ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS!

This year for the gallery windows we have opted for a Christmas woodland theme with natural branches and fir cones painted white, sparkly lights, and stars.  Below are a selection of the Christmas cards I made this year...

MERRY CHRISTMAS to anyone who reads this and a big thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me this year.  I hope to be able to devote more time next year to creating artworks and writing my blog!

MAKING CARDS IS WONDERFUL THERAPY!

It has been a long time since I have written a blogpost.  I haven't done much in the way of artwork in the last few months for a number of reasons.  Last year was my annus horribilis!  My beloved mother died, leaving my Dad, who has some health problems, on his own, and I became a full time carer for my husband after he had a stroke! Therefore doing artwork has taken a back seat.  However, I do enjoy the therapeutic nature of the creative process and so have made time to make cards for family and friends.  The red card was a good luck card for my Chinese sister-in-law, who was just about to have an operation.  It is multi-layered and my inspiration was a Chinese silk textile.

Above are some of the Christmas cards I made.  All my cards begin with a painted background which can consist of several layers and includes working with stamps.  I then collage shapes on top and add any embellishments needed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A MERRY CHRISTMAS to anyone who reads this blog.  Unfortunately,  I will be spending it with my husband in hospital!  A couple of months ago he had a severe stroke and I have been with him everyday.  This has meant no chance of doing any artwork, although I did sneak a little time to make some robin Christmas cards for family and close friends.

The robins and perches were drawn and coloured using water soluble pencils, and a thin black marker pen.  They were then collaged onto painted backgrounds and finished with the addition of some glitter glue on the top of the tree stumps and in the background.  This was to add some sparkle and represent glittery snow, but my photographic skills are not sufficiently good for that to show up on the photograph above!

I have had a chance to see at close hand how hard the NHS staff work, and I am in awe of their patience and dedication.  I am so grateful to them as, without their help, this time would have been far more stressful...

HANDMADE CHRISTMAS CARDS!

It is Christmas card time!  The ones which I have done for the gallery have taken on a religious theme, only because the colour of the hand painted backgrounds seemed to go with these images taken from ancient paintings.  I cut them up, and together with punched out shapes, I collaged them on to the backgrounds, before edging them with a gold metallic marker.

Pictured below are some more cards, created in a similar way, that I have just done to give to family and friends.

A TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS WINDOW FOR THE GALLERY!

At the One Craft Gallery we have gone for a traditional Christmas look, with fir cones, holly, garlands, Father Christmas, and twig trees and stars.  We are just hoping that the people of Shepton will shop locally instead of ordering gifts on-line!

NOEL, NOEL, NOEL!

Above are some last minute Christmas cards that I made for friends and family.  I used painted backgrounds with shapes, cut or punched out of magazine or painted papers, collaged on.

A very Merry Christmas to anybody who reads or follows my blog...

BIRDY CARDS!

I needed some handmade cards to send to some special friends, so I produced the pics shown above, and mounted them onto cream card stock. I looked at possible backgrounds in my store of hand painted papers, and came across these black and white ones.  To me, they suggested winter branches and foliage - ideal to perch some collaged birds!

I have started to use a different technique for collage.  It is one advocated by Laura Lein-Svencner.  It takes a bit of preparation, as all the papers have to be coated with Golden polymer gloss medium, and left to dry.  The design is then cut out and arranged onto the background and covered with parchment paper.  To get the design to fuse together, I used heat in the form of an iron, which I keep solely for doing artwork.

CHRISTMAS WINDOW DISPLAY

Christmas shopping is in full swing and at the One Craft Gallery we have dressed the window in the hope that people will come in to buy hand crafted gifts!  There are tree decorations hanging from wooden branch trees and a 'tree' of white boxes topped with a white star.  Twinkly lights and white fir cones and painted twigs complete the scene...  

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

Yes, it is that time of year again! Where has this year gone?  Here are some Christmas cards that I have created using painted backgrounds, with papers collaged on top.  They also feature splattering done with old toothbrushes, dipped in gold and white acrylic paint, and letters cut from glossy magazines.

I have used shapes cut with scissors and punches. I enjoyed using the snowflake punches, as well as the small angel one, that I have just added to my growing collection. I couldn't resist buying them when I was in Hobbycraft recently!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

A Happy Christmas to anyone who reads this!  Yes, that is Wells Cathedral and no, we haven't had snow!  This is, in fact, a realistic Christmas tableau at The Swan Hotel.  They have a garden, over the road from the hotel, which overlooks the cathedral.  Great for drinking and sitting out in the summer...

