Grounded

The third challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,
taking inspiration from Oceania

& to include one or more of the following;

Patterns inspired by traditional symbols
Either monochromatic black and white or colours of the Earth.
Some sort of organic or natural material
Shapes inspired by traditional or indigenous art
​

Throughout this tournament

I am working in a small handmade paper book.

I decided to go for the earth tones,
& natural wood,
using a piece of dry bark found on my walk.

I always feel grounded when near nature,
listening to the birds singing,
the bees humming
& watching dragonflies dance around.

The place where I feel at peace most
is standing in the middle of my garden,
surrounded by trees & wildlife.

My piece is entitled

Grounded

The background is a paper collage,
using images found in a magazine.

 The bark has amazing textures
so I left it as I found it
& wrapped a length of brown paper covered wire around one end.

It gave me the perfect place to rest my shoes.

The One Day Project: One, Two, Three

Today I would like to share another page in my vintage collage journal.

The journal is made from altered 3½ inch square drinks coasters.

Just using scraps of paper & a gluestick.

Scissors & a sanding block.

Blending colours,
following the movement of the images
& enjoying the pure essence of creativity.

You can read the story behind this project here.

Just One Word

Week 33 on the Wanderlust online course

 & Kasia Avery was encouraging us to reuse old boxes & paper,
to create a One Word Box project.

Each month we choose a word for that month
& make a small card which goes in the box.

Simple.

The box I used for my project was
an empty extra long match box.

I coated the outside with white gesso.
It took several coats to cover up the graphics.

While this was drying,
I cut my monthly cards, using offcuts of some resist motif
12x12 inch cardstock by Tim Holtz.

To fit inside my box & to leave room around the edges,
mine were 5.5 cm wide & 8.5 cm in length.
They are about the size of a gift card.

I rounded off the corners
& punched a small hole in the top of each one.

I made my card for the month,
again using little scraps of leftover papers
& stamped my word "begin".

I have begun to work on the top of the box,
using a tag that I found on my desk,
some loose cotton threads,
buttons & some Art Glitter Fantasy Fiber
(which I had forgotten that I had until Jamie's lesson from the same week).

The three hearts were from the air dry clay lesson from week 25
& were still sitting on my desk.

So I have begun
& that's always the most important place to start,
don't you think?

Calm

The second challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,
taking inspiration from Asia

& to include one or more of the following;

mandala inspired motifs

geometric shapes

tiles

flowers from the region

calligraphy or handwriting

faded or dyed fabric
powered pigments

Throughout this tournament

I will be working in a small handmade paper book.

My thoughts went to calming mediation,
breathing in & breathing out,
to fresh air,
blue skies,
& delicate flowers.

So in this rather crazy, mad world of today,
join me & take a few moments of quiet contemplation,
to focus on what is important to you,
on the good, the brave & the beautiful.

My piece is entitled

Calm

I decided to create a small collage piece,
using images found in a magazine of
cherry blossom in Japan,
a fabric sample,
& tiles.

I also used handmade washi-style tape
& a small charm.

Have a little Faith

The first challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,

to include some of the following;

a face

papers 

letters &/or numbers

the colour blue

ribbon, twine, string or lace

textures 

something vintage & modern

Throughout this tournament

I will be working in a small handmade paper book.

With a theme of Europe, I began thinking about the decision

that the UK made to leave the European Union.

There has been much angst & worry about

what the future has in store for us as a country.

My piece is entitled

Have a little faith

I have used two different pieces of book text,
green abaca ribbon,
a piece of white cotton fabric,
two green buttons,
hand stitching with gold metallic thread,
a green skeleton leaf &
a copy of a vintage image from last week's newspaper.

There was no room to be blue!

Be Ready for Anything

Another altered playing card for
#52CafeCards
which is the year long creative challenge

using prompts & inspiration from Marta Lapkowska.

I followed the mood board prompt for Week 30,
which Marta is tagging as #MaremiWhispersBoard

The quotation Marta included in her prompt,
which I think is by Iain S Thomas,
lead me to include a family photograph.

It shows my Grandmother with her parents,
my Great Grandparents,
who together, make up a small part of me.

Along with the treasured family photograph,
I used a neutral colour palette,
to create this simple paper collage,
together with a phrase I had cut from that week's newspaper.

Summer Tournament

Something new for the summer.

Click on the image below to find out more.

There are some amazingly talented people taking part.

Are you going to take part too?

The One Day Project: Stationery Chaffinch

Today I would like to share another page in my vintage collage journal.

The journal is made from altered 3½ inch square drinks coasters.

Just using scraps of paper & a gluestick.

Scissors & a sanding block.

Blending colours,
following the movement of the images
& enjoying the pure essence of creativity.

You can read the story behind this project here.

Thrive

Another altered playing card for
#52CafeCards
which is the year long creative challenge

using prompts & inspiration from Marta Lapkowska.

The prompt for Week 29 was another mood board,
which Marta is tagging as #MaremiWhispersBoard

I took the idea of tiled squares,
soft florals &
a large neutral coloured circle.

For the focal point,
I added words cut from that week's newspaper.