Mixed Media Monday - What you loved doing

Happy New Year, everyone! To round off year, I chose the theme "show us what you loved doing during 2008", for Mixed Media Monday. It was a hard choice for me, but I narrowed it down to two things - then the painted backgrounds finally won. This canvas board is 5 x 7 inches or12.7 x 17.8 cms. The background is done with lots of different layers of acrylic paint, with some paint pen and sharpie thrown in for good measure :-) The image was computer generated in grey scale, and then I coloured it with Caran D'arch Neocolors II crayons. The wings were printed onto acetate to give a transparent effect.

Seasons Greetings

Wishing everyone a happy, peaceful and safe Christmas season. Make the most of the time you spend with your loved ones. I would say don't over indulge - but with all the goodies accumulating in my house I can't promise that I won't, LOL!

Mixed Media Monday - Gold

With Christmas fast approaching I thought I would issue an easy challenge on Mixed Media Monday this week - gold. My piece is done on a 4 x 4 inch (10.2 x 10.2 cm) canvas board. The background is painted with acrylic paints. Then I have simply added a computer generated image and lots of lovely German Scrap from the wonderful Lisa at Collage Stuff! Simple and easy - I think we can all use a bit of simplicity this time of year :-)

Mixed Media Monday - Paper Dolls/Art Dolls

Patty is our new guest host over at Mixed Media Monday this week and she has set such a fun challenge - paper dolls/art dolls. I really wanted to do a paper doll and will still do so if I can find this week. But in the meantime - I was really drawn to making a button doll - a Christmas Angel of sorts, grin! Thanks for the fun challenge, Patty!

Mixed Media Monday - Home Sweet Home

The talented Marie is guest hosting on Mixed Media Monday this week, and she has chosen "home, sweet home" as the challenge prompt. Once again, I'm struggling for time so it's another ATC. You'll need to use your imagination a little, because my scanner hates anything that is at all 3-D, so the scan isn't the best. The background is done with a page from an old book, distressed with gesso and distress inks. The house is chipboard, covered with a piece of paper that I stamped and then distressed. I just cut a piece of chipboard for the post for the bird house to sit on. The bird is covered with some rusted paper, and I added a strip of grosgrain ribbon down the side.

Mixed Media Monday - The Eyes Have It

Another new host over at Mixed Media Monday this week. Indy Bev is issuing us with the challenge "the eyes have it". I was toying with lots of ideas, but in the end my desperate need to increase my ATC stash won out, and I did this ATC for the challenge. I might just try to revisit the challenge later in the week, because I had lots of ideas for this one. Thanks Bev!

Mixed Media Monday - Ornamental Christmas - Take 2

OK, OK, I know I said that if I got some needle felting supplies again, it would only to make flat things like ATC's etc. But then Gillian issued the "ornamental Christmas" challenge on Mixed Media Monday, and I just could help myself! These are three little pieces to hang on the Christmas tree. "Pumpkin" the little bear stands about 3 inches tall without his hat and Santa and Rudolph are similar sizes. Hmmm...these were too much fun - looks like I won't be sticking to my promise :-)

Mixed Media Monday - Ornamental Christmas

This week on Mixed Media Monday Gillian has issued us with the challenge "Ornamental Christmas" - and would like us to create either pieces that would hang on the Christmas tree or elsewhere, or that would stand alone. My mind went in so many different directions and I made a few different pieces. This one I can show you now, but the other two pieces need to be photographed, so I'll upload them later in the week. This piece is a wall hanging, about 8 inches, or 20 cms tall. The music stamped on the dress is "Joy to the World".

Mixed Media Monday - The Human Body or Parts Thereof

This week on Mixed Media Monday we have yet another talented guest host, Jennifer. Jennifer has chosen "the human body or parts thereof" for her challenge. I took the opportunity offered to play with some needle felting. I did some needle felting a few years back, mainly little bears and such, and then sold all of my supplies (groan). Now I've decided I want to play with it some more, and do some flat work as well - so I'm busily buying supplies again. This ATC was made by needle felting onto an ATC sized piece of felt. The face is paper clay, which I painted.

Mixed Media Monday - Colours of Autumn

The theme this week on Mixed Media Monday is "colours of autumn", hosted by Debbie. Autumn tones are always fun to work with, and I had trouble deciding which direction I wanted to take with this one. In the end, I opted for trying our two techniques I haven't tried before.

