BESPOKE CARDS ARE FUN TO MAKE!

I have just finished these four cards for family and friends.  I photocopied the experimental artwork, seen of the left.  It was made by tearing up a 'scribble' drawing - keeping to a few colours and just doing whatever takes you fancy, using a variety of mixed media techniques. The pieces were then stuck to a larger piece of paper in a grid pattern and acrylic paint added. I then cut up the photocopy and collaged on images and text according to who the card was meant for.  It is great fun to make bespoke cards...

LARGE BIRTHDAY CARDS FOR LOVED ONES!

Recently I have been making birthday cards for family members. I have found that 8 inch square card stock is useful to make large cards. The background of the card above, is a sample of handmade paper.  I particularly liked the uneven edges, which would have been lost, if I had to trim it down to fit smaller card stock.

The background of the card below, was a photocopy of part of a hand painted artwork onto which I collaged large cut paper letters.  I have noticed, that these cards in their envelopes, do not fit into the standard post bracket so they are more expensive to send! 

 

CARDS WITH LETTERS CENTRE STAGE!

Here are two cards I have recently made for friends.  I collaged letters and images onto photocopies of my hand painted backgrounds.  Using text as the design is very satisfying and great for sending a specific message and personalising the card.  It is also good if you have run out of ideas for images!

WOODEN CUBES SPELL OUT 'LOVE'!

One of my latest projects is decorating some wooden cubes given to me by Phil Davis, a wood turning craftsman, who is a member of the One Craft Gallery.  I sanded the blocks and painted them with black gesso, before applying an abstract background design over every face of four cubes.

Then, it was a case of printing or finding images of the letters L O V E. I collaged these onto the blocks, together with other papers.  One cube had four different Ls, one Os etc. to spell out LOVE.

The end result is an artwork which can be put on a shelf and changed according to what facet is shown, and how the blocks are placed.

You may notice that the tops of the cubes are plain black.  This is because when I had finished the sides, it looked too busy and the letters did not show up as much as I would have liked!  I then applied some black acrylic and varnish to complete the project...

HANDMADE CARDS ARE A START BACK TO CREATING!

At last I am back in the studio! One way to get back into artwork again is to start small.  A couple of family events warranted some homemade cards, so I have made the two shown above using text as the main design element.

Stamps and collaged elements were used for each one.  The pink letters were cut out from fluorescent pink paper.  I have a box full of wooden letters which I played around with until satisfied with the design, and then I used them as templates.

It was good to get back to creating.  I find art calms the soul...

USING LETTERS FOR DESIGN

I have recently made invitation cards and a personalised birthday card, using letters as the main design element.

The background for the invitation was a photocopy of a black and white mat, while I used a photocopy of one of my plastic painting sheets, torn into pieces, for the card!

MIRROR MAKEOVER

I bought an old mirror in a junk shop.  I was attracted to the simplicity and width of the frame. I painted the frame with gesso before using matt acrylic medium to collage layers of black and white patterned paper and photocopies of  a waxed paper with text on facts about fish and chips that I had acquired, with permission, from a fish restaurant in Jersey.  For the next layer I drew the outline of fishes with a felt tip onto tissue and applied.  I then added copied word game tokens and made up linked words that all connect to eating, drinking and fish.  After this I added more tissue fish outlines, painted the edges and gave the whole frame a layer of acrylic wax to make it more durable.  It is now destined for a funky kitchen or dining area!

Close-ups of some of the detail around the mirror.

MORE BOOKMARKS!

Here are some more bookmarks that I have made.  On the left are the two front sides and on the right the words and illustrations I have put onto the back.  These two sort of involved as I delved into my stock of cutout words and flower illustrations.  For the background I collaged my painted papers in shades of blue and green.

For these bookmarks I started with a theme - one on London and one on the 70 year celebration of D- Day.  I recycled old stamps, advertising bumph, and old napkins.

Finally, I needed a gift for my aunt as next weekend I am attending a family 'do' at her house.  The background are old book pages and the foam raised letters came from a kiddies craft section.  And yes, my aunt's name is Joy!

COLLAGED BOOKMARKS

I have found that making bookmarks is an ideal vehicle for doing a collage warm-up for larger pieces.  I do several at one time so one can be left to dry while I am doing the next stage on another one.

I experiment with different backgrounds and play with different materials.  I can work quickly and spontaneously without having to worry too much.  I make use of scrap papers left from other projects and small images, such as stamps, that can get lost on larger pieces of work, and I can try out various ways of adding text.

For the supports I have used recycled materials - inner cardboard rolls from kitchen paper, offcuts of mount board or long, thin greetings cards with front and back glued together.  Sizes are 2 - 3 inches in width and 8 - 9 inches in length.  Holes were punched in the end and cords added. The finish is a layer of acrylic wax which gives them a slight sheen and makes them durable. The bookmarks are double sided - the illustrations show both sides.

I enjoy making these as I believe that people keep them longer, as compared to greetings cards, although according to my friend who works in a library, many bookmarks get left behind!

