New stamps !!

Hello peeps - how are we?  I've been in a bit of an art slump recently for one reason and another but i received some new stamps and that has helped revive my mojo.  Here is what i've been doing with them.  

Please enjoy xx

I loved doing this canvas as i haven't done something like this for a while.  Where i live the sun was shining and i had an urge to use yellow - a colour i don't normally use - and i'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I used only some scraps of paper which were already on my desk and stuck them down with matte medium.  I then proceeded to use some modelling paste through a stencil and waited FOREVER for it to dry.  For added texture i used some cut up pieces of left over draw liner i bought from Wilkinson's.  I then used my new stamps which are perfect with this project. I let the ink dry and then i proceeded to spray yellow deco art paint ......and ...voila xx 

These pieces were done on Yupo paper a while back but i always thought they were missing something so when my new stamps came i immediately went to my new stamps as i think they are perfect for this.

These new stamps are by the new design team members of AALL & CREATE and i love them.

Thank you for visiting 

Jo

xx 

Guess who's BACK!!!

Hello there.  I know, i know,,,,,,,i haven't posted in an absolute AGE.....but i've had a lot of personal issues i've had to deal with......BUT...i'm BACK and more than ready to show you what i've been up to creatively.  

Get ready.....this post is very picture heavy!! 

ATC - "Time Flies" made for a swap in one of my facebook groups 

This tag i made using a new set of stamps by AALL & CREATE.  These stamps were designed by different members of their design team and there is 7 sets altogether.  The quality of the stamps themselves are fantastic. 

I really enjoyed making this project.  This was a project that was very quick to make as the ideas came quick and fast - love it when that happens - I used Lindy's sprays and alcohol inks on the butterfly and crackle paste on the stand.  The stand is an old wooden cotton reel which i've had in my stash for a while

This project was done on yupo paper using alcohol inks.  I used a brayer to spread the paint on and i think it worked really well.  I then stamped the background with a butterfly stamp and glued on tissue paper.  I used two more different butterfly stamps and painted them with Lindy's stamp gang inks.

This is something that i am very proud of.  My own sketch of a rose painted with my new set of Winsor and Newton Cottman watercolours.  I am really pleased with how it turned out considering it's the first 'proper' watercolour painting.  

This mixed media piece uses several old book pages ripped up and glued down and a typewriter die from Tim Holtz.  The sentiment is also from a Tim Holtz set which i stamped onto old brown paper and tore the edges to give it a more authentic look.

This piece is a firm favourite of mine.  It took a while due to the drying time of the modelling paste but it all come together at the end.  The die, again another one from Tim Holtz, was used with black cardstock.  I painted the silver bits of the camera with Deco Art metallic paint and when this was dry i stuck a small acrylic circle in the centre to act as the camera lens. I then used lots of layers of old book paper to give it a vintage look and stuck some appropriate ephemera on.

Thank you for getting this far.  I will leave you with me dedicating this post to a truly wonderful man who unfortunately is no longer with us.  My uncle Pat - my hero, my second dad a true legend who will be greatly missed.  He was really interested in my art and i hope they can get this blog up in heaven.  

My love for Freida Kahlo

Hello there.  Hope you are all well? I am so glad the summer has finished and autumn has arrived. In my latest project i've thought outside the box - literally - yes.....I've done ANOTHER box but this time with a twist.  I have added a shrine to the box so it's a kind of 'mash up' of projects.

  Here is the finished piece 

As you can see in the picture this piece was inspired by the artist Frieda Kahlo.  I am a huge fan of her work and i love the vibrancy of not only her art work but herself as a person.  I really enjoyed working on this piece but it did take a while as there were a number of techniques used and a lot of waiting for either glue to dry or paint. 

My favourite picture of this wonderful woman is this one

This is how this project started life and where my inspiration came from for doing the 'mash up'

After i glued the box together using wood glue i then proceded to glue the shrine on.  After this i used Prima Transparent texture paste and gessoed it to give the whole project texture.

I then painted it with Deco Art Americana multi surface satin paint in Blue Lagoon which is such a wonderful blue. When this was dry i painted Deco Art  Perfect Crackle 1 over this. I let it dry naturally and i then went over this with Deco Art Perfect Crackle 2.  When this part was dry i then went over it with black distress crayon and rubbed it in all over the box.  I thought, being something to do with Freida, it needed some bling so i dry brushed all over with Dazzling Metallic paint in Venetian Gold (again by Deco Art) and it really brought out the crackle.  