The first ATC is done using the "gesso" technique - and I'd like to send a special thankyou to Katrin for teaching this to me :-)

The second ATC is done using the "bandana" technique - and I'd like to send a special thankyou to Carla for directing me to the website - Technique Zone - where the technique is demonstrated.

Mixed Media Monday - Lock and Key

The theme this week on Mixed Media Monday is "Lock and Key" with Kris. Unfortunately I couldn't get a decent scan of my piece, but you'll get the idea. It is done on a canvas board which is 5x7 inches or 12.7x17.8 cms, which was painted and over stamped with acrylic paints. The house is done on chipboard, covered with papers and aged. The keys, lock and star are also chipboard, painted silver and then aged. Thanks for a fun challenge, Kris!

Mixed Media Monday - Things That Go Bump In The Night

This week over at MMM we have another wonderful guest presenter, Kim - who has chosen "things that go bump in the night" as our challenge prompt. With Halloween just around the corner, this is a fun challenge. My piece is done on a 5 x 7 inch or 12.7 x 17.8 cm canvas panel. The background is acrylic paint, the main stamped images are from Cherry Pie and the cobweb is from Non Sequitur.

Organic Backgrounds

As I've mentioned previously, I have been really enjoying the workshop "Organic Backgrounds" with Paulette Insall. Sadly, the workshop is completed now, but I had a ball! Here is a piece I made using the techniques Paulette taught us in the workshop. The canvas is 20 by 25 cms, or 8 by 10 inches.

Mixed Media Monday - Blues and Purples

This week on MMM, we have the lovely Rosie as our guest host, and Rosie has chosen to go with the colour combination of blue and purple. This piece was done using the techniques I learned in the Organic Backgrounds with Paulette Insall. It is done on a 5 x 7 inch (12.7 x 17.8 cm) canvas board, with lots and lots of layers of acrylic paints, with stamping stencils etc. It was great to snatch a little time each day to get this piece completed, amongst the craziness that is my life at the moment.

Mixed Media Monday - Opposites

The new theme on Mixed Media Monday is "opposites", chosen by the talented new guest host, Beth. Beth was thinking contrasts, dark and light, yin and yang, male and female, old and young, that sort of thing. Things are still hectic here at my house, with my daughter still recovering from being hit by a car. So I thought I'd just grab some time to make an ATC for this week's challenge. I immediately thought of black and white, with another, bright colour as an extra contrast and to punch it up a little. Perhaps a little boring, but all I could manage for this fun theme this week.

Mixed Media Monday - Harmony

The theme on Mixed Media Monday this week, chosen by our special guest host Karen, is "Harmony". It's a great theme, and I wish I could have found a little more harmony in my life in amongst all the chaos. My daughter was hit by a car on Wednesday night, and it's been a worrying and busy time for us all. She is home from hospital now - a fracture in her leg and stitches in her head, but otherwise OK, thankfully.

The only time I've had to do any art was to snatch a few minutes here and there, to try to keep up with the online workshop I'm doing - Organic Backgrounds, with Paulette Insall. So that's all I've got to show you this week - a work in progress - after week three. But I have been trying to use harmonious colours and layers to create this, so I guess it fits the theme :-)

Mixed Media Monday - Show Us What You Love To Do

When I chose the challenge "show us what you love to do" for Mixed Media Monday this week, I left myself with a bit of a dilemna, because there are so many things I love to do at the moment. I finally settled on an altered children's board book. I love working on them from cover to cover, and have been wanting to do one based around "Monday's Child" - so here was the golden opprotunity, grin. I've used lots of collage images, computer generated wording, papers, German Scrap and lots of other bits and pieces.

Mixed Media Monday - Famous People

Katrin is our guest host over at Mixed Media Monday again this week - and she has chosen "famous people" as her challenge prompt. My mind was racing with possibilities for this challenge. I was dreaming about doing something in all soft whites using Grace Kelly as the famous person, so I'm not quite sure how I ended up with Edgar Allan Poe and all these strong colours, LOL. The background is acrylic paint on water colour paper. This has been overstamped in white gesso (the script) and black gesso for the branches. Thanks for another fun challenge, Katrin!

