Artful Times challenge No 18 Anything goes

This challenge was for anything you fancied putting in. So, as I was making a fabric postcard depicting the beach, for a swap, I decided to put that in for the challenge.
I started of by cutting fabric into strips and placing them onto some pelmet vilene. The first bit I tackled was the sea. I placed some silk tops onto the fabric and free machined on top, getting darker at the top.
I then did some random sewing on the edge of the sea, coming onto the beach, in a darker sand colour. The pebble fabric was cut out and I did some free machine embroidery on that, plus some posts in brown.
The sky I used white wool for some clouds, well it is nearly always cloudy in the UK.

Artful Times challenge N0 17 Fabric tag

The challenge this time was for a fabric tag, and my mind went straight to vintage. Please don't ask why.
I started off with some oatmeal coloured fabric, and placed my image on top. This was a transfer I had in my  fabric bit box. I then sewed on some lace at the top and bottom of the image. I made some flowers from organza and sewed them on with beads. The whole tag was then zigzagged on to pelmet vilene.

Given more time at home, I would have made one that wasn't vintage------I think

Artful Times No 16 Brown, orange and white

As usual I made a tag or two, but ended up not liking them very much. So, I decided to put one in my Autumn journal. The paper is wallpaper lining paper, and ripped on the side edges. I coloured them in a mixture of distress stains and inks. Some are stenciled with a spray ink, and others with distress. This one is just coloured and sprayed. The tag is embossed with leaves, and an ink rubbed lightly on top. The leaves are also embossed and coloured with distress inks.
I stamped the images with Adirondack and Brilliance inks.
If you click onto the picture, you can read the verse.

This is the other 'didn't like tags, but put it in for the records sake. My scanner is bouncing the light from the inks, so it is much brighter in reality.

Artful Times challenge Fur and feathers

I have made two for this challenge as I couldn't make up my mind whether to do fur or feathers. I haven't used my favourite cat stamp for ages, so used that on one of them, and a raven on the other. Both tags were inked with distress stains, and sprayed with a mica spray. The raven I stamped on the tag, and then stamped another onto card and stuck it on top, but left the wings free, so its 3D. It was also embossed with black.
The spider on the cat one is a 3D plastic one. The rest was stamped with black Versafine.

French knots

I am hosting a fabric ATC swap, and the ATC has to have French knots on it. I was a bit stumped as to what to do, which is silly as I chose the stitch in the first place. In the end I dipped into my bit box and then cut out some flower shapes on the big shot. I did French knots in the middle of the flowers and then random ones all over the ATC. I did the knots at my daughters in between packing boxes for her forthcoming move. I must get more hand stitching things on the go, as it's really handy to have something to do that doesn't involve ink, stamps and card. I feel a fabric book coming on. I made more than I needed, as I like a few spares at hand to give away.

Another scrimmy piece

This time I decided to make something useful with my last largish scrimmy piece. The first stage was to push some puff paint through a thermofax screen onto the scrim. When this was dry the scrim was distressed, and placed onto the pelmet vilene with gesso painted quite thickly on top. The whole thing was painted with white acrylic paint. When this was dry I painted it the colour I wanted. This seemed to hold everything together, and I then did some embroidery on it, and sewed on some beads.

I then mounted the finished panel onto some batik fabric and made it into a cover for my sample book.  

Artful Times challenge postcard with letters / script

I have made two, as it made such a change to work on a postcard for this challenge, as my workroom is fast filling up with tags.

The green postcard I covered with some tissue I had used to spray ink on something else, I never throw anything out. I stamped various images with sewing type themes and  then attached some metal scissors, some measure tape, a home made button (card) dangling from a reel of thread and a sewing thread brad.

On the white on, which was also covered with tissue that had been lightly sprayed, I stamped some sewing images. I stapled on some fabric samples, and added some home made friendly plastic buttons, and some metal scissors.

 These might end up in a journal at some point, but don't hold your breath.

