are two concertina (a.k.a. zig zag) books that I made and filled with gel printed collage paper.  I've never got through so many glue sticks!

Sometimes I put prints side by side that have the same colourway, such as blues or greens.  Other times I like a lot of contrast and clashes.  

Most of the prints are done on copier paper, but I've also used book pages from an old, unwanted volume.  

Here are the concertina books laid flat, front and back views.  

I've also been a busy bunny making sheets of painted papers using an A3 sketchpad.

The idea is to make abstract pages that can be cut, folded and incorporated into an art journal.  The pages can then be drawn over, collaged over, photos or ephemera stuck on them, poems or words/phrases written or stamped on them.

I tried making a little Instagram-friendly video of me flicking through this stack of pages, but it's hard to hold a mobile phone in one hand - trying to keep it steady - and use my other hand to turn the pages.  The video itself came out very shaky, like I'd been enjoying one too many drinks!

Let's round up this blog post with a nifty little 'Nearly November' book made out of black tags (luggage labels).  The tags were made from a pack of inexpensive card stock and I used my Sissix machine and a die cut to make the basic shapes.  There are five tags in all, so it's a quick book to make and to decorate. 

You need to score a fold line across your tags.  Hopefully you can see the scores in the photo below.  You make the horizontal line at the top of the tag's straight sides, before they're rounded off.  These particular tags are about 16cm in total length, and the score line is 13cm from the base of the tag.  

(The shaped area above that scored line is going to form the book's spine.   The main body of the tag will be the book's page.)

Draw, paint or collage the main area of your tags, or leave 'em blank if you simply want to make a book with nothing in it.  As I've used five tags in all, two of those are going to be my front and back cover.  

Once you're happy with your tags, stick the book together.  You can use glue, but double sided tape is ideal for this purpose.  Cut small pieces of it and place above the score line on a tag.  Peel off the backing tape and place another tag on top of the first.  Now you've joined two pages up.  Keep going ...

When all your tags are joined, then maybe add extra printed details and a ribbon or two.  

My printed lettering went slightly wonky, but I still like how it's turned out.  


Okay, that's about it for today.  I finished reading S.J. Parris 'Heresy' (very good) and am halfway through Emma Donoghue 'Frog Music' and kind-of enjoying it.  I like the unusual setting - San Francisco 1876, the middle of a smallpox epidemic - and I like the fact the central characters aren't all that likeable.  The only person who's really got something going for them ends up dead within the first few pages!  

Right, I'm switching on the 6 o'clock news for more depressing headlines, then may console myself with some chocolate.  Bye for now.