Blue Lace Boxes for Lavender Sachets

Two more boxes for my lavender sachets which I am giving to fellow chemo-ites.

These boxes are for the pale blue sachets with overlaid lace. I took one of my hubby’s paintings for the template for the first box.

I didn’t want so much of the painting to show this time so I tried to cover it with a mixture of blue and white pan pastels, with limited success.

Working on the outside of the boxes, I applied blue pan pastel through a doily as a stencil, and sprayed fixative on it when it was complete.

I then distressed the edge with Stormy Sky distress ink.

Working again on the inside, this time with Stormy Sky distress ink.

I used an ink pen to outline the outside of the box, and then applied silver embossing powder.

On the inside of the first box, I rubbed my Versamark pad randomly over the paper and embossed it with silver, after which I added a few random spots of turquoise Stickles glitter glue.

A detail of the random embossing and Stickles.

On the second box, I sprayed over what I had done on the inside, using Dylusions spray ink in London Blue.

Over this, I drew random swirls with the glue pen and embossed with silver embossing powder, working on each flap in turn.

The swirl embossing completed.

The completed boxes, together with the blue lace sachets.

Completed boxes.

The first box, fully opened, showing the sachet inside.

The second box, partially opened, showing the swirl embossing and the sachet inside.

The second box, fully opened, with its sachet.

I think these blue and white lacy boxes are quite pretty. I had a bit of a job obliterating the watercolour painting which I couldn’t leave visible this time because it didn’t really fit with the design.

Recycled Mini-Album Pages–Music

The first of two posts for today.

My dad was extremely musical and played many instruments – all the wind instruments apart from the clarinet and the recorder, and was also an expert keyboard player – piano, harpsichord and organ. I have decided to devote a section of the album to his music.

This is the title page.

The picture shows one of our early annual musical weekends which took place over the spring bank holiday weekend. These gatherings took place for over 50 years, beginning when I was a very small child, and we saw the next generation coming along too. Music would take place morning noon and night – very late at night, well into the small hours! Large quantities of food were consumed, and local Devon cider, and a very good time was had by all. These weekends are part of my heritage of happy memories.

The background for the page was created by laying down a Tim Holtz mask (“Concerto”) and applying white pan pastel. The photo was attached with regular matt gel medium and the text and borders were done with the white marker pen, with the addition of black permanent marker around the title. You can see that on the border, I have filled in the “raindrops” from the previous page, and added stalks to them to turn them into music notes for this page. The text gives a bit of detail about Dad’s lifelong love of music.

The second page background was created by stamping with my music background stamp (Artistic Stamper music background) without the use of an acrylic block, so that it moulded itself to the page and also left some gaps to give it a more distressed look. I stamped with Versamark and then embossed with black embossing powder.

Adding the photos, using regular matt gel medium.

The borders, text and embellishments, all done with the white marker pen, with the addition of some blue acrylic paint. Spraying with Rustoleum sealant spray completes the page. This spray is matt, which had the effect of dulling the shiny surface of the black embossing of the background, making it appear an integral part of the page.

The picture on the left is one that Dad took many years ago, of all his instruments lined up. This was taken before he started playing the bassoon. The viola was a long-standing family joke because of all his instruments, this was one he did not play well, and when he started, the room tended to empty! At the annual music gatherings, it used to come out in the small hours when the less stalwart musicians had all retired to bed, and a few intrepid musicians would generally tackle such pieces as Schubert’s string quartet “Death and the Maiden” which goes on for ages! Definitely one to separate the men from the boys.

Dad was a member of his local symphony orchestra for many years, playing in turn the flute, the oboe family, the horn, and latterly, the bassoon. He also played chamber music at every opportunity, being a member of a chamber orchestra for a number of years. There were occasional musical evenings when friends would gather to play and sing, and when I was a small child, I was often lulled to sleep by the sound of live music ascending through my bedroom floorboards. I am sure this is why I love chamber music so much. My dad’s lifelong favourite composer was J.S. Bach and when he retired he bought himself an electric organ, on which he played nothing else. He passed this love on to me.

The picture on the right hand side shows my dad playing the organ at a Christmas service at church. He was a very reluctant church organist and helped out only when there was absolutely nobody else to do it – he preferred his keyboard music to be a private affair and only felt happy performing in public on his woodwind family.

To complete the music section, I could not leave out a page about Dad’s harpsichord.

He made this instrument himself, entirely from scratch. It took him four years to do (including moving house in the middle of one of the severest winters on record in February 1963). It played extremely well and was used for many local concerts.

As a result of my dad’s passion for music, classical music has been a major part of my life, and I am very grateful for this influence.

Recycled Mini-Album Pages–Tigers

As promised to my faithful followers, here are the Tigers pages! This has turned out to be one of my favourite sections of the album, not least because it is one of my earliest and fondest childhood memories. It might seem somewhat out of place to have a section on tigers in a book about my dad, and it was certainly an unusual episode in his life.

