Critters

I decided to play with my paints and make something mixed media.
The substrate is a piece of packaging cardboard. I always use the printed side after I have taken a piece of sandpaper to it. The paint just sticks better if the surface is not too slick.

I dabbed on a lot of brown paint, smeared it with a palette knife and while it was still wet, took a rubber stamp and printed onto the paint with no color. When the stamp came off so did most of the paint - leaving me with a nice impression.

The pictures of a bee and a bird's nest with eggs are vintage ( via 7dots stdio), the dragonfly is a print on shiny plastic.

entering in:
Emerald Creek: #ECAUG2018 The great Outdoors
Frilly and Funkie: Back to Nature
That's Crafty: Animal magic

Behind mask

OKTK lähtee uudelle haastekierrokselle. Alla näkyy haasteen inspiraatiokuva, jota voi käsitellä ihan miten haluaa. Minä tartuin lauseeseen, joka menee suunnilleen silleen, että jokaisella meistä on naamio, mutta naamion takaa löytyy ihminen ja jokaisella ihmisellä on oma tarinansa.

Ajattelin asian niin, että jokaisen takaa löytyy toinen ihminen, ei välttämättä enää eläväkään ihminen vaan joku ihan henkitasolla oleva. Joku, jonka 'henki elää meissä' vielä, ideoina, muistoina tai kaipauksena. He ikäänkuin naamioituvat meidän taaksemme, käyttävät meitä naamionaan.

Tätä kirjoittaessani tajusin, että syvissä vesissä kahlataan. Ehkä atc-kortit ei ole ihan sopiva paikka tällaisten asioiden käsittelyyn - vai mitä sinä tuumit?

 I worked a set using the above board loosely as an inspiration point. I was intrigued by the quote 'Behind every mask there is a face and behind that a story'. We are the intellectual product of previous generations. Someone whose spirit still lives in us, as an idea, as a memory or longing. Perhaps it's this way around: we don't carry masks, but we act as a mask for them. They are masked behind us, use us as a mask.

Who is behind me? Am I a mask for someone else?

entering this in:
Emerald Creek: Unsung heroes

Love in Darkness

OKTK:n uuteen haasteeseen tehdyt inspiskortit. Tämän kuvakollaasin mukaan mentiin.

Minua inspiroivat nämä naisen kuvat, ja sitten muistin Aulikki Oksasen komeansurullisen rakkauslaulun ja siitä se lähti.

A dark and mighty love song inspired me:

Night places a dark wreath onto your head so I would not see you

The forests are rising with the winds

The waters roll beneath the rocks

The rains cool off to stone.

entering in:
Dream in Darkness: April challenge
Emerald Creek: Double duty - that would be the olive acrylic paint that I used for stamping the swirls.

Adorning myself with borrowed plumes

This weekend I watched some crafty videos and tried out techniques that I have not been using before. Like creating lowlights with coal. Or flicking with white ink. Or using a plethora of different elements.

But have you ever noticed - you create an aesthetically pleasing work but feel no satisfaction, because it's not 'you'.  It was a fine learning experience but I think I'll return to something simpler the next time.

entering in:
KK haaste: #193 Muotokortti (Nämä ovat siis tägin muotoon leikattuja atc-kortteja)
Emerald Creek Dares: Splatter some fun
Simon Says Monday: Make your won background

Infusions

I hope this is a safe place to say that Infusions drive me crazy! They cannot be controlled and there are myriads of ways to use them. I watched videos on youtube (link) till I was cross-eyed and had to marvel at all the ways one has come up with.
Still, I had to try my own.

I started with deep-freeze pizza box cuttings. I sanded them a bit so they would have some 'tooth'. Then I topped them with white gesso, making sure some nice colors could peek through (mainly orange).

Next I sprinkled them evenly with Infusions (Jaded and Lemonade), activated them with water and sprinkled some 97-proof alcohol on them. My mistake. The droplets were too big and caused the color to pool along the edges. Next time I'll try with a mini mister.

But it still yielded some great details. I like the way the orange from cardboard peeks through.

And this is the 'finished product' with a great art lady stamp from Paperartsy.  'You are exactly where you want to be.' Yes, indeed.

entering into:
Craft Stamper:  Anything goes March
Paperartsy: 2017 Topic #3
Emerald Creek Dares: Splatter some fun

I see ...love?... in your future

I have always wondered what fortune tellers can see in your palm: a bright future, children, a trip over the ocean... those are the classics. And then there are the love lines.
This being the Valentine's month (not the day anymore but a full month!) I wanted to explore the love lines a bit more.
 "I see a man in your future" - also a classic line.
But what could a palm reader say that we wouldn't expect? Here's my take on the subject:

"Don't play with love" , yet "Allow yourself a little flirt."

Background was made with Gelatos, inks, acrylics and includes stamping and stenciling.
The hearts are made with cardboard. First I stamped them, then dyed in with Distress ink 'Aged Mahogany', my new favorite, and lastly topped off with a dome of crackle. (This was a try-out, I wanted to see if it would work with inks, but apparently not. )
I still have more and they will make an appearance some day.

