Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a safe, happy, healthy, fun filled, creative year in 2011!

 I received a lovely gift in the mail this week from

Vicki at Tozz's Corner  an, oh so sweet purse and a hand stitched with love Christmas decoration for my tree. Thank you Vicki.

 Here is one of the reasons I've been a bit quiet in blogland-I'm trying to finish personalised place mats for my dining table.   Quite a bit of playing around with my photos on the computer and then printing the photos onto fabric.  Let dry for one hour {depends on the brand of print fabric} then wash, dry, iron and sew on borders, add batting and backing or cheat and use padded calico, 'stitch in the ditch' around each photo and hand sew the binding on.  I have an eight seater dining table and I'm up to number 5 place mat.
This is just a brief run down. I was going to do a small tutorial but time is running out... If you're interested in making some for yourself, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Here is something else I've recently stitched for a special friend's 40 th birthday.  There was a 'no gift' rule, however I know how much Kaz appreciates hand made gifts and I couldn't resist making this special cushion with a photo of her children.

Yeah, that's a couple to add to my OPAM challenge this month.

Now, I'm going to have a bit of a gripe~I heard a statement the other day that

"blogging is just bragging about your achievements"

I was a bit upset by this statement as I blog quite a bit, love sharing my works and receiving comments I also make lots of comments when visiting other bloggers and l Love the way we share information, tutorials and advice. 

A few good examples are: 

Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique and all her special guest artists that have been so giving in tutorials, hints, tips and expert advice.

There are also lots of artists

 Purple Palette,

Violette's CreativeJuices, 

Lee at http://artfulleedesigned.blogspot.com/ 

and fabric queens that share BOM and tutorials like

Jenny from Elefantz, 

http://tozzscorner.blogspot.com/,

Clare from  Clare's Craftroom and

Vikki from Sew Useful Designs

then for the paper crafter's there's

 Tim Holtz   and 

Creative Carmelina who does a bit of everything,

June @ http://artfreebies.blogspot.com/

and Karen @ Graphic Fairy

These are just to name a few of sharing, caring bloggers {there are plenty more}~I could go on and on and on.

My point is please use kind words, you don't have to join in with our fun, creative world!

Buon Natale,
Baci e Abbracci,
Hugs~Anna

Published again

Hello blogging buddies,
I know two posts in one week.  I've just received a copy of  'Fine Art & Decorative Painting' magazine and I've had a piece published in this months edition of Vol 18 No 4

 If you click on this link, you can check out a few pages of this latest edition;http://craftlovers.com/magazines/621-essential-fine-arts-decorative-painting/11453-essential-fine-arts-decorative-painting

 I'd like to take this opportunity to thank 'Chroma Australia' for supporting me as an artist and teacher.
Check out the link to see the latest in products, artists and the lots of other interesting information on these great quality paints.

Only 23 days until Christmas, I hope you're nearly organised.  I still have some important gifts to buy and pull out the Christmas tree and decorations.
Enjoy the countdown,
Hugs,
Anna

In touch with nature

Painting for Christmas pressies

Hello friends, I know its been a while.  I've had my wonderful Mum here for the past three weeks, spending some quality time together shopping, gardening and painting.  Oh, my Mum's not normally a painter but as she loves her garden and knick knacks in her garden I purchased a couple of metal ornaments that we painted. This butterfly was sanded back, prepped with All Purpose Sealer, painted Black and then painted with Iridescent colours over the top.

The sparkle is Kindy Glitz in Crystalina colour.

 While Mum was here she was admiring my latest sewing pieces.  I offered to make her a cushion that ended up being a small pillow. 

{Argh, so hard to find small rectangle cushion inserts} 

Can you guess my Mum's favourite colour is Green!

That's one OPAM for November, another one in the works.

 In the mood to make Christmas gifts? 

Here is a simple and bright idea to decorate a Glass Candle holder~I'm sharing with you!

 Please note~the decorative petal paper under these pictures is compliments of Jenny's blogspot. Pop on over to see her easy tutorial.

 Take a piece of lace {soft lace is better} slightly larger than the candle holder.  Apply a generous coat of Atelier Impasto Gel over the glass.  Smooth fabric over this and add another generous coat of Impasto Gel {you can trim excess lace while you go, just make sure you have enough to overlap} so all the fabric is smooth and wet.  Turn up side down over a thin bottle to dry overnight.

 When dry, trim excess lace.  Apply a coat of Carbon Black.  Iridescent paint is brighter over black. Allow to dry. 

Then paint with whatever Iridescent colour you prefer.  Above is Jo Sonja Violet, the below candle holder is painted with Gold Iridescent.  Jo Sonja Iridescent colours also come in Red, Green, Blue & Turquoise.

You can use this method to apply lace and embellishments to almost anything. 

This was a plain evening bag purchased from the op shop.

I'll be back soon to show you my latest sewing project!

Hugs, Anna

Christmas, OPAM, Salt dough

Hi, I'm very late with my OPAM this month!

I've been busy with my Mum here from interstate and finishing off a few projects, sorry for not getting around and visiting everyone in blog land.

This sweet "Brooch Cushion" is Kathryn's design from http://ourshabbycottage.blogspot.com/

who was a guest artist over at Kerryanne's from http://www.shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/ who is conducting "Simply Christmas" There are fabulous, inspiring projects and guest artists to get you into the  Christmas spirit and lots of ideas for hand made gifts.  

Have you seen this gorgeous Purple Iris?  Oops, probably not the best background to take this photo.

You may have been to visit Lee at http://artfulleedesigned.blogspot.com/

Lee kindly gave up her Sunday to give her expert advice for us to finish painting the design.

