When Sue Knibbs, one of our dear customers (and past participant of some of my workshops) came to visit the store on Saturday with a black wrapped parcel under her arm she exclaimed some nerves on showing me. Nerves of what I'm not quite sure since what she presented could be described as masterpiece!

What I adore about this beautiful piece of art work is it is every bit Sue, handcrafted with care and thought and truly made with love.

Sue and I spent some time discussing the method and details in the creation of this artwork. Here is some of the techniques and thoughts of note:

• Sue started out with a sketch and an idea stemming from an idea to use the beautiful SevenGypsies Victoria bird stamps. As her artwork developed the only idea that resulted in the finished piece was the use of the stamps as her ideas evolved so much.
• Background colours were brushed and sponged with acrylic paint.
• The colours she chose were a new combination for Sue. They work together brilliantly!
• The vine images are from serviettes. It is worth noting that she painstakingly cut each vine out buy hand to get a perfect result. Edges of the serviette were pushed inwards as she glued to get a slight bit of edge texture.
• Each of the stamped images (birds, text, doll images) were stamped onto tissue rather than directly to the canvas with Stazon ink. By stamping onto tissue, miss-stamping was avoided. Stazon ink doesn't run when adhesive is added and produces a nice black sharp image.
  
• Each stamped image was carefully cut out before adding to the canvas. The white parts of the tissue turn clear when adhesive is added but cutting out produces better clarity in the background colours.
• Sue's glue of choice is Mod Podge.
• Some of the background texture was created by applying acrylic in her various colours directly to fiberglass mesh (Magic Mesh) and then using that as a stamp to apply a grid texture.
• The ornate classic image was from a $2 shop frame.
• If any lines or areas didn't stamp dark enough or wasn't defined enough she would go back over them with her pen/acrylics to get the result she wanted.
  
• The crackle medium Sue used is our favourite Helmars Brand (available at NZ Scrapbook).
• Sue completed her art with one of our other favourite products - Bullseye Spray Shellac. So easy, so yum! 12 light coats to finish.

I liked how Sue also commented that she would say to herself "How am I going to fix this?" So often that is the case. Its persisting and problem solving that art evolves. Much like life! hehe



So wouldn't you agree - WOW! Sue has done a beautiful job.

Thank you Sue for bringing it in to show me, and letting me show my Blog readers. Enjoy it in your home, I am happy you are proud of what you have created - you should be! Yay you!!

~Kathleen x

Labels: Art, Great People, Inspiration

There is so much to love about 7Gypsies products. From the subtle colours to their original products. 7Gypsies love to do something different. So it makes sense for this Product Preview event that we do something different too.

Introducing the 7Gypsies printers tray. With 12 ATC sized compartments it makes the perfect, wall hangable Birthday Reminder board.

At this Product Preview event you will be making this useful and lovely project, get to see the new 7Gypsies Venice collection, enjoy a light supper and be in to win some 7Gypsies prizes!

Cost to attend this event is the special price of $49 (kits may be available after the event for $59) which includes the materials/project pack to make this special keepsake.

Product Preview: 7Gypsies Venice Collection
Date: Wednesday 20th January
Time: 7pm
Event fee: $49
Please Bring:

• Basic kit (Paper trimmer, pencil, fine tip scissors, ruler)
• Adhesives (I used Scotch Quick Dry Tacky Adhesive and Selley's Glue dots)
• Tiny photos of friends and family members.
• Brown stamping ink and sponge.
• Black felt tip pen.

Phone 09 912 0665 to book. Limited spaces available so book in quick!

~Kathleen, Linda and the team at NZ Scrapbook

Labels: Art, Classes-and-Workshops, Inspiration, NZ-Scrapbook

Hi arty friends,
Introducing a new feature on my Blog: Art on Demand

I get a lot of requests on how to use materials. Sometimes a product will sound interesting but you find yourself unsure of how to use it or what the results will be, so it sits there unused - potential in a jar. You may find yourself wanting to break out of your norm and use your materials in new and interesting ways and combinations but are unsure where to start.

