Mystery Project–Part 3–Turquoise Heart

For the second of the three hanging heart ornaments, I chose a turquoise and terracotta colour scheme. As I started making this, I decided to give it a suggestion of a Spanish theme, because the friend for whom I was making this one loves visiting Spain. I also wanted to make a more colourful, and perhaps more illustrative and pictorial, frame than for my other friend, the artist, for whom I made the brown frame.

This colour combination as a new one for me, and I was inspired by Zsuzsa of InkyDinkyDoodle blog – she uses a lot of these colours and I’ve always thought how lovely they were! Thanks, Zsuzsa. I’ve been meaning to try these colours for a while now.

I began by getting out various bits and pieces in order to choose what to use for the various embellishments on this frame. I didn’t use the poultry grit (broken up bits of shell) in the end.

I decided I wanted to add a couple of small terracotta pots as embellishments, and knew I didn’t have any such ready-made embellishments in my stash, and slept on it for several nights, wondering how to achieve the look I wanted. When I started rummaging in my mixed media oddments box, I came across a bag of empty silk cocoons that I’d bought several years ago at a craft show, and thought, “Perfect!” Not only were they exactly the right size, but they also had just the right texture, too! I trimmed them down to shape so that I could stick them to the frame.

To create the top edge of the “pots,” I stuck down two different thicknesses of string. This proved to be a very fiddly job and I couldn’t get the string to stick at first, and then I tried doing it with Glossy Accents, which eventually worked. You can see that I have cut one of the little pots to look as if it was broken. They look a bit dirty around the top because the cocktail stick I used to help me stick on the string was a bit grubby! No matter – they were going to be painted anyway.

The first step was to paint them with gesso.

Now they were ready for painting with acrylics. I used Burnt Sienna and created shadows with Burnt Umber.

On a scrap piece of watercolour paper which I’d cut to fit the recess in the frame, I painted a simple seascape and fixed it in place.

I cut a short length of black lace and stiffened it with some watered-down PVA glue and stuck this in place – reminiscent either of a Spanish mantilla or of the black wrought iron balconies so commonly seen in Southern Spain.

To create an impression of sand, I added some pumice gel medium and painted it with acrylics.

The frame was then ready for the rest of the embellishments.

Here are the flowers and leaves I used.

To stick the little pots in place, I filled the backs with hot glue and then stuck them in place with more hot glue.

Here is the finished piece, with all the embellishments stuck down with hot glue.

I shall be giving my friend this little heart in the New Year when we are planning our lunch get-together which had to be postponed from before Christmas. She doesn’t visit my blog so I thought it would be safe to post about it before she receives it!

Here are the first two hanging hearts together. At this stage I hadn’t done more than the basic preparation on the third one.

Devon County Show 2017

On Thursday 18th May, we went to the Devon County Show at Westpoint, Exeter. I have finally had the opportunity to go through all the photos I took and get them edited and saved. I won’t show them all here because there are too many, but it will still be a picture-rich post!

There was a huge display of poppies, a tribute to the 11,000 Devon men and women who lost their lives in the First World War. They were made of any material as long as it was not paper, and most of them were knitted or crocheted, and there were some made of lace and felt.

This wreath was made from recycled Coca-cola tins!

I learnt something new – that purple poppies are a memorial to all the animals that were killed in the course of war. Purple poppies featured in this display, too.

A prize-winning display at the show was put on by Lifton Farm Shop, in the theme of Shaun the Sheep. All the sheep’s bodies were made of cauliflowers! The display was so imaginative and fun, and everyone loved it.

The house was covered with potatoes (with ones with pink skins around the windows) and the garden path was made of onions.

There were some fun sheep – here is one sunbathing in a deckchair. Note the sun cream and cocktail close at hand.

Here’s the farmer. I like the sign at the bottom!

Sheep shearing.

Here are some ladies, knitting and having their hair done.

Mutton dressed as lamb.

There was the usual fantastic display of floral arrangements, on different themes, one of which was “pas de deux,” a ballet theme.

I loved this “triptych” of calla lilies. It won a prize.

A large display of pitcher plants and other carnivorous plants. I have always found these very exotic and fascinating.

We found a textile art student from Bicton College, making felt, and she allowed me to photograph her project book. Here are a couple of pages.

There was quite a large display of lace making.

In the spinners’ booth there was a good display.

My hubby learning how to hand-spin (not!).

The Bonsire man was there again, and I always promise to post photos of his work on my blog! He makes the most exquisite miniature bonsai trees from wire.

The usual very high standard of work in the blacksmithing booth.

This intriguing piece had different leaves around the base – ivy, oak, hazel.

