Travel around the world swap arrives in Liverpool..

Katrin is organising a Travel around the World swap and this month it is my hometown...Liverpool. I have used various painted and printed fabrics for the background and printed the images onto cotton. The first card features a picture of the ornate bridge in Chinatown..I love parking in Chinatown and walking through to the city as its such a lovely place full of character overlooked by the old Anglican cathedral. Soon its going to be the Chinese New Year and I will take my sons to see the dragon dance and very loud fireworks! The second card features a view of the Liver Buildings from the Albert Dock. Now to decide which one to send to Germany! My young son wanted to make a fabric postcard to keep..check his out on his blog its fantastic...

Pale and interesting cards (theme thursday busy)

Decided to make some cards with some pale blue, green and white paints. I have stamped the images onto painted old book pages and added a ripped painted and inked bookpage as the background. Have added some sewing for further texture. These beautiful vintage collage and flower stamps are available from the Artistic Stamper.

The challenge over at Theme Thursday is busy so as these cards are busy with lots of colour I think they fit the theme....

It worked..first attempts with procion dyes..

I bought some procion dyes last year off ebay but have been plucking up the courage to finally have a go. I thought I would make a mess of it from early experiences of dyeing when I was about 17 trying to dye all my clothes black they all ended up a horrible navy colour!! Anyhow I followed some instructions off the Talking Threads programme featuring Myfanwy Hart. It involves scrunching up material into plastic glasses and adding diluted versions of the dye along with some soda and salt. I am really pleased with the results. After I rinsed the dye off I washed them with ordinary detergent then ironed them dry as I am impatient. I have read your supposed to use synthrapol to get the last bits of dye out but dont know what that is ..so if anyone does know can you let me know. Have tried it with some chinese red and yellow to produce gorgeous orange patterned fabric..I have got some more "brewing" at the moment in red and blue shades..its great waiting to see what happens!

Arty Girl Doodling (lots to do white)

Playing around in my journal today with a black pen doing some doodling. Arty Girl emerged creating calm out of chaos with her bohemian imagination!

This weeks challenge over at lots to do is white so I think this qualifies and its mostly white!

Art..theres no time like the present (Sunday Postcard)

I have really appreciated just a little time to create something today. Unusually for me I wasnt well last week and am just about over a nasty bout of viral conjunctivitis when my right eye was very red and painful so couldnt really do anything...Its times like these when you really appreciate your health and have increasing empathy for those who are not so fortunate in life. I would like to thank those who all wished me well

For this fabric postcard I have used some of my painted and printed fabric pieces for the background. I have included various clock stamps which I stamped on fabric with dye inks. I really like these solid flower stamps as they are ideal for fabric stamping either using dye inks or paint. The stamped words read "There's no time like the present"...all stamps from The Artistic Stamper.

"123. journal page..." theme thursday fav number

I have been playing around in my journal again as havent been well this week to do much..I think the expression on her face sums up my week..fed up of feeling so lethargic and achey. My favourite number is 123..as it usually signals the beginning of something..

Just had to share a little drawing my eldest son gave me last night after doing his writing practice..so thoughtful and kind and accompanied by a big hug

"Dream Grand"..playing around in my journal...

finished pastel drawing

cover the blank white page with any kind of paintings..

another page I am working on at the moment with lots of layers underneath

Havent been feeling too good today with my backache so we had a chippy meal tonight and I have just been playing around with my journal. To get over the blank white page fear I tend to just stick odd bits of paintings I have done when playing with paint with my sons. I then like to go over the swirls etc with pastels, charcoal and see what comes out....The bottom photo shows another page I have just started I dont really have any set ideas how this is going to turn out..

Waiting for Spring (created by hand challenge)

Some of my favourite flowers are bluebells and muscari..I love their blue colour. I have drawn a bluebell on this little house and arranged various butterfly, heart and flower images around the main image. The background has paint, pastels and charcoal..really like using these at the moment.

Fly away negativity..mixed media monday "wings"

Had a go with embossing powder today after seeing a tutorial by Hels. When I have previously tried embossing the powder goes all over the place so this time I heated the card from underneath and it was a lot neater..thanks to Linda for that tip! I wanted my heart to look grungy so rubbed away some of the powder. Have added paints, pastels, charcaol and some stamped images to the background. The words read "Let your imagination soar fly away negativity". I put it on the front cover of a little notebook that I got today from Paper Artsy. The winged heart stamp is from Lost Coast. I have photographed the notebook cover next to my old mug (the words "Iechyd da" mean good health in Welsh..which is funny as it is full of coffee and baileys at the moment for my backache!)

"Spring Peace" fabric postcards

I think we are all fed up with the heavy snow ...I never thought I would enjoy seeing a downpour of rain yesterday but I was so glad that it washed away all the snow slush. I am looking forward to Spring and noticed some little crocus tips trying to poke through in the garden. I have changed my blog background too so its nice and fresh looking rather than wintery grey..