Well that is what Art on Demand is all about! Techniques and combinations that will encourage you to try different art techniques and materials.

Lets get started!


Exhibit A: a lucky dip box. All items unused, many unfamiliar in brand or method. So diving in I went. Three items I was digging for and came up with:

• Cornish Heritage Farms unmounted stamp - Trees Backgrounder
• Pan Pastel Sofft Art Sponge - Flat Angle Slice
• Ranger Adirondack Ink - Pitch Black

and since these all seemed a little safe, decided to dig for one more...

• Claudine Hellmuth Studio Acrylic - Sable Brown

Initial thoughts

Stamp: Quite taken with the size and detail of the unmounted stamp so I wanted to use a technique that would show up its potential texture.

Sponge: Hmm I could cut it, paint with it, burnish. Nice dense sponge would result in smooth application.

Ink pad: Black ink. Well a core item in any crafters arsenol. Note to consider - Pigment ink so would only dry on absorbant surfaces or would require heat embossing.

Paint: Acrylic paint, dries on most everything. Brown - a stepping off point for my colour scheme.

So not exactly a scary combination for this tutorial but hey, want to see where I ended up?...

RESULT


I wanted to highlight the texture in the stamp and create a peering in effect. So keeping lighter colours towards the middle and a frame style layer adds the effect of depth. Detail is in bead tendrils and tiny clear micro beads on the interior edges of the frame.

Tricky to see in the photo but the stamp image carries over the background and continues through the frame.


Process
1. Assemble your materials and turn your hot glue gun on.

2. While your hot glue gun is heating up, cut a piece of white cardstock slightly larger than the dimensions of the rubber stamp. I chose a cardstock that has a linen finish.
3. Spray the surface of your card with Glimmermist shimmer spray keeping the light colours to the middle of your card.

4. Force dry with a heat gun. You could let it dry naturally if you wish.

5. Ink up your stamp with the black pigment ink and stamp directly onto your now shimmery white card.

6. Emboss immediately with the black embossing powder. The technique for embossing is to sprinkle the still wet ink with powder. Shake off the excess powder onto a clean piece off paper and return the excess to its jar for re-use. Heat the embossing powder that is now stuck to your stamped image with a heat gun or over a toaster so that the powder melts into a glossy enamel sheen. Set embossed image aside.

7. Apply hot melted glue directly to your rubber stamp (do not use on acrylic stamps - I havent tested them yet!). Rubber stamps are made of vocanized rubber and are not harmed by the hot glue.


8. Apply the hot glue around the entire edge of the rubber stamp to create a frame and then trail the glue inwards to build up width to the frame. Vary the thickness of the hot glue and allow small threads to snake across the image. Set aside to cool.

9. Using the sponge, apply black ink to the edges of the cardstock image blending lightly.

10. Layer the embossed inked image onto a piece of blue and black cardstock. Each piece slightly larger than the last to add a mat border then zig-zag machine stitch to hold the pieces together and create a decorative edge. Leave the threads hanging free for additional interest.

11. Once the hot glue is well cool (it will be cloudy looking), peel it up off the surface of the stamp.

12. Paint the hot glue frame with black gesso making sure to get paint in all the detail and crevices.

13. While the gesso is still wet, burnish back over the frame with the sponge to remove the gesso from the top peaks of the texture. This will add back a subtle translucent look.

14. Sponge some colour into the frame using the sponge. Burnish back again lightly to reveal the translucent peaks.

15. Apply the glass bead gel to the interior edges of the frame. Once it is dry it will give a crystal frost like detail to the piece.

16. Using your fingertip, rub some shimmery white metallic rub-ons near the glass bead gel to blend out the icy effect.


17. Attach the frame over the stamped image (the images will line up) by piercing holes either side of glue bands in the frame then thread a large needle with metallic threads and tie the frame onto the embossed image. I tied mine in three places leaving the thread excess hanging free.

