CB Monthly Challenge - June

Half way through the year with this - who can believe it!? I feel compelled to do this every month, especially as I made special journal for it and those of you who take part have commented on enjoyinbg seeing my take on both seasons. Thanks for that.

I must admit, it is getting more challenging to think of rhymes going into winter. Even though we have reached the shortest day and it is quite gloomy outside today, many of our days here are still beautiful and sunny. Most of this week we had chilly, frosty mornings - and what comes after that?? Blue skies and sunshine!!

I have been working on this spread (amidst writing school reports) and have not been that happy with it - but the time is up and this is what I have. I think it may look better in the photos - here's hoping.

I was lucky enough to receive my new Paper Artsy Infusions via my Craft Barn voucher and my daughter visiting her brother in London, then bringing them back for me. I really wanted to use them this month but as I'm still learning, it may just be a hot mess. Check out my Instagram #ICAD2017 Days 2, 5, & 7 for what I think is more successful. Videos on my YouTube channel.

I used brighter Infusion colours for Summer (Magenta & Slime) and the darker ones for Winter (Rusty Car & Olive Tree) I had been trying out an Elegant Writer pen and has some success on card, but didn't want to block out the background totally, so gave it a go on tissue. Not so great - I used lots of white and some pink and violet Sakura gellyroll pens to try to bring out the flowers. The winter side has a very sketchy image of my house [because that's my best drawing :)], some grunged up tape and a bit of stamping on both side also.

Teacher's Pet

Paper Artsy keep coming up with great challenges and this one was so much fun once again.
I hadn't heard the term 'assemblages' before not having studied art but being more of a hobby artist. But now I've learnt this term it makes so much sense and I have seen ideas in places since, and, realised I've created things like this without realising it!

I loved the little robot guys on the Paper Arty Challenge page by Jen Hardwick and her blog has so many fun and inspiring ideas. Makes you want to make art with anything and everything!

So to my entry for the challenge. When we have our Pet Day at the school where I work, the staff always have challenge to create something for the students to view and maybe guess whose piece of art it is or they like the best. Last time we did this the theme as pet rocks. I had lots of ideas - went to the river for rocks, bought some small stones and glass pebbles - but nothing was coming together. At the very last minute/hour (as often happens with theses challenges) I came up with this idea.

Who's the Teachers Pet? I made enough simple characters for everyone in the class, the teacher (me) and then the hidden actual teacher's pet under the table. I loved this creation and keep it in my room.
It was fun seeing the kids guessing which rock was them. Some of them had a fair idea from the speech bubbles above the 'students' as some of these are quotes from the kids.

We Are Our Choices

I'm always excited when I see the Paper Artsy Challenge - this time it was Found Objects - but somehow it has been getting away from me lately and the ideas have either not come or the time has just whizzed by.
I could have just stamped with tubes or plants - but feel like I done that for other challenges so waited for the inspiration to come.

Then in the garden I pulled off stalks that were left from when rhubarb had gone to seed. I never actually seen anything like this. The flowers were cut off and what was left had dried and were hollow. I thought I could use these to emulate the hangings by Eliza Martinez.

I incorporated this with a saying I had found this week, then some lichen, calico, stitching, stamping, paint, wire, string and coloured cord.

xox

This little piece was created for two reasons. One, I knew this could fit for the Paper Artsy Challenge and when I saw the hearts by Tammy Tuttrow, I thought I could make a little charm for my daughter to take with her on her trip to Europe. Sadly things did not go as planned. I'll have to keep working on my original ideas later.

Maybe I should have tried the kiwifruit! Or the coasters - the leaves remind me of mint leaf lollies - ask Leandra, she'll know what I mean!

Anyway, the problem was (and still is) that the beaded bracelet I bought my daughter when I visited the UK a couple of years ago broke and while we still have the main 'xo' (kiss & hug) charm, the original beads were lost and after re-threading it at least three times, everything I use tarnishes. So I decided to make a temporary 'charm' for her trip. I had some resin which I had bought quite some time ago but have never been brave enough to try. However, when I finally went to do this piece, I found it was white opaque resin and not clear like I thought.