I made some more fabric postcards today using some lovely botanical stamps stamped onto fabric using dye inks. The backgrounds are made up of painted and printed fabric and images printed off on Claudine Hellmuths canvas sheets. These canvas sheets are really good as you can sew through the canvas and they are easy to put through the printer plus you can stick them anywhere as they are sticky! I have added some very mad wavy freestyle machine embroidery. I love adding some sewing at the end as it adds further interest..I dont think I will ever be a person who sews straight lines as I just like to sew wherever the needle takes me.....

Just discovered blog radio....

My friend Lisa Fulmer from C&T publishing is going to be on US blog radio soon. Check out the upcoming show where she is going to talk about surface design techniques etc. I have looked at the archives and they have had Jenny Doh, Crafty Chica on in the past and they have shows on all kinds of crafty stuff. Its great that its on the Net as that means we all have a chance to listen to it! Havent had much time to create anything today as Fridays are for doing the big weekly shop, washing all the clothes etc etc plus I have been trying to figure out how to work out my new phone (I think I must be getting old as I can hardly read the manual as it all written in pale grey!!)..it does take great photos though with all kinds of special effects. I will show you them once I have worked out how to get them on my computer with blue tooth..another new thing to me!

Valentine Houses (UK S, Gingersnap Creations and Theme Thursday Challenges)

My friend Linda is organising a house swap on the theme of Valentines over at UK Stampers. I have been browsing through the book In this House which features lots of intersting collaged houses. So I have had a go at making three houses in slightly different styles . Over at Theme Thursday the theme is hearts so I think these qualify...

mosaic of old transparency prints of my paintings layered over a gaby cajubrasil image with silver embossing powder frames

The theme over at Gingersnap Creations this week is embossing powder so this is my entry.

lots of layered paint, tissue paper, pastels and charcoal

textured painted wallpaper, scratched paint writing, pastels and charcoal

More fabric bird postcards (2010 monthly experiments at Fiber Arts)

I have joined the 2010 monthly experiment group over at Fiber Arts and Mixed Media. This months challenge is to go through all our magazines and books etc and actually use some ideas from them. I thought this was a great prompt as I have got stacks of books and magazines full of amazing art and I always just flick through them saying.."I must try that one day!!". So this month I decided to alter some fabric with paint and print out some of my paintings onto material. I really love making fabric postcards as they are such a neat size and dont take too much time once you have the initial idea! I might use these to make some items for my Etsy shop as its looking a bit empty at the moment!!

Fly away fabric postcard (crazy amigo challenge)

I have made a load of fabric postcards today using some of my painted material and printed material of my paintings for the background. Added some freestyle machine embroidery over the top

Typing this whilst listening to my husband play his latest guitar a white flying V from the 1980s!! very loudly...rock n roll chaotic house! hey but we are all happy if mad!

Yellow bird (Leahs fabric postcard challenge and mixed media monday challenge)

I have joined a monthly fabric postcard challenge hosted by Leah over in Texas. This months challenge is yellow & bird. I have never made a fabric postcard before so was glad to use up my recently painted fabrics on this card. I have added some freestyle machine embroidery over the top and sewed some veins in the leaves..another new thing to me! The challenge over at Mixed Media Monday is something new and as this is new to me I think it qualifies!!

It has just about stopped snowing today so my sons are back at school which means I had time to make this today. Have just treated myself to a new phone so hopefully it will take better photographs than the last one!! Have a good day and keep warm.

"Focus" (one powerful hour)

The challenge over at one powerful hour is to create a piece around a word. Well I was wonderng how I was going to get a full hour of artiness in today but then I thought why not have a huge painting session with the kids. So out came all the paints, brushes, foam stamps etc and we all had a play with paint.

Once I had finished the painting I stuck it in my journal and added some more writing. To see the pages better just click on the photo (had to scan it in as having problems with the camera). The main word on the right is "focus" and I think this is such a good word to have. If we focus then we can put aside all negative critical thoughts and just go for it and have a mess round having fun. The words opposite I have scratched in the paint and read "Find Inner Peace". I go to yoga classes regularly (well apart from when its snowing!!!) and I feel so calm and relaxed afterwards that I get a lot of creative ideas..so hopefully this year you can find just a little bit of calm and focus in your life....

Messing round with Fabric (Fiber arts and mixed media challenge)

Over at the Fiber Arts Mixed Media group the monthly challenge is to alter boring commercial fabric in some way. So I have had great fun getting messy with paints and inks again! When they were dry I heat set them with an iron. I am going to use these for fabric postcards so am not going to wash them so the colours wont come out. Check out the site by clicking on the black badge to the right

I used some distress ink pads over Tim Holtz masks then sprayed ink over the fabric

original boring commercial fabrics



then used some black crayons to rub over the fabric with a karantha stamp underneath


put a load of acrylic paint on a glass mat and made swirly marks in it then printed off this onto the fabric

whilst loading up some of the photos in Picasa I touched the colour saturation button in error but glad I did as I love the mad colours in this one. ..could print it off again onto fabric or paper

My bottle of bubble jet set arrived today which means I can start making my own fabric sheets soon to go through the printer but wish it would get warmer as I want the fabric to dry not freeze!