'LOVE ME DO'

'Love me do'  - mixed media on wood panel  (20cms x 20cms)

Still on the love theme, I am doing a few pictures for Valentine's Day to sell in the gallery.  With the first, I experimented in combining a large textile element with a collaged background, mounted onto a wooden painting panel using the sides as well as the top surface.

Paint was used to merge the elements.

I started by painting the panel and collaging on torn pages, from an old notebook that I was about to throw out, and bits from a napkin. A small heart shaped stamp and some punched out shapes were used to add to the background.

For the textile red/pink heart, I started with a piece of fabric onto which I ironed on some bondaweb.  I then peeled off the backing paper and covered up the area with snippets of fabric and a layer of laminating plastic. This was then ironed from the back and then machined stitched. I then cut the material into a large heart shape. At this stage I liked the colour but it looked a bit too plasticky, so I got out my soldering iron, which I haven't used for ages, and burnt into the top surface, distressing it until I was satisfied with the result.

To merge the two elements together, I used paint and some letters from an old word game.  'Love me do' is, of course, part of the lyrics of a Beatles song of the 60s.  Song lyrics of this era often pop into my head when I work as they are the background of my growing up!

SUNDAE BEST

If I get a commission to do a subject that I have little visual reference on, or I choose a subject that I haven't previously researched, I search the internet to get some inspiration. Photographs of the subject are good but I prefer to see interpretations by other artists.  This doesn't mean copying an image, even if it is copyright free, but it gives you ideas for possible colour schemes, shapes and composition.

'Sundae Best' - mixed media on board (40cms x 20cms)

After looking at various images, I did some thumbnail sketches before deciding on an outline shape.  I then covered a background board with torn up pages of vintage magazines. As this artwork is a present for a friend, who is opening a vintage tea shop next year, I wanted that sort of feel to it. I used a selection of doylies for the sundae dish, thick acrylic paint and alcohol ink for the ice-cream and toppings with a flattened painted straw for the chocolate sticks and beads, attached with glitter glue, for the crunchy topping.  I added words cut from the same magazines and scribbled 'Sundae Best' as the final layer.

THANK YOU CARD

On the subject of simple card making, here is a card I made in response to a fabulous night out my husband and I had as guests of friends at a dinner dance.  I photocopied the ticket to the event, added some coloured inks and cut out letters of my own design.  These were stuck onto a coloured background which had gold paint splattered over it. I then added small hearts which had been punched out of coloured papers.

Before attaching to some green card stock, I outlined the letters in gold relief outliner, which gave it an extra dimension, used a metallic gold felt tip around the edge and added an extra note with a fine black felt tip. This idea could be used for other messages cut out of old letters, musical scores, newspaper etc.

These decorated papers were the left overs of another project - some party invitations.  I find it so important to keep any decorated papers, even the small bits, as they are so useful for card making, scrapbooking etc. Also, when I have finished painting with acrylics, I use up the spare paint (before it becomes dry and useless) by painting white cartridge paper.  It is ideal for punching out shapes. You never know when that colour is just what is required!

CHRISTMAS CARDS

It is that time of year when we have to start thinking about Christmas cards.  How many am I sending this year?  Now that postage is so high can I reduce my list?  Shall I make or buy charity ones? I generally do a mixture of both.  As for reducing my list, I find this very difficult - dare I be the first to stop sending to people I knew in another life and will never see again!  If you like making your own you may be looking for some ideas.

With this idea take a piece of cartridge paper and produce  a multi-coloured background using various paints, inks etc.  When this has completely dry, iron it and scrawl a suitable christmas message repeated all over it in horizontal lines.  Simply cut up the paper into a suitable shape for your card stock, edge with metallic or coloured markers and, if required, add extra embellishment with punched shapes attached with glitter glue.

Above is a finished card and below a close-up of another one.

A variation on this theme is to make a template of a simple christmas shape and cut out from decorated brown papers.  Echo the shape in different painted papers, using punches of different proportions and attach, again using glitter glue. Mount onto another decorated paper and some written or printed text.  The edges for the above cards were made with a deckle edge ripper ruler and then edged with a gold metallic marker.

HOLIDAY SNAPS

Above is the lovely contemporary hotel, the Tesoro Blu Hotel and Spa, where  we are staying and below are signs I couldn't resist photographing.

BEST FOOT FORWARD

Occasionally it is good to do a challenge, so when fellow artist Dawn was going to give a pair of high black patent shoes to a charity shop, we thought another way of recycling them would be to make them into a piece of sculpture.  I did one shoe for her and she did one for me.  We sanded the shiny patent and put on a layer of gesso before adding layers of paper - old papers with text, tissues, napkins and letters cut out from old magazines using matt acrylic medium.  Doing the inside of the shoes was a little tricky but we were pleased with the result.  You could cover other objects in this way, old handbags, for example.

'All seeing eyes' by Helen Thompson

'Spring in your step' by Dawn Porter

Each shoe has a message.  My shoe for Dawn was for her office with messages such as: 'all seeing eyes', 'she who must be obeyed', 'top bunny and always right' and 'the boss'. While the shoe she did for me said, 'spring in your step' and 'made for walking'.