Whilst i was waiting for all this paint, glue and crackle paint to dry i raided my embelishment stash and i had a great time.  Freida liked putting flowers in her hair so naturally flowers had to be a part of the project - bright ones and big ones.  I wanted it all to clash as she was into this in her clothes and paintings.  This self portrait was also my inspiration for the colours and flowers used 

I felt like i needed some gold somewhere so the winged angel got painted also the mdf cross at the back of the angel also got covered.  I then stuck some big and bright flowers onto the sides over some  filagree embellishments.  When i had everything else to my liking i then started putting things in the actual 'shrine' part.  The heart is by Prima in their artifacts collection and i covered it in Deco Art Crackle Paste which i waited overnight for so it crackled to perfection! I then painted it with Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paint in Alizeron Crimson Hue which gives us a lovely deep red.

I loved doing this project and i hope you like it too.

Thank you so much for visiting and i hope you enjoyed your stay

Take care

Jo

xx 

Experiments with Yupo Paper.

Hello there.  Hope this blog post finds you well.  I've had an interesting week this week with posts being deleted from facebook and all sorts of other drama - but hey ho......on we go.

Today i've done a little experimentation with Stampbord, alcohol inks and bleach!! I've enjoyed every minute of it and the results have not what I was expecting but isn't that what experimentation is all about? Well yes and here are the results.  I'm totally over the moon!! 

Yupo paper is reccommended with the use of alcohol inks as its very smooth and when splattered on the paper it seems to 'grow' like bacteria - but alot less harmful and more pretty lol.  As Stampbord seems to have a similar surface light bulbs went off in my head and I thought 'shall i try it on that' and i did. When I first splashed the inks onto the board they reacted the same way as you can see from this video 

I then proceeded to drip some bleach onto the board as well and the effect was great.  If you do try this technique or any other with alcohol inks and bleach make sure you are in a well ventilated area as you will be very ill.  

This is a still of what it looked like

Beautiful - but when I came back to it a bit later it had dried and i was not expecting this result at all

At first I wasn't a fan so i decided to do the experiment again but this time put gesso on the board and see what happens. 

As you can see from the video that the ink just 'sat' on the board because of the gesso resit. I had to swish it around and blot it with a paper towel.  The more i looked at the two pieces of stampbord the more i liked the look of them.  Then another lightbulb moment......I reached for my Tim Holtz tissue wrap and cut a butterfly out and in half and stuck it on the boards with gel medium.  They were looking a bit bare so i used gelatos and did some stamping with archival ink to make them pop even more.  I reached for my Tim Hotlz chit chat stickers (good ole Tim eh?) and stuck these on again with gel medium and there you have it!! I also went around the edges with some Inka Gold in silver. 

I'm going to give one of these to a good friend of mine so we have one each and when we meet up they can be joined together like those 'best friend' necklaces you can buy.

Well, that's all from me for today.  I will just leave you with one last picture of the ink and gelatos i used.  Thank you for stopping by and thank you for being there for me on my crafty journey.

Take Care

Love

Jo

xx 

Inspired by Kate Crane

Hello there - i know!!! I'm getting quite good at this blogging malarkey eh? Today i would like to show you another box....yes another box. I'm obsessed what can you say! This one is inspired by one of favourite mixed media artists Kate Crane.  I love her style and find it very freeing but very very messy.

Here it is 

I love the vibrancy of the colours that the paint i used produced.

First i glued the box together with Gorilla wood glue and gave it several coats of white acrylic paint and when i saw several layers.....i MEAN several layers. Gesso would of worked too.

I then raided my paint stash....I don't think i need to buy paint for a while do you?

I chose the brightest colours that i though would go well together.

