Thrones & Things book page & Voodoo Love Shrine

Surprise!!! I'm back....2 posts in 2 days. Just had to show you my little Voodoo Love Shrine and my book page for the Creative Soul Retreat Book Challenge.


This month's theme is "Thrones & Things" and I decided to skip my first thoughts about toilets and all things associated with that particular little necessity in our daily lives. It took me a while to work out what to do, I searched for all sorts of cool looking thrones but there's only so much you can do with a chair so I decided to opt for a quote instead and go from there. I chose Napoleon Bonaparte's quote "A throne is only a bench covered with velvet".

The image is Napoleon (of course) and the throne is supposedly his as well. The images were both Sheer Heaven transfers onto watercolour paper, I then coloured the remaining white parts of the paper with Twinkling H2O's as I'd left my watercolour crayons at work! Napoleon has a crown added from Michelle Ward's Rock & Roll plate and a little Platinum Stickles and some Swarovski crystals for extra show-off-iness. A piece of velvet is under the photo frame down the bottom with a little wadding to make it nice & soft like a little cushion and another piece of upholstery velvet is machine stitched down the right hand side. I mounted it onto a piece of black card that was stamped with several of Michelle's stamps from her Graven & Printed Matter plates - both here. The quote completes the piece.....I DO love words!!! Every time I think about Napoleon though I can't help but remember the quote from my childhood days....."Don't get blown apart, Bonaparte!" lol

So the nicho challenge was a fabulous excuse to play with some cool little things to fit inside the nicho. As I said, it's a Voodoo Love Shrine and what self-respecting Voodoo Love Shrine would be complete without the sacrificial chicken - complete with bloodied neck! This little chook was from a farm set of animals I had eons ago as a child and it's just floated around in amongst my collection of "odds & sods" for years....perfect!!!

I also altered one of the little art dolls to turn it into a voodoo doll by cutting it's hands & feet off, of course I wrapped them first so it wouldn't bleed it's stuffing everywhere! It then got some more wrapping with metallic thread to make it a little smaller to fit into the nicho comfortably. So it has it's little chicken and it needed a small vial of blood to complete the spell. I figured hubby would freak out if I made just a little tiny cut while he was sleeping to drain some of his blood so had to settle for red food colouring. I guess the blood would've separated or congealed or whatever blood does when it's not moving around in a body (or at the blood bank!).

Treasure Gold in several colours were rubbed over the nicho on the outside after first dry-brushing it all over with white Gesso. Added some other little bits & pieces, swarovski crystals, a little shrink plastic gravestone, an extra cross for the gravestone to live on and some little metal hearts that were coloured with alcohol inks.

The words "Diabolical Love" were stamped into foil tape after it had been attached to chipboard, then painted and wiped off to leave the paint in the cracks. I also used a little spiky wheel to make the little running hole marks along the top and bottom of these. We now sell these at the shop for the cool little price of under $4!!!

So that's it....if you want to see the other nicho's, and I highly recommend having a look at them, they are here at Inkurable Stampers, leave a comment if you like to encourage the girls. Sarah (who owns the site) gets quite a few hits but most people are kinda shy and don't say much in the way of commenting. It's nice for the newer girls to get some positive feedback.

Webbing Spray Resist atc's & a Quilt!!!

This coming Saturday's atc class I'm teaching is called Webbing Spray Resist, it uses the wonderful range of Glimmer Mists as well as white webbing spray to create beautiful backgrounds. Below are 3 sample atc's for the class....think I need to do some more though, such an easy but beautiful technique. Of course, you can't see the glimmer of the Glimmer Mists through the monitor, bummer about that! Oh for the day when we have wonderful holographic images that magically appear before us on the desk and we can appreciate all the little intricacies of the mixed media world!

"Radiant"...

"Fracture"...

"Be still"... kind of hard to read the Be Still Woman quote that's stamped on the shrink plastic up the top left of the piece but you can read it in real life. (It looks like she has a bad case of the "pox"!!!)

On another note, my Mum who has always been a seamstress, made my oldest son Jarred a quilt for Christmas. As he was over here recently for Dad's funeral, she quickly whipped it up so he could take it home with him. Now those of you who know my Mum, this is quite typical of her. She had collected all types of car related quilt fabrics from ebay in the US and some from Australia as well and never having made a quilt before, decided she wanted a geometric kind of quilt with the pieces large enough so you could still see the fabulous car designs.

