Owling and swanning around

Hi Everybody!

Today I am sharing another mixed media piece, 9" x 10" made using a skin as I
showed in yesterday's post. As several people asked how the skin was
made, I have made a short tutorial after the finished photos. I used a
magazine image to make my skin, which was then stitched onto canvas
 and peeled and picked corrugated cardboard. The embellishments
were kept simple with some burlap, feathers and a scrap of
canvas.

And a hybrid version for Jo's poetry in motion at AJJ:

I got the ideas for this skin from a book called 'Image

Transfer Workshop' from McElroy & Wilson. It is

available from Amazon and others, and I would warmly

recommend this treasury of ideas and tips to all who like

experimenting and playing. 

You start by choosing a well inked image, either ink-jet or from

a magazine. You cut it to size, and cover it with a piece of  Saran

wrap/cling film which should be just slightly larger than the

image. 

Smooth the film with your fingers, and place

parchment/baking paper under and over it. Place it all on a towel, 

and set the iron to medium/hot. Don't use steam! 

Make sure the parchment covers all the film. 

Iron it till the film melds to the background image, but don't 

let it burn. Lift up a corner to check if it is ready:

When it is done, cut off the overlapping film from the

edges:

Turn the image over. Lightly sand the paper backing, spray with

water and then rub the paper away with your fingers till

the image becomes translucent.

This gives wonderfully, grungy effects!

Some photos from out and about this week:

I have made a collage sheet with the images of the swans. Please feel free to download and use it if you want to.

The first is 'normal', to print and cut out:

Swans collage sheet Jpg

 The second one is with a transparent background for digital work:

Swans PNG 

 Have a great day, take care,
and thanks a lot for coming by!

T stands for back to school and more

Hi Everybody!

On Tuesday we are beginning a new challenge at

Tag Tuesday, and our lovely Michele is hosting.

Her theme is 'back to school', and many pupils and teachers

world wide  will be preparing for this right now.

As always, you have 2 weeks to link to our challenge, and

tags of all formats are welcome. And I chose a winner

out of the hat for the last challenge- you'll have to look at the 

TT blog to find out who it is!

For 'back to school' I made a tag using large alpha

stickers from TH, which I (re)discovered when I recently

cleared my table. The little girl, who is not looking very happy,

is probably thinking about all she will need to do at

school. I gave her a bright, yellow crayon to cheer her up.

She was fussy cut from a Gecko Galz sheet and varnished.

The edges were sewn.

Tuesday is also time for Elizabeth's Tea stands for

Tuesday party, so welcome to all the nice ladies from the tea gang. 

 Today I am sharing a journal page made for Jo's 'Poetry in Motion' challenge

at Art Journal journey, For this page I tried a new  (to me)

technique of making skins using Saran wrap and an iron, which gives

you a transparent image which can even be sewn, as you can see here.

I saw the ad for this beer in a magazine, and thought it would be good 

for this theme, as I know Jo loves brewing and drinking beer.

(I'll stick to coffee and cola!) The background here was painted and 

crackled, making it look nice and grungy. The text is from G.K. Chesterton (author of 'Father Brown')

I baked a banana bread at the weekend, yummy, help yourselves to a slice!

This postcard is up for grabs this week. I think we all need some peace in the world just now. Last week's card went to

Kathy in Ozarks. Please tell me if you would like to be entered  into the

 draw for this week's card!

Here are the last photos from our outing last Wednesday. We visited

the little village of Lank near the Rhine:

I just love this shop's name!

Love this fountain with the bronze figures of market

life in bygone days:

I thought this might be interesting for the T gang ladies from Missouri.

The text says:

In memory of the many emigrants who lived in the area known as 

Meerbusch today. Between 1835 and 1865 more than 300 people

left their homes because of the difficult  times and settled in

Loose Creek, Westphalia, Frankenstein (County Osage) and St Thomas.

They have kept their local German dialect up to this day.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Sunday this n that

Hi Everybody!

Today I am sharing my last scrappy tag for Tag Tuesday,

our theme ends Monday evening. I have had the flower 

 fairy tags and images in my scrap box for ages, they came free

with a magazine many years back. The background was

coloured with DIs and stamped with LaBlanche stamps

in archival black. I added the fairy, and a cut out bird

with a flower in its beak. The ribbon trim was recycled

from an old project.

For Jo's 'Poetry in motion' theme at Art Journal Journey I

have a painted, collage, stamped, stenciled and sewn page. I

think I overdid it a bit, it looks rather crowded. I was trying

to cover up a stain I made.... It is also meant 

as a reminder for 'In your garden' at TIOT:

And some photo taken on my walks to and from our little town this week:

Have a great Sunday, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by.