18. Add final detail by attaching a small charm to the frame with ball chain. Thread tiny crystal seed beads onto the ends of the free threads.

19. Adhere your textured image to the front of a journal, book, album or box and your project is complete.


This is such a easy and effective technique. I challenge you to give it a try! If you do, please post a link to your creation back here in the comments section. Every person who links back will recieve a FREE original Artist Trading Card and an word or image sheet for use in your artwork.

Feedback and requests for specific materials or techniques to be featured welcome.

Happy creating!
~Kathleen

Labels: Art, Art-on-demand, Inspiration, Instruction

Labels: Inspiration, Instruction

Hi all,
This is part two of my interpretation of the Own Art challenge. I have included full photos and instructions so YOU can have a go too!

In part one I started with my chosen subject of Wisteria vines and worked it into a sketch in my journal. I decided that I then wanted to try it represented as a textural sculptural piece.

Here is my result!:


My goals for this piece were to

1. Produce a 3dimensional representation inspired by my sketch and photos.
2. Work in a textural medium
3. Maintain a color washed effect

As I have reached these goals I am labeling this piece as complete in my mind however I ideas for further working it. More likely though, I will explore those ideas in another project.


Process:

1. First up I wrapped a block of wood in a piece of white tissue and baby muslin, hot gluing it securely to the back of the wood.

2. I then hot glued chunks of Floracraft Styrofoam onto the base in the general shape of my subject. This gave my piece height and stability for the detail to come.


3. Once the main shape was in place I started to cut into the foam to create more defined areas.


4. Using my sketch as a guide I continued to cut into the Styrofoam base with a scalpel and started adding a surface of Paperclay. Paperclay is an airdry clay that is receptive to detail. It dries fairly quickly so ideally it is best to start and finish this step in one go. If you need to leave your project during this step be sure to cover securely with plastic wrap to slow down the drying.

5. This photo shows the sculpture now covered in Paperclay and I am just working up the detail in shapes. My main emphasis here is to maintain the fluid motion of the shapes. Cutting lines into the background helped me visually differentiate between the background and forground as well as adding texture.


6. Once the Paperclay was dry I individually added small squares of baby muslin to the surface with Gel Medium. Using a pushing/dabbing motion with my paintbrush I could push the muslin into the cracks and creases. The baby muslin adds interesting texture and dimension to the piece as well as making the overall sculpture stronger. (much like a plaster cast! - and yes it does look like an archeological discovery!)

7. Using an old French dictionary I tore tiny pieces and used the gel medium to apply to the surfaces that would appear to be in shadow.

8. I then applied a coat of white gesso to the entire surface (going very light over the text) and allowed to dry. This is to even out some of the tones where the wood showed through and also give a good surface for applying color.

9. To add color to the piece I used the Derwent Watercolor pencils I had previously worked with in my sketch. Applying the pencil to the areas I wanted the most intensity of color then using my water brush to lightly bring subtle color the the highlight areas.

This was continued over the whole piece using a neutral color in the background.



Thankyou for following my process! I welcome your questions or comments and would love to see your Own Art results!

take care
~Kathleen

Labels: Altered-Arts-Magazine, Art, Challenge, Inspiration, Instruction, Journal-Pages

Hi all!
Clara put up a great challenge inspiring us to use our own drawing, words and images. Right up my alley! I am dividing my my contribution into two parts to show how I decided to explore this challenge... here goes!

Selecting a subject
Sometimes I find this the hardest part. I find if I look too hard I get overwhelmed with the options. Inspiration is as close as your front door, kitchen, library, family... close your eyes and see what comes to mind and don't second guess!

Here in New Zealand it is Spring and I am always inspired by the Wisteria vines that come out into bloom. It astounds me how their beauty is here for such a short time. To me they represent the onset of Spring and the hope of Summer, elegance in their drapey shapes, life in bees and perfume, and vibrancy and sheer surprise of their purple colour. While away recently I took some photos of these beautiful flowers and they became the source of this project.