So as an alternative I thought I would use Judkins Diamond Glaze. I had laser engraved the heart, with the 'xox' and set about applying the glaze. So thought it should have set and then went and put my finger in it - not set!! So then I had to add so much more glaze that it didn't set before my daughter flew out. I was away for a few days, seeing her off and not back home in time to sort another project. So another layer of glaze was added and I think it will be ok in the end - I'm just not going to touch it for about 2 weeks!
So my daughter has arrived in France and tonight I have been messaging her and seeing images of her trip up the cable car at Chamonix Mont Blanc - pretty amazing. She'll be in the UK next week and may find she will have some parcels of craft supplies arriving in the post to bring home for me!

Sunshine for Your Soul

The current challenge from Paper Artsy is Blue & Ochre which did fit quite well with other challenges I am do at the moment (see Angel of Gold) but I decided to work on these pages already started. This is a journal I have repurposed and begun by sticking in paper napkins.

As always there are so many inspiring imageson the PA blog. This fabric from IkoPlusis beautiful and would make a lovely background for a page:

I started playing on the double page spread but decided to finish just one side at present. I plan to work on the other side during the next week. I want them to be different, but also work together.

I added text paper and them gesso over the napkin. The 'circle' paper is scrapbooking paper which had a faint pattern on it, which I darkened up with gel pen. The bottem embellishment was something I had made some time ago and seemed to fit well on this page.

An now to decide what how to complete the opposite page.

Doors & Windows Challenge

This piece has been created for the Paper Artsy Doors & Windows Challenge.
Looking at their blog again today, I really wish I had put more time into this as some of the examples there are absolutely amazing. The pieces The two weeks of the challenges seems to whiz by and I often find I am thinking of ideas at the last minute.

I especially like the Seth Apter post, door to My Imagination. The rustic colours and the interactive aspect are inspiring.

I had ideas about a door using a piece of card I had embossed and coloured with Gelatos some time ago, but never used. The lattice pattern reminded me of a gate so I added more colour, hinges and a split pin as a handle. I was going to mount it in my re-purposed journal so sprayed the paged with green acrylic. I then stamped another piece of card with different stamps and colours for another layer. It was all then mounted and the two small pieces added with mounting tape to give some dimension. The small gate and ´Welcome´ sentiment were laser engraved onto thin wood pieces.

This piece is also entered in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Layer It Up.

Blog Candy - The Craft Barn

I am so loving the look of these Paper Artsy Infusions and it would be amazing to have some.
This opportunity to win the new colours is from The Craft Barn - hoping this is my luck week!!

Watercolour & PearlEx

This page has been created for the Paper Artsty Challenge - Paint with Infusions.
As I sait in the previous post, I don't have any Infusions, although I would love some, so have again substituted Jaquard PearEx.

This page came together from a few things I had started. I work on the background specifically for this challenge, sprinkling the PearlEx on the page and spraying with water. As it has no binder, I wanted to fix it as it tend to rub off otherwise so dabbed some matt medium onto it with a brush. I probably should have used gloss as I may have kept more of the iridescence. I then added more texture with some stamping.

I had been playing with water colours to paint some small water colour flowers so decided to layer one of these with calico and various papers to create the focal image. All in all, I'm quite pleased with the finished page.

Cityscape

This page was created from the inspiration in the latest Paper Artsy Challenge - Paint with Infusions.
Now I don't have any Infusions, in fact I'll admit I have no Paper Artsy products at all. That's why I would so love to be successful in one of these challenges as being all the way down in NZ, it's quite pricey to purchases these products and then have the postage and exchange rates on top of that. My daughter is off to London to visit my son in a few weeks, so I'm thinking anything I may want to purchase (or win!) from the UK could come back in her suitcase - so here's hoping :)

So as a substitute I have used Jacquard PearlEx Series 2 and tried to work them with some of the inspiring techniques I have seen on the PA blog. I have watched the Infusions videos several times now and they look so much fun with the way the walnut and multiple colours appear.

In this page I have used the Antique Copper and Aztec Gold mixed with glazing medium to create the background. The cityscape stamps are from Viva Las Vegas Stamps. The drips are very watered down grey paint. As I had worked on a loose piece of card, I created a simple background in a journal to stick it on to. I started with a subtle scrapbooking paper, some stamping and inking around the edge.

