Barefoot Wanderings

"Is it Interesting?"

This is the last page I created in my book of quotes for the Round Robin.

It started out completely different and I really struggled with the page (it is at the back of the sign-in page). I made changes, placed various images and ideas over the page trying to work out why it wasn't working. Nothing was really working, so I left it.

I watched The Lost Thing - a short animated film based on the picture book by Shaun Tan (I know I have said it before but he is an amazing artist - he is a multi-award winning author & illustrator and won numerous awards for the film including an Oscar).

Part of the DVD extras is an interview with Shaun. During the the interview he talks about art and "is it interesting?" That's when I had the lightbulb moment on the page I as struggling with. Asking this question of that page the answer was 'NO! not to me'. I thought this was a great question to ask myself on any piece I create. Inspired, I wanted to create a page reminding me of this moment and thought, and I wanted to pay homage to Shaun. What was more appropriate than in my book of quotes.

Out came the gesso, the Yellow Pages and paints. 

I loved the soft muted colours he used so I mixed similar ones of my own.

As I was mixing, it brought to mind GPP Crusade 53 - Mad Scientist

So I named my colours..... 

the muted green - Cool Aid
the dark shade of green -  Deep Aid
the 'yellow' - Summer Sand
and
the Bluer green - Breeze 

The above page was the result.

Very appropriately placed next to my page with the quote 'What other People think is none of my business'

In A Scrape - GPP Crusade 44

It's been a while but I thought I'd play along in this months GPP crusade.
This one is all about scraping the paint on and not using brushes.

Here's the final result:

 

Technique:

Step 1

Square Journal with Black Pages 

Paint: Matisse Off White

Tool: Used plastic Gift Voucher (similar to Credit Card)

Straight from the jar take paint with card and scrape vertically down the pages.

Allow to dry.

Step 2:

 

Paint: Matisse Southern Ocean Blue (Phthalo Turquoise),
Brilliant Allizarin (Crimson) and Off White

Randomly scrape Blue & Red over page.

I then scraped some Off White over the top. 

Then added a little more scrapings of blue & red.   

The paint was quite thin and dried very quickly so there was no muddy colours.

Step 3:

Paint: Matisse Carbon Black

Stamps: Fancy Flourish Set - Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous

Using a brayer, I applied paint to stamps and randomly stamped the images over the back ground.

I stamped the wording on a manilla tag. 

I then added fibres to he hole in the tag.

I then selected the Collections image of the woman, cut it out and scraped the edges across a black ink pad.

 I used mounting tape to adhere the tag and double sided tape to adhere the image to the pages.

For a slightly different take on this challenge see my previous post Autumn Dancing.

Final Wishes

This month's crusade at Michelle's GPP Street Team is to think and write about what our personal wishes are for when our time is up.

I have to admit that I have been giving this some thought. Perhaps due to my fortieth creeping up, my aging parents, news of an incurable illness of a close family member, all of these things and so much more.

For whatever reason I had not really thought about writing them down or creating a journal page so this crusade was a great idea.

I have written a letter and created a page in my journal.
Here is the journal page I created......

I had created most of the left page for another crusade and just created a similar page opposite.

On the back of each butterfly tag I have written some wishes.

Resist - GPP Crusade 21

Thismonths crusade is all about Resist, that is doing wax rubbings and then applying a wash of acrylic paint over the top. For great instructions (as always) visit GPP Street Team.

My results were hit and miss. I think the lighter crayon with dark wash worked best. Here is a journal page I started using the papers I created:

Sorry about the poor image but it was the best one I could get.

An update on GPP Crusade 17 - Pandora's Box, which was all about putting together a Travelling Journal Kit.
After this crusade I received a copy of Art Escapes by Dory Canter as a gift. Whilst I have not ventured far into the book the first chapter is all about assembling your supplies in seperate kits so they are ready to grab at any time - the same message Michelle was conveying. What I liked was that it suggested to have three tool kits, one each for drawing, watercolour and collage. That way you could take one, two or all three depending on what your needs were at the time. Add to this a sketchbook/journal and packet of collage papers.

