Catch up - again!

Hello folks, just having another catch up on this sunny Monday morning - hope it's sunny wherever you are too.

Since my last post my big softie pusscat Thomas has been to the vet's a few times after going off his food. First he was diagnosed with a mouth infection but a second visit, and closer inspection, revealed that he needed a dental operation. So, on Wednesday he will be going in to have several teeth out which I am hoping will solve his problems. It's been very tough trying to get him to eat....mushed up high calorie prescribed pate which I've been syringing into his mouth, lots of cream, Lick-e-Lix and butter lapped from my fingers as well as antibiotics and painkillers...not easy. I'll be glad when Wednesday comes around, although I'll also be feeling queasy with worry.

An enormous quote was presented to me of course....money I didn't have but I knew I would have to just find a way to raise it. My sister suggested I tried Crowdfunding and it seemed worth a try. I created a page and uploaded it to my Facebook page and am amazed, grateful and thrilled to say that, due to lots of very generous, often anonymous, donations, the money was raised in a few hours! I never cease to be amazed at how warm hearted people are. I'll let you know how the little sweetheart gets on.

Well, it's Stitches Trade show at the NEC at the moment and it seems quite strange not being there...the first time that I've not been demonstrating and teaching there since I started. I'm feeling relaxed about it though and enjoying the lack of pressure which I really need for the time being at least. I'll be keen to know how my new stamp designs went down at the show though!

I've added some new items to my Etsy shop, including a canvas which I created for Crafts Beautiful magazine at the end of last year and the Winter Frost canvas which I did for the DecoArt Design Team challenge - step by step instructions are in an earlier post here on my blog. Here are a few of the new items...

Hope you like them! Any money from sales at present is going straight into Thomas's fund for his post operative care...medication, follow up appointments and specialist food.

Well, having mentioned it's being a sunny day here, it's now clouding over and turning grey! Still, not as cold as last week so that's good.

Have a good week whatever you're up to and hope you find time to do something creative!

New Zendoodle designs

Here are a few more of my new stamp designs. These are the latest Zendoodle stamps, each available as the outline to doodle within or as the "Ready to Go" version. They will all be available to order at Stitches Trade show later this month.

 SDCSA6045 Zendoodle Houses

SDCSA6049 Zendoodle RTG Houses

SDCSA6046 Zendoodle Cat

SDCSA6050 Zendoodle RTG Cat

SDCSA6047 ZendoodleTeddy

SDCSA6051 Zendoodle RTG Teddy

SDCSA6048 Zendoodle Flowers

SDCSA6052 Zendoodle RTG Flowers

More to follow soon!

New Fairy Door stamps

My new stamp designs will be coming out in a few weeks so I thought I'd share some of them with you here. Personal Impressions are now releasing new stamps under the Sweet Dixie brand with each artist's name on the reverse of the packaging. These first four designs are my new Fairy Doors range. All the new designs will be available to order at Stitches Trade show later this month.

 SDCSA6053 Fairy Toadstool Home

 SDCSA6054 Crooked Fairy Door

  SDCSA6055 Gnome Door     

SDCSA6056 Curly Fairy Door

More to follow....!

Update

Sorry to have been absent from everything for a while now. Illness and other circumstances have kept me away, apart from things I had already scheduled to be posted some time ago. I'm making some changes and the biggest one is that, for the time being anyway, I'm not going to be teaching workshops or doing any demonstrations. I will still be doing my design work, including stamps etc, for Personal Impressions and selling my work on Etsy. I'm hoping to get to grips with selling online artwork too...I hate the term "digi stamps", but that kind of thing!
Apologies if you've tried to contact me over the last several weeks and not had a reply...I will be trying to catch up with messages etc over the next few days.

DecoArt Winter Wonderland Challenge..."Winter Frost" canvas

Hi folks, my turn to share the  project I designed for the DecoArt Winter Wonderland Challenge and I decided upon an abstract canvas that would convey the icy chills of the season. 

