Other Art Pieces/Techniques
Zenspired Monograms

Posted on 14th August 2015 by Neil

At the beginning of the year I decided to join in one of these ‘pay it forward’ type of messages that flew round Facebook during January. I don’t know if any of the five that are about to receive the actual versions of the following works follow my blog – if they do, their surprise will be lessened, but hopefully the anticipation heightened! I’ve spent roughly 2-3 hours on each of the Strathmore Tiles 4″X4″(Toned Gray), drawing each with Pigma Micron pens, Signo white gel pens and shading with Stabilo Aquarellable white and black pencils. The style was inspired by the book, Zenspirations by Joanne Fink.

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3D Projects
Make your own custom wax seal

Posted on 13th August 2015 by Neil

Last weekend I went to a craft show, and amongst the ridiculous amounts of dies I noticed a dip pen and wax seal stand. Wax seals have a sense of class, of authenticity, of originality, even in the electronic age. And I’ve wanted my own for ages (my faux ones still didn’t quite hit the mark), along with some of the gorgeous pens. But where would be the originality be in a mass produced metal wax seal stamp? It was at that point I thought – I could make my own, couldn’t I? Thus started another steep learning curve (in between doing all the glass etching).

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3D Projects
Glass Etching with Armour Etch

Posted on 12th August 2015 by Neil

I have learnt three things on this little project:

Etching glass with Armour Etch through a vinyl stencil that I cut on my Silhouette Cameo is quick, simple and delightfully effective. This inexpensive Ikea glass is now carrying the branding that I use for my studio.
Photographing glass, like mirrors, is incredibly tricky! I spent roughly 15 minutes etching the glass, and then the next hour learning how to take the photograph! I ended up lighting it from beneath with a small LED push-light with a sheet of paper between it and the glass to dim it slightly. All of this was in a blackout tent, with a small amount of light from above, and poking my phone through a small slit in the tent. The first attempts had so much reflection of both the lighting and the surroundings, the etching wasn’t visible.
Cleaning the glass digitally was so much more effective than in real life. I’d done my best using alcohol and non-shedding cloths, but the pesky dust specks really showed up despite my best efforts. The Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop really came to the fore to remove them. Though not perfect, I think as a bit of amateur product photography I can get away with it 😉

All that’s left to do is the rest of my glasses!

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Card Craft
Background Check: Day 6

Posted on 6th August 2015 by Neil

It’s the final day over at the Background Check class, aside from the wrap up day. It’s another design break to allow us to make cards using the background techniques we’ve learnt over the previous two days. I’ve snuck into the studio and made my Day 5 backgrounds into cards:

For these cards, they’ve only needed the addition of a little sparkle to accentuate elements on the background, with the sentiments done on my trusty Dymo machine. Again, that’s not been out for a while, and it was the letter press (get it?) technique that prompted its use. It’s been a great course, well worth the sign up fee – if only to have had the impetus to use some loved, but forgotten, techniques and refill my card drawer!

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Card Craft
Background Check: Day 5

Posted on 5th August 2015 by Neil

I’m a bit behind on my classwork as I’ve been meeting other deadlines, looking after my nephews (one of whom has been helping me make paper beads), but here’s my highlights for day five of my Background Check samples – which are all about texture.

Loving the faux letterpress technique, and going to have to experiment more with it. It’s great not having all the confetti after using the die! Again, nothing new here, but great exercise of techniques and reminders of what can make a clean and simple card really quite special.

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Card Craft
Background Check: Day 4

Posted on 31st July 2015 by Neil

Yesterday’s class was all about die cutting and how to use them in backgrounds. Now I’m not that much of a fan of die cuts, especially the confetti that covers everything with the really intricate ones. I decided to use a different approach, and cut out my cards using my Silhouette Cameo and designed my own shapes inspired by the dies used in the class.

The first is coloured with ProMarkers, and the second shaded with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. The third is just the white cut out on a cream card – I think it’s a rather classy clean and simple design.

