Q&L - Music - Tiny Dancer

Hi all.  Time for the fortnightly quotes and lyrics challenge from the Craft Barn again.  This time it is Passion and Music - oh yes.  So, sticking to my 'I must have seen them live' criteria, I went for Tiny Dancer, by Elton John.  I think Madman Across the Water was the first album of his I bought, and I remember dancing round my bedroom to Tiny Dancer (and Indian Sunset... what a song, what an EPIC song...), I dreamt of marrying a music man...  That went well - NOT!  Anyway...

Blue Jean baby, LA Lady, seamstress for the band

Pretty eyed, Pirate smile, you'll marry a music man

Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand

 

Hold me closer Tiny Dancer

Count the headlights on the highway...

 

The Madman cover is embroidered denim, so I wanted to start with blue.  As I have been on a Kate Crane weekend (another one, at The Stamp Attic), and Kate does love a good colour wheel, I went with green. It had to be Dylusions!  I added a little Radiant Rain, for bling.

 

Dylusions reacts with water, so I used a mask or two and dabbed through it, with water, and with distress inks - that was a good effect!

Picking up on the seamstress idea, I used his Holtzness' blueprint stamps top and bottom, and reverted to handwriting (I must restart the calligraphy classes) the lyric.

 

Finally I added a couple of embellishments, a dress form, and some rain drops to act as headlights.  I love the way the glue soaks up the dylusions.

 

All in all, I'm pleased with it, so I hope you like!

 

 

Resources

 

Paint and Ink

Dylusions: White linen, After Midnight, London Blue, Polished Jade, Black Marble

Radiant Rain: Pearl Blue

Distress Ink: Black Soot, Stormy Sky

Archival Ink: Jet Black

 

Stamps

Stampers Anonymous: Mini Blueprints CMS150

 

Bling and other stuff

Tando Creative Mask: Music

That Special Touch Mask: Piano Keys

Studio 490/Blossom Bucket: Mannequin

Prima: Raindrops

Robins Nest Dewdrops: Fairy dust

Crafty Notions: Stellar Flash

Q&L - Miss

Hi there!  This fortnight's Quotes and Lyrics from the Craft Barn challenge is 'Miss'.  I have loved Elton John's music for ever, and one of his earliest hits just came rushing at me for this:

I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife, it's lonely out in space on such a timeless flight

and of course, it gave me a change to go mad on the bling front!

This year, my book is A3, so I do have masses of space to go large.  I used as my base the shiny side of centura pearl, and painted it with water, before spraying it with several colours of Dylusions.

I cut a circle out for my earth, using the hole as a stencil to rub some iridescent blue luminarte powder through, extending it slightly larger, to give my 'earth' a corona.  The earth was painted up with fresco finish paints, and then sprayed with goosebumps, to make it a bit bobbly.

I stamped that lovely Tim Holtz lady in archival, and then smooshed her through some watered down distress ink, doing the same sort of thing for the words, only in this case, the DI was watered down with cosmic shimmers.



















It's hard to believe that this single was released in 1972 - OMG...

Hope you like!



Resources

Paint and ink
Archival ink: Cobalt, Cornflower Blue
Distress Ink: Dusty Concord, Stormy Sky
Dylusions: London Blue, Vibrant Turquoise, Black Marble, After Midnight
PaperArtsy Fresco Finish: Pea Coat, Toad Hall, Hyde Park, Nougat

Stamps
Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz: Classics no 5 SCF005

Bling and other stuff
Goosebumps
Luminarte: Iridescent blue
Cosmic Shimmer Mist: Pearl, Astral Mystery

Twilight Canvas

I have had this post sat sitting in draft for a month or so.  I have had the canvas sat sitting on the side for a month too!  It needs a frame, and I think I may have found one, but I'll get this posted as is for now, and follow up with the frame...at some point...!

I picked up a 'paint your own canvas kit' recently in a sale.  I ummed and ahhhed for a bit, but thought that the mdf cutouts were probably worth the price on their own.  So I bought it, knowing I would do something with it at some point.  I also bought a magnolia version, which is still in the cupboard.