Starting the sketch
The first thing I wanted to capture is the elegant flow of the flower shape. Wisteria has a very distinctive curve so using a grey fine tip pen I drew the main lines in first.


Next step in my sketch was to start adding detail. This is a working sketch where my main focus is to explore the shapes and patterns within the flower that can later be interpreted into a textural piece. I also added some colour.


To emphasise form, highlights and shape try observing the negitive space - that is, defining the space around the subject.


Further exploring the subject
As this is a study piece rather than a finished composition I picked out pieces of the flower that I felt were characteristic shape and detailed them to assist me when I come to do my textural piece.


Testing colour balance
Finally for this sketch I added more colour using Derwent Watercolor Pencils. Here I was experimenting with where I wanted to add the most depth of colour without losing detail. Note the tiny colour swatches on the left side are colour tests and also to use as a colour dip rather than applying pencil to areas I wanted to be kept very light.



So that was my process for working with my chosen subject. Stay tuned for Part Two where I will share how my sketch was then interpretted into a dimensional piece.

I would love to see your sketches, or if you have any questions - feel free to post in the comments!
~Kathleen

Labels: Altered-Arts-Magazine, Challenge, Inspiration, Instruction, Journal-Pages

Never being one to do things by halves - that's me. It's what stumbled me upon bodybuilding. My logic was, if anyone knows how to manipulate their bodies and achieve physical excellence it's a body builder. While the total body building package may no longer be the best fit for me and my evolving goals, feeling the energy of complete commitment from professionals who achieve, really achieve in their field - what a gift.
The desire for excellence keeps me going, personal excellence.

I still have days where I struggle but I know I will never give up. That tenacity is mine.

February 2008 at the Ironman Competition in Los Angeles with Lee Priest.

Supreme commitment, passion, excellence. These are traits I wish to devour and be part of my very being. Food can never satisfy those desires.

~Kathleen

Loss - 51kg (110lbs) Gained - Awareness, life, achievement, youth

Labels: Bodybuilding, Inspiration, Video, Weight-Loss

Seriously, how can you not feel inspired by this wee gem :)

Labels: Inspiration, Video

Aside from the wonderful opportunity I have to contribute to Altered Arts magazine, I also have a scrapbook and paper crafts store here in New Zealand. It keeps me (mostly!) out of trouble. :) And as you know I have a passion for altered arts, therefore it's something we do a lot at NZ Scrapbook. For the past 4-5 years (I forget!) we have been running an Altered Book Meeting where we get together and share our creative endeavors of the last month, and any techniques we have been experimenting with. We then busy ourselves on our current projects - usually for me that means TALKING! lol. I am notorious for not doing any art! However I DID do some art at this meeting - some packing tape image transfers. I was too busy taking photos of everyone else and their lovely art; I forgot to take some photographic proof of my own!

Anyway, this is a slight repost from our NZ Scrapbook Blog...but since it's all altery (I'm sure that's a word!) I thought it might be of interest here too.

This is Liz and a collection of her lovely decorated boxes. Note the heart one on the lower left - she is ready for Valentine's Day.







Donna spent her evening working on a mini-book created from a children's board book. Donna also creates amazing wall mounted torsos among other things!

These books (pictured right) are by Andrea. It's hard to see it in the photo, but each letter is made from chipboard and beads have been filled in the recess. A very pretty and creative way to use scrapbook paper to cover notebooks and diaries.










Look at all this wonderful purple! Adrienne's current project is; you guessed it - a purple book! She thinks by the end of it she may well be OVER purple.... I dunno, it's coming together great. Check out the tiny purple jandals on that purple page on the left. So cute!








So that's our Altered Book meeting for the month. Not forgetting to mention Paula's daughter and Anne who had super secret B.E. competition entries under wraps, Linda busy downstairs, oh and me - I did art I promise! I have witnesses!

Cya cya!

Labels: Altered-Book-Club, Classes-and-Workshops, Inspiration