Artful Times challenge No 13 Tree as main feature

I have hundreds of tree stamps, but could I get going on this challenge---no. There are two in the bin, and in a last minute effort I sat with a blank but coloured tag, and doodled. The tag is inked with distress inks in spiced marmalade and dried marigold. I drew the tree, and then doodled away. Not sure if I like it, but there's no time to do another one.

Bird house book P, Q, R

P, Q, and R for the bird house book have taken me ages this time, as I seem to have been away from home a lot. I did so want to do Peacock for P but pheasant was a lot easier, so pheasant it was. I found some pheasants on some fabric at the quilting festival, and cut one out to put on the page, the rest is fabric and machine stitching. Quail was all I could think of for Q, and this picture transferred onto fabric fitted the bill. He's sitting on fabric covered with scrim, which seems to be my fabric of the month. Robin was an obvious one for R, and they are die cut fabric, painted with watercolours and acrylics. The background is strange fabric coloured with acrylic paints, I think, I did this one ages ago.  

Another scrimmy piece

I know there isn't a word  'scrimmy', but it does describe this piece. Again the main bit of work, the scrim, was made on the course as a wall hanging, but I thought it looked better on a black canvas. I don't have any black walls in my house, so thought painting a canvas was a jolly sight easier.
Some tyvek was bonded on to the scrim, and heated with a heat gun. I did the heating on both side, one one side then another bit from the back to give a different effect I prefer the bubble side.
The distressed scrim was painted with gesso, and when dry, white acrylic paint. It was then painted with Golden acrylics in yes , turquoise. I must make something in pink, on the next blue moon.
At home I sewed on a load of beads, and mounted it onto the canvas.

The wave

I made the canvas at a weeks course with Lynda Monk. It was a brilliant course, and we achieved a lot of samples and finished pieces, some of which I'll blog when I get round to it.
The canvas was quilted and some scrim with a small piece of heated tyvek added with bondaweb. I also added some string, and highlighted that, and some other bits with silver paint, after I had painted the blues. The whole canvas was then painted with gesso, then white acrylic paint. When really dry I painted it in the turquoise and blue Golden acrylics.

When I was home I added beads, and glass pebbles. The whole canvas is supposed to resemble a wave. 

Artful Times challenge No 12 Inches

I love doing inches, especially fabric ones. The yellow ones I started  with some felting, layered with organza,  and machine embroidered on top, and then zapped with the heat gun. The blue and pink ones are done on pelmet vilene, with organza on top . Again these were stitched with free machine embroidery and some embellishments added.
The yellow ones are for a swap, but the others lurk in my collection of fabric inches, which reside in a very nice homemade book from a friend..

Artful Times challenge No 11

This is too late to enter into the challenge, as I have been too busy to blog anything since the last challenge. This Alice clock is made from the center of a roll of tape, which I covered with some blue Alice paper from a Somerset Studio magazine. I cut out two of Tim's clocks one of bronze card for the front and one from strong card for the back.  The back is covered with some coloured and stamped paper. I cut out a round window with a Tim cog die, and covered the back with acetate.

Inside there is a stamped and cut out image of Alice and the rabbit, and one of her falling down the tunnel towards the front. The whole of the front is then covered in acetate which has some foliage stamped on it with stazon. It doesn't show up very well on the picture. The clock is held up with the rabbit on one side and the lizard coming out of the chimney on the other. One day I might get around to hanging some charms off it.

Artful Times challenge No 10 Mona

Mona is the subject for this challenge, so I dusted off my stamps and made two tags. I didn't like the first one, so had another go. The backgrounds are distress stains and mica sprays, one stamped with perfect medium, and perfect pearls sprinkled on. I stamped images of Mona, and added lace and flowers.

Venice tag

I didn't have time to make a tag in time for the Artful Times challenge, but have made one anyway. I just love making tags. The background is a mix of distress stains and spray paints to give a bit of shine. The mask is shrink plastic with a gem at the top. The stamps are Oxford impressions.

Artful Times Challenge. A mode of transport

I was going to make another 'man' card, but don't really need one at the moment. I used an already coloured tag that I had made previously, and stuck on stamped images of cars. I thought it looked a bit bare so made some little tags to add on.

