CJS 2014 - Project #3

Creative Jump Start 2014

Tape and Tops Journal Page by Marjie Kemper

This tutorial was on using masking tape, tops from containers and a manilla tag to create an art journal page.
The masking tape was torn into pieces and stuck down onto the page. This is where I admit that my tearing was dictated by the tape....it was a really, really old roll that I found in the garage...it wouldn't come off in one piece but in strips...I have since bought a new roll!

I ran a brayer over the page before colouring it with archival ink. This was then stamped over with a script stamp in black.
The next step was to cover the tag in exactly the same way.

I found a quote and picture that I printed on to cream linen paper  - the edges were inked and I stuck them onto the tag.

I dry embossed a piece of black card before sticking that down and decorating with three metal brads.

Before sticking the tag to the page I tried different positions and added circles with a stencil, again using archival ink.

The finishing touch was to add some circles to the quote using the top from an aerosol can of shaving gel.

This is the art work for my January book for the Artful Readers Club - the review can be found on my new book related blog - La Lectrice Ardente



And finally...here's a photo of the young man from Hungary that I'm fostering...he arrived on Saturday evening...

His name is Mickey...and yes, that does make three dogs!!

CJS - Finnabair's "Magic Teaspoon"

This is the second project I've completed for Creative Jump Start.
It's something very different for me but I really, really enjoyed making it...and getting messy in the process!

The Magic Teaspoon:

This was supposed to be made on a stretched canvas and I thought I had one of the right size.....could I find it? Of course not! That'll teach me to tidy up!

I used a canvas board instead.

The first three layers were done with pages from old books interspersed with various pieces of lace and string. These were then covered in gesso and left to dry.

The household items that made up the next layer were:
an old key;a button;bingo pieces from an old set that we played with in my childhood (and on which the paint bled into the gesso);some beads from a broken necklace;a mini spray bottle that had contained an aftershave sample;a bit of metal of indeterminate use ( found in my late husband's man tin*);an old hat pin;the bezel from an old watch;an old silver teaspoon;a beautiful heart shaped bead;a gear cut with a TH die from an old coke can.

This layer was also covered with gesso.

Once it was dry I started adding colour...as I didn't have the pigment powder that Finnabair used I made do with Perfect Pearls...there's a lovely shimmer to the piece in real life. The finishing touches were light sprays from a couple of mists by Lindy's Stamp Gang in Maidenhair Fern Green and Grab a Guy Gold.


* The man tin was a fun birthday gift last year from me to hubby..and it does say Man Tin on it. It was for all the small bits and pieces that he had lying around in case they came in "useful"...which I had to move every time I dusted (admittedly, that wasn't very often!).

The next project I'm going to tackle is an art journal page using masking tape and tags..... I'm sure there must be masking tape in the garage.. ;)

Creative Jump Start

As my mojo was well and truly missing for the second half of last year I decided to sign up for Creative Jump Start.

Run by Nathalie Kalbach it takes place throughout January and involves many different artists...we're up to day six and have so far had videos from Nathalie herself, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and Suze Weinberg.

The theme for this year is "Household Items"......

Fortunately they don't want you to use them for their intended purpose (Domestic Goddess I ain't!) but rather subvert them...in the name of art..

Day 5 was a sponsor giveaway by Liquitex...we have until the end of the month to produce a project inspired by the videos...

Voila! 
Three backgrounds prepared for my art journal...

These were made using my Gelli plates and Winsor and Newton acrylic paints (can we buy Liquitex paints here in the UK?)

The household items I subverted were....

an old comb

bubblewrap

the cap from a can of shaving gel

 and the piece de resistance...

a squeegee that I had butchered altered (as shown by Nathalie) making a fringe of the rubber bit - that's what made the wavy lines in photos 1 and 2. 

I seem to be stuck on purple at the moment...with gold and white...even my recent clothes purchases have been purple....no doubt a psychiatrist could tell me what that means...

I'm looking forward to seeing who and what is next!

New Beginnings

Happy New Year to all my followers and apologies for my extended absence.

Some of you, but not all of you, will know that my life changed dramatically at the end of November when my husband David died.

He was admitted to hospital on 29th October suffering from pneumonia. Two days later he was transferred from the JR to the Churchill Hospital in Oxford to a specialist respiratory ward.

A week later he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and plans were made for him to come home and attend chemo/radio therapy as an outpatient. Unfortunately he caught a second bout of pneumonia in hospital and was judged too ill to withstand any treatment.

He came home on 20th November and was receiving palliative care until he died six days later.

To say that Nick and I were unprepared for this is an understatement...we thought we'd have a few months with him...

Nick was amazing..he organised the funeral, registered the death and cooked for me so that he knew I was eating.

Christmas and New Year were seriously unsettling....I've been numb since it happened and it's only now starting to sink in.

I also have to deal with paperwork...tons of it...and have no idea what my situation (financially or otherwise) is going to be...so 2014 is going to be a steep learning curve for me.

It's also a big change for Max...he's missing David and has a new addition to the family to cope with....Princess Peanut....

A rescue dog from Romania, I originally fostered her so that she wouldn't have to spend Christmas in kennels.....no way could I give her up so I have officially adopted her...she even has her own passport .

Don't all faint...but this is a CRAFTY Post!!!

It may have taken me three weeks to finish (most of that time it was lying on my table waiting for the title to be added) but I have finally done a LO!


