First of all a little bit about me.
I have been officially 'retired' for 2 years but am actually busier than ever and have no idea how I found time to go to work, lol! I am Mum to 2, Mamma to 2 (will be 3 in December) and wife to a lovely Hubby who is very tolerant of my crafting obsession, mainly because it gives him licence to monopolise the TV I think! My crafting friends may say differently but I don't think I have a specific style (you will see my decorated initial and favourite art piece are totally different) and I consider myself to be a bit of a 'Jack-of-all-trades'. I have always crafted from childhood, in one form or another and discovered card making 5 years ago quickly followed by rubber stamping and lately mixed media and altered art. I love making cards and gifts for friends and family which can be pretty, elegant, grungy or even cute if necessary but I also like to dabble in dimensional pieces including decorated boxes, canvases, wall hangings and the odd tag here and there. A bit of everything really but I am quite particular about which work I think passes quality control and will bin anything I'm not happy with.
Now onto my favourite artpiece.
I made this wall hanging in a workshop I attended last year and still like it as much now as I did then. I like the movement of the piece, especially the articulated birdcage at the bottom but I particularly like all the texture I achieved in various ways.
First there are the different materials used, Grungepaper, wood and bookpages. Then there are the various mediums for actually creating texture, i.e. crackle paint, Viva Ferro, embossing powder and Stickles.
The use of different stamps also creates the appearance of texture and of course the three dimensional embellishments add more depth.
Now onto my decorated initial which The Bosses, Don and Val, asked us to do as part of our introduction.
I used acrylic paints to cover my initial with a crackle medium between the two layers on the top portion. I randomly stamped a crackle background over the bottom portion and then tore an old book page and stamped a subtle background using Distress Ink before applying it to my initial with a multi-medium. I stamped the quote onto tissue which I then tore round and applied to the initial again with multi-medium.
I then had fun cutting various embellishments with a range of dies from my quite extensive collection (I think I have a slight problem/addiction, lol). I got quite carried away making the flowers from some lovely papers I've had in my stash for an age and now have some left over for something else. The same paper was used to cut the 'DREAM' from and after adhering this to the initial I arranged the other die cut embellishments. Finally, I used Inca Gold in silver and gold to colour the birdcage and attached this with fine chain together with the little bird charm hanging from the bottom to create some movement.
I do hope you enjoy our intro pieces on this brand new blog and look out for some more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team over the weekend. I'll be back in a couple of weeks with my first proper DT make.
Hugs
Lesley Xx