As well as various products from the DecoArt range, I also used some twigs and a dried leaf from my garden, a few beads, some mesh and and some white thread. 

Before I begin the step by step instructions, here's a list of everything I used:

DecoArt Media Line:

White Gesso

Fluid Acrylics in: Cobalt Blue Hue, Dioxazine Purple, Quinacridone Violet, Phthalo Blue, 

                          Paynes Grey, Cobalt Teal Hue

Shimmer Mister:Violet

Matte Medium

Liquid Glass

DecoArt range:

Snowtex

Glamour Dust: Crystal

Other products:

8" x 8" canvas

A few clear, or white, beads

Mesh

Strands of thin string

Needle and white thread

A few dry twigs and leaf

Brushes, spatula, heat tool

Okay, here we go then....lots of photos!

 Begin by applying gesso over the canvas with a spatula, aiming to create varying thickness and texture.

Press a few beads into the thicker areas of the gesso.

Scratch a few "icicles" into the gesso along the top and bottom edges of the canvas using a ball ended tool or a brush handle.

When the gesso is partially dry, apply heat in a few areas...this will cause the surface to bubble up and create extra texture.

Add some strips of mesh and thin string to the surface, using more gesso to keep them in place.

This was how my canvas looked at this stage.

Add some drops of Liquid Glass to create nicely rounded blobs of texture.

Use Matte Medium to adhere a dried leaf to the canvas - if you don't have any, then a purchased skeleton leaf would work. Smudge a little gesso around the leaf and stem to fill any areas where it may be sticking up. You can also add a little to the surface as I did. Allow everything to dry fully.

Paint the whole canvas with the Fluid Acrylics (except for the Cobalt Teal Hue) blending them over the surface and getting into all the nooks and crannies.You are aiming to cover the white completely - don't forget the edges!

Spritz areas of the canvas with the Violet Shimmer Mister - this will give a subtle glint to those areas.

This is how my canvas looked at this stage...the colours didn't photograph too well here, but you can see the various shades blending across the surface.

Next we need to start highlighting the canvas surface. I used the Cobalt Teal Hue to brush over some areas, blending as I went with a dry brush and light touch.

I mixed some Snowtex and gesso together to get a slightly more fluid version of the Snowtex and then brushed this over various areas. I particularly concentrated on the raised elements.

 Some Glamour Dust sprinkled onto the wet Snowtex/Gesso mix gives the ultimate frosty effect!

After playing around with the size and shape of the twigs I wanted to use, I added neat Snowtex to the top edges of them and let them dry.

I used a large, sharp needle and strong white thread to attach the twigs to the canvas - just a few stitches at various points on each twig are enough to hold them firmly in place.

I used Fly Stitch to create the look of some birds flying in the distance. You can see how to create a Fly Stitch here. 

Here are a few close ups of my finished piece which show the detail and texture.

....the beads and string are a great way to add instant texture, picked up by the gesso/Snowtex mixture, and the Glamour Dust really gives the extra frosty touch.

I love the detail that is picked up on the dry leaf.

It's worth playing around with the placement of the twigs before committing to the stitching. 

There you have the completed canvas. You could create a series of these for a feature wall, or why not try making a set of four - with one for each season? Don't forget to check out all the other Design Team projects for our Winter Wonderland Challenge and remember that you still have until the 29th to submit an entry yourself - there's a great DecoArt Media prize package up for grabs!

Happy New Year...

I hope that everyone has a great time, however you choose to celebrate or welcome the New Year in. I pray that, beyond personal wishes and goals, we can work together to lessen the fear and hatred that has blighted this past year and go some way toward that seemingly impossible dream of peace. Love and blessings.

Happy Christmas wishes

Like many other people this year, I'm not posting out Christmas cards and am using the postage costs towards buying gifts which we collect at Church for homeless and disadvantaged people. 

So, I've made an attempt at creating a photoshopped, digital card which is a small triumph for me as I really struggle with digital imaging! 

I really hope that everyone will have a wonderful Christmas and that we might all look forward to a more peaceful and happy new year.