What do you think of these tags?

They are made of Salt dough, easy enough for children to make.

*2 cups plain flour

*1 cup salt

*3/4 to 1 cup warm water

Knead for ten minutes~you may add touch more water or flour if necessary!

Then you can start rolling, cutting, shaping and colouring your salt dough tags.

*Wrap unused portion in Cling Wrap so it doesn't dry out.

Roll out to about 2-3 mm thickness, use cookie cutters or glass for your shape and push {permanent inked stamp} into dough and let dry on baking paper on cake rack turning every few hours.

For the hole at the top of the tags, I pushed a straw into the dough.

Now, if you're inpatient like myself, you can quicken up the speed of drying your salt dough tags using your oven.

After a few burnt, puffy, tried and tested ways-The best way I found was heating moderate oven {170 degrees for twenty minutes} turn the over off, place cake rack with decorations flat in the oven and leave over night to dry. 

 I prefer to make my tags and when dry paint them using Jo Sonja acrylic paints to decorate and varnish.
Happy creating,
Hugs,
Anna

Latest Art

Hello friends,

Last week Lee and I had a art play day.  This is one of the backgrounds I achieved while playing.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day with Lee, we have heaps in common!

I was also lucky enough to receive a bunch of flowers, there were Jonquils and Gerbera's. 
One of the Gerbera flowers was so perfect, I had the urge to paint it.  I did this background with watery Jo Sonja acrylic paints in Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Scarlet and Burnt Umber.  While wet a poured Rock Salt over the top.  When this was nearly dry-I put Pale Gold into a small mist spray bottle and sprayed over the top of the Rock Salt and this is what I ended up with as a background for my Gerbera!
             

I had started the background of this canvas board using Copic pens.  I knew what verse I wanted and I had ideas of what I wanted the final piece to look like.
Lee helped me along with her collection of stamps, flourishes and ideas.  This is for a special friend!

So nice to get together with like minded people and let the creativeness flow! 
Do you have someone that has the same "PASSION" as you, that you can get together with and play?
Thank you for visiting, I'd love to hear about your Passion and play days!
Hugs,
Anna

Creative Artist, Simply Christmas

Hello my blogging friends,
Thanks for popping in and visiting* I have a bit of exciting news~recently through Blogging, I've got to know Suzana from Creative Therapies @ http://creativetherapies.wordpress.com/author/creativetherapies/ 
Suzana has done a profile on ME this week. 
Please pop over for a visit and check out my latest painting there as well as lots of other creative artists!

I also need to tell you about Kerryanne's latest news*

Shabby Art Boutique is running this great event with handmade Christmas goodies, treats, guest bloggers and giveaways.  Come along and join in the fun!
Hugs,
Anna

Facelift

 Hello, Thank you for popping in*

FACELIFT~Ah, not me, my kitchen has had a face lift!

From this-

 To this-

And this-

To this-

Roy from Superior Kitchens did a fantastic job and I'd highly recommend him for any Kitchen or Bathroom renovation!  Roy doesn't have an website, however I'd be happy to pass on his information if you'd like to email me.

Yesterday I attended a workshop at the Society of Folk & Decorative Artists.  The workshop was conducted by Robyn Sherer~A fabulous teacher, very creative and giving.

 The background and base coating was painted using Jo Sonja acrylics.  We then had fun mixing Papier Mache for the body of the Echidna.  Placed that on the canvas and start molding and Painted over the papier mache. We were lucky, most of the spikes were already painted.{Thanks for Robyn's parents}  These were pushed into the papier mache body.  We then glazed over the background, face, feet and foliage using Archival Oils and pencils.

I've taken this photo on an angle so you can see the height and depth of the "Echidna".

If you are free on 17th October and live in or around Melbourne/Geelong you may want to attend the "Portarlington Art & Garden Trail"

This will be 19 Studio's, Gallery's and Gardens open to the public from 11 am to 4pm

There isn't a website however I do have a phone number if anyone is interested, I'd be happy to email it to you!

Live Joyfully,

Hugs,

Anna

Pink Magnolia, OPAM

Hi, Thanks for popping in* I hope you're having a great, creative week!

This is my latest painting.  The background and under painting is painted in Jo Sonja, acrylics and then I've used Archival Oils to glaze over the top.

My blogging friend Anne from http://elmilagrostudio.blogspot.com/  kindly gave me permission to paint her photo. 

Anne is a great photographer and artist, always running around her property taking photos and painting up a storm in her studio. 

What a great view from Anne's window!

Creative Carmelina has different themes for the days of the week.  Tuesday is "Tag Tuesday".

Carmelina recently gave me inspiration/idea to create these Tea tags for my Mum who loves a great cuppa tea.

My latest OPAM is this pretty vintage style cushion for my bed.

Yippee, I'm getting better at inserting Zips.

As I continue to Journal and need more "stuff" my pencil case is overflowing, so I decided to make myself a new bright one. Ah, another zip.

 Jenny from http://elefantz.blogspot.com/ recently did a post or two on zippers.  Very informative if you want to check it out.

Hugs, Anna

My baby sister can Paint!

Hello and thanks for popping in*

My sister "Eddy" wanted a similar painting to fill a blank wall and couldn't find one anywhere.  I suggested she paint one. 

Ah, I have evidence that Eddy is creative!

This was Eddy's canvas that was purchased a few years ago and she wanted something similar.  Eddy adapted the design and came up with this!

Ah, Isn't my baby sister clever and she had soo much fun, she will paint all her art work for the new home!

Have a fabulous spring weekend,

Hugs, Anna