So after I collected my kits together (she does suggest what to put in them) I thought it would be great to put them altogether in this 'Bag/Box' my sister had given me. Once I had put in the 3 kits, a journal, and a packet of collage papers, I still had quite a bit of room left, so I filled it with extra bits and pieces (such as small acrylic paints, stamps,) and made my collage kit a little bigger, after all I can always take things out!

This is all still fairly contained as the Travel Kit Box/Bag measures 28cm x 23cm (11inches x 9inches) and is 15cm (6inches) high.

Now I am ready....I just need to organise somewhere to travel too!!

Cut It Out 2

Firstly, to everyone that left me a comment on my stamp carving posts (last month's crusade) I just wanted to say thank you, your words were really great to read, very motivating and encouraging.

I have had a bit of fun with this month's GPP Crusade - Stencil Cutting.

Here is a something I did previously using acetate & a heat cutting tool.   

I found a chinese character for Prosperity, enlarged it on a photocopier and then cut the image out of acetate. The image on the right is a canvas that I used this stencil on.

Sizzix have Alphabars in a Stencil Font that are great for making word stencils. I have marked a line under each letter of the alphabet on the alphabar so it is easier to line up the paper to get the words straight. When marking the line you just need to ensure that the line is the same distance under each letter. It is much easier to do this with the upper case, the lower case alphabet needs tweaking on some letters, such as those with tails (g, y, q etc..) and the letter 'm' is on it's side.

For spray painting, these can be attached to acetate. Simply cut out a window on a sheet of acetate slightly bigger than the word but smaller than the card stock and attach with tape.

As these are cut from card, once they have been used a bit they will be wonderfully coloured and you can use the actual stencil in journals/artwork/etc...

I cut an image of a bird in flight that created both a stencil and a mask. Here is the incomplete page I am working on in my journal using these stencils & mask. (The stencils & mask appear on the left of the image).

 

I have also made a go-with solid stencil for one of the stamps I carved (here)....and I did get a mask from this cutting.
Here is a quick sample of how the stencil & stamp go together.....

My stamping is a little off but I just wanted to quickly try these out together.

I should admit that after the first stamp carving I did, and armed with the knowledge I'd be cutting stencils, I visited my local art shop to find a book with copyright-free designs or patterns that would be good for backgrounds and walked out with THREE! ......I figure I saved money as I put quite a few books back on the shelf....is there such a group as ASA - Art Supplies Annonymous I could join?!

Here is one I am currently working on. it is an image from one of my new books. I made it a bit bigger using a photocopier and then with Black & White pens I transformed the design into a stencil. (If you are not sure how to do this then visit Michelle for some great tips.)
I will enlarged it again to the size (or two) that I want, tape the image to the under side of a piece of glass, tape acetate to the top of the glass and use my heat tool to cut the design.

The heat stencil cutting tools are a BRILLIANT tool to have, especially if you intend to do a lot of cutting. It can take a little practice but once you have it down pat it is soooooo much quicker to use than a blade.

Carving it out some more!

After seeing what everyone else has been up to in this months GPP Crusade, I was inspired to create some more of my own stamps...and my list of what I want to carve is still long!

   

The swirl design was taken from a tissue box!....nothing is safe.
I played with doing a couple of positive and negative carvings. These were done on the same piece of rubber, i.e one on the front the other on the back.

   

On a previous  post, I showed my journal where I had done leaf rubbings and took photos & notes capturing the scene with the intention of perhaps doing a piece in the studio ....well, I have done something ....not quite what I had thought but it's a start! I photocopied my journal page with the rubbings and then using tissue paper, traced over the leaf and transfered it onto the rubber.
I'm not that happy with the background on the negative space one, it needs something to make it not so square....I will sit with it for a bit.

