WOYWW 522 - The ATC edit

Ten years and counting

One week on already, but only four days since the wonderful crop

Have loved seeing all the photographs - looks like you had a simply
 FAB-u-LOUS 
day ... as I had no doubts you would, of course!

If you are new here and would like to find out more about the recent anniversary celebrations then pop along to The Stamping Ground and see 
just what you miss by not being a WOYWW'er

I had a few ATC's arrive in the post and Shaz & Doug are popping round next week with some from the crop for me so I will post all of those together once I have them but I will share the one from my Mr Linky partner ... the very lovely Zsuzsa

Today's offering are my ATC's  
I can't do all the very arty clever stuff that make up most ATC's
So had my usual meltdown
Then half an idea formed
Don't even try to be arty and just do what you enjoy
 I decided to go for my much loved Powertex ammonites

First of all you have to make your clay - done by simply mixing Stone Art with Powertex

Gloves are a good idea

Ammonites are made using a mould - I do have a photo of them all in little rows drying but do you think I can now find that photo?  Can I heck!

Whilst they were drying I stuck the number 10 to each of the substrates and, when dry, put a layer of Stone Art over the whole ATC

Got some really super stone looking backgrounds

For which you will have to take my word because I subsequently

 covered it all up!

When that layer was dry I stuck the ammonites in place and added some details with Paperdecoration and Art Stones

 

Left overnight again to dry and are all ready to colour

I forgot to take any photos of the colouring stages but it is really quite simple

Bister granules dissolved in water in a spray bottle and then

well, just point and squirt

Once they were dry I mixed Powertex metallic Colourtricx pigments with a little Easy Varnish to highlight the details

Next came the problem of packaging
The traditional little cellophane ATC bags were not going to do the job
and I didn't want the ATC's to arrive at the crop as a pile of broken fragments
so I made boxes
And then decided to use my rarely used (made by) stamp
So everyone got a free sheet of loo paper too!

I made and sent along two prizes for the raffle table - I based them on a little CD project I did a while back but framed them this time
Photo below is the original piece - all done with Finnabair products

Should have taken the photos before I put in the glass ... but am not given to thinking ahead so excuse crummy photos

 So HUGE thanks to Shaz & Doug for taking them for me
and here's to the next decade of WOYWW'ing!

WOYWW 521

Simply can't be Wednesday again!  

Wasn't last Wednesday only yesterday?

Anyway, short and sweet just as our much loved Head Desker likes - easy when there is nothing on your desk to actually share

Just a huge gaping space where activity should be taking place ... but,  nope, nuffin'

Doubt there will be much of anything going on here today so won't wait and will just leave you with my sad looking space

This is how I left my desk yesterday afternoon after finishing the orange and green panel - didn't even clean my mat which is very unusual - nor my jam jar by the looks of it

You can just spot my Olay - in easy reach to constantly apply as I am really dehydrated at the moment and flaking away ... do I apply it constantly?  Of course not ... even though it is right under my nose!

The black case is something that appeared from the garage

Had asked Phil a few days ago if he had any small hinged tins knocking about

He hadn't but came across that case yesterday amongst stuff from daddy's that he is still sorting his way through ... it might just do the job once my mood is right

The plastic take-away box holds some resin pieces I made a while ago 

Thought I might use them on one of the panels I discarded from the swift/swallow piece I did yesterday but changed my mind

Just noticed my pencil case looks staged - proudly showing off its WOYWW badges

But I promise that is where it always is

No matter if I am here out in the conservatory or in the dining room in the colder months my pencil case HAS to be in that position - feel quite out of sorts if it migrates elsewhere!!!

A few people were asking about my walls after last weeks post so am sharing a few general photo's

I only ever intended hanging stuff on this one wall as the door you can just see is always open so hides most of it ... but I ran out of room and was told not to shove my stuff in a box but to hang it up ... so I did

Sorry for sharing the writing on the wall again but someone did ask specifically about it

I have been everso lucky to have some 10th Anniversary ATC's arrive already but they are well hidden and won't be shared until after the crop on Saturday

Just have a simply wonderful time to all those that are going ... my spirit will very much be there with you but I have to keep the body well hidden away these days for fear of scaring little children and the vulnerable (a hernia the size of a small mountain is not a pretty sight!)  Oh, the vanity!