So she stitched the whole quilt top together in ONE DAY!!! She then took the backing fabric and the top quilt to a person who does the topstitching of quilts locally as you really need a machine with a big flat bed to do this easily. It looks fantastic in the flesh and easily fits on a queen sized bed. Now my pictures are always clickable, take a look close-up - it's not bad for a first-time quilt maker!

In a couple of days I'll be posting the pictures of my Nicho for the Inkurable Stampers blog. It's a voodoo love shrine, the theme was "Seriously Spooky" and I figured voodoo qualified.

Just spoke with my brother on the phone, he has his own entertainment company and has asked me, once again, to do some work for him on Melbourne Cup Day in a week's time.......man, was it hard to resist!!! A couple of years ago I did some body painting on male models, see here for that story. Well, this year he has 4 of the Firemen from the very delectable Fireman's Calendar that always has the very best buff male bods on display.....imagine, if you will, body painting THOSE bodies.....hmmmmmmm.......or should that be MMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! Nah, think I'll go to work at Scraptivate instead. ;-)

More mosaic embossing and a Sheer Heaven atc

Here are another couple of examples of mosaic embossing atc's, the first is a printed image and the second one is made from stamped images from Michelle Ward's wonderful stamps.

"Ascent"...." Captivating"....

I thought I might try to do a canvas with this same technique and I was really pleased with how it turned out. The size is 4" x 4" and the image is a printed image with words added using the Microsoft Publisher program, I then painted the image using only 2 Golden colours - Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold & Paynes Grey....think this might have to be a quick canvas class at Scraptivate!

In response to a few queries I've had about how to do this particular technique, I will post how to do it but not just yet as I have another class to teach using this technique and if I post it now, then maybe they won't come? It definitely will be up here though in the near future!

I am taking part in a special nicho challenge for 5 artists at Inkurable Stampers blog where they also have a monthly themed challenge. My nicho is not quite ready but is nearly complete, will post the pics of that when it's finished and is up on the Inkurable Stampers blog. For the monthly themed challenge you can do a card, layout, atc or any type of mixed media piece of artwork. This month's theme is "Seriously Spooky" as it's nearly Halloween and all things spooky are the go!

I thought I'd steer away from the usual bats and things and create an atc on something else that I'm interested in.....all things vampire!!! Yes, I read the Twilight series of 4 books by Stephenie Meyer in one week, as I'm sure that many others have done as well! So here is "Strange Reality", it's also the raffle atc that I gave away last night at my Sheer Heaven atc class, Svetlana won it.....think she won one only a short time ago??? I don't draw the tickets out, I get someone else to do it lest they think I cheat! lol

On another note, I still have not found out who made my beautiful mystery artwork and I don't think I'm going to. Obviously the person wants to remain anonymous but I know they must be a reader of my blog as they took the picture of my Dad and placed him in the centre door on the piece. Please know that I was incredibly touched and moved by this generous gift and I know it would've taken a serious amount of time to do and I appreciate it immensely. It lives at the shop for all to see (at the moment) and every time I walk past it it brings a smile to my face and a general warm fuzzy feeling inside. Thankyou whomever you are!

Mosaic Embossing atc's & was it you???

Saturday's atc class is mosaic embossing. A cool little technique that I first read about in the Altered Houses book.....oh so simple but really effective!

Fragment... (you can't see the mica on this piece but there is a broken piece up the top and another down the bottom - these are the slightly darker areas)

Ill-fated queen... (a stamped image on white gloss card, coloured with twinkling h2o's)

Fragile...

Tuesday morning, while getting ready to go to work, the doorbell rang and I opened it to find a courier with a package for me. Being the impatient soul that I am I couldn't wait until I'd finished getting my make-up on before opening it. Inside was an absolutely stunning piece of art that is a tribute piece to my Dad.......I'm SO glad I didn't already have my mascara on as the tears started flowing again. I composed myself and inspected every little nook and cranny of this piece, little doors to open with wonderful sentiments that touched me deeply.