Mixed Media Monday - Stars

This week we have yet another new guest hostess on Mixed Media Monday, Joanne! Joanne has chosen "stars" as the challenge prompt. I pondered about this, there are so many alternatives, but in the end, I opted for a set of three chipboard stars, linked together. The backgrounds are done with color mist sprays, with some gold acrylic paint rubbed on for good measure :-)

Mixed Media Monday - Nature

The challenge on Mixed Media Monday this week is nature, so I finally got to play with my gorgeous little bird house that has been sitting here naked for so long. This was a lot of fun with acrylic paints, distress inks, papers, old book pages, collage images, other embellishments and some large die for feet! Oh, and buckets of gel medium, of course, LOL.

Mixed Media Monday - Repurpose/Recycle

Well, over at Mixed Media Monday I'm "it" again as hostess - I love having so many guest hostesses - but it's nice to have an occasional turn as well :-) I chose "repurpose/recycle" as so many of us like to alter things. Then I was left wondering what to do. I have a house full of things "to alter some day", but nothing inspired to me. In the end, I was flipping through Issue 18 of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine and saw the spoons that were altered using alcohol inks, and that is what inspired me. Of course I had to be different, so I gave the spoon a face, a crown, wings and some beads. If I can think of a way to hang her, she'll hang by my desk - I was going to use magnets, but my son reminded me of the close proximity of the computer.

Mixed Media Monday - Numbers

Numbers is the theme chosen by the wonderful Heather, as our challenge on Mixed Media Monday this week. What a great theme - my mind was buzzing with all sorts of ideas about what I wanted to do for this one. I knew that I needed to go with a vintage feel again, after a couple of bright weeks. I cut the house out of chipboard, and covered it with papers and distressed it. I added a Collections chipboard frame with different things in the "windows", a rusted owl and star etc., to complete the "bird house". Lots of fun - thanks for such a fun theme, Heather!

Mixed Media Monday - Fashion

We have a wonderful new guest host on Mixed Media Monday this week - Debbi, another Aussie! Debbi has chosen "fashion" as her challenge to us. In the latest Somerset Studio mag. there is a spread that keeps catching my eye - it's one that uses a colour pallet of aqua, tangerine, berry and black. I simply had to give that colour pallet a try, so I chose the fashion challenge as my opportunity. The piece is done on a canvas board that is approximately 5 x 7 inches, or 12.5 x 18 cm. The background is done in acrylic paints, the word "chic" is done with water soluble crayons and the swirls are rubons. It was a fun challenge, thanks, Debbi!

Mixed Media Monday - Trinchies

This week over at Mixed Media Monday we have yet another new and talented guest host! This time it is Joan from Italy, and Joan is introducing us to "trinchies". These little pieces of art are 3 x 3 inch squares. Along similar lines to inchies (1 x 1 inch) and twinchies (2 x 2 inch). I found the trinchie a fun size to work on - they have a similar area as an ATC, but being square, they are also a little bit different. The piece I made is done on a Color Mist on deli paper background, which was overstamped with a swirl stamp in gesso. The image was a computer generated grey scale image, that I coloured with water colour crayons. Then there are some computer generated words and some yummy German Scrap pieces to finish the piece off. Thanks for a fun challenge, Joan.

Mixed Media Monday - Generations

Fatma returns as our guest host over at Mixed Media Monday this week and she has chosen "generations" for the challenge prompt. This seemed like an open invitation to do another spread in my fabric book, grin. Once again, the edges get a little cut off by the scanner, but you get the idea. Both of the pictures are image transfers onto fabric, and the little picture in the frame is computer generated. Apart from that I used lots of fabrics, trims and a little paper to complete the spread.

Mixed Media Monday - Rust

Meet Ol' Blue Eyes! He is a chipboard owl from Collections, and came in about 14 pieces. He stands about 4 inches tall (10 cms). Each piece of chipboard was covered with rusted paper, apart from the beak that was painted black. Then some of the pieces were stamped with gesso. His eyes are faceted brads, and unfortunately I only had blue - I would have preferred amber.

Ol' Blue Eyes was made for the Mixed Media Monday challenge this week, with is "rust". We have a new guest host, Gillian, who has created a wonderful piece for us. Thanks for the fun challenge, Gillian!

Mixed Media Monday - Let's Have Tea

This week over at Mixed Media
Monday, Glenda returns as our guest host. Glenda has chosen "let's have tea" as her challenge. It was a great opportunity to get another spread done in my fabric book. Unfortunately the board book doesn't fit into my scanner completely - it just misses a bit, so you'll have to imagine the lace to be the same down both sides. The lace is gorgeous in real life, hand painted by my daughter Danni. Thanks for a fun challenge, Glenda!

