Altered Kettlebell

So I wanted to make a really individual present for my friends 40th birthday, especially since I couldn't be at her birthday party as I had a wedding to go it. She is completely crossfit mad and trains everyday and after seeing a few altered bottles online I thought it would be really cool to do an altered kettlebell for her! I bought this one in Sports Direct for £10 and it took me over a week to fully finish but that's mostly because my little pocket rocket keeps me busy during the day! Here is a picture of the final piece and a link to the video on how I made it. https://youtu.be/Xopl3sBnSfw A list of products used can be  found below. Hope you like it!



Supply list for altered kettlebell;

• One kettlebell, the one I used was 4kg
• Baby wipes (dried and used preferably)
• Crocheted and coarse lace
• Windsor and Newton modelling paste
• Windsor and Newton Lamp Black acrylic paint
• docrafts artiste spritzing ink in Aubergine
• doCrafts acrylics in the following colours;
• Amethyst
• Blackberry
• Metallic black
• Metallic Amethyst
• Metallic Silver
• Crafters Choice acrylic paint in Ultramarine
• Metal ephemera - I used pieces from old necklaces and jewellery
• Cogs (bought very inexpensively on ebay)
• Paper and foam flowers
• Decoart Gesso
• Daler Rowney Impasto Gel (also called heavy gel medium)
• Sequins
• Papermania gems
• doCrafts Glitz It glitter glue in the following colours;
• Soft Lavender
• Violet Shimmer

Layout love at first sight!

So I was in town yesterday in Bath and we have a shop called Anthropologie. They always have really elaborate and beautiful window displays but the one I saw today I thought would look awesome as part of a scrapbook layout. Then I saw some tissue paper in Paperchase that I completely loved and the rest is history!!! Layout love at first sight! Here is the process video for it https://youtu.be/BGKtQomwGww and a picture of the finished article as well as a list of of the products used below.

• 12x12 paper called "Life" from My Minds Eye Jubliee Wild Berries Collection
• BBQ skewers
• Tissue paper from  Paperchase called "Fruits"
• White A4 card stock
• Alphas - Thickers called "Sunny"
• Chipboard fruits from ebay random ephemera pack
• Green phrases from my stash
• Foam hearts from The Works
• "Captured" die cut label from Carpe Diem collection from Simple Stories
• Green gems by Papermania

Getting into the rhythm of it!

So I'm on a bit of a roll and videoing everything I do now. Not so easy when you are working in a corner of the kitchen but I think I'm getting into the rhythm of it now. It took me a lot less time to produce this than the others. I've learned that less waffling is the way forward! I made this little wedding card to give to a friend tomorrow and managed to get it made and the video editing in one evening! Much speediness!! Now that ive got a few subscribers on YouTube I don't want to let them down by not continuing to post...no pressure! Anyway here is the finished card and a link to the process video. https://youtu.be/dVEhHJShit0

A list of supplies used can be found below.

Card blank from Paperchase
Rectangle of watercolour paper
Faber Castell Big Brush Markers in the following colours:

• Light cobalt turquoise
• Pink madder lake
• Colbalt turquoise
• Manganese violet

Script stamp

doCrafts Artiste stamping ink in Chocolate

Corrogated card shapes from The Range

Ivory Organza Bow by Club Green

Windsor and Newton Matt Medium

Lawn Fawn stamp - Big Scripty Words

Ranger Archival Ink in Black

Sakura Micron Pen 03

Fun foam

Double sided sticky tape

Daliahs and another video

So I reeeeeally struggled with this canvas. I wanted it to have a delicate floral look but on reflection I think the texture paste I initially started with was too heavy. I don't think I will ever be fully satisfied with this but hopefully someone will like it and buy it off me. I also did my second process video for this canvas but I reworked it so many times it has become rather long. https://youtu.be/W3Yp31wikXE

I continued with it and kept in all the reworkings mainly because I think this is a process that everyone goes through and I wanted to 'keep it real' so to speak and let everyone see that I'm not perfect and that things require repeated effort in order to come out with a good result.

Here is the finished canvas and below a list of products I used.

30x30cm canvas
Tissue paper by Papermania
Windsor and Newton Modelling Paste
Toilet roll (!)
Daler Rowney Graduate Acrylic in Titanium White
doCrafts Artiste Arcylic Paints in the following colours:

• Pearl
• Wisteria
• Antique Gold
• Rose Pink
• Vanilla Bean
• Iris
• Blackberry
• Lavender
• Amethyst
• Banana Yellow
• Christmas Green
• Burnt Umber
• Emerald Green

doCrafts Glitz it Glitter Glue in the following colours:

• Rose Gold
• Pink Powder
• Soft Lavender
• Clear Frosting

Large White Flowers - HobbyCraft

Pink Paper Cherry Blossoms - HobbyCraft

White Paper Cherry Blossoms - HobbyCraft

Process video is up!!!

Its official! I have managed to get a process video up on YouTube!!Its not particularly good but I'm learning absolutely loads by doing it and I know that I will improve as I do more of them. I'm sure I will go back to it in a few years and be horrified by its quality. I started off really small by doing a mini canvas so I didn't get overwhelmed but even editing the video took me hours! I really need to speed up what I'm doing too. Its only a tiny canvas but the video was 11 minutes long. If I do a bigger canvas it could go on for hours. Here is the link to the YouTube video and a picture of the final product. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M1ObHawQz8

Still going for texture

Still inspired by Abyssimo and her wonderful textured pieces but also really loving nature right now. When England is in the full bloom of summer I believe there is nowhere else in the world that looks so lush and verdant. With this in mind I decided to create a four seasons tree. I saw another artist called Tim Gagnon creating similar pieces and decided to combine both influences. When I searched on Pinterest I came across this picture which also seemed to go perfectly with what I had in mind. Here is the photo with my piece of art next to it. This is the second time I have been really pleased with the outcome of my work. I am starting to really create pieces that I want to create rather than just going with commissions and increasingly I like what I am making. Maybe I have finally found a style that suites me.

I'm going to enter this piece in the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge as well.

Not only does it fulfil the criteria of texture (every single leaf added with a palette knife!!!) but it also is photo inspired.

New direction

Ok so having had a little go at techniques used by Julie Ryder I am now trying something a bit different. This time I have been inspired by Abyssimo https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=abyssimo who uses a lot of texture in her art. Her paintings are very abstract which is definitely not my style but she uses texture paste, crackle paste and lots of metallic as well as a patina rust affect which I just love. Her colours are vibrant and beautiful and I decided I wanted to give it a go myself. I mixed modelling paste with tissue paper to get a really chunky paste and spread it on in the shape of a butterful. Then I painted it using a mixture of matt and metallic acrylics. Once I was happy with it I gave the whole thing a coat of copper paint and then wiped most of it off to get a patina rust effect. I just love the result and I'm really happy with it and I really don't say that often!! Here is the below finished piece.

I'm also going to enter this piece in the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog which can be found here. http://mixedmediamc.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/mixed-media-monthly-25-2nd-year.html?m=1
I haven't had the chance to look at since I had my daughter last year. Their theme this month is any theme from the last years worth of challenges. I think this more than fulfils the category of texture! Hope they like it!