So now......'fess up.....I've checked with the girls that I thought may have done it as the sneaky (fabulous) person didn't sign it, no note was enclosed so I have no idea who it was from. Please, let me know who you are so I can thank you....if you choose not to, then know that I am very moved by this thoughtful gift. I showed it to my Mum and one of my brothers and they both thought it was absolutely wonderful too.... they are both artistic in different ways and can fully appreciate the time and effort that something like this takes and when it's from the heart.....well, it just shows!!! Here's the pictures of it....

How wonderful is that!!! I'll be taking in into the shop (Scraptivate) so if you want to see it, stop by and have a look.

Bleach atc's, mica atc's, Technique book #1 revisited

Tomorrow I'm teaching Technique Book #1 for a second time and I thought I'd put the photo's in again seeing how I've discovered how to make sure they are "clickable". This ensures that if the girls don't get the book completed in the class they can put it together at home in front of the computer and they'll have pictures to show the order of the pages.

Front cover:

Sheer heaven:

Credit card technique:
Alcohol Inks:
Peeled Paper Technique:
Faux Leather Technique:
Contents Page:
Back Cover:

Last Saturday's atc class was a bleach technique. As I said in the last post, this was not to be the old way of stamping in bleach and then applying to the card stock, it was a different way of using bleach. I stamped in clear embossing ink on the card, then embossed with clear embossing powder and then painted in the stamped areas with bleach - neat bleach (not diluted), ordinary stuff from your laundry. It turned the black Bazzill card stock a beautiful brown colour which you could then add colour to (if you chose to) by using Twinkling H2O's or chalks. The H2O's were the best!!! Here is another sample from that class...."explore".

Tuesday night's class was mica....gotta love that stuff!!! I showed the girls the various types of mica that we have at Scraptivate - mica sheets in the packets, mica glitter (in about 20 colours!) and the natural pearl coloured mica flake. This one is called "contemplate" and uses a piece of mica sheet attached with 3 tiny screw brads. The image is a sheer heaven transfer on watercolour paper.

Another sheer heaven transfer with mica sheet over the faces - funny how it makes them seem more "clear"!


On a personal note, my oldest son has only 14 months left to serve of his 6 year term in the airforce - he lives in Newcastle which is on the other side of Australia so we don't get to see him more than once a year for a couple of weeks. He came home at short notice to attend the funeral of my Dad and it's been wonderful having Jarred and Elice (his girlfriend) home for a few weeks. He is an aircraft technician, basically he works on the Hornet's (F/A18's - the fast jets) and Newcastle is the base in Australia where they train the pilots so consequently, they have the only 2 seater jets in Australia! When he first signed up he put his name down for a flight and this finally happened just recently. A 45 minute flight in a fast jet is many a man's dream, he even got to fly the plane for a bit and loved every minute of the loops and dives they were doing, even pulling 7 G's! Wonder if the fishermen they buzzed on the beach enjoyed it as much?....lol. Cleverly, he took his camera so here's a couple of pics for posterity.

Bleach atc's, a canvas and Birds....and to close

I sat at my computer for several minutes wondering how to start this post. Do I just jump right in showing my next atc technique for my class, maybe show the canvas that I made while Dad was in hospital that a friend thought was a reflection of my mind-set at the time? No......I finish off the chapter of these previous few posts by saying what a (insert - sitting at my computer again staring at the screen)....I want to say "wonderful" but it sounds funny....... funny strange not funny haha, funeral we had for my Dad. So many people from early days in his life as well as many, many friends he and Mum made over the years as well as our large family. Over 300 people attended and about half of these came back to my house for the celebration of his life. A few tears but mainly very funny stories of times spent with Eric.

"Thankyou" doesn't seem to be a big enough word to convey how much I appreciate those of you who have left comments and sent personal emails (& cards) expressing their feelings and warm thoughts to myself and my family. Each day is a new one and I'm sure that one day I'll be able to remember my Dad with something other than the tears that still well up in my eyes. Okay, enough now...... Dad would NOT see the funny side of a keyboard getting soaked with tears and making little splish splash noises......he did love his technology!

I'll let you in on a little secret that I've discovered - art is therapeutic!!! I'm sure no-one else has worked this out but now it's out there.....spread the word!!!!! lol My next class on Saturday is Bleach atc's. I know there is the normal way, stamp into bleach that has been soaked in paper towels on a little plate then stamping onto your card stock. I'm going to be doing the other method - painting in bleach. Mainly because I don't have many (read - any!!!) large open-type, simple design stamps. Here are the samples - note, not all card stock will bleach! Trial and error is the key to this technique.