I loved Julie's tree so much I had to carve one of my own.... I started out by roughly tracing an image of a tree from a book but had to improvise as part of the tree was not in the photo and another part had a fence post obscuring it. I also wanted it bigger & longer, so after enlarging my image on the photocopier I then extended it further.
It measures 15cm x 10cm (6" x 4").

This is another one I want to sit with for a bit as I'm not sure if a few areas could be imporved, but with anything it is good to step back for a bit and then reassess.

Here are some journal pages I am working on (in an A5 size journal). I actually stamped my leaf in the background on the page to the right.

Inspired by the roses done by Lisa and Kim, I just had to try a flower. I use the waterlily / Lotus flower a fair bit so it would only be right to carve one of these. My dilema was what size?' ... well, go big of course! ..and maybe do a smaller one if I still had the craving for carving.

These are some quick initial stampings. The black is with a dry ink pad! and the pink is acrylic paint. I think it may need a bit of a tidy up. I had used the biggest block I had, the final image measures 16cm (approx. 6.25inches) across the flower x 15 cm (approx. 6inches). The majority of the carving was done with a stencil knife.
After doing this I truly think that I am insane!

I actually found the best way to transfer an image onto the rubber was pencil rubbing. The image came out clear and didn't rub of as easily as the blender pen transfer. I had a bit of a dilema with the flower as I used a clip art image. For this I did a gel medium transfer. I left the paper on the rubber for quite a while, until it was completely dry and then very slowly and gently removed the paper with water. My first attempt did not work, firstly I had not let it dry long enough and then I was chatting to my sister and not concentrating so rubbed too much in one area and removed the image. Another thing to note is that you really have to remove ALL of the paper. Leaving even just a slight film of paper in areas creates resistance with the carving tools.

Some other things I found:
The decorative borders (repetative line designs) were all carved from erasers. I would highly recommend only using erasers for designs that won't get used a lot or for short term longevity. They are brittle.

I would also like to add that straight lines are harder than curved, much less forgiving....but as my sister would say "It's handmade!"

Go slow, particualrly with large intricate designs and take breaks.

All stamps, except the tree, were carved from Soft Cut Carving Block, from an Australian company. It is white, was really easy to carve, and is quite flexible.
I carved the tree from the pink Speed-ball Speedy-Stamp Carving Block (these are pretty hard to locate down-under!). Compared to the white block, this was a little harder to carve, perhaps saying there was a little more resistance is better, but I think this was better for the intricate tree. Doing it on the white block I think I would have lost branches...and then my sanity!!

Hmmm, now let me see, I'm running out of carving blocks but not ideas ....there was that amazing eye, some hands, flourishes, a bird or two .....

Cut it out!

GPP Crusade 18: This month Michelle has put out the challenge to cut & carve our own stencils and/or stamps. This post is about my attempts at Stamp Carving.

'Here's one I prepared earlier'......
The one and only stamp I had carved previously was inspired by the musical RENT (I loved it so much I saw it three times...wow, that's years ago now!!) and in particular the song Seasons of Love. I had planned to do a piece inspired by this song, and will get to it one day!

I have always intended to carve some more of my own stamps and thought this crusade would be a good chance to do just that. Here is my second go at stamp carving:

 

As I still have my training wheels on I thought it would be easier to take a clip art image, enlarge it on a photocopier and transfer the image onto the rubber.

I then took my lino cutting tools and began to carve... hmmm, yes there were thoughts of why so many curves? why didn't I choose a straight edge design?.. Oh well, why start too easy!

.......I then inked up and tested the stamp on a scrap of paper. A little tidy up, and another test stamp and that's the best it was going to get. Not perfect but I am relatively happy with it, particularly since I mainly use paint and this will hide the flaws....or should I say the unique features!

These are samples of some pages I am working on using the new image:
This carving was all done before reading the posts Michelle put up on her blog, here and here. She has some really cool tips on carving which I will certainly remember and do next time.