Today

After my last post, I had really enjoyed the colour combination of the pink and orange as per the Paper Artsy Challenge. The sewn circles by Jane LaFazio reminded me of art I have done with my class in the past, and thought we could extend this this by including some sewing.
I had intended this to be a two page spread in my small home made journal, but in the end the pages became separate and did not really connect with each other.
They are having to be one entry for this challenge though. It's late on Sunday night and I only have time for one blog post!

Explore, Dream, Discover

This is another piece inspired by Our Mixed Media Moods by DeeDee Catron & Jenn Engle. I love what they do in their art and have finally been brave enough to film a short clip of myself creating. I wasn't brave enough to speak yet, but it's start.
We know how these challenges often overlap and I found that what I created also fitted perfectly with the latest Paper Artsy challenge, Pink & Orange. Traditionally we probably wouldn't put these colours together but in art they look amazing and I loved this piece and the colour combination is sure to appear again. I was especially drawn to the boldness of the Dina Wakley piece, but also the subtleness of Elise Engh's feathers, as posted on the PA blog.

Here is Our MMM inspiration board. My inspiration came from the cloours, top left, and the roses, botton middle.

Flowers - Alcohol Background & Pens

This post is an entry in Paper Artsy's Challenge - Alcohol Inks & Pens. I don't have any purchased alcohol inks and have had limited success making my own.
I had a look through the posts on PA's blog and as usual there were plenty to inspire. I really liked they idea of Dounia Larges's upcycled plastic as this is a media I have tried to use for projects before. I also like the flowers made from cans by Gail on the challenge original blog post.
But then suddenly it was Sunday and I hadn't created anything and I still live in hope of being able to order something exciting from PA.
So I found myself (easily) distracted from the work I should have been doing to create this simple page.
The background I had already made with an acrylic and alcohol effect so thought this was at least close to what the challenge was. I then stamped the flowers (Bo Bunny Stamps) and coloured with Pitt Artist brush pens.

You're Right!

I use this quote regularly with my class at school. They don't get it at first, but it makes them think and hopefully helps them be more positive about what they can achieve. SO I thought I would create a version for the Paper Artsy Challenge - Typography, Fonts and Quotes. I would love to use some of their products, as others who enter their challenges do, but I can't afford them until I manage to win a challenge! :) - but the  ideas in the blog are always helpful and inspire my entries.

The quote, as printed, had a distressed look, so I thought I would use this as inspiration. I started by using some homemade stamps that I carved form erasers to spell out Henry Ford and then covered this with a grey glaze, which I scratched with an old credit card to create the distress.
Then I added the quote and edge it with a red Stabilo pencil.

Hope

There are so many great things to do for this challenge from Paper Artsy - Typography, Fonts and Quotes. I didn't want to go with a mish-mash of fonts that could just end up a mess - so this one just evolved.
I had a page that had some patterned paper already on it so took the lead from the colours that were in it - turquoise and magenta - and went with that.
I added a layer of text through a stencil using archival ink and then added text from a magazine. I then dripped Liquidex Ink using the same colours. I used a script stencil and coloured texture paste which was them cut into the letters HOPE. The heart is a stamp from Viva Las Vegas stamps, onto tissue and them applied with matte medium. Some black Stabilo around the letter and the edges, a few black splatters and done.
The background has turned out quite busy, but I do quite like the textured script letters.

Out Of The Box

Once again there's lots of inspiration on the Paper Artsy Blog for their latest challenge - Squares & Grids.
I have also been enjoying watching DeeDee Catron create her art pages and this in another one inspired by her style.

I started with gesso and then a grey wash. The squares are Geli print scraps overlaid this a Viva Las Vegas stamp on tissue, cut up and stuck on. I used Golden Payne's Grey acrylic which I initially thinned and dripped but ended spreading with my fingers as I wanted it o grab around the edges of the squares. The vertical and horizontal paint lines were a happy accident. I randomly dabbed with my brush and they ended up almost looking like a woven pattern. I finished with watercolour pencil for a border, splatters, scribble and journalling with ordinary pencil.