Painting, finished cushion

Hello, I know it's been a while since my last post~Life has been very busy lately.

Do you remember I showed you some sneak peaks from this cushion, yeah it's finished.

I used Pastel pencils to colour in the elements of design, then brushed Jo Sonja's Textile Medium over the coloured areas.  When dry and set with iron, I stitched around the designs with coloured cottons for added oomph.

 The designs are from 'A Gardener's Journal by Annie Downs'

While my Mum was visiting recently she wanted to learn to paint.  Mum has recently retired and feeling a bit lost at home.  As a lover of gardening and nature here are two pieces she completed while she stayed with me.

Can you tell my Mum loves Green?

The tree was blocked in using Burnt Umber then Jo Sonja's Decor Crackle medium.  Let dry and a heavy coat of Smoked Pearl over the top.  A touch of floating and dry brushing to finish of the trunk and branches.

Oh, My Mum was very proud to take home these two completed pieces. 
I think these are great results for a beginner and I'm very proud of my Mum.
Hugs, Anna

Friends, Published

Hey blogging buddies and friends,
It's been a while. I have my Mum here for a few weeks and I just get tied up with chatting, drinking coffee, visiting and doing like minded things.  Oh, She's also painting!  I'm so proud of my Mum.  Raising five daughters on her own most of the time and a darn good job if I say so myself!

I'm feeling quite special today~I received a lovely personalised hand made journal, card and gift wrapped in the prettiest way possible by one of my bestest friends Kerryanne. 
Kerryanne has taken fabulous photo's so you can pop over here http://www.shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/ and have a good look.
I know Kerryanne has been very busy painting and sewing  up a new range/collection so pop on over to her website and check out her latest designs as well.

I've recently had this piece published in the Fine Art & Decorative Painting magazine.

I've used a few different techniques~Jo Sonja paints and mediums in this 'Rose through my Window'.

Take care, I hope to get around blog hopping soon.

Hugs, Anna

Been soo busy

Hello blogging buddies,

I know it's been ages but my private life has been very busy with personal stuff taking over my 'ME' time including blogging time.

Wow, was I surprised to see dear hubby walk in the door with this beautiful bunch of red roses yesterday for Valentines Day. We've been together for nearly twenty nines years and we hadn't celebrated Valentines day ever!

 This is a cushion cover I've just finished for my Mum.
Oops, I can't remember the designer, naughty me.  It came out of an older magazine. 

 This is the piece I'm working on at the moment.
The designs are from 'A Gardeners Journal by Anni Downs'
I decided to colour the design in using pencils then stitch the design.

 I need a new pencil sharpener!

I hope to get around and visit you soon.
Happy creating,
Hugs,
Anna

Tutorial on photo placemats & award

Hello blogging buddies,

I know, it's been way too long since I've posted.  I've been busy creating and finishing off some projects.

Oh, I've also started a new painting~however it's a go slow piece!

Anyway, I've had a few buddies ask about the tutorial for the photo place mats, so I've going to show you how I achieved them.

Using my computer and my photo program I've cropped, cut and pasted my photo's into a Word document.  I found this easy, so I could see how it was going to look on the A4 cotton sheet.

 These fabulous sheets of printable cotton I purchased at the last Stitches and Craft show.  The lady from Australian Country Quilts was very helpful.  You can also buy these online at http://www.australiancountryquilts.com/ at a very reasonable price.

 Following the directions on the packet, I printed my photo's, left it over night, peeled off the backing paper, rinsed in a cold bucket of water, dried and ironed my fabric photo sheet.  Oh, sooo easy!

I sewed on my border fabrics.  I sewed on 1.5 inch strips to the sides of the place mats and 2.5inch strips to the top and bottom of each place mat.

 I used padded cotton for the backing.  I needed something heat resistant for my timber table as well as a backing.  This suited me just fine.

I sewed in between each picture to attach the backing to the top piece.

Then comes the 2.5 inch binding.  Ironed in half and attached to the outside on the front of each place mat.

 Trim off the excess backing fabric and hand sew the binding over to the back with hidden stitches.
Oh dear, I did take a photo of the finished place mats but blogger didn't like it.  LOL I really don't know why it didn't want to load.

Yesterday I received an award from my friend June at http://unwrappingmyheart.blogspot.com/ Thank you June.  June is a great blogger, always sharing images and leaving kind comments!
Part of the deal with this award is to share 8 things about yourself, So here I go~
1~I'm a wife to one, Mother to two, Sister to four.

2~I grew up with my Mum and four sisters, then seven years ago I met my Dad~now I have six Aunts and Uncle's and twenty four cousins.

3~I'm left handed, have messy writing but I love using my hands to paint and sew.

4~My husband and I have been in business for twenty four years {makes me sound really old, but I'm not} previous to that I was a medical receptionist.

5~I don't like shopping unless it's for Art & Craft supplies and I love a bargain.

6~If I could do anything is this world, it would be find a cure for cancer.

7~If I had a never ending supply of money, I would open up a family orientated motor bike track for pee wee's, teenagers and adults with camping facilities and a hugh workshop for artists.

8~I'd like to have a big party and meet all my blogging buddies one day.
Well that's my eight things.  Now I have to pass this award on to 8 other stylish bloggers.  This is a difficult task as I have soo many stylish blogging buddies!

Kerryanne @ http://www.shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/
Kris @ http://www.tagalongteddies.blogspot.com/
Sharon @ http://allnorahsart.blogspot.com/
Peg @ http://happyinquilting.blogspot.com/
Martha @ http://marthalever.blogspot.com/
Diane @ http://dianesalter.blogspot.com/
Lynn @ http://trashtotreasureart.blogspot.com/
Mariondee @ http://mariondee-designs.blogspot.com/
Hugs to you all,
Anna

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