Sometime in the mid-to-late 50s, there was a wonderful vet living in Plymouth by the name of Fernley Slee. He specialised in zoo and circus animals and had been consulted by Chipperfield’s Circus, who had in their possession two tiger cubs with congenital cataracts. Not feeling up to performing the surgery himself, he asked Dad to do it, and he readily agreed. Lily and Rajah, the two tiger cubs, were certainly the most unusual patients he ever had.

He took us as a family to see the tigers at Mr. Slee’s house. They were wandering freely about, and even at my very young age I was impressed by the unusual way they walked, with their shoulders moving up and down, and although they were about the size of a large domestic cat, their gait was quite different. They were very friendly, and very interested in everything.

My mother owned a white pigskin handbag at that time, and she put it on the floor beside her chair. The next thing she knew, one of the tiger cubs had got hold of it and was chewing it! When she rescued it, the corner had deep tooth marks that remained in the bag ever afterwards! People would often look a bit oddly at it, and she would say, “Oh, it was bitten by a tiger” which was certainly a conversation stopper!

I am so glad my dad never threw anything away. Going through his study when we had to sell my parents’ house, I was delighted to come across an envelope marked simply, “Tigers.” Inside were the photos which I have scanned and used for these pages.

I recently came across an online image of an art journal where the edges of the pages had been cut back at different lengths, and I decided it would be nice to incorporate this idea into my book. After cutting the pages, I painted the cut edges with black acrylic paint.

A couple of years ago I painted the face of a tiger for my art journal, to go with the William Blake poem “Tyger tyger burning bright.” This painting went across the centre of the book so the photo has a line down the middle.

This is how the tiger painting ended up in the book.

I took the original photo of the painting and edited it in Serif PhotoPlus to get rid of the central join, and printed it out to fit my page. I could have done a fresh painting of a tiger for the book, but decided to use the one I already had, to save time, and also to keep the thickness to a minimum.

After sticking the printed image into my book with regular matt gel medium, I went around the edges with pan pastels to soften and darken the background, to help it blend into the page background. I used more pan pastels to create the dark tiger-skin effect background. This design did become darker and less visible after spraying with the Rustoleum spray seal, but this is what it was like at the beginning.

Starting to work on the tiger picture border.

Working on the Tigers title.

The background for the second page – again done with pan pastels.

Working on the border for the second tigers page, using acrylic paints. You can see the borders I painted on the curving cut-away pages on the right.

The photos stuck down with regular matt gel medium, and work beginning on the border. You can see the operation taking place in the right-hand photo.

The completed title page. Acrylic paints and a combination of black and white pens, and pan pastels. I am very pleased with how the tiger appears to be emerging from behind the border. I photographed these final shots using my new scratch paper as a background. I Use a scratch paper to clean my brushes and rubber stamps onto. It’s amazing how much paint would otherwise end up in the water pot! This way, you get to save paint (money) AND get another piece of art into the bargain!

The finished second page, with journaling to describe the family’s encounter with the amazing little tiger cubs.

Finally, the third page completed.

I think this unusual episode makes a fitting addition to the book, and it’s a nice opportunity to add a bit of richness and colour. I really enjoyed working on these pages, not least because I love tigers so much!

Recycled Mini-Album Pages–Professional Life

Having just heard that my sister and my niece are coming down in December, I thought I would really press ahead and try and get the mini-album finished in time for that, so I can give it to my niece. I am making very good progress so far, and have now completed some more sets of pages. Today I am showing you the Professional Life pages.

This is the completed title page of the section. This section is largely monochrome, with heavy use of the white pen (I am now on my third white pen for this project!) and trying to keep the pages as thin as possible as I am getting rather concerned at how thick the book is becoming, and there may be further thick pages to come. The text was printed on the computer, cut out and applied, along with the pictures, with regular matt gel medium.

The second page, before I did the border. This page deals with my dad’s work at the hospital, taking the initiative at his own expense and in his own time, to give his junior staff extra tuition, better to equip them for their professional lives ahead. I have also added a piece about the professional conferences he attended. The two photos on this page are of artefacts now in my possession. To create the background, I used a larger version of the picture of the hospital, stuck down with regular matt gel medium, and painted over with a grey acrylic glaze. The text was hand-written with the white pen.

Here is the page with the border.

I created the background for the third page using a mixture of titanium white and black acrylic paint, dabbing it on randomly.

It was a little bit too strong so I went over it with white pan pastel with a little black for good measure. I prefer the softer effect. The next photo shows the page after sealing the surface and adhering the photos with regular matt gel medium as before, and again, the artefact is now in my possession.

The border was done with white acrylic paint and black and white pens, and the journaling in white pen, outlined in black where it was against the light background. The picture shows my dad wearing his badge of office when he was president of his local medical society.

There was a special event in his professional life that was so unusual that I have devoted a separate section to it, which I will cover in the next post.

WOYWW 286

Please click on the WOYWW logo in my sidebar to visit our hostess Julia’s blog, where all will be explained how you can join in the fun of the world’s most famous nosey fest.