These are:

DINA WAKLEY PAINTS HEAVY BODY PAINTS

Turquoise

Lemon

LIQUITEX PROFFESSIONAL HEAVY BODY PAINT

Brilliant yellow green

Medium magenta

Ultramarine blue (red shade)

Brilliant purple

Cadmium red medium hue

I hope you are enjoying these posts on the boxes i'm decorating.  Please don't hesitate to pop over to That Craft Place if you would like one of these boxes for yourself. Just say Jo Bendall sent you lol.  By the way i'm not being paid or bribed by Danny or Lisa to say this.  I just think that their goodies are great.

thanks for popping over and visiting me and i hope you have enjoyed your stay

Take care

Jo

xx 

Mr Piggott's Apothecary

Hello there.  Hope this blog finds you well?.  I've been so busy on this project that i think a good break away is on the cards.  I have enjoyed doing this project and I think i have really pushed myself and taken myself out of my comfort zone.  Its another box from That Craft Place (thanks Danny and Lisa) I'm addicted to them.

Here it is 

After i assembled the box and waited for the glue to dry i coated it in two coats of gesso just to give the wood a bit of a 'tooth' for the other components to stick to.  I then added some texture paste to the box using a spatula and dried it with my heat gun.  I also left it for a few hours to cure properly.

I then proceeded to raid my paint stash for a suitable brown colour and i found it in my Deco art selection.  I chose Deco art Americana multi surface satin paint in cocoa brown. I then proceeded to paint it and  let it dry over night.

The next day i started to distress the project by going over the raised areas with Walnut stain distress crayon and rubbing it in. I then ran my heat gun over it to set the crayon.

Then comes the best bit - raiding my stash for appropriate embellishments and other goodies.

I found my Prima Mechanicals that come already rusted and i stuck these down with Finnabair 3D gloss gel (which is fab by the way).  I placed some of the items that i chose just before sticking them down so i found the look i was looking for.

I bought the glass dome off a very good friend of mine and when i received it i immediately knew that this was the project to use it on.  I found some 'medicine bottles' in my stash and started to arrange them underneath the dome and fell in love....... I found some small ephemera bits to put on the bottles as labels and distressed them with archival ink in coffee. I also rubbed the ink over the glass dome to age it

Here are the products i've used in this project

INGREDIANTS

Gesso

Ranger Texture Paste

Decoart Americana Multisurface satin in Cocoa Bean

Distress Stain in Wild Honey

Decoart Dazzling metallics in Emperor Gold

finnabair art basics 3D gloss gel 

Ranger Archival ink in Coffee

Distress crayon in Walnut Stain

Finnabair Rust Effects mechanicals

Prima mechanicals clock face

Spellbinders Media mixage ephemera paper pad 

Thank you for visiting and i hope you liked the project

Take care

Jo

xx

Creativity Takes Courage xx

Hello there - another blog post from me.  I have been really motivated to grow in my creativity lately due to a wonderful friend supporting me and giving me lots of encouraging words of wisdom.

Here is a project I've just finished today and it took me over a number of days due to waiting for the crackle medium and glue to dry (very annoying).  Here is the finished article.....or box i should say !!

I purchased the box from That Craft Place and i had lots of fun assembling it....if you call getting wood glue in your hair and on your glasses fun !!

I then painted it with a couple of coats of white gesso from Decocart. I couldn't wait for it to dry so i used my heat gun to speed the process up.

Once dry i used crackle paste from Decoart to give it a bit of texture that i was looking for.

I really wanted to paint it as soon as but crackle medium does not like heat guns so i had to wait until the next morning for it to have worked properly.

I chose my favourite blue colour from Decoart and again waited for what seemed like ages for it to dry.  It was looking a bit flat and i really wanted the crackle to stand out so i started to rub it lightly with archival ink.  Still it wasn't 'dirty' enough so i jumped at the chance to use my new distress crayon in black and it achieved the effect i was looking for.  The distress crayon was so creamy and jucy......wonderful!!

I used my heat gun to set the distress crayon and i then chose my bits and bobs to go on the box.  I chose a heart from Prima from their Artifacts range and a light bulb for the lid.  Inside the light bulb i put a selection of small keys to remind me to 'unlock my potential' 

I also think the sentiment i chose from the Tim Holtz word stickers is quite apt don't you? 

A close up of the Prima Artifact heart i covered in crackle paste and painted it again in Decoart paint.

I went over some of the crackle with metallic decoart paint in gold and lightly brushing it over the raised areas using my finger, 

Here are all the products i used making this project

Thank you for visiting and i hope you like the project

Take care

Jo

xx

I am entering the Creative Artiste Mixed Media challenge - anything goes