Monday, November 16, 2015

Crepe Paper Roses

Too beautiful for words!
I think no one could believe what they saw once
 they completed their roses.


We had a wonderful bunch of people on Saturday
for the two workshops. Everyone chose their own colour and 
then the cutting started. 
After a while we started
curling and cupping.... 
ok, important words when you are making flowers.
















Thanks to everyone who joined us for the workshops,
we had a wonderful day.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Preparing for the market.

It is the end of the year and the crafters I know
are working very hard to prepare for the markets at 
which they sell their products.

I have been painting these tiny creations
and the joy and anticipation of how the paint will dry 
is exhilarating.


The free motion sewing is something I have always 
wanted to do and I hope these are just the first few steps.


Do I keep the thread or do I cut it off?
You are welcome to leave a comment and help me decide.










Friday, October 30, 2015

Giant Rose Workshop


Come and join us for this workshop
Saturday 14 November 2015
Moreletapark
Pretoria
The Grey Ladder Studio

09:30 - 12:30
&
 13:00 - 16:00

R 350.00 pp class kit and refreshments included

to book your space.


Monday, October 26, 2015

In a very happy place.


Using my Distress ink, Distress markers and Distress stains, 
puts me in a happy place and on Saturday it worked for my friends too!

Everyone created two pages. One of which I gave them a sample
and the other one they had to create on their own.

 Lizette.



Ann.



 Lizl.



 Benice.



Daleen.



Not all of the pages are completed, but we all had fun 
and were in a happy place for three hours.

Materials we used:

Water colour paper
Gesso 
Palette knife
Distress ink
Distress stains
Distress markers
Craft sheet
Stamps 
Scissors
Archival ink
Water pen
Black permanent pen
White marker
Aquarelle pencils
Stencils
Make up sponges
Wet wipes
Kitchen paper roll

Take out your stuff and create!
It puts you in a happy place.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Have a happy day!

My niece came over last week for a visit.
She is nine 8½ months pregnant, in fact the baby is due tomorrow!
It is a little boy and we are all very excited!

She was feeling frustrated and hot so to take her mind off things 
we started to create a page.
We worked together as she has never done this technique.
This is my page.


We started off with Distress stains to create the blue background.
Then a bit of stenciling and
a bit of stamping.
We stained a separate piece of paper 
to use for stamping the words and images we wanted to use
as color accents. 


This is her page.
 We used the Distress markers and a water pen for extra
color on the page.
We ended off with a bit of doodling and scribbling
 with black and white pens.


I think they both came out blooming good!




Tuesday, September 22, 2015

This way Honey....

This is what today was like...

I wrote down what bothered me and then I 
covered the whole page with gesso.

As you can see, I am feeling a bit blue...
so I had to paint the page blue.

Direction is also a problem today, so 
 lots of arrows, some hand painted, some stenciled.


Then I wrote, 
Watter kant toe Bokkie!
Which way Honey!

Now all my "not for public consumption" thoughts
on this side of the page are covered up. 


This is what the other side of the page looks like.
 Now  I have to go and paint....

Keep well.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Gesso your pages

Hi Everyone
For Saturday's class you need to bring all your 
art journaling supplies and a few pages covered with gesso. 

This is more or less what you will be creating.
Spraying with inks to create a background. 



See you Saturday.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Paint, stencil and scribble.

I am having fun with a few new techniques and these are the results.

As always, first a layer of gesso. Let it dry.
Then I used my water mister to wet the paper.
The next step is to put paint directly onto the paper and then spread
the paint. Big strokes and don't overwork the paint.
If the paint is too dry, spray some more water to let it flow.
When the paint is dry, do some stenciling and stamping.



For the next page I took a different approach.
I first painted the background and then did some stamping and stenciling.
Because I painted over the pink and orange the colours changed a bit.
For the black grunginess I used my Stabilo All pencil.