Drum roll please.....

Ta da!!

Photos of my two tomato plants at different stages.
I bought them as seedlings  - one cherry tomato and one "normal" tomato...the gardeners amongst you will no doubt tell me that I need 6 - 8 plants for a constant supply but as I'm the only one left at home who likes tomatoes these two are enough....and very nice they are too. I like my tomatoes firm and slightly under ripe so I'm loving just being able to step onto the patio and pick my lunch.

I used October Afternoon "Farm Girl" papers (did some fussy cutting for the embellies); added a button, ribbon and a picture cut out of a booklet; title cut on the Cricut using "Cursive 101".
Sketch was from September Page Maps.


I also have a collaborative piece to show you.
Six of us from our FB group chose a theme each, divided a sheet of A4 into six sections and off we went....

I chose Steampunk as my theme and this is the result:

I love it! Six totally different interpretations of the theme.

Our posties must have wondered what was going on as the envelopes marked "please handle with care" became more and more ornate...wonderful mail art as well as the themed pieces.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and must get started on the next one... "Friends" bunting....we're all late starting on this one so I suggested we go with a Christmas theme.....but Jo who organised this threatened to unfriend me on FB!
Sorry Jo...I was only joking!

I'm hoping to start something this afternoon as it's wet and windy...I need to make some birthday cards...for males....always tricky..and I have the rest of my garden photos to scrap....and my bunting....and the two plays we saw at the Oxford Playhouse......and cards for the occasion that I'll get shouted at for mentioning....

Apologies for the lack of visits to your blogs...I'm hoping that normal service will be resumed in the near future......

Artistic Readers Club - September (or Two for the Price of One)

My book this month was....

I was lucky enough to be given a copy of the book for review.

Suz deMello was a new author to me but I've since read another of her books (same series) and I'm impatiently awaiting the next one!

The book is set in the second half of the 18th century...after Culloden and the Clearances.  

I was gripped from the start of the book by the description of Glasgow and its teeming crowds. It is here that we meet our hero and heroine, Dugald and Alice. They seem mismatched but as the story continues we realise that they are both hiding parts of themselves...he more than she as we discover.

Their journey from Glasgow to the Highlands is fraught with danger. deMello has cleverly interwoven Scottish myths and legends* into this part of the story and the plot moves along at  a fair pace.

Once in the Highlands, a bleak yet beautiful area where life is hard, more danger is faced and not just from the clan's enemies.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

Did I mention that there are some very well written erotic scenes? Oh, and vampires...

*I found myself researching these myths on the Internet when I finished the book - fascinating!

For the art work I've done another collage.

I really must thank Bleubeard and Elizabeth for this...I was so impressed by her review and artwork last month that I treated myself to this book....

Old sheet music is something I have a lot of...along with old books...

 I chose "The Village Blacksmith" as a nod to Gretna Green...



Base is Kraft cardstock; sheet music; vellum;pages from old books;thistle hatpin (it was my mother's); a splash of tartan.

Tartan was banned in Scotland at this time.......and this just happened to be a question in the pub quiz on Tuesday night.....the Ninjas won!!


A final picture of yesterday's mail (haven't had time to photograph today's free sample of Belgian Chocolate Baileys... )

My prize from a recent FB giveaway....beautiful mug and a mouse mat...love them both!

Looking forward to reading this month's reviews.

Artistic Readers Club - August

My blog has re-appeared - it went missing for a few days but eventually came back ...and not only that , I can now comment on most blogs...yay! Perhaps it was in blog hospital having surgery.....

This month's book is: 

I'd had this book on my Amazon wishlist for quite a few months when I was lucky enough to receive a voucher for Amazon.com...so it came all the way from USA (if anyone knows of a way of converting gift vouchers between the Amazon sites please let me know).

I wanted this book as I've received some wonderful pieces of mail art from friends but hadn't got beyond stamping on envelopes in reply.

The subtitle says it all...it's a primer ....

There are lists of suggested tools and some good ideas of where to look for ephemera (and what to look for)....both lists are useful.

The history of mail art is covered in depth and I found this fascinating as I'd thought it was a recent trend......it definitely isn't!

There are also lots of pictures of mail art, some of which I loved and some of which left me thinking..meh..(to borrow the boy's favourite word)

I was expecting more from the book to be honest. Perhaps I knew more about mail art than I thought ..certainly the pieces I've been privileged to receive would not look out of place in the book.

It's definitely for beginners but I'm pleased I read it as it gave me the kick start to experiment that I obviously needed.

I'd award 3.5 stars...the extra half mark is for the useful stickers and postcards at the back of the book.

What could I produce in the way of art this month...?
Mail art of course...

Here is my decorated padded envelope.....I have a recipient in mind...insert evil laugh here...

The main images are a colour illustration for an article on the decline in our bee population from the Saturday magazine of the Daily Telegraph a few weeks ago...I knew I had to cut it out and keep it as it was so striking.
"Spot the difference" is from the same source; the edging is Kaisercraft washi tape; the little arrows are the closure from a Maggi chicken bag;the mail art sticker is from the back of the book and the "recycle" piece is from a serviette included in my Graze box.

I used Decopatch glue/varnish to stick everything down and provide a layer of protection.

I'm now looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been reading..and to actually being able to leave a comment.
I do enjoy all the reviews but it's particularly satisfying when I know the book concerned and can "compare notes" with other readers.