Altered spectacle case

I have to admit that this sat on my desk for several months before I managed to come up with  an idea. It was the  fact that everyone else had done theirs, that spurred me on.

I painted the case inside and out with acrylic paint, and when this was dry I glued some shells in the bottom bit, and fibers for seaweed, and a couple of seahorses in the top. I added some diamond glaze in the bottom so that it looked wet. The outside of the case I painted with a metallic turquoise, and before it goes to my swap partner, I'll glaze it to stop the paint chipping off.

Fabric birdhouse book M, N & O

I tried to do something a bit different for these, and get away from the scene type ones I had made for some of the other birds.

Artful Times challenge---I do like to be beside the Seaside

This is a bit of a quickie as I seem to be rushing around like a mad thing. I love doing seaside themes and have an altered spectacles case on the go on the same theme. Will probably put that one on as well (when it's dry)

Artful Times challenge --Men

This challenge came just at the right time as it's my son in laws birthday, and I had a card to make. If it hadn't been for the challenge, I think it would have been a bought one this year.
I inked the background with distress inks and stamped a road map on it. I then made the main piece by again inkng with distress inks and cutting the vintage car out fron an old OS map. I couldn't resist putting an old , really old man in the drivers seat, with some children from magazines in the other windows. he now has the card, and I did get into trouble about the old man. Well he is 43 today.

Bird house book G, H, & I

Just realised that I hadn't put last April's pages in, so here they are. G was one I had made earlier, and just made it G for garden birds. H and I were made into mini landscapes for a background for the bird, which I had printed onto fabric, and bondawebbed on. There is some machine stitching on both H and I, which so far are my favourites.

Bird house book J, K, & L

I am now finding it difficult to find new ideas for these pages. I must read some of my textile books to get some new slants on fabric pages. I am stuck on the scene type route, and need to do something different. The smaller picture at the bottom had  to be done on a different scanner as mine is having a crisis. That is, I've run out of ink, and therefore the scanner goes on strike as well.

Artful Times challenge Tag two

This tag was covered in pattern tissue ( Wish I hadn't thrown all my old patterns away, it's very sobering to know that the things you used as a young woman are now vintage  !!!),The dress form was given a lace top. I added lace at the bottom, and ric rac braid down the sides with two old buttons, to anchor it down. Various sewing charms were then stuck on.

Artful Times challenge--Lace and ribbons

Love this challenge as it allows me to indulge my love of sewing and vintage all in one go. I have made two tags, thought I might as well as my table was littered with all the bits. I will put them on separately again, as I still haven't figured out how to put them on the challenge site with two different links. So the motto is stick to what you can do, and don't overwork the brain.

   I covered both tags with old pattern tissue, so didn't have to colour it. Added the little girl image doing her knitting, and wrapped some lace around the dress form. Stuck down various bits of lace and old buttons, and tied some ribbon onto a small wire hanger, which I attatched with a brad. Made a small lace flower at the bottom.

Fabric tag book

This fabric tag is for a swap where we will get one tag from everyone, and then be able to bind the book the way we want. The subject was Nature, which gives you bags of scope, but which sent me off with the birds again. The oak leaves at the top I used acrylic paint through a mask, and added a few vilene oak leaves. The bird was cut out of fabric, and bondawebbed bto the base fabric. The branch is machine embroidery. The bottom is a combintion of a very tatty pieces of a scarf, machined down with free embroidery on the machine.

The back of the tag consists of stamped images of ferns as a background, and then bird images stamped on muslin.

Tim Holtz chunky book

These are for a chunky book swap, and as it was a Tim Holtz one, I couldn't resist it. Where it will go on my already full shelves, I don't know
All the backgrounds were done with Distress inks and sprayed with water to blend them. All the stamps are Tim's. The gears are cut from black card, and some of them I embossed with a gears embossing  folder, and rubbed some treasure gold on them. Some of the pages are embellished with Tim's  bits and pieces.