Happy WOYWW'ing today and if you want to find out more about our desk-sharing Wednesdays then The Stamping Ground is the place to be

xXx

One swallow does not a summer make ...

... or is it a swift?

Really REALLY dislike summer so it doesn't really matter either way

Love little birdies though so guess it all balances out

Good job it is only spring then

But then I really REALLY dislike spring too

but don't get me started on all that!

This was intended to be a tryptich but it just wasn't working out

so I ditched two of the panels and have already painted them black so I can reuse them

Shame to hide the gorgeous green icing paste but I'd never want three pieces with the same background ... unless the tryptich idea had worked of course

The heart is based on a FB Live that Finnabair did not so long ago

But I have done lots of hearts in the past and they were starting to get some quite negative feedback so I didn't want to leave it just as a heart

So I added it to the wooden panel and balanced it out with a couple of smaller accents

Had a meltdown over the colours

I don't do bright colours

But guess they do make a change

And hubby did say "are you doing something bright for a change?"

Yup!

Products used :

All are Finnabair for Prima Marketing

Art Basics - Heavy White Gesso / Soft Gloss Gel / Heavy Body Gel

Art Extravagance - Icing Paste : Lucky Emerald

Stencil - Iris

Stamp Set - Wild and Free

Art Alchemy - Liquid Acrylic Paint : 

True Yellow / Tiger Orange / Carmine / Umber / Burnt Sienna

Various metal embellishments from Finnabair and Mitform Castings

Other bits & bobs :

 wooden plank / cheesecloth or gauze / paper flowers 

offcuts of patterned papers / script stamp

Our Earth

This is NOT my own idea or my own techniques

For the round piece I followed a step-by-step video tutorial

which you can find HERE

Life Stone by Olya Kravets

I fell in love with Olya's the moment I saw it but only recently (like Friday!) decided to give it a go

Loved it so much I made another version 

The round one says "Earth Plea"

The rectangular one says "Our Last Chance"

I saw the piece as the planet splitting open

and, goodness knows, our little planet sure does need some TLC right now

Something that always amazes me is a list of products never really seems to represent quite the amount of "stuff" you use in mixed media projects like these ... and these really don't use that many at all

so instead of a list this is what "stuff" actually looks like

Fragile

Making a habit lately (like for the last 15 years at least!) of almost quite liking a project only to then mess it up

So why should this one be any different?!

Kinda, sorta had an idea in my head and kinda, sorta got this down onto a canvas and was really quite pleased with it

Had the red heart made separately to attach but felt the proportions were not quite right so I tweaked it

and messed it up

But, of course, it was already stuck fast and firm to the canvas I did like and nothing was going to prise it off without wrecking the piece completely

(remember Ammonite-gate?  Already destroyed one canvas this week in order to save it so didn't fancy doing it a second time!)

Was sensible and slept on it over night

No drastic action this time!

Figured I could maybe tweak the heart further to make it more balanced 

Nothing was ever going to put it completely right

BUT ... can live with it at least now

Another Powertex project apart from the modelling paste down the far right hand side which is Finnabair's

and both stencils ... that on the right hand side and the diamonds are Finnabair's too but everything else is Powertex

Oh the dome thingies are Finn's  and the word is from one of Tim Holt's sticker books ... didn't actually have the word "fragile" so cut up two words I thought I'd never use and don't mind the chopped up, wonky effect of the word at all - wish I'd made it even more wonky actually

Was happy with the heart at this point

just placed on to check the position

If you compare the heart to the finished one above you can see where it all went wrong

Should have left it well alone at this point

Was pleased with the colouring too

Products used :

Powertex in Ivory, Red & Black

 Bister Sprays in Black & Red

Powertex Paper Decoration

Powertex 3D Flex

Powertex Easy Varnish

Powertex Colortricx Silver Powder Pigment

Powertex Colortricx Powerpearl Red Powder Pigment

Finnabair Stencils

Finnabair Modelling Paste

Finnabair 3D Gloss Gel

Finnabair Melange (the domes!)

