Flower Sculptures

I have had quite a few flower themed posts lately, but this project has been quite inspiring! Following my little kusudama experiements, I have taken it a step further and have made them bigger!!

The lit up flowers remind me of work by Paul Villinski who makes scultpures from recycled metal and in some cases lights them up from behind so that they are silhouetted against the background. They look amazing! Mine possibly don't look as good but I had to light them using torches as we don't have any white fairy lights...need to get some of those...

My Lucky Week!

It is definitely my lucky week this week as I have had another round of gorgeous ATCs!!! This time they are from the Needle felted swap and they are soooo pretty!

(By Linda)

 (By Susan)

(By Wendy)

Ribbons & Lace

Another package has arrived from the MixedMediaATC_UK crew!! This time it's the ribbons and lace ATCs. I am continually fascinated by the range of different ideas and treatments which people come up with- the ATCs are always so diverse! Anyway, here they are!

(By Liz)

(By Susan)

(By Paula)

Japanese Kusudama Flower

I have been having great fun at college lately with my flower project. Bringing you up to date since my drawings, I have tried my hand at marbling- didn't really go very well as part of the bottle of yellow ink (which isn't supposed to come off) EXPLODED in my face!!! It went EVERYWHERE! All over the sink, the floor, the window, the radiator, the window ledge, me!!! I looked like I was turning into an oompa loompa! It was quite funny for my friends I suppose, but I was wearing a white top....and as far as I know, it doesn't come out...Still, I suppose it could look arty.  Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of my little mishap so I can't show you what a sight I looked. The marbling wasn't even that good in the end as the paint which did manage to get itself into the tub was too thick for the paper and it still hasn't dried (bearing in mind I did this the other day and it has been sitting by a very hot radiator).
The technique which has been working well for me is a kind of origami, the Japanese Kusudama flower (click on the link to see how it is made). I think it is really pretty and although I was initially daunted because the pictures of the final thing looked quite complicated, it is actually really simple and can be made out of all kinds of papers and fabrics.
So far I have kept it quite simple, using papers...

...,fabric and acetate....

Apparently the original idea behind these flowers is that you put 12 of them together so that they make a ball, and then they were used for incense or pot pourri- now though they are more commonly used for decorative purposes and very pretty they are too! :D

(Half of a Japanese ball)

Return of the Latex

Having enjoyed the sea urchin project so much, I have decided to make some ATCs based on the same theme. Took a while to get hold of some latex- the craft shop nearby had to order it in for me specially! I have named them, 'Under the Neon Sea'- is that a bit pretentious? Oh well, too late now :P I had to send one of them off in exchange for a book one of the lovely ladies in my group sent me. So as ever, I took some photos of them for you to view and comment on...

 

(I'm not entirely sure why the bottom photo came out in such a different colour but it certainly makes it seem very neon.) 

 I did make another ATC but for some reason the computer wouldn't upload it so I might have to tag that one on at a later date. For now, I hope you like these ones!

Flowers Galore!!

I have started a new project at college, inspired by...yes you guessed it...flowers! It's probably a bit of a health hazard because our room is so hot and everyone has got their own bunch of flowers- we all got a bit high and headachey from the fumes today.
I managed to make my desk beautifully bright and colourful , and had to take a picture of it to show off my flower montage.

We had to start by doing some monotone sketches of the flowers we had brought in- I had to go and choose really quite complicated flowers (which looked like some kind of daisy or chrysanthamum(?)) with lots of petals. I tried using my left hand, two pens at once, not looking at the page etc etc to try and get different effects.

I think I should probably do some more detailed drawings to prove that I can actually draw, maybe in my sketchbook instead- but I need some time to do that. A lot of my work sheet drawings are quite messy and experimental, like my colour sheet, where I used the actual flowers to print with...

Above is my favourite drawing of the day, using fineliner and coloured ink.

I ended up simplifying the flower shape quite a lot and using cardboard stencils to print a vague daisy shape which I repeated across the page. Also, the technique of using the flower to print with interested me so I experimented more with that- gradually the petals fell off so the prints had less petals each time which was quite entertaining.

 

 (The negative version- a gorgeous, brilliant blue!)
 



The above image is using the flower itself to print with and then detailling some areas with fine liner. (Note the petals that got stuck!)



Alphabet ATCs

It's been a while since my last post, for which I can only blame the amount of work I have been doing and also a strange compulsion to embroider my latest ATCs. They aren't due in for a while, but as soon as I got the idea I just couldn't help myself and had to have a go.
Do you remember when you used to get cards or postcards and they would have the first letter of your name surrounded by flowers and insects and generally pretty things? I used to get the blank ones to colour in and decided to use these for inspiration...this was what I came up with:

I learnt two new stitches for this, with the aid of The Mother (who is a fab embroiderer) and the stitching glossary in the back of Stitch magazine- which for those of you who don't know what it is, is a really good magazine for giving inspiration for a whole variety of different kinds of projects.
The long flowery stitches are called Bullion Stitch , where you wrap the thread around the needle (click on the link for a step by step of how to do this stitch), and then of course there is the French Knot, which is a stitch I have always struggled with but have finally mastered!!!....I think...some of the knots are a bit loopy.
Only two of these cards (the A and B cards) are being sent in for a swap, the other two are the evidence of my getting carried away so will probably be given out as a different swap.