Peacock jewels

 

Despite the rainy weather I have been inspired by my old sketchbook and worked up some mixed media paper collages on large sheets to be cut up into smaller pieces using the page of peacock feathers as inspiration for colour. I used one sheet to work on a mask. You can't really see it but I used Pearl Ex powders and they create a lovely shimmery color for the mask. I also want to make something similar along the collage paper sheets on fabric too. Peacocks are inspiring me alot and I still have plenty of ideas for future peacock themed projects to do.

Golden Brown

 

 

I've been inspired by lots of earthy browns and and burnt orange colors of late. There's lots of inspiration to be found outside in nature to find ...isn't the butterfly a beauty! And when retuning to work on an old art journal I use the colour in pages. For the art journal I recycled an old book and use up left overs on my desk to create collages, then I paint the collage background with acrylics, stamps, texture paste, gel pastels, water color and pencils. The girls I used iridencent medium to add sparkle to the watercolor. The book is A4 in size so a good size to get into when creating pages.

Rest upon

 

I've been embroidering. I finished the crazy quilt cushion I was working on and it now sits amongst the Borage flowers and Bees. I'll bring it up stairs later to sit upon my bed. This is a true thrifted recycled project. My stash was raided to find just the right items to suit the main sunflower motif. The only real new item was a Tatting heart which I brought off ebay seller Tatting by Dove Country

 you can just see the heart tucked up in the corner amongst flowers.

 

I didn't mind that the cross stitch blue flowers I did was unfinished, it still looks complete amongst the other embroidery. And I didn't mind my crazy quilt stitches aren't perfect either.

A room of her own.

 

 

 

The last couple of days I have been a busy bee cleaning out a shed down our backyard. It was dirty. Spider-y and had some water damage from the big January '11 floods in Queensland. Overall though after a bit of a big spruce up with some serious elbow grease I now have my self a nice little studio to work in. I took everything out of my bedroom (yes, bedroom) and hauled it down for a space of my own. I am using some good size bricks to build everything off the floor and the tea chests are old empty ones to keep other things off the floor too. I scrounged up some timber for now to place outside the door as the ground is mucky, later I'll put up a proper type path.

But for now, I have a pretty view of the back yard garden to look out on and a good size space to spread out in. The room may not be the prettiest of looks, it is functional. My frog collection also looks right at home in this WOman shed.

 

Blue and pinks

 

Outside it is a completely different day compared to the dreary yesterday weather. The skies are cloudless blue and flowers are blooming everywhere in this glorious spring weather. There's even some budding blooms with a blue bow on my crazy quilt block.

Twist of lime

 

Three cards all with the same main stamp from Paper Artsy. I also used some Tim Holtz stamps. I used three different colored inks on the stamp from Paper Artsy and gave them each a touch of lime color through out. I always take a little extra time to decorate the inside of the card too, you can use up left overs for that added special touch.

 

I've been thrifting too. I found some lime green slinky fabric, a floral affair with pale flowers, and delicate lacey embroidery anglaise type fabric as well. I also found a book by Sylvia Fair called THE BEDSPREAD. Amelia and Maud were two old sisters, who lived at each end of a long, long bed. It was covered by a white bredspread and eventually the sisters agreed they would decorate the bedspread with embroidery. The illustrated art is the type I enjoy with lots of little details to find. You can see some of the illustrations next to my sewing box which is a bit like Amelia's side of the bed----messy.

 

The bright lime colors of today are such a difference to the dull weather, which started out dreary and cloudy but soon warmed up, showing billowing storm clouds with blue sky trying to come through.

Barely colour

Lately I am drawn to old photographs and have brought some vintage ones from Seasons Remembered on Etsy. This is going to be the beginnings of a love affair of old photographs. I’m drawn to women with particular looks and whom are dressed elegantly, they will no doubt inspire some paintings in the future.

 

I also found an old printed embroidery pattern from my stash, it is not embroidered and has some tulips as a border either end, or perhaps they are meant to be crocus flowers? There are some birds flying off into the distance. Very 1950's style maybe a little earlier. I think the cloth is supposed to be a duchess set, does anyone remember those? I do.

 

The flowers here are coming out after a long winter nap. The weather is so odd, one day clear and pretty, the next day foggy and dreary.

The sea captain's author

 

 

I recycled an old canvas board for this painting. There's an assortment of collages underneath and snippets of scrap paper with real lace for her lacey collar. It is a weathered piece with hints of fragments peeking through layers of paint.

 

She is finished in time for me to go read my copy of the Zine: Magpie Magazine which just came in the mail today.

Squared away

 

Every where there is colour to be inspired by. And lots of left over scraps from other projects which I've used in these little inchies. There is a lot of possibilities for these pretties, I can't wait to make some more, then find lots of other projects to make with them.

wild things

 

There's painting in progress and looking over old ideas from sketch books for new paintings. And when it comes to magpies or birds, there are lots of inspiration about to be found in nature with spring finally here. If you are in the right thrift store you'll find old, old, cracked well loved plates with birds of nature hand painted on them. The Dill in our back yard stands tall well over my height and looks up to clear blue skies dotted with fluffy white clouds, every thing out side is sparkling. It is a good day to be out side.