Sunshine in Sydney

 last summer i spent a few days in Sydney, NSW.......perfect summer weather........i miss summer especially now as our weather is  the dreary grey winter version.
these two photos were taken in Chinatown, the colours of the shop fronts match the trees.
i wonder if they did that on purpose?

 some exercises for the 365 creative challenge 2013, from "surface treatment workshop" - "explore 45 mixed-media techniques", by darlene olivia mcelroy & sandra duran wilson.
these exercise are on old watercolours previously used to try different techniques to create pattern & texture on wet paint with cling wrap, & painting over watercolour with gesso, from art class......long, long ago.
nothing precious has been torn up ......yet!

 this one is newspaper glued onto the watercolour, then pulled & rubbed away in some places while still wet.

 here i have stamped over the newspaper when it had dried with acrylic on a wooden block .......the small bit a the top is the same stamp  just on watercolour.

this one as before, then some torn paper collage. when it was dry i sanded it lightly with a fine grade sandpaper.......

 ......this one has some moulding gel stamps with plastic lids & acrylic stamp with corrugated cardboard. the images came from a Sydney tourist magazine.

& for something different, have a look at beth conklin.
(raylee).

Mixed Media - 365 Creative Challenge 2013

how stunning is this?.........from bits of plastic stuck onto a small canvas with moulding gel, then wrapped with aluminium foil, pressed over the plastic bits & painted with a watery ultramarine blue acrylic!

old watercolours have been dragged out of the box to be scrubbed in places to remove some colour, torn into smaller pieces, re drawn over with oil crayons,...... pink lily .......

gessoed, repainted with acrylics, stamped & stencilled with moulding gel medium, bubble wrap, plastic lids, wood block prints, alphabet stencil, layers of paint,

 i used naples yellow, permanent sap green, brown madder, cad yellow light, prussian & ultramarine blue & vermillion, sometimes  mixed & sometimes straight from the tube, & sometimes watered down.........

 moulding gel in alphabet stencil over watery acrylic, when dry i painted over the lettering formed from the gel moulding medium.

gel medium stencil circles at the top, painted with three layers of acrylic,bubble wrap stamp in the background, pink circles painted with layers of acrylic, small circles made by stamping with a piece of lego dipped in paint.

there are lots of exercises to explore to create mixed media surfaces, i am trying some from the book "Surface Treatment Workshop" by Darlene Olivia McElroy & Sandra Duran Wilson.

thanks for looking at  what we are doing. we enjoy recycling / upcycling, re styling, re building all sorts of things......hope you do too!
(raylee).

Zig Zag Crochet.......

........& on my desk today.

(raylee).

Vertical Herb Garden

 thought i would show you my new vertical herb garden,( no more bending down!!)........constructed by a very thoughtful husband!

 he used all recycled materials, with the exception of the pots & the plants,........the mesh was leftover from a concreting job.

complete with a handy bench for potting, which he did as well.

i have not even had to water much due to all the rain we have had......i just pick them & add to whatever is on the menu for the day.

some good old marigolds add a burst of colour.
do you like gardens/gardening ?.......have a look at katies blog,........katie has been asking "how does your garden grow?"
(raylee).

Scary Dolls 2

these scary looking babies were requested....

after a session of drawing around bodies in chalk...

and decorating them on the concrete in the carport...

they are as big as their models...

I used odd bits of material found in my stash...

these were the only colours available big enough...

 

scary aren't they...

the models wanted to do their own decorating...

so I'm not even allowed to try and pretty them up...

or dress them..

although the cupboards were investigated

 to see if any of their own clothes would fit...

didn't last long though...

the babies have been dance partners...

and taken to tea parties...

as well as cuddled in bed...

 

blame Raylee for insisting to see these...

I just wanted to stash them away...

not my finest creative attempt...

but the little ones seem to enjoy them...

and that is the reason they're here...

Crochet Pillow Case & Continuation of Bedroom Makeover/ 365 Creative Challenge 2013

the  crochet granny squares all stitched together with a chenille back to make a pillow case, (this makeover began previous post, 12-7-2013).

it is a cool colour palette. it needed  something to brighten things up.

i chose  yellow.......a colour i don't use very often......so decided a little bit would be ok to add some zing to the blue/grey/purple colour scheme.

 i almost threw the lemons in the bin a couple of weeks ago but something stopped me. i like little touches of the unexpected.

 the back of the pillow case,....... the chenille, the vase, & the clock are op-shop finds. the bedside table & bedheads were kerbside throw outs.

i made these quirky curtain rod ends with styrofoam balls, feathers & glue from the cheap shop. the greys in the feathers tie in with the picture & the vase.

for the collage picture i used an old canvas bought from the tip shop.

i am almost finished in this guest room, just deciding on a bedside table for the other side of the bed, & where to hang another picture/pictures?
 this has been a fun project.......the white was like having a blank canvas to play with.....
i might do this again!
(raylee).

Bedroom Makeover - 365 Creative Challenge

hello everyone.....how are you all?
what have you been up to?
how's the weather at your place?
it's rainy here.......my camera doesn't like overcast weather.......so not much to show you today, ......anyway that doesn't mean i have not been busy.
white paint has been transforming the walls & doors of the bedrooms at my place. a bit of a shock to my system as i had lots of colour before......like the colour in the granny squares.
 the squares are to make a pillow case for the spare room. i have to have some colour, i couldn't go completely white. i was inspired to make this change after lots of  oohing & ahhing at enmiespaciovital.blogspot.com, i found a similar granny square pillow cover there as well.
so this is the beginning of my decorating.........  i spray painted two single bedheads (kerbside throwaways), from green to aqua..... the two put together make a queen size bedhead.
the print was a garage sale find........more to come as i progress with it.
thanks for visiting, we love to see you all .
(raylee).

scary dolls

I found a different dolly pattern to try...

a bit more work than I normally want...

but the little girls thought they were great...

 

 

they are into monsters at the moment...

so we got scary faces...

a girl and her ghosty friend...

Chenille Denim Slipcover for a Book - 365 Creative Challenge 2013

the last couple of mixed media collage pages from my altered book for june, image courtesy of thegraphicsfairy, & a slipcover made from the legs of old denim jeans courtesy of simonne.

i stitched five layers of fabric, diagonally, cut through four layers. i was just experimenting with this cut technique,  any way not wanting to waste it i  repeated this then joined the two pieces together as it was about the right size for a book cover........  then put two pieces of scrap furnishing fabric on each end to fold to the inside for the book ends to slip into, then tried the cover on the book for size.

i left all the edges raw,,,,,,just stitched around the cover with the end bits folded into place & added another row of stitching for a firm fit. gave it a wash & dried it in the dryer to fluff the cut edges.
(raylee).