Using my digital art....

Just playing with my digital art today...have made a few mixed-media collages. This is the only one that's finished.....more to come! The background is waxed paper (kitchen towel and inks), the pink strip is made up of fabric, threads and Mistyfuse, the flowers are metal (cut with a punch) and I have sewn beads in the centre of my digital picture. Pink flower free, courtesy of Wiki Commons.

Still making Lotus Flower Books....this the 8th and its 2" square. I drew on a piece of metal (inside of tomato puree tube) for the embellishment, added alcohol ink and rubbed on treasure wax. The tiny word is from a Tim Holtz Distressables strip. Underneath is a layer of Angelina.Just made a few more papers for the class I'm taking! (I really must stop now - I don't think there's that many people attending :-)

Hope you're having a lovely day.....its gorgeous and sunny here in Derbyshire!

And There's More.....

Here are two digital collages I created from a photo of a delightful shop in Belper, Derbyshire. I asked permission to show them because the original is of course protected under copyright but it can be seen on the front of their new website Lavender Grey. I recommend a visit if you're ever in the area.......

As everyone knows, we've had a spell of wonderful weather recently in England......and this is where I've spent a lot of my time. Well, you have to make the most of it whilst its here!

This is one of my favourite flowers......

......digitally altered by me.
Another new blogging friend of mine....the lovely Emma at A Little Bit of Everything is doing a very special postcard swap for her 50th birthday. She wants to find 50 people to swap with (I hope she has plenty of stamps ready!)
Here's the gorgeous collage she sent me.....now I must get mine completed (you'll get it next week, I promise Emma!)
If you'd like to join in I'm sure she'd love to hear from you - go and visit her blog.

And finally...... I decided to treat myself to something from the talented Claire Barone's Etsy shop (she has some wonderful things for sale) and chose this delightful piece called 'Searching'. I love it.

Go and see her beautiful blog header....

Lotus Flower Books

I'm teaching another class at The Beetroot Tree very soon....this time making Lotus Flower Books. I've been practising for the past week - they are rather sweet and open out in different ways.



I've had great fun making loads of papers to take along with me and have stamped them with my own hand-carved rubber stamps.


I was inspired a lot by my lovely new friend Maggi at To Dream To Stitch.
We arranged to meet each other last week (a blind date!) and we spent the day visiting Peartree Yard craft centre, Cachepot (coffee in the garden and beautiful shop) and Andersons (yet more coffee). She brought lots of gorgeous little books to show me and kindly gave me this one......

....its quite tiny and sits neatly in the palm of my hand. It has beautiful hand-made papers inside.
I hope we'll get to meet again very soon.; despite talking for 6 hours, I don't think we covered everything.........

Another Version

I played around with my painting using Photoshop........I think it might be an improvement :-)

Born to Reign

Well I think she's finished.......but its hard to be sure. Anyway, this is lesson one and its loosely based on Princess Elizabeth. I can see now that the eyes are too dark and the hairline is a bit odd.........maybe I'll have to fiddle some more :-)

Some Kind of Progress......

Just thought I'd show you how she's coming along.....still lots to do. I need to make some shabby embellishments for the lower part.

Another sketch (waiting for wood...I keep reminding DH :-)
And whilst I'm on the subject of drawings.....have you seen the new 50p bags in Sainsbury's; rather lovely don't you think? Very strong too, they should last a long time.

Whats on my workdesk..........

I've just been over to Rosie's blog to see what she's been doing today (great scrapbook pages!) and thought I'd copy her idea and show whats on my workdesk. The link is WOYWW (Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday). There are 95 other workdesks to see, if you have a spare minute or two!
Anyway.......on my rather scruffy desk you can see I've started some sketches for a new online class which I've subscribed to...... Suziblu's 'Piety and Passion' . We are learning to paint 3/4 faces (not easy!) and Suzi is using paintings from the Tudor period to inspire us.
After drawing a starter face, we tear out the image and attach it to wood with matte medium. Then the fun starts - gesso, paint, crayons, crackle glaze, distress inks, fabric, jewels, flowers, beeswax........ I'll let you know how I get on :-)