Making cards!



I have a lot of bits of papers, fabric, ribbon etc.





Does anyone have more rubber stamps and ink than me?  I don't use them enough so I thought I should dust them off and get stampin!

I just started ripping, tearing, cutting, gluing, stamping and Voila!



I spent the entire morning playing with paper, and it kind of reminded me of elementary school!  I don't know why I don't do this more often and , in fact, I think I might even buy a few new stamps.  I really want a 'dress form' stamp and I definitely could go for an owl too!



This one is my favourite!  This face is from "Images on Clay" by Barbara Mcguire.  I've had this book for years and didn't try the clay image transfer but I photocopied the images (copyright free) and layered them on the cards.  I did try some image transfer using Golden's Soft Gel Medium which worked alright.
Anyway,  I'm glad I used up some supplies and I'm going to take them to the first Farmer's Market of the season tomorrow and see what people think.  Who knows - I might even sell a few!!
Hope this post inspires you to get out the "stuff" and get creative!  Cheers!





Suzi Fun!

I just wanted to share with you my art journey with Suziblu.  I came across Suzi's Gypsy Art School awhile back and took a few of her workshops.  I had been away from art making for a long time and needed some inspiration. Here is my Anne Bolyen from the Goddess and Poet portrait class......

 The " Goddess and Poet" workshop focuses a lot on faces and portraits which is something I wanted to work on since I've done a lot of landscape and folk art painting but not much on faces.  Suzi is a great teacher and her critiques really pinpoint where you need to improve.  She doesn't just say 'Oh that's nice, keep going', she gets right to the problem area so that you can improve quickly.

My first faces were a little awkward and I burned most of them!  Fast forward to the 'Fairy Workshop'.  This was the funnest workshop ever and all the fairies I painted sold right away at my local art fairs.  If you are looking for some inspiration I would go check her out.  www.suziblu.ning.com

The sketch above is the beginning of a painting.  The technique is to sketch the face onto paper first using coloured pencils and then you collage it on to a canvas or wood panel.  From there you can add paint, collage papers etc.  Sometimes the painting ends up quite different from where you started and that's the exciting part.  It's sometimes hard to let go of what you think is perfect but then something else emerges that's even better. 
Thank-you Suzi for getting me back into art-making! xoxoxo

New Handmades

I've been busy with making stuffed things!

 This one turned out a bit pouty but I like her seriousness....

 This little bunny is so cute.  I'm really happy with the way she turned out.

 Here are some little patchwork hearts filled with sheep's wool and dried rose petals

Thoughts on creativity

This rings a bell for me today.......


There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say "It is yet more difficult than you thought." This is the muse of form. It may be then that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction, to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.” 
― Wendell Berry

Mousie

Here is a little rescue mouse that I adopted for about a month.  My cat Simba had him in his clutches and when I heard his shrill squeaking I just had to intervene!  When I was sure that his health had been restored I returned him to the wild.  Before he ran off he turned to look back as if to say "Thank-you"

I've painted a few tiny canvases (2"x2")

and while I was working on them I noticed so many little birds

outside flying about the trees.

It must be a sign of spring coming!

And by the way....

yogurt containers make good painting accomplices!

Over the last few years 

while living here on the island

I've been lucky enough to gather a few abandoned nests.

 After a windstorm 

you can often find them on the path

 It's just amazing how intricate they really are

so much work goes into them

and how do they make the muddy clay bases?

the touch of moss adds colour and I'm assuming it is good insulation too!