Various scraps of gauze, cardboard and hessian

Who wants perfection anyway?!?

Totally inspired by Finnabair and her recent Polish Blog-hop I truly embraced the title of her piece

Perfection is Overrated

which you can read about and watch here

Fear not for it is sub-titled into English!

I have heard her say this many times during the workshops with her that I have been lucky enough to attend and it has really freed me up to let go images of how I think something should turn out and just go with the flow

At least that is what I tell myself 

but can rarely ever manage it

I must admit to turning to Finn for help on this one 

Had it at the point where I was really quite pleased with it

But, as usual, had to carry on tweaking and fiddling and ended up chucking it in the bin ... literally!

I took her advice on the colouring totally on board because I trust her implicitly and whilst it will never be my favourite piece I did really enjoy making it and doing something rather different for me

At least Finn saved it from the bin or the ever bulging Box of Failures!

For once I totally forgot to make a list of the products used 

Or maybe I did make a list but as I ended up hating it I chucked it out never expecting to blog this piece

Can probably make a guess at what I used all apart from the colours of spray inks so might pop back and edit this post at some point

WOYWW 520 : HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY !!!

Just the most huge CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS to our much loved Head Desker, Julia, on reaching the incredible achievement of ten years of Wednesday desk sharing!!!  

Bet she hadn't a clue that here she would be having seen so many new friendships forged and old ones cemented across the world during the ten years of blog hopping.

WELL DONE dear friend for  you truly deserve all the flag waving and cheering and love heading your way today!

Will keep this short and sweet, which is just the way Julia likes it ... if you are new to the WOYWW concept then you can Read All About It here at The Stamping Ground

Thought I'd share a different  view of my desk today ...and I haven't even cleared up to make it look all organised and neat and tidy ... it is as I left it when I called it a day BUT everything has now been put away ready to start on the next project ... whenever that may be.  

Nothing of any great interest I'm afraid ... you can see a finished piece bang in the centre ... a piece I was enjoying doing and was actually quite pleased with how it was going - until I did my usual thing of wrecking it by not being able to translate what was in my head to the canvas.  Am not being hasty for at the moment it is heading for the Box of Failures or I might try prising off the bit that went wrong, but am going to live with it for a few days.

The heat gun and the hair dryer are the biggest clue to the medium I was using - Powertex again!    

On the right is my new trolley - FINALLY got round to improving the storage of all my spray inks.  Each of the three layers are almost full so quite where I am going to squeeze the rest of the Oxides when they are released is beyond me.  I have decided that as I use up each of the Perfect Pearl sprays I will not replace them so will just have to re-jiggle the layers a bit.

You can just about make out my ATC for the swap but it is disguised so not as to spoil the surprise.    

I won't be at the crop on Saturday - after much thought, lots of tears and massive disappointment I shall be with you only in spirit.  

I have made ATC's though and they are already with my very dear friends, Shaz & Doug, who are bringing them along for me and Julia is being ATC monitor so do please take one if you would like one - no swap back is necessary!

So here is wishing each and every WOYWW'er a very happy 10th anniversary!

xXx

Drastic Action !!!

Spent ages getting a really lovely Powertex Stone Art layer down on my little canvas

Was really pleased with it too - not something you hear me say very often!

So what do I do?

Go and wreck it of course

Had half an idea of where I was heading but sure did get lost along the way

Ended up with one almighty mess

So ... after many tweaks and left with the only choice of painting it all over and re-colouring (my lovely Stone Art layer is now completely obliterated by the way!) or ...

OR taking the scissors to it and trying to save the ammonites ... again, for once, I was really happy with the composition of them and having spent ages first making the clay and then making the ammonites themselves I hoped I could save them

Off to hubby in the garage with the request to "please remove the staples from the back of the canvas"

And then lots of tugging and pulling and snipping until I had the ammonites and a heap of wrecked canvas

Good job I did not sleep on it and attack it the next day because the very nature of Powertex is it dries ROCK HARD and no way would that canvas had come apart had I thought about it

Photos show the various stages of deconstruction ...