On these two pages I more or less followed the same 
order. Gesso, news paper print tissue paper, painted circles, stenciling,
low lights, high lights, stamping and doodling.
Last of all the white circles with my bottle cap.



Here I did not do the white paint bottle cap thing, 
but I did the black paint splattering thing.



I like all of these pages, because I enjoyed myself
experimenting with the different techniques!

Keep on experimenting!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Soo much fun!

If you want to do something ,
you want to do it!

 So I gathered my art supplies and put myself through an 
online tutorial. With my i-pad next to me
and a cup of coffee I got started.
In between I got up, paused the video and dried 
the paint with my hairdryer.

I cannot remember when last I had so much fun!



What really helped me a lot was the baby wipes and the paper
towels. These are two very handy tools.

Today I feel a little bit of a tiredness creeping up on me.
It is Friday, and a lot of things are happening at the moment.

My niece is moving, she is eight months pregnant.
My mother in law is going back after a visit.
I am helping to organize our 40th Grade 12 reunion.
It is caterers, decorations, gifts, drinks, finances and more.

I have a class tomorrow and I need to get the studio 
cleaned up for the class, but it will be wonderful to see
everyone again!

Looking forward to create more of these pages...!
Have a good weekend.
  

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

"Say" the things you want to.

Here I started my way of journaling about 
things I cannot really talk about.


I wrote what I wanted to say, on a 
blank piece of paper with a permanent pen.
Then when I was ready, I started to concentrate on the process.  
I covered it with gesso and then with paint.
Then I did some stenciling, stamping and doodling.
I also painted a smaller piece of paper with red paint and later 
stamped the heart on the paper. I cut the heart out and
glued it down onto my page.


If you look closely, You will see the word ok underneath 
the blue paint. A bit of shadow around the heart and the 
black scribbles around the circles.
At some stage I might will go back and do some more
on this page. 

But two important things happened,
I said what I wanted to say, and I enjoyed the process.

I will always know what it was that I wanted to get out of my system.
The people that look a this page will only see the final product.

Enjoy the day!

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

It takes a village to raise a child


That is what I believe, but I don't have any children of my own.
I was a teacher for almost 20 years and I know the village sees your children behave or
misbehave and the village can praise or reprimand them when you are not around.


  

 This is the next class for the 27th of August. We will be creating a village.
on a canvas using wood, metal, paint and glue.


                                            Please let me know if you would like to join us.



Thursday, August 6, 2015

Art Journaling Tools

These tools on your table will make your life easier when
 you are ready to sit down and journal.

Water spray bottle
Baby wipes
Paper towels
Water bucket
Paint brushes
Make up sponge
Craft sheet
Brayer
Gesso
Hairdryer / heat gun 
Water pen
Acrylic paint
Aquarelle  pencils
Stabilo All Pencil
Perma Ball pen black
Signo Uniball white
Stencils
Stamps
Archival inks


I usually start painting and then I remember 
I need a wet cloth and a water bucket.

So now I try to start by filling up the water bucket
and wetting a cloth.  






Monday, August 3, 2015

Fabric covered tin

Hi everyone!
On Friday I received my copy of the Creative Hobbies Magazine
and as always it is such a joy to see my work published.


Here are a few photographs of the tin and its contents.
I really enjoyed working with the fabric and embellishments.



You can find info on the products on Liefielove's Website.
The step by step article is in the magazine.
I will also be teaching this class at Hobby-X in October.

The magazine is available at SPAR, 
Pick n Pay, CNA, PNA, Craft shops 
and Checkers Hyper.


Then I need to show you the neck piece that Benice and Lizette
made. My two dear, highly crafty and talented friends. This is so dainty
and I can see the fairies flying all around this!


 Lizette also made a wall hanging with the same fabric and 
she added her own handmade embellishments.


These adorable little creatures are about 1½ x 2 cm big.
I don't know how she does that, but they are to die for.




 All the articles are in the magazine.
Keep well and keep creating. 
xx