Red is a very difficult color to handle - at least for me it is - so I am extremely happy with Aged Mahogany as reds go, it is deep and mysterious and removes the sweet sting from a basic red.

entering in:
Dream in Darkness: February challenge
Emerald Creek Dares: Rock the Red
Stamps and Stencils: Texture, crackle and paint

Muutosten tuulia / I feel so centered

Kun minua pyydettiin OKTK-haasteen DT:n jäseneksi seuraavaksi puolivuotiskaudeksi niin ilolla suostuin. Olen varmaan jo useammin hehkuttanut kuinka paljon tykkäänkään haasteista. Osallistun niihin mielelläni ja toivon, että inspiraatioksi luomat korttini innostavat muitakin osallistumaan. Sillä eihän voi muuta kuin voittaa! Omat pelkonsa, esimerkiksi. Omat luomistuskansa. Kun-se-hirviö-ei-tahdokaan-onnistua! Kun siitä-ei-tullut-sellaista-kuin-halusin! No vähätkö siitä. Pääasia on kokeilla.
Jollet tunne OKTK-haastetta vielä, niin siinä osallistutaan ja samalla vaihdetaan. Tämä kuvakooste oli inspiraationa:

 ja tällaiset kortit siitä sain aikaiseksi. Isosiipinen tyttö osallistuu vaihtoon.

Kuvakoosteessa mieltäni kiinnitti ennenkaikkea seesteisen kaunis kuva oikeassa yläkulmassa. Tein pohjat kahdella kutakuinkin hempeällä värillä, ruusunpunaisella ja oljenkeltaisella, etenkin kun kuvakoosteesta löytyy alavasemmalla kauniita ruusunpuunaisia sävyjä:

Niiden päälle suihkautin laventelinväristä mustetta:

 ja lähikuvassa vielä:

Tyttöjen siivet leimasin kenkälaatikosta talteen otetun ruskean silkkipaperin päälle. Ne tuovat yhtymäkohtaa kuvakoosteen oikeasta alareunasta löytyvään kukkaan.

New year - new ideas, new everything. These cards have three things that are new to me: the sponging of color - shiny fashionable red gold - elements that have not been glued down.

I made the backgrounds with distress inks and my brand new sponge tool and spray as shown in the pictures, then added some gentle stamping on the background. The girls have wings - this tiny mite has indeed huge wings! I stamped my butterfly stamps onto brown craft tissue that I had salvaged from a shoe box. The mood board above was used for color inspiration. It shows some serene colors - I hope these make you feel as centered as I feel now.

entering:
Emeral Creek Dares: Bring on the New
Fashinable Stamping: Spring or Winter
ATC around the World: Mythical Creatures

Letting out some steam / Päästelen höyryjä

A series of steampunk cards with dapper gents and lots of gleaming copper...

They live in the best of all possible worlds. The Victorian age firmly believed they had come to the end of history, everything was just perfect and hardly could be improved upon.

Gas light, electric light, steam engines...

)

railways and hot air balloons,

huge machines working with steam power - uniting coal and water in an exiting, unprecedented way. All that noise and clamor meant progress. 'We hold the keys to the future' is what these gents are clearly thinking.

entering into:
Emerald Creek: B-words (brass, brad)
Anything but Cute: #13 Celebrate your style
Crafty Individuals: May anything goes with CI product (gents)
Steampunk challenge: anything goes May

I left out some steam of my own (ha ha). I had too many scraps on my table! I got tired of looking at them and glued them all onto cards:

I needn't have bothered with color coordinating, because next I coated them with black gesso:

When they were dry I painted over with blue, purple, turq and olive, then rubbed in some gold:

I made some other cards the same way (more about them some other day) - now my desktop is almost clean...

Sain kohtauksen kun pöytäni ajelehti täynnä paperisilppua. Liimasin kaikki pienet silput korttipohjiin, päälle mustaa gessoa ja sen kuivuttua hieroin päälle tummia sävyjä. Itse asiassa oli täysin kannattamatonta tehdä pohjat tällä metodilla (vaikka lopputulos olikin kiva), nimittäin pohjan silput ovat ihan näkymättömissä. Ainoa 'hyöty' on, että pohja on epätasainen ja sehän tuo tietenkin hieman elävyyttä.

Lisänä kaikenlaista tilpehööriä, kuten esim, ruosteinen ruuvi, ohutta kuparilankaa (kadulta löytynyttä) ja ruskea kiekko jollaisia tipahtelee ilotulitusraketeista. Tämäkin haisi vielä ruudille. (Kortit jäävät itselle mutta voin tehdä niille sisaruskortteja jos kiinnostusta on.)

