Thoughts of Summer

The theme for May at The Documented Life Project is

Touchy Feely
(Textures)

The Art Challenge for

Week 21.  Cheesecloth

& the Journal Prompt for

Week 21.  Say "Cheese"

On to a base of dried white gesso,

I added pieces of cloth with gel medium & left to dry thoroughly.

I added colour with acrylic paint & left to dry. 

Then I added words cut from a supermarket newspaper,

Gelatos, glitter, Perfect Pearls, white Posca pen, Accent Beads ...

Not sure what this textile is - just something I found under the kitchen sink !

The Sound of Laughter

This month's theme at The Documented Life Project is

Touchy Feely
(Texture)

The Art Challenge for

Week 19.  Stitching

& the Journal Prompt for

Week 19.  "All that I'm after is life full of laughter."

I started by painting a piece of burlap with white acrylic paint.

Once dry, I cut into a tag shape & stitched a border with blue thread.

My inspiration for this piece was taken from a piece of printed white grosgrain ribbon,
which had been attached to a pair of denim jeans.

My inspiration & some of my supplies

Using denim as my theme, I mixed watercolour paint with a blend of Golden Soft Gel Medium
& water, I used three colours to create a denim look to the background.

I started with Colbalt Blue,
then added Prussian Blue
& then finally a drop of Black.

Once this had dried thoroughly, I added a stitch doodle around the edges.

I added heart shapes cut from book text & an old denim shirt, then stitched on the buttons.

I couldn't find a quote that seemed right, so I wrote a few words about what laughter means to me.

The sound of laughter is like a babbling brook,

which dips and rises over the pebbles of life

and carries us along on our journey,

with joy in our hearts.

A Picture of our Lives

The new theme for May at The Documented Life Project is

Touchy Feely
(Texture)

The Art Challenge for

Week 18.  Fabric

& the Journal Prompt for

Week 18.  The Fabric of Your Life

I took inspiration from Leona Lewis's song The Fabric of our Lives.

The different colours paint a picture of our lives.

Imagine all your dreams & plant the seed.

Let the rivers of your heart & mind collide.

& close your eyes.

I searched the book I have been using for #DLP2015 to find the words for the quotation,
which is Pride & Prejudice.

Their edges were inked with Black Soot Distress Marker.

I used a cover from an old edition of the John Lewis seasonal magazine

together with fabric by Vanessa Arbuthnott (wild rose).

Sweet Melody

I was so excited to learn that Priscilla Jones had an article in the current issue of Stitch magazine, which included a tutorial of her mixed media canvases.

So only using items I already had to hand, I plowed in to create my mixed media canvas.


The first step was to plan my layout & draw a quick sketch.


The canvas is 3 by 4 inches. I painted a base coat of Eco Green acrylic paint (Orchid) incorporating two strips of torn music paper. Once dried I added two further strips of music paper & then a coat of watered down acrylic paint (White). One more coat, this time a mix of emulsion (Dulux Springtime) & matte multi-medium to tone down the background colour & blend in the whiteness of the paper. I allowed it to run down the edges of the canvas for extra textural effect.


To create the topper, I first cut up some neutral shaded fabric & coated it with the white paint & allowed to dry. The fabrics were hand stitched together, using pale coloured thread. Priscilla uses the free stitching setting on her sewing machine, but all my stitching is done by hand.


My bird is made from three different fabrics, stitched together with bolder coloured thread & then stitched onto the fabric background. To embellish, I added the words & four buttons.


I thoroughly enjoyed following her tutorial & it has given me a deeper admiration for Priscilla's work, which I already adore.

Mending a Broken HeArt

I spent an enjoyable afternoon this week with textile artist Elizabeth Sayers to make a heart with attitude, using scraps of old fabric & beads.

To start I chose the base colour of my heart from all the lovely fabrics Elizabeth had provided, then I cut out my two heart shapes freehand.


I hand stitched the two pieces together using blanket stitch with gorgeous blue thread. Every now & then I added some rocailles beads to add interest around the edges.


Elizabeth created some cord for me to use by tearing a fine strip of fabric then over stitching on her sewing machine with two different blue metallic threads. I used half to create a hanging loop & saved the other half for later.

The heart was filled & a bead added to the bottom of the loop. I completed the rest of the heart back at home.

I used a strip of an old silk scarf, lace, wording & white organza ribbon.


I cut a small heart from old cotton fabric (from an discarded man's shirt) & edged it with some fibre, incorporating a square of lace from an old lace doily (charity shop find).


For the final touches, I stitched on the remaining half of the handmade cord, added three old buttons & a pearl coloured pin.

A Flowery Felt Fing

The current Artist Trading Card challenge set by Leonie is called Fibres & Fings.


I cut a flower shape from a piece of turquoise felt, using a Sizzix Sidekick machine & a daisy die. I stitched the flower to a piece of brown felt using brown cotton thread. The centre piece of the flower was stitched on to an brown button & attached using silicone glue.

Tip: When cutting through felt, pass the die & felt through the machine twice.

I took a mountboard base & edged it with a Krylon 18ct gold leafing pen. I stitched the brown felt on to the base using metallic gold thread.

To finish, I used a strip of brown felt as the flower stalk & added a circle of turquoise felt as an accent to the top.

Please note: No paper, ink or ribbon was harmed in the making of this ATC!