First of all, I am sorry I haven’t been visiting many desks. I have been working flat out in my ARTHaven, when time and energy permitted, desperately trying to complete the recycled mini-album. My sister has contacted us and said she and her daughter are coming over in December, and it occurred to me that I could give our niece the album then, if I can only complete it in time! I’ve been making good progress.

Here is my desk this week.

You can see the current page I am working on, which is about tigers. Keep an eye on my blog over the next few days and you will see these, and some other pages I’ve completed. Laid on the book are a white pastel pencil (very useful for marking out elements on a black page, and easily rubbed off afterwards) and a pan pastel applicator. The book itself is resting on a new scratch paper I’ve started making, cleaning off my brushes from all the orange painting I’ve been doing over the past day or two! I shall probably turn this scratch paper into a masterboard if it looks useable. Even at this stage, it does show just how much paint can be wasted in the water pot and down the sink.

On the left you can see my entire stock of pan pastels (not many, but I should be able to achieve a good range of colours by mixing). At the back, lots of gel mediums and acrylic paints, my usual trademark dirty water jar (no, it’s not the same water as last week – it’s actually been changed quite a few times this week!), my brushes, distress inks, two bubble wrap printing blocks, the corner of my iMac and my heat gun. Perched on top of the distress inks is a pink circle punch. All the usual stuff on the shelf above.

Despite the pressure to get this project completed, I am really enjoying doing it. I am hoping to have time before it goes to do a video of it and also a blog post of all the completed pages, but we shall see!!

As for the rest of the week, I’ve been reasonably well. Although I was told that my latest blood test was “normal,” I spoke to the surgery subsequently and was told that it was at the bottom end of normal, and my GP wants me to continue with the iron, but reducing the dose from three times to twice a day, which I am happy to do. Over the past couple of days my balance has been a bit more off than usual and I’ve felt more wobbly on my feet but these things come and go with the M.E. and it’s probably because I’ve been pushing myself a bit too much!

Various bits and pieces have been arriving all week from Ebay, for soap making. The teacher supplies everything we need for each class, which is great, but it means we can’t do anything at home. I need to get some soaps made for Christmas presents.

I’ve been working on the final stages of my knitting, which I’d hoped to have completed by this week. The second sleeve is now finished and I’m picking up stitches around the neck, and then I’ve only got to sew up the side seams and it will be completed! I hope to be able to show you next week.

Have a great week, everybody, and happy WOYWW.

Recycled Mini-Album Pages–Cars

I have now completed the Cars pages. I began by printing out some “Cars” text in various sizes, and at the same time, to fill the page, I printed some material for the Professional Life pages.

Fussy cutting the cars text.

I applied the text to the page using soft matt gel medium. The pieces were rather delicate and I thought they might tear if I used regular medium.

Once they were dry, I made a wash with titanium white acrylic paint and acrylic polymer and roughly painted over the cars text.

I had a rummage in my card strips box and made a selection, for some “go faster” stripes for this page. I was rather pleased to find the offcuts from the recycled Christmas cards that I used for the pages of this album! Seemed fitting somehow. Recycling the recycled.

I thought the page looked a bit dull so I added a small suggestion of colour with white and brown pan pastels, which also had the effect of muting the brush strokes on the page. I fixed it with my Rustoleum spray sealant (great stuff, but it really stinks!!).

Now for the fun part. I had printed and cut out several car badges and stuck these down with regular matt gel medium, and then cut the card strips to form the “go faster” stripes which were laid down with a suggestion of randomness. You can still see the “cars” text echoing the title and forming a subtle background.

I completed the first Cars page with the addition of a border – I was pleased with how this turned out because it looks almost suggestive of car tyres!

The second “Cars” page shows the cars my dad owned during his life (with the exception of the first one, a Riley, which I do not remember, and have no photo). I wanted to keep the look of the page consistent, and also to introduce a somewhat vintage appearance, so I edited the photos in Serif PhotoPlus, creating a duplicate layer which I desaturated, and then erased away the actual car, so that the colour from the bottom layer popped. Unfortunately when I printed them out the colour balance wasn’t quite right and I had a bit of touching up to do. I fixed the photos first, with Rustoleum clear sealant, and then used various distress inks as watercolours to alter the colours somewhat. The MG Magnette (second down on the left) had no colour added because it was dark grey anyway. After this came the first MG sports car – an MGA in red. This car was, in my opinion, the most attractive of all his cars – it had such beautiful lines. The MGB sports cars (top right) had to be printed from a downloaded image because for some reason I have no photos – he had two (if not 3) of these, all in British Racing Green. He loved his sports cars!

A good number of years before he retired he bought his first Porsche. He drove this for many years, well into his retirement. The second Porsche, a Boxter, was the last car he ever owned, which he was still driving aged 89!!

I am quite pleased that the border on this page, which was determined by the page of the same size further back in the book, looks like a chequered flag! Although he wasn’t into motor racing, it seems appropriate with his love of sports cars.

The final step was to add the journaling and final embellishments to tie the page together.

This takes us up to the end of the second signature of the book.