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Card Craft
Background Check: Day 3

Posted on 30th July 2015 by Neil

Day 3 of my online card class, and they’ve introduced a fab idea – a ‘design break’. A chance to use what we’ve learnt in class to make cards. I didn’t have chance yesterday as I was prepping for a large workshop (news of this released next week…), so I’ve been making the cards this morning before today’s class is released. Here are my makes:

The text is all self-designed and cut from 300gsm card on my Silhouette Cameo. Colour added with distress inks, direct to paper. I love the results of some of these – not styles I would have immediately gone for, but very effective cards. Now to go and see what Day 4 has in store!

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Card Craft
Background Check: Day 2

Posted on 28th July 2015 by Neil

It’s Day 2 of my online class, and we’re playing with stamps and inks to make backgrounds. In the main today was revising techniques I’ve previously come across, but always good to see them used in imaginative ways by the tutors and yank them back to the forefront of my memory! Here’s today’s highlights:

Lots of stripes, and not a stripe stamp in sight. What’s a man to do? Go find some funky foam and cut that into strips. Add a bit of removable double sided tape, and ta da, strippy stripy stamps and backgrounds 🙂

I also like the idea of working more on mid-tone cardstock. I remember in college working on a charcoal ground and getting on better – you can use light and dark shades to emphasise shape, form and, in this case, pattern. I’ve been doing some zentangling on Strathmore Toned Gray Artist’s Tiles and finding the same (more of that in another post).

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About me
Art Journal Page: What’s in a word?

Posted on 28th July 2015 by Neil

For those that don’t know, I have recurrent depression, with relatively frequent episodes of lows and pretty good recovery in between. You may correctly guess I’m struggling at the moment, based on my art journal reflections today (which are based on my ruminations in the shower this morning). Now, I don’t normally share autobiographical stuff, but the topic of depression is being discussed elsewhere in the crafting world and I felt moved to share my own experiences of this mental (absence of) health issue – the more we talk about mental illness, the less threatening it might be for someone else.

What’s in a word? Recurrent – it’s a cruel word. You don’t hear of people being recurrently happy. Or recurrent joy. Those too can be ‘unending’ but recurrent has it’s root in the Latin to ‘turn back’. And with recurrent depression, it’s like that – only a passive result of chemicals misbehaving rather than a conscious turning from ‘health’. It’s especially cruel, I think, as recovery between makes the downs even more difficult to deal with. Though medication is helping, and next week I’m going to be discussing throwing a mood stabiliser into the mix as well, there’s not a lot I can do to stop an episode occurring. Or recurring. Resilience disappears out of the window in the middle of an episode, and everything is an effort. I am lucky enough to be aware enough not to curl up in a ball, and capable enough to at least do some of my normal activities – even if they take up twice as much time and energy as they otherwise would. I am lucky enough to still have hope – I know at some point the bleakness will lift. It’s the not knowing exactly when, or how long for that’s the killer. And on that topic, I’m also blessed not to have suicidal thoughts or ideas that often accompany depression – but I so understand where they come from. I am supported by an extremely understanding wife and a close group of church friends, and indeed customers, who cope with me whatever state I happen to be in – and that’s worth keeping going for.

Back to business: background is acrylic paints in teal/brown/black – I think they were part brayered on, part swiped. Main word is stamped in Hickory Smoke Distress Paint. Rest of text in Sharpies.

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Online Classes
Background Check: Day 1

Posted on 27th July 2015 by Neil

I’m taking part in Online Card Classes’ Background Check, and it’s Day 1, and time to get inky! Some of the techniques aren’t new to me, but a couple are, and a great addition to my mixed media arsenal. Here are the highlights of this afternoon’s play:

I have to admit the cloud on the sunset was a happy accident – my not so low-tack tape happened to tear off my carefully blended area, so a little more ink and a cloud was born! The metallic like sheen on the purple image is also accidental – the Hero Art Ombré pads do seem to have an unpredictable effect when used direct to paper.

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