So, as you may know from elsewhere on this blog, a few months back, I attended a Kate Crane workshop, and I have her DVDs.  In Bold Backgrounds she uses Dylusions to create some pages, and I really liked the effect.  So...  the canvas was already primed, so I used three colours fairly close on the colour wheel, and sprayed liberally.  Then I cleaned up the work surface!  I had a tiny bit of two colours of Primary Elements left over in spray bottles, so they went on as well.


I used two stencils and sprayed water through, and a touch more ink.  I wanted to create a frame, so used the leaves stencil (also Dylusions) as I knew I had the matching stamps.  I scraped gesso through the stencil. Two things here.  One: the gesso was a little runny, so the edges aren't as sharp as they might have been.  Two: I suspect the base wasn't entirely dry (nothing new there!).  This meant that some of the dye got pulled up into the gesso, so it isn't bright white.  At the top, where it was on the African Midnight colour, it looks like I stamped with bleach!  A happy accident!

Then (and I did wait for the gesso to dry!) I stamped with the matching stamps around the edge.

Meanwhile, the dandelion clocks needed to be painted, so I mixed a dark green acrylic with black and slathered it on, making sure I got in between the petals.
















So far, so good.  Next step, the frame and joining the two things together!  Watch this space (but don't hold your breath...!)

Hope you like!

Resources

Substrate: 12 x12 canvas
MDF flowers and leaf

Paint and Ink
Dylusions Ink Sprays: African Midnight, London Blue, Fresh Lime
Primary elements (in spray): Black Emerald, Wisteria (probably!)
Liquitex basics: Phthalo Green, Mars Black
Archival Ink: Jet Black, Olive, Fern Green,

Stamps
Dylusions: Around The Edge DYR34421, Doodle Parts DYR34582

Bling and other stuff
Pebeo white gesso
Dylusions Mask: Leaf Flourish small DYS38382
Tando Creative Mask: Harlequin MSKHRLQUIN
Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Bubble THS002

Monthly Calendar - January

I went on one of Kate Crane's weekends last year, at the Stamp Attic, and really enjoyed it, so I have decided to have a go at doing Kate's Calendar Challenge this year - details are on her blog, The Kathryn Wheel.  I am going to start off slow and steady, so I don't burn out too early!  I am rubbish at diaries and the like, and have trouble doing anything regular, like even keeping my accounts up to date... oh dear.

I found this lovely book in Paperchase.  The paper quality is just fantastic, and I like the craft (or Kraft) covers, which I will decorate at some point.  The pages are c 9 1/2 inches square, or 24 cm.  Slightly cream or ivory.  But , oh so thick!









I decided January had to be green - my garden is sooooo lush - I don't mean that in a bristolian sense, more a verdant sense!  All the rain, already!  So the main part of the background is dylusions sprays, in cut grass, fresh lime and then some pure sunshine (I wish).  It wasn't quite what I was after, so I added a little white linen, which provides a little mistiness in the background.

Then out with the stencils, I love the Tando harlequin trellis, it's great.  Then Tim's Bubbles, with Picket Fence distress stain.  And an umbrella or three from the lovely Mr Skinner - very appropriate!

Then I stamped my hedgerow in - cow parsley, I think. First and second generation in two colours of Archival ink.  I also stamped the small bird from the same set on a separate piece of card, and attached it top right.

Elsewhere on this blog, I mentioned that I discovered pearlescent acrylic ink - still loving it!  Probably could have done with the Jan being a little more black, but I still like it.  There's a little doodling in black micron pens, a tippex pen, and a glittery sakura pen.

Then I drew my grid for the calendar entries.

Right, first (and only!) resolution of the year - do this every month!

Hope you like!







Resources

Paint and Ink
Dylusions: White Linen, Pure Sunshine, Fresh Lime, Cut Grass
Archival: Monarch Orange, Sepia
Distress Ink: Mowed Lawn
Distress Stain: Picket Fence
Daler Rowney FW Pearlescent Ink: Black

Stamps and Masks
Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz - Nature's Moments CMS001, Bubbles THS002
Tando Creative: Harlequin
Andy Skinner for Tando Creative: Accessories

Bling and other stuff
Tipp-ex pen
Micron pens
Sakura Gelly Roll pen, glittery pink