"a dress form" - tan coloured card stock, image bleached out and re-coloured with Twinkling H2O's. "collector" - bleach painted onto tan card stock, image stamped then re-coloured with chalks.

"vision" - red card stock, stamped then parts bleached out and recoloured with Twinkling H2O's. (Not my favourite colours but I wanted to show that you could do something bright if you like!)

"insectology" - black card stock, parts of the stamped image bleached out and recoloured with Twinkling H2O's.


"flighty" - black card stock, stamped image bleached out and no other colour added - this is always a surprise as to what colour the card stock will turn with the bleach!

In March next year I'm attending a retreat in Melbourne, Creative Soul Retreat (you can click here to go to the book challenge). An event I'm REALLY looking forward to, I'm booked to have classes with Bernie Berlin and DJ Pettit and I'll get to meet up with some of the girls I've gotten to know through this little box on my table. Gotta say, I love the Internet!!! Some of us are taking part in a monthly challenge, you are given a theme and then you make a page for a book that you'll put together yourself. It's not for swapping, it's for keeping!!! Bonus!!! We take the book along to the retreat so we can drool all over everyone else's creations one night, between sips of wine and bites of cheese of course! Here's my page, "every year".

I used white paper that had been sprayed with Glimmer Mists in Turquoise and Graphite, then sprayed with some black webbing spray. Stamps are from Michelle Ward's clear stamp sheet called Bird Sanctuary and have been stamped with Stazon. The blue/green bird in the front has been stamped onto a piece of white gloss paper that was first coloured with Pine Needles Distress Ink, then cut out and mounted on mounting foam for dimension. The white in the feathers were added with a white gel pen, black german scrap down the bottom with some Patina Rub'n'buff and finally a quote printed on vellum and attached to a bit of the same Pine Needles coloured gloss card stock. 3 brads up the top right complete the piece.

Several weeks ago I was given the RIP cuttlebug die & folder as part of my design team project at Scraptivate. The timing was not intentional (with Dad ill), it was just that it was a fairly new release and I'm the first person that Natalie thought of to do something with this, I'm SOOOO not the person to give anything flowery to from the shop! Here's the canvas which is soon to be a class at Scraptivate in December (if you're in Perth and you're interested!).

Dad

My Dad died at 8.30am yesterday (Thursday 18th September). It was a shock to lose him like that, especially as the surgery had gone so well and he'd escaped the stroke & death possibility, that the surgery held. He spent 5 weeks in ICU at Royal Perth Hospital and had nothing but praise for all the doctors and very dedicated nurses who looked after him.

They had shifted him to the coronary care ward on Wednesday as he was having such difficulty getting any sleep in ICU with all the lights and noise that it requires for that place to operate. He'd had his trach tube taken out on Tuesday of this week and was in good spirits and so happy again to be able to talk to his many visitors that went to see him on Tuesday evening. Everyone was so positive about how he was going and how well he was looking and sounding.

Mum called me at 5.38am yesterday morning and said the hospital had called to say he'd deteriorated and we'd better come in. When we arrived the Doctor's said they had done tests and he had developed a lung infection that he was really struggling with. They decided to put him on antibiotics to see if it would shift but when we walked into the room we were shocked to see how he was struggling to breathe. His oxygen saturation was supposed to be around 92-96, it was down to 60 and his heartrate was around 138 beats per minute. He couldn't talk but we could see that he was in great distress trying to hang on.

Ultimately, he just couldn't battle on any longer and his heart that the surgeons had repaired so wonderfully just couldn't take it any more. So we go on, with wonderful memories of a great man who touched so many lives.

As you can see in the photo above, his love of funny moments (& silly hats) started early in his life, that's my Dad in the right with the man who would become my Godfather on the left. This photo was just before he met my Mum and he died just 2 months short of their 50th wedding anniversary. Luckily we have a huge family and there is so much love and support for us(particularly Mum as she has 4 sisters and 4 brothers). We plan on a happy, celebratory funeral for him next Thursday, as was his wish.