I braved the snow today as I needed to do the huge shop loading up with long life milk, loads of bread etc. I was driving up our road at about 5mph but at least I was on my own so wasnt distracted by the kids. Hope school opens again on Monday but bad snow is forecast again so have to wait and see...keep warm everyone. My husband has just informed us that he has bought yet another guitar...this time its a 1980s while flying V as featured in School of Rock..my sons fav film!! I am just glad they are not into rap as I love rock music

Remembering Paris...(theme thursday challenge)

We visited Paris many years ago...I remember eating frogs legs, snails and mussels with chips. Its not my favourite city as I prefer Firenze in Tuscany but I did enjoy our Spring weekend there. We stayed at a lovely hotel near the Seine which was run by a lovely African lady. She served us really gorgeous cheese, ham and croissants of a morning complete with aromatic Parisian coffee in tiny cups. I still eat cheese and ham for breakfast as too many UK people eat cereal which is just too sugary and full of calories..

For this drawing I used a magazine picture of an African lady for inspiration. I have used charcoal, pastels, crayons and a stamp of the eiffel tower and french writing for the background. I am so glad I started a sketchbook as I think my drawings are improving with practice...

Faces of Art (Sunday Stampers faces) & sledging!

original drawing

Digitally changed to sepia ..quite like this as the stamped faces look ghostly!

I seem to be addicted to my sketchbook at the moment wanting to try out new ideas. I think it is because it is so cold here that I cant really get into my craft room plus of course my sons are off with the school being closed because of the snow! I find a small sketchbook is ideal to quickly do a sketch in then add to it later in the middle of doing the dinner, housework, looking after the kids needs etc etc.

Here I wanted to combine sketching with stamps. I sketched a face using pencils then quickly painted the background with watercolours. I then added some stamped images of faces and the word art. I painted over these slightly with white paint so that they blended into the page and I am quite pleased with the effect. The challenge over at Sunday Stampers is faces so I reckon this qualifies...

I am just warming up now as this afternoon I decided to take my sons to the back field in their old sand pit cover..it made an ideal sledge. We had great fun sliding down the little hill ..I even had a go...yippee!!

Braving the Elements (Green Pepper Press challenge)

Over at Green Pepper press this months challenge is to make your own snowflake stencils and use them with paint etc on your journal. I took some great photos of my sons in the snow this morning so used them on the snowflake page. The challenge states do a page in 60 mins so managed to quickly fit it all in. First I dry brushed some pastel paints onto the pages then cut some snowflakes out while this was drying. Used the snowflakes as a mask and while the paint was drying for this I printed out some photos onto transparencies. Have finished the pages with some rub ons, glitter and the snowflake patterns. A lovely winters page to remember this day when we all had great fun in the snow. Whilst I am typing this I am watching the snow fall heavily and drinking my cup of tea ready to start the walk to school again to pick my sons up!

Fun in the snow...

Proper snow arrived again this morning. I decided I wasnt going to drive in it so we had a walk to the bus stop through the back fields. We had great fun throwing snow balls and eventually got the bus! Had a lovely hour long peaceful walk back from the school and glad I didnt drive as the roads are really bad with a lack of grit on them causing chaos! You can tell we are not used to heavy snow as we are just not prepared here but I am fine as long as I have got my hat scarf and walking boots....

Looking to the future (mixed media monday leftovers)

Another page from my sketchbook. I have used a variety of leftover paints on this page with inks and pastels to draw the face. I am quite pleased with all the texture from the different layers of paint and ink.

Toscana one day I will return...

Playing around with inks in my sketchbook. I arranged torn strips and it reminded me of Tuscany. I loved visiting Toscana especially the area around Siena and Firenze. We went there before my sons were born and when they are older we all hope to return there one day!! This morning my sons have been drawing our road..check it out here.

New Fabric Postcard monthly challenge site..

I want to make some fabric postcards this year as havent done them before so this is a great monthly prompt..check it out just click on the yellow butterfly pic to the right

Love your inner child (gingersnap purple gold green challenge)

Another page from my sketchbook using lots of paint and foil. The foiled heart has purple, gold and green colours and I used double-sided tape to fix the foil to the page. I have just read you can fix foil to fabric with bondaweb so might try that out soon. I have been collecting some of the foil wrappers from thorntons chocolates so will have to try to use these somehow but they are not the same foil as used here so will have to put lace, tyvek over them or something..any ideas ?? The colours of the Gingersnap Creations challenge are purple, gold and green so I think this fits!