It always amazes me that such fluid, organic shapes can be formed from a material so hard and unyielding.

While wandering around, we came across this eatery with very pretty Indian parasols. I’d love to have bought one but they were too expensive!

The Queen Bee herself, at the entrance to the beekeeping tent.

Some natural honeycomb. This is what the bees will make without a frame in the hive.

I bought some beeswax polish and some very special heather honey.

Here is a prize-winning hand-painted plate.

Judging the eggs! Not sure what makes one egg better than another!

There was even a display of posh jellies being judged.

A fascinating spherical sculpture made entirely of horseshoes.

The usual displays of small animals.

This year we didn’t get to see many of the farm animals, but we did visit the angora goats. Look at that billie’s magnificent horns, and the kids were really cute.

The Corrymore goats always carry off prizes. I always want to visit that tent, because I can stock up on new Corrymore socks, made from their fleece. They are quite simply the best socks I’ve ever had – I have a whole drawer-full and never wear anything else! They come in lots of colours (and different styles too) and they are very hard wearing (I’ve had my original ones for years and years), and wash very well, and they are cool in summer and warm in winter.

As we were leaving, we were held up by what seemed to be an interminable parade of tractors of all vintages. They varied a lot in size and complexity. One thing they all had in common was that they smelt! The smell of exhaust became very unpleasant after a while, and I was glad of a lull in the cavalcade so that we could cross over and return to the car. You can see from this photo that it had started to rain by this point. The rest of the day was fine and sunny, but we did get a bit wet towards the end, and my buggy battery started giving out so my poor hubby had to keep pushing me as we limped our way back to the car!

I did some great shopping, and we had a very good salad lunch, but some aspects were disappointing because we didn’t manage to see many animals, and both the carriage driving and the show jumping were just finishing when we arrived on the scene, which was a bit of a shame. It’s the only time one ever gets to see this sort of thing, and the horses and riders are always so beautifully turned out, and it’s lovely to see anything done really well.

My hubby said he probably wouldn’t bother to go to the show if I didn’t love it so much (although he always enjoys it while we are there) – he is very good to me, taking me to nice places and giving me treats! He gets the buggy and the wheelchair in and out of the car and pushes me when necessary. I would be well and truly stuck at home if it wasn’t for him! The following day was his birthday, and I think he had a nice birthday treat at the show.

We finished the day with my hubby’s brothers and their wives, having a well-earned slap-up Chinese takeaway. Delicious! Altogether, a great day out, as always. The County Show is something I always try not to miss!

Embossed Lace Shapes

THE BIG REVEAL, PART 9.

This is the first of two posts today.

Many of my regular visitors have been justifiably very frustrated and impatient with me lately because I’ve been working hard on several secret projects that I wasn’t at liberty to reveal until now. With her permission, I can now reveal that I have been making stuff for Shaz. As many of you will know, she is about to undergo major surgery and has been through so much over the past year. She and her lovely hubby share the same birthday and I have made cards for them both, a get well card for her (still under wraps) and a selection of bits and pieces for her to play with once she feels up to being creative again. She opened the parcel on her birthday (14th Aug.) and now that she has received them I can share the making of them with you. Until now, I didn’t want to spoil her surprise as she visits my blog regularly. Throughout my own cancer journey, this wonderful friend has been such an encouragement and support to me, and this is one way I can thank her, and show my own appreciation and support. I know that she would love a visit from you to wish her well for her surgery on 2nd Sept.

I shall be uploading a couple of posts each day over the next few days until all is revealed. Please scroll down for earlier posts.

Embossed Lace Shapes

Using my other new Chocolate Baroque stamp set, “Lace Fragments,” I heat-embossed a selection using white embossing powder onto two A5 sheets which I had sprayed and smooshed using two shades of Dylusions spray inks, London Blue and Vivid Turquoise, using the same techniques as I used in the emboss resist shapes.

Here is the first sheet.

The second sheet.

The shapes cut up.

This time, while the backs were messy with ink splodges from my craft sheet, they looked pretty good, so I covered all the white card using Peacock Feathers distress ink and an Inkylicious Ink Duster – this colour exactly matches the Dylusions Vivid Turquoise and seems to be my go-to DI for this colour!

Using one of the cut out shapes of the large lace motif, I adhered this to an A6 card folded from a sheet of white A5 card, having inked the card base first with Peacock Feathers distress ink.

I used this simple little card to write a letter to Shaz, to go in on top of the goodies in the box.

The other shapes were used as before, for labels for the small packs of items, and some left plain in a pack of their own.

A similar technique, but a very different result.