Unfortunately, a few days after I took this photograph, I saw in the local news, that it had been vandalised!  Why do a few mean spirited people have to spoil things for the majority?  Let's hope that 2017 brings more kindness into the world...

ROBINS FOR CHRISTMAS!

Looking back at old Christmas cards, I have noticed that robins feature a great deal -  must be that colourful red breast!  I therefore decided to make a couple more collaged cards featuring them.

I sketched out the robin shape on a white paper,  placed white tissue on top and traced it using a black felt tip.  I then coloured the bird in with alcohol pens - not only did it colour the tissue, but it also coloured the sketch underneath!  I collaged the tissue bird onto a background that already had papers collaged onto it, and then added the letters.  The other bird was cut out and collaged onto a similar background.   As a finishing touch I added some bright pink glitter glue to the robins' red breasts!

MORE CHRISTMAS BAGS

I have done some more Christmas bags and gift tags.  These were done by collaging cut paper designs to a brown paper background that had been dried brushed with gesso.

CHRISTMAS GIFT BAGS

These collaged gift bags used recycled Christmas papers, photocopies of fabric and punched out shapes.  To save time I used bought luggage labels and then decorated them to match. Baubles, stars and trees were my Christmas inspiration this year...

CHRISTMAS MARKET IN SHEPTON

Last Sunday, the One Craft Gallery was open for business as part of the first Sunday market in Shepton, called a 'Christmas Special'  It was great.  The weather was fine and I have never seen so many people shopping in Shepton! The market was opened by the Town Crier and there were all sorts of stalls - food, flowers, craft, handmade cards, fashion, Christmas decorations etc. The atmosphere was warm and friendly. It is hoped that on the 3rd Sunday of the month, the market is going to be become a regular feature, probably starting next March...

WINDOW FULL OF GIFTS

We have done our Christmas window at the One Craft Gallery.  Large white letters spelling out NOEL and GIFTS, two white columns, a 'tree' made from white cubes topped with a star, two twig trees and my hanging angels, contributed to the look.  We also displayed a number of small hanging angels and other handmade Christmas tree decorations along with many gift ideas...

ANGELS WITH A MESSAGE!

I have just made these two angels to hang in the gallery as part of our forthcoming Christmas window display.

I made a template which I then cut out in mount card. The angels were decorated, using a mixture of collage, paint and glitter glue. The faces and hands were cut out of  magazines. Photographs of family or friends could be used!

They were finished off with silver star stickers and letters, also cut from magazines.  Holes were pushed in the halos so that they can be threaded up and hung. They are too big for a normal size Christmas tree, as they are 16 inches in length, but will be fine for display!

'NOEL' CARD COLLECTION

Next weekend, I am taking part in an Artisan Craft Market at the Bishop's Palace, Wells, with the One Craft Gallery.  I have made some collaged Christmas cards which I call my 'Noel Collection', as they all feature that word.  I have discovered that 'Noel' is an early 19th century French word for Christmas, usually used as a refrain in carols and on Christmas cards...

I have used painted papers, as mentioned in my last post, plus stamped out images, letters cut out from old magazines, recycled Christmas papers etc. The 12 cards are all a square format which I enhanced with a white gel pen and black marker.  They were then outlined in black before mounted onto square, cream cardstock.

The advantage of using the randomly painted papers as a background, is that it establishes a colour scheme, that I would not have thought of if I had started with a bank white piece of paper!  Also, some of the shapes and marks in the background give visual pointers on how to proceed, and what sort of images to collage on top...

MERRY CHRSTMAS!

I wish a MERRY CHRISTMAS to all who read this blog.  Although it is a time of excess, I do not recommend over indulgence of food and alcohol!!  I used to eat loads, including sweets and chocolates, but not any more...  I don't want to spoil my healthy eating regime as I know that if I do I will feel dreadful and put on weight!  It may seem unsociable but there are certain strategies you can use - eat or drink slowly, ask for water to drink with alcohol and talk instead of nibbling!

I used the Christmas pud as the theme in this collaged card, so instead of eating sweet things, I used images instead... 

  

CHRISTMAS IN THE HIGH STREET

On my early morning walks I have a good chance to look at all the decorations in the High Street. There are Christmas images everywhere - loads of red and white!  In the middle pic above, I am looking at a reindeer, decorated by my friend Dawn, who owns Custard Pudding - the tearoom and gallery that is next door to the One Craft Gallery, where I exhibit my work.  She bought two plain wood cutout reindeer, painted and decoupaged them, and then hung baubles from the antlers - makes a change from a tree!

Above are some more images from High Street shop windows and look at our street lights.  I reckon they are the best in the area, even though they have an air of frilly knickers about them!!