A different persepective!!!

Don't you just love technology. However I try, I cannot get these photos to load the right way round!! I give up - you'll just have to turn your head to the right to look at the rose the correct way up!! It'll give you a different perpsective on my work!!!

This is one of the four coasters I made for a friend to give to her Mum. Straightforward, you may think - particularly after the amount of flower painting I have been blogging about recently. However, I had yet to attempt roses - so this is a bit of freestyling!! I used a photo of a rose and a piece of acetate, and played around with the order of the brushstrokes until it started looking the way I wanted it to.

I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. I'm in the process of making an art journal (I think that's what you call it) with all my notes, scraps, photos and practice pieces from all the work I've done recently, for future reference. So hopefully I'll be able to recreate this.

For the sweet pea, you need to turn your head to the left!! This one was fine - as I've done sweet peas before. The colours I have used for all the flowers are Pebeo Garnet Red and Eco Green White - they mix well to make that gorgeous pink colour. All the foliage, was Pebeo Antique Green, with Eco Green New Grass or Lime. I inked round the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Victorian Velvet and Bundled Sage (my current favourite colour).

The pansy is a new flower, but with this being one of Sheena's flowers, I was able to do this one without too much trouble. Again, you will need to turn your head to the left to get the right angle. The centres of the pansies were completed with Pebeo Violet and Eco Green Sunflower.

All the finished paintings were sprayed with Crafters Companion Spray and Sparkle in Iridescent.

The final of the four was the hardest, as the other flower requested was a Jersey Lily. This was another one that I was totally unfamiliar with painting. I tried the same method as for the rose, by placing a piece of acetate over a photo, but this one proved much more frustrating. I couldn't find a way of doing this with the one stroke style, so had to opt in the end for painting it in a more conventional style. This has meant that, for me, it doesn't fit so well with the other three. But both my friend and her Mum seemed pleased.

When I was asked to do this, I was in two minds as to whether to accept the commision, as the rose and the lily were so out of my comfort zone. But I'm glad I did, as sometimes you have to step out there in order to progress. And it may not work out exactly how you want it - but the learning involved is going to move you forward. Goodness - how profound!!

Now, if I could just work out why the photos aren't the right way round, I will have made even more progress.
Having finally finished the "day job", and being temporarily job-less, I should now have time for much more crafting. I have so much in the pipeline with a view to Christmas Craft fairs, that I am sure I will not be bored!!

So - until the next time.

Cxxx

And now for something different!!

My recent blogs have all focused quite heavily on Paint Fusion, so I am pleased to let you know I have been doing the occasional other thing - including a new technique for me!!

So here it is ....

This is a commissioned 8" square boxed card, the base of which is made from Centura Pearl Snow White Card.

I was asked to make something elegant, with the main image being hearts. And the colour was (hopefully obviously) red!!

I felt this called for something quite different to anything I had done before, so decided it was time to try out something that I had been wanting to try for a while. Stencilling is quite an "old" tecnhnique, but incredibly effective. For this card, I have used the Heart Bouquet and Congratulations Dreamweaver stencils, and Glossy Red Dreamweaver embossing paste.

The paste was applied through the stencil onto Centura Pearl Snow White card, using a spatula, which gives a wonderful raised effect. The main image was then cut out using a scalloped circle die. I highlighted the red by using a plain circle cut from Bazzil Basics Dotted Swiss cardstock in Phoenix, then another scalloped circle cut from Papermania Special Vellum - Glitter Embossed Dots. The greeting was mounted in a similar way, using simple rectangles.

The larger two circles were cut from Centura Pearl Snow White card using the Craft Robo - it doesn't quite cut right through, but the back layer of the card peels away so you can still get the shape out. The larger scalloped circle was cut in the same way from Crafters Companion printable vellum, and the smaller from the Papermania Glittered Dots vellum.

To add a different texture the smaller of these Centura Pearl circles was run through the Cuttlebug with the Small Polka Dots mask from the "That Special Touch" range. (I've recently purchased a selection of these masks, so have some more new things to play with when I get a minute!!)

A few small round and heart shaped pearls that were rattling around the bottom of my gem box were attached with Glossy Accents, along with the beautiful pearl strands bought from my local craft shop (sorry don't know the make or name of them as I've had them a while and threw the packaging away!!). Finally, a card like this is not complete without ribbon - white organza from Celebrations, with a smaller width tied around the large bow.

I was pleased with the final effect. And am thinking I might get some more stencils on a Christmas theme!!! I know it seems early - but crafting for Christmas starts now!!! Otherwise it never gets done!!!

'til next time.

Cxxxxx