Southern Girls DT-Anything Goes Challenge

This fortnight over at Southern Girls Challenge blog the challenge is "Anything Goes".  This leaves the challenge wide open for all sorts of projects so please jump in and join the challenge , we would love to see what you come up with.

My project for this challenge is a recycled book cover with lots of texture, paint and other good things. Here is the cover showing all of the texture. 

I took the cover of an old hardcover book and covered it with tissue paper, texture paste through a stencil, and other miscellaneous bits and pieces I had in my stash. I then painted everything with black gesso. Once the gesso was dry I sprayed the cover with Lumiere paints and sealed the whole thing.

Here are a few close ups showing the texture, unfortunately the camera has not really picked up the shimmer from the paints or the subtle colours.

I then bound watercolour paper signatures into the book and added a closure consisting of two spring clamps and a piece of chain, to the front and back covers and the journal is finished.

Please check out the other Design Team makes over at Southern Girls Challenge blog and I hope you feel inspired to try your own project.

 



Mixed Media Canvas

I am really excited to let everyone know that I have been chosen to be part of the Design Team over at the The Mirror Crack'd challenge blog.  This is a mixed media challenge blog with monthly challenges and I am looking forward to being part of their team which comprises some very talented artists.

Over at The Mirror Crack'd blog the challenge for July is "Canvas"  I have made a piece that incorporates canvas both as part of the background and as a base for a doily flower I created.  The small canvas also serves the purpose of lifting the doily flower up off the background giving it more dimension.

To begin I recycled a small canvas that I had lying around.

I then found a baby wipe that had been used to wipe up some excess ink from another challenge.  I glued the baby wipe to the front of the canvas.

I then took five crochet doilies and using paverpol glued them together and formed them over a jar to create a flowerlike shape.

I covered a circle of chipboard with a piece of the baby wipe, punched two holes in it and threaded some blue yarn through the holes.

I then coloured the "flower" using sprays and paints in various shades of brown. When the first coat dried I highlighted the doilies with gold paint and Viva Gold Ice Blue.

I painted the sides of the canvas with Lumiere Halo Blue paint and then I glued the flower to the canvas.

I then found an old wooden placemat that I sanded and painted with white gesso.  I tore strips from an old canvas I found to add some texture to the background and I also tore strips from a corrugated cardboard box and glued them to the painted side of the placemat.  I love using these placemats as substrates and canvases because they are so cheap and they are really strong and so easy to find at second hand stores and garage sales.  I also added some more chipboard circles with coiled string glued to the front and some mesh tape and painted the whole thing with white gesso.

To add the colour to the placemat I started by painting everything with Lumiere Halo Blue gold paint.  I then used various sprays in shades of brown and yellow and when everything was dry I drybrushed some rusty paint over certain areas.

Once I was happy with the colour of the background I glued the canvas with the flower on the front to the placemat.  I finished the piece off with zippers, zipper pulls, flower diecuts and some hexagonal diecuts left over from another project.

For the flowers I glued some book paper to a piece of card, coloured the whole thing with Adirondak sprays in blue and green and when it was dry I die cut the flowers using a Couture Creations die.  After I had cut the flowers I ran them through a cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder.  I sanded the pieces lightly to expose the dots and then attached them to the canvas using domes for the flower centres.  I used the hexagonal offcuts from another die to add around the flower to give it a more finished look.  

Now that the piece is finished I just need to add a hanger and it is finished.

I hope you enjoyed this project and it would be great if you popped over to

The Mirror Crack'd blog to see what the fabulous Design Team have created and maybe enter your own project.   The winner of the July "Canvas" challenge will be offered a Guest Designer spot for a future challenge.