Hopefully before the end of the month I'll do some stencil cutting.

GPP Crusade No 17 - Pandora's Box

I know it has been a while since I participated in one of these and as they are fun, and this month is easy, I thought I'd start again.
This month, Michelle is asking for crusader's to make a journal kit so they can be ready to go at a moments notice.
Why this crusade is easy is because I already have one of these together .....AND I already did a post here....and have posted Journal pages here...and here...

So instead of doing the same thing again, and as that may not be considered to be in the spirit of things I thought I would also share this one......

I now have another more recent 'kit'.
Can a pencil and book be called a kit?

Nothing beats the simple basics.

Anyway, this one fits inside my handbag and is always in there. (I have to admit that I am really not a handbag kinda gal, but whenever I do take it at least I know I have this kit with me.)

When I saw this book I couldn't resist it, as it has a different quote on every page all related to the 'explore' theme, there were other themes but I liked this the best, and better still is the fact that the pages are not ruled.

Here is a recent page in this journal......OK, I'll admit that it is the first and only, but it's a start!

I did this when I was a little early for an appointment last Friday and the leaves caught my attention. It was then that I thought it was a good time to start using my new georgeous book. I had some fun doing some rubbings, (I even  kept the leaf). I am really trying to take time in noticing more of what is around me, and being in the moment.

As I was limited by time I thought that I would also capture the scene with a few photos. I only had my phone

With all of these together I thought I might create a piece in the studio....now wouldn't it be great if I had a finished piece to show.....that would just be too good! Especially since I have been busy doing a studio overhaul, I'll post "The Reveal" soon.

Crush on You.......

....the theme for this month's GPP Crusade.

My confession of an obsession is with the song Hey There Deliah by Plain White T's

After the last GPP crusade (Make Some Noise) I just couldn't get this song out of my head - thanks Gillian. I started to become obsessed and listened to the song repeatedly on YouTube.
I looked up the band on iTunes but that wasn't satisfying as you only get short snippets of their songs.
I listened to them more on YouTube. I emailed Gillian about them. I asked my friend's husband who is involved in the music industry about them. I listened to them more on YouTube. I then looked up other songs of theirs and had a listen on YouTube. I then went to a few Music Stores and enquired about them, if any of their CDs were or will be released over here. After a few stores I found someone helpful who said that their first CD was to be released out on the fifteenth.....YIPEE!!.... and after a small deposit I secured myself a copy!
Yes, I now own Every Second Counts and have played it LOUD in the car and at home, even now as I type this entry! My four year old sings along to Hey There Delilah, and my six year old likes Out Time Now.

Here's the video that got me obsessed...Enjoy...

GPP Crusade No 11 - Make Some Noise

This months crusade over at Michelle Wards GPP Street Team is all about MUSIC!
I have such a wide range of taste in music it is hard to choose (I may have to do more than one post!!)

My first choice will have to be Bon Jovi, I love a lot of their songs and CDs so since they have a new CD out 'Lost Highway' (a great CD - it's Bon Jovi with an influence of Country Music) I'll go with something from there, this is what I could find:

Bon Jovi with Leanne Rimes - Til We Ain't Strangers Anymore (Unplugged)

Whilst I was in the UK I got a chance to watch the Concert for Diana on TV. I saw some really great bands, some I hadn't heard of. This following band was one of them, I liked the songs they played so much I went out and bought the CD. I was not disappoint it is really GREAT!

The Feeling - I Love it When You Call

Ok, so I can't resist putting in one more, I have loved this artist's music since the 80s. He has such an awesome voice and has been through many of my lifes up & downs!

Midge Ure - Breathe

For those that aren't in the know but are curious he was the lead singer of Ultravox, (amoungst others) and he co-wrote the Band Aid hit 'Do They KNow It's Christmas' and helped organise Live Aid.