Messing with paper / Hauskuutta roskapaperin kanssa

I had such fun with my mess paper again. You know, the paper I cover my desk with and which picks up all the splatters and overflows from my brushes, stencils and stamps. I use old school papers for that, printouts, handouts, anything with some text on them. I place them mostly the text side up, I like the grungy element it adds.

I stamped some more elements to the background to unify it, mostly curlicues and small scale stamps. Other than that, I added some tapes (tissue tape and the thicker yellow variety), further some flower cutouts (Lunagirl) and the last of my butterfly stickers. (I wish I remembered where I got them, so adorable!)

entering into:
Emerald Creek Dares: Anything goes
Rubber Dance Art: Stamp into Spring (with moodboard colors)

Tein taas taustat sottapaperistani. Panen mielellään paperit pöydän suojaksi tekstipuoli ylöspäin, koska tykkään kirjainten antamasta rakenteesta. Lisäsin leimailua, sitten kaikenlaista muuta tilpehööriä. Ja vallan riemastuttavia sanoja!

I promise myself I won't ever be hopeless again.

I finished my beer calmly.

I was happy, lively and immature.

I am good and obedient, I said with a sigh, - at least it makes life more calm.

Here we could blend into the crowd.

It was a wonderful evening but I closed my door for the night. (jää itselle)

linkitän KK-haasteeseen #181, jossa pyydetään sanoja, kirjaimia ja tekstiä.

Spring Parade / Pääsiäisterveiset!

 Oh glorious spring! It has been a first truly spring day today - abundant sunshine and mild, fragrant air. I took a walk in the forest and admired the little mounds of violets that came through the brown leaves.
I felt like doing something equally light and carefree, a tribute to spring.

Oli ihana aurinkoinen päivä, metsästä löytyi orvokkimättäitä viimevuotisten lehtien keskeltä. Piti tehdä jotain herkkää.  Pohjana käytin jälleen kerran aluspapereita, joihin oli tarttunut vähän kaikkea. Suojaan pöytäni jos jonkinlaisella paperilla, joka muuten menisi roskiin. Niin niihin tulee joskus tekstiäkin. (Muistaakseni tämä kertoo naisten jalkapallosta...)

I started with the papers I had been using for protecting my desk from my mixed media attempts. They had it all: text on the background, some heavy texture stenciling and lovely spring colors. I deepened the colors and stamped them with swirls.

 I though of things that are new in spring. Babies are new, brand new...

Kevätvauva

 Birds start building their nests...

Kevätlintu

 and spring bunnies will hobble around and deliver eggs...

Kevätpupu

entering these into:
Take a Word: Spring Equinox
Stamploration: Stamps and texture
Emeral Creek: Easter Parade

Spring flowers with Josef Frank / kukkia kukkia

Josef Frank was an Austrian architect who later moved to Sweden, designed fabrics there, and whom Swedes now regard as one of their own. I visited an exhibition some time ago and purchased some gorgeous wrapping paper - a reprint of one of his sketches. He worked in watercolor which of course has a luminous quality, you can always see the paper. And he mostly did flowers - though he didn't follow the natural shapes but instead created his own flowers.

Those flowers were my starting point. His colors are 1930's muted. I created backgrounds that highlight the flowers (I hope). The background started off with old book pages. First I applied some texture  with clear gesso through a word stencil. Next came chalk spray in a wonderfully deep and rich turquoise. When it was dry I rubbed in golden ink. This is also a really thick and creamy product, easy to rub in with fingers (like I did).

It's time

Josef Frankin palvonta Ruotsissa yltää kotoisen Marimekon mittasuhteisiin, sillä erotuksella vain, että Frank oli itävaltalainen kun taas Marimekko on ehtaa Suomea. Svenkt Tenn myy Frankin joitakin kankaita. Minulla oli tilaisuus päätä näkemään kankaiden luonnoksia täällä syksyllä pidetyssä näyttelyssä. Frank piirtää enimmäkseen kukkia - mutta ei sellaisia kuin luonnosta löytyy (ehkä tulppaania lukuunottamatta), vaan fantastisia keksittyjä muotoja. Näyttelystä sai ostaa vesiväreillä piirrettyjen mallipiirrosten kopioita lahjapaperin muodossa. Näin niissä hyvää kortteiluainesta, joten muutama kotiutui.

Imagine

 Pohjat tein kirjansivujen päälle. Ensin levitin läpinäkyvää gessoa tekstuuriksi sapluunan läpi. Seuraavaksi suihkin mistillä ja lopuksi tipautin muutaman tipan kultaista mustetta ja levitin sitä kohopaikkoihin. (Panin nämä linkit siksi, että olen hurjan tyytyväinen näihin, ja hinnat on todella enemmän kuin kohtuulliset.)

Take a risk

I am entering my flower cards into following inspiring challenges:
Emerald Creek: Ring in Spring
Try it on Tuesday: Nature
Our Creative Corner: The Return of the Challenge. I revisited May '15: April Showers bring May flowers

Live

Olen päivittänyt vaihtosivuani... jos ketä kiinnostaa.