I’m back!!!!

Gosh, many years have passed since my last post but here I am again and all’s well !
2013 and 2014 were tough years for us both but my husband came through it all, despite the bad diagnosis and is now back to full health again.
A lot has changed in my life and recently I began to get more interested in fine art. I began to sketch and watercolour a bit and even tried painting with acrylics.
Then the lightbulb moment came when I discovered soft pastels!!!!
That was back in October 2017.
I found some videos on the use of this medium on YouTube and, from there, discovered a wonderful Facebook group which I joined. They have been so supportive and helpful as I took my first baby steps with pastels.
I’m starting to feel my feet now and producing some reasonable paintings and also loving drawing.

Absent for now

I haven't been posting for a long while now and probably will not be able to for a while yet but you never know.
The love of my life, my darling husband, was diagnosed with cancer back in November - a huge and devastating shock.
This changes your life forever. We are hitting it with all we've got and he's halfway through his first three months of chemotherapy.
Be patient with me and I hope I may have the energy to create again in time.
I actually gessoed something the other day ready to alter so that's a start.

Bye for now.

Netti
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Another Lynne Perrella Wall Hanging

This time it was for the swap at our monthly Stamp Club. The theme was a wall hanging for an art room.

I used the same oil pastel resist technique and Cuttlebug border as on my recent first attempt on which I also used a Lynne Perrella stamp. I enjoyed that so much I thought I would do another similar one.

The piece of board behind is just a piece of corrugated cardboard painted and crackled using Americana Weathered Wood crackle medium. I have to say this is the easiest way to get a crackle effect I have yet tried!

I used a length of fine chain I had in my stash to hang it and some lovely lime green wire to suspend the scrabble tiles on. The tiles were distressed using alcohol inks and I also stamped around the edges to give them an antique look, using black Stazon.

After spraying the old glossy photo paper I used for the main image part with Dylusions inks and drying, I then stamped the script after simply spraying the stamp with a mist of water....you have to try this, it's a great effect!

Then I ran the edges through my Cuttlebug and finished off with some Rub n Buff which I also ran around the edge of the back board.

The top scroll is made from a bit of dishwasher tablet cardboard box, painted with various acrylic paints to make it look aged and a couple of gems added. The die is a Sizzix Bigz Die (Corner Flourish #2).

You can see here that I made the bottom border in the same way using coloured staples to attach it to the board. I love this Tim Holtz Alterations Die (Scallops) and think I need a few more from the 'On The Edge' collection. This is the only one I own at the moment.

I got to swap with Claire and this is the fab wall hanging I got in return.....love the font for the sentiment and all those fab danglies!!!

 Right at this stage in my life, I don't seem to be able to find much time to do art and I do so miss it but I hope, with the colder months ahead, I'll get more time to play!

Craft Barn Art Journal Challenge

Oh, go on then - let's throw caution to the wind and submit my next two pages to the Craft Barn Art Journal Challenge.

I think I'm improving, helped a lot by my new purchases of Dylusions stamps and spray inks which I bought at the summer Craft Barn Extravaganza. 

I made these pages during those long, long weeks of summer rain that never seemed to end but it took me so long to have time to complete that we were back in lovely summer weather by the time I finished!
I drew the frog's body, raindrops and lily pad myself.....you can probably tell, LOL!

Let the Journal begin!

Okay, so I have begun to have a go at my first art journal, having bought a few blank books for the purpose last time I was in London.
This is the cover I made using the black of the cover as my background colour.

 Well, it IS my first attempt - LOL! A bit 'busy' !!! Never mind, we live and learn.

And I'm going to even, bravely, show you my first ever journal page I did way back in June - baby steps!!.....

Hurrah! Got to Stamp Club!!!

Last month I actually made it to Stamp Club and also managed to make the swap - which was the least I could do as it was my turn to host.

I chose a domino accordian book with the theme 'Past Times' and this is the one I made.....

 I had fun trying to make it look as though it had just been dug up from some ancient site, using, amongst other things, a Verdigris E.P.

Shadow Box

Here's another Stamp Club project which never made it to Stamp Club!
I went to watch the Test Cricket at the Oval with my husband and didn't get back in time for Club.

Anyway, this is made from part of  an old costume jewellery box. Gessoed and painted with Eco paints and Americana Weathered Wood Crackle Medium. I stamped the box with a floral background stamp by Crafty Individuals and a floral cluster by Penny Black. The sentiment is by Paper Artsy.

 The little boy and the main background are from one stamp. I love this stamp but I can't say who makes it as I bought it on EBay. I layered the flowers and the boy and also layered flowers across the boy image on the background piece to hide him at the back.

This is my first attempt at a Shadow Box - it was fiddly but a challenge.