Photo on left - a lesson in how not to produce a piece of work

Photo on right - unstapled and prised from the frame

BUT - look at that frame!!!!  Was inspired the moment I saw it!!

 

Next two photos are the horrible bits cut from around the ammonites ... but, upon reflection, they might have been ok on a different project but too late - are now confined to the dustbin

 Eventually I had the ammonites just about holding together in one piece and a heap of wrecked canvas from around them

Remember the frame to which the canvas had been attached?  it sent me in a different direction to the one I had planned but what a find!

I took a small canvas board and put several Stone Art layers over it and the frame and then strengthened the back of the ammonites with strips of fabric and Powertex so it became quite a solid and strong piece

Not sure I am entirely happy with the result but something was salvaged from an utter disaster

WOYWW 519

Well it was fully my intention to join in on Whizzday each week but when your motivation and inspiration levels are zero and your desk is looking dreadfully empty there is not a lot to share

There actually is stuff on my desk today - left overs from surprises for the forthcoming 10th Anniversary Crop of this weird and wonderful blog-sharing business - an inspired thought up by our dearest and much loved Head Desker, Julia, al those years ago.  So if you want to see desks far more exciting than mine head along to The Stamping Ground and take a wander around the country, nay, the world, and see actual creative people in full flow.

So what is on my desk this bright and spring like Wednesday morning?

The clues are there!

Rubber gloves can mean only one thing (and then I forget to put them on!) - next to them two tubs of Stone Art which is another big hint.

On the far right are a few ammonites drying (collected from the beach this morning and now drying in the heat of  the conservatory ... or made yesterday with Stone Art Clay and left overnight ... you can pick whichever version you prefer but in my head they most definitely came from the beach!)

There is a small 8"x8" canvas all ready with its layer of Stone Art but inspiration is yet to strike so it will be sitting there for a good few more days, weeks, months yet I fear.

But you never know - it may well be transformed before the day is out

For those who do not have a clue what I am on about - rubber gloves + Stone Art can mean only one thing really ... Powertex!

So, aiming to keep She Who Must Be Obeyed happy I am keeping this short(ish) and sweet (hopefully)

Happy WOYWW Whizzday fellow bloggers!

xXx

PS:  See what happens when I forget the rubber gloves

The eagle-eyed of you might notice what is in the background but ... sshhh! Secrets!!!!!

WOYWW 510

Empty chairs at empty tables

(doing a LLJ here!!!)

OK so the chairs are actually occupied as I am sitting on one of them but the table is certainly emptyish

Totally lost the momentum that followed on from my truly wonderful workshops with Finnabair and have fizzled to a halt

AGAIN

All you can see on my workdesk this fine Wednesday (it is actually chucking it down but that is quite fine by me!) are two cards made yesterday and it felt like climbing Everest making them

Am very much not a card maker any more but even my love of mixed media seems to be eluding me right now

So, sorry dearest Julia - our esteemed leader and head desker over at THE STAMPING GROUND where the worldwide sharing of workdesks takes place each Wednesday - but there is not very much of anything to share again I'm afraid

Card on left is for the lady next door who has been poorly and the card on the right is for Great Nephew Henry who will be four next week

Not much else to be seen - you can just spot the pink handle of the Big Shot and the laptop and printer in the background as I have yet to print out the "Happy Birthday" for inside H's card - could stamp it, of course, but even that seems a step too far right now

H left the stand for his Rubik's Cube here last time he visited so you can see that - the black triangle on the right and that is standing on a little yellow "man" ... 3D printed by a friend in the US and very handy for all sorts of things

You might be wondering about the spanners ... the small one was intended for a canvas and the large one (which is too heavy for me to lift) just balances the board I use to craft on ... they were both daddy's and I like having them close whether I am being arty or not

Want to make a small thank you pressie for someone who was so very kind to me at Finnabair's workshop so hope to tackle that today ... really do need to figure out if all this messing about business really is still for me or if it has run its course and I should just walk away from it all - the indecision is getting to me a bit but am not going to be hasty and get rid of all my stuff just yet.  I enjoyed my Finnabair workshops so much surely that is a sign!

Happy Workdesk Wednesday'ing!!!