Art Doll Fun

I have shown you some of the pieces I have been doing with the Softly Spoken Altered Diva Summer School previously, but I have also been doing the "Words To Live By" classes as well. This involves making fun little art dolls with meaningful (hopefully) little messages. These are three that I've made so far, but I can see them getting addictive, choosing how to colour each one, etc.

Mixed Media Monday - Monochromatic Colours

Gerda is our guest host over at Mixed Media Monday this week, and she has chosen "monochromatic colours" as the challenge. I took the opportunity to do a spread in my next fabric altered board book. The colours didn't scan very well, it is a lot softer in real life. The laces are a cream colour, and the images are softer, but you can get an idea. The image on the left is one that was printed onto a fabric sheet, while the one on the right is an image transfer onto fabric. Lots of fun - thanks, Gerda!

Mixed Media Monday - Dance

This week on Mixed Media Monday we have Katrin as our guest host again. This time Katrin has chosen "dance" as the challenge prompt, and I couldn't resist doing a canvas for this theme. This is a 5 x 7 inch or 12.7 x 17.8 cm canvas board. The background is done acrylic paints. Lots of fun - thanks, Katrin! I learned the technique for this background at the Altered Diva Summer school. Lots of fun!

Mixed Media Monday - Places

This week the very talented Fatma returns as guest host on Mixed Media Monday and she has chosen "places" as the theme. I pondered long and hard about what I'd like to do for this challenge - thinking of all the places I'd like to visit (and there are many, LOL) and all the places I've been and loved. Then it hit me - when it's all said and done, Dorothy was right - "there's no place like home". So that's what I decided to do. I cut a piece of matt board into the shape of a house and used lots of glazes, a scanned page from a Wizard of Oz book (I could never cut that up) - used a picture of Dorothy from the movie because Judy Garland WAS Dorothy, a chipboard number, and a rubber stamp star which I used with paint. That's about it. Thanks for another fun challenge Fatma!

Summer School

I am currently doing the Softly Spoken Summer Class at Altered Diva, and this is one of the pieces I completed today. Lots of fun working on the background in acrylics, and all the bits and pieces that went into it.

Mixed Media Monday - Try Something New - Fabric Book

I must admit I was being a little self indulgent when I chose the theme of "try something new" for Mixed Media Monday this week, because I was dying to experiment with a fabric altered board book. It was such fun, and the way this one was done was great, just roughly measuring, tearing the fabric when possible etc. I did find it a little hard to be so loose, but I think I got there in the end. Unfortunately the scans aren't the best, because the book only just fitted into my scanner, and being so big and thick, it was difficult, but I'm sure you'll get an idea. It was great fun mixing and matching all the different pieces of fabric, and digging through my stash to find different things to embellish it with. Can't wait to start my second one now :-)

Mixed Media Forum

I am very excited to have set up a bulletin board for participants of Mixed Media Monday, to discuss all things pertaining to our art. While it is aimed primarily at people who participate on MMM - and might only mean that you visit the site and go and look at what participants have made - anyone who loves mixed media will be welcome to participate.

I hope lots of people will pop on over and join in the fun:
http://mixedmediamonday.com/forum

Mixed Media Monday - By The Sea

This week on Mixed Media Monday we have another wonderful guest host, Ilonka! Ilonka chose "by the sea" as her theme - fun! I think this ATC I made is probably more "in" the sea than "by" the sea, but it's fun and I felt like being a little quirky this week. The background is done with color mist sprays on deli paper. I used a rubber stamp for the tail half of the mermaid and some clipart for the upper half. Then I added some German scrap fish, which I distressed with acrylic paints, and some small shells. The seaweek is hand drawn and coloured. Alhough it doesn't show up well in the scan, there is gold paint around the edges of the ATC and highlights over the background. Thanks for a fun challenge, Ilonka.

Mixed Media Monday - Bingo

This week on Mixed Media Monday we have another new guest host - this time it's Alisha (from Two Cool Texans fame). Alisha has chosen the fun theme of "bingo" as the challenge. This is the piece I came up with. I used a heavy matt board vintage bingo card from Collage Stuff, which is about 12x12 cm (almost 5x5 inches) I altered it with gesso, inks etc. I also added my very first successful gel medium image transfer :-) -which I transferred onto a vintage book page, which was distressed further with gesso. I also used some bingo chips and a faux postage stamp from Collage Stuff.