Creative Colour Challenge

I forgot to blog my entry into this months CCC, the theme this month being MUSTARD. I created a textured spiral shell on canvas using gel medium and acrylics. I have a growing set of these now because as I get an urge, I do them in different colours, but I'd not done a yellow as it's not a colour I like too much. I like creating a 3D feel to my work using both a texture gel and careful shading- from a distance they look like padded pillows.

Promarker storage

I've been looking for a reasonable storage solution for my increasing collection of Promarkers- they're quite chunky so normal pen cases just aren't big enough, and the nice zip up cases only hold 24 or 45 pens...

I don't keep them on my desk as I often work in a variety of places and want them to hand. A rigid stand wasn't appropriate either...

I love recycling fabrics and I happen to have a few books of upholstery fabric samples so I made up a roll to slip the pens into and a bag to keep them together. Perfect!

 8 rainbow sections to keep colours in groups of 10... shame I thought of brown after the fact as I have 9 of those so I've put them in the violet section for the time being... I also coloured a sticker for each pen so I could see them all from above.

Rolled and secured with ribbon. Even like this I can see where each colour is and replace it to keep them orderly.

A zipped bag using the remnants from the rolls. I've made it a bit bigger to allow for more pens, and lined with mountboard for stability. I shall add a small bag for spare lids/fine nibs etc.

Dolly doodles...

Well, not exactly! I've decided to take part in a doll swap over at stitchin fingers, particularly as the theme is Elements... well, the four, at least. Those of you that know me will understand I just couldn't say no - I've been interested and working with the four elements and symbols for years i one form or another, but I've never made Elemental dolls.

True to form, I start from scratch, so having designed the doll look, I went on to creating a set of symbols to use on the fabrics...

This is the first stage, the pen and ink design....

Air

Earth

Fire

Water

                              

I also decided to make a finished panel for each symbol, never one to pass up an excuse to doodle!

 

The others are done in a similar fashion.....

 

The next stages are countless... drop it into Photoshop and play.... colour them in, add a few filters... and come up with a collection of useful symbols...

I hate that my BA lecturer thinks photoshop is not an honest artist tool- so oldschool- it is so versatile, what she doesn't appreciate is that you still need a reasonable depth of knowledge to get what you want, and still have to master the software to create what you want... so what's the difference to using a paintbrush?

So here's the complete set in full colour, but un-enhanced...

I've painted the fabrics for the bodies using fabric paints, here they are, cut and painted, ready to sew together, but I need to find the right leg,arms and face fabrics first...

I've got till the end of June to finish one, but I reckon I'll have the set done as a whole, just too much fun not to!

Bookmaking Adventure...

Ruth posted a new challenge over on Milliande's The Hinges group, the theme for April is Japanese stab bound books. I've had a look at some and thought it would be perfect for a reference book I want to create. Similar to my Zodiac wallhanging, I want to compile info on colours and their associations- chakras, crystals, healing, moods etc... and rather than keep looking in many books I want it all easy to hand, specific to me.

It's taken 2 days so far, but the book is finished... now I just have to compile the info I want, do some texts and sketches and she's a done deal!

I shall put a tutorial over in the how-to's books  section- I've just edited the pics...

 

The cover is collaged textiles, the inserts are sponged watercolour paper separated with tissue paper. Card is folded, punched, eyeletted and threaded to create info sheets which will stand alone for ease.

I can see me making more like this...

Just Journaling...

Having got ahead with all my swapping, I've had this week to do some journaling. I've  a few journals been sitting a while because I wasn't expecting to receive a pile in one go, so now's the perfect time to get them filled...

So here's a peek into what I created...

Deedee's 15-15-15 journal " NATURE DREAMS VISIONS"

Joy's pass & paint "ART HEALING"

Beth's pass & paint "LOVE"

Mindy's pass & paint "ALTERED"

Heather's pass & paint "UNDER THE BIG TOP

 I seem to be having trouble creating pages lately. I know they're NOT supposed to be perfect, but at the same time I expect a certain level of competance and skill from myself... after all I have been creating and painting forever! Or is it that I'm compensating  because I'm not creating large format work at the moment? I've never really thought about that... does creating "proper" large work free me up to play more in my journals and books? I get my fix of "perfection" and "intention" working on pre-planned work which allows me to be more spontaneous and less regimented elsewhere... I shall have to look into this more, but from my current work mode it seems quite likely.

MATCHBOX FUN...

I'm getting into the swing of making themed matchboxes now... the latest monthly theme over at milliande's is "Asian" So much to play with there so I did a bit of research into kanjis... beautiful characters that signify a word or thought... I found several that were fitting so I decided to make a little concertina wall hanging.

These are the cover and boxes... lucky I had a small set of oriental stamps waiting for such a project, and my copic markers needing breaking in too!

This is the full length. It draws up with cord. I'm not sure whether to put a translation in with them, or leave it for my swap partners to research and find each kanji... but I've ordered them so that they create a loose meaning... maybe I'll leave it a month, then forward the translation!

April's Heart...

It's that time again already, so Thealie and Lillibule posted this months heart which features gesso and baking soda!

I've not heard of such a mixture so it promised to be a novel experience! It wasn't too bad, and it's great fun, if you don't overheat you get some great imprints... here it is before the painting...

I used various stamps, then added wooden letters and shapes covered with the mix too. I then painted with acrylics, buffed and highlighted with pearly and gold, and added depth with texture paint in orange and violet. The butterflies were embossed then highlighted with paints and copics. As I usually use wire and beads I thought I'd keep that going as I've changed the colour theme for the next 3 hearts- something bright and summery... I shall end up with 3 hearts in each seasonal change.

I really enjoyed this one... but I'm still wondering whether to add some text... or a pic... 

Fabric fun... pincushions, needlecases and flowers...

This week's  art-time has pretty much been taken up with fabrics and fibres. I've had several things I needed to replace for quite some time... eg, a pincushion, a new needle book, a case for my crochet needles... many of which I've had for faaaaaaar too long and are long past their youthful sturdiness.

I found some nice fabrics a while back and decided to use some of that, especially as I can use 3 patterns. The ball I made is so easy- it's an adaption of a baby soft toy. I cut 12 ovals each in 3 fabrics... this should be about 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, but you can make larger or smaller... smaller is seriously cute!!

Here's the finished pincushion...

As you can see it's very simple to create. Sew 3 pieces together and stuff to make a segment. (I added 1/8th inch to the template because I was using a machine and turning them out, but you can oversew if the material allows)

Then sew 4 segments together at one end, twice. The remaining 4 segments are sewn to each available end to create the waist of the ball. I finished it off with buttons and ribbon.

This can be made in one fabric, but I like to vary what I use- both in patterns and material...

As I was in a wool and crochet cycle I spent some time making flowers and hearts... these are cute little things that I hadn't made for a long while and was reminded of by a friend...

I keep all my wool ends just for such projects....

simple crocheted roses

crocheted lilies

sweet frilly hearts

fun combo....

As I'm gradually posting a number of creations that need a pattern of some description I shall create a pattern section soon and add them all there, so if you fancy trying something yourself the details will be available.

Here's a pic of the felted crocet hook case