Heavy Body acrylic abstract cards...

 I had never tried heavy body acrylics on cardstock and wasn't sure if it would work.  

But it did. These creations may not be to everyone's taste, but they have grown on me and I actually love all the texture the paints have created.

 

In shades of black, burnt umber, mushroom and white I kept layering the paint with my fingers, my preferred way of painting.

There is a rawness to these pieces but I quite like that... 

I couldn't make up my mind whether just to put them in my art album or make cards, but I chose to make cards and add the Tim Holtz book plates, I just love them and I think they really suit this grunge style of art.

Like so much abstract work they actually look better from a distance than close up...

 I shall be entering these into this week's challenge over Simon Says Wednesday challenge "anything goes".

Well, we did get a lot of snow yesterday but it has stopped now, although it still feels like the acrtic outside! 

See you soon xx

Mixed media abstract grunge...

I spent most of yesterday on various art projects but I just did not produce anything that I liked. In fact the more I did, the more it was going horribly wrong.

I was about to give up. I had just soaked a piece of card with Liquitex inks in Muted Violet and Carbon Black and it looked awful. But then I added some white acrylic paint and started to scribble and scratch the paint. Suddenly I had the beginning of these pieces of art...

It was the final addition of arcylic paint in Quinacridone Magenta that changed how I felt about these  
pieces completely.

Here a couple of close ups... 

Then in was case of what to do with them. I just did not want to cover up any of the art work.

So I have simply displayed them in my art journal.

Now I can look at them and use them as inspiration for future art work maybe.

This will be my 5th and final entry for this week's Simon Says Monday challenge for "Grunge it up".

 I may get even more art work done this week as they have forecast snow with potentially blizzards later on in the week which would be quite unusual for this part of the UK. A great excuse to cosy up in my craft room as if I need any excuse!

See you soon xx

Art Journal pages "Embrace imperfection"

It's been a while since I have done an art journal page and it really made a change from my recent art work.

I started by collaging some scraps and adding a couple of tags for interest. I then added lots of heavy gesso for texture...

 

I used Liquitex inks in Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Burnt umber. Then I added black. Lots and lots of black. In fact I got a bit carried away...

 

At first I thought I had ruined my pages but as it dried I really liked it...

 

The black ink has given the pages I think a very moody, dark look...

 Did these pages turn how I expected? No. Did they turn out perfect? No. Hence the title "embrace imperfection".

I will be adding these pages to this week's grunge challenge at Simon Says Monday challenge. I was thrilled to have made the designer spotlight for the "Take Note" last week!

See you soon xx

Mixed media grunge-without black

 Having lost my mojo a couple of months ago, my mojo is now in full swing so I am making the most of it! These creations are yet another entry for the Simon Says Monday challenge, now my third entry, and for the Simon Says Wednesday challenge which is "make your own background".

My challenge to myself today was to create a grunge look without using black ink, black paint or my beloved black china pencil.

This was the result...

 

Again, just using a plain piece of A4 300gsm cardstock I started layering acrylic paint in shades of lilac and brown.

 

I later added some white and then stencilled a few designs in gold. 

 

I also changed the colour of my Tim Holtz ornate book plate by brushing it with gold gilding wax, and added some gold metallic thread.

 

I have to admit it was hard for me not to pick up some black ink, but I really like it without black.

 

I am hoping in not the too distant future to start a Youtube channel and upload some process videos to show how I create this artwork, I will let you know when I do.

In the meantime, enjoy your day! xx

Mixed Media collage cards: Pretty Grunge...

I'm still in full on grunge mode lol!

These creations will be my second entry for this week's Simon Says Monday challenge " Grunge it Up". This time I've gone all out pretty grunge, with floral collage papers and silk ribbon to finish.

 

I've used Dovecraft's Nature's Grace 6 x 6 papers for my collage to give a lovely floral backdrop to my cards. 

 

 I used my Gelatos and Prima oil pastels again to add depth of colour.

 

After collaging I grunged it to the max with black India ink and my China pencil.

 

Of course I have used the Tim Holtz ornate book plates to frame my sentiments which are by Stampin Up. 

 I can't promise I won't do more grunge, I like challenging myself to see how many different grunge looks I can create. Anyway, see you soon xx

Bright grunge collage art journal pages...

If you have read my last few posts you will know how much I love the grunge look, so I was thrilled when I found out that this week's challenge over at Simon Says Monday challenge is called "Grunge it Up".  How could I resist?

However rather than use dark colours as I have over the last few weeks I chose much brighter colours, in fact one of my fave colour combinations-shades of lilac and green.

I used Pebeo acrylic paints in Anise Green and Blackcurrent, and Gelatos in Black Cherry and Raspberry. The scribbles were made with a black China pencil and white Sharpie.

 

I just used a 300gsm A4 piece of card and used acrylic paint and collaged some book papers. I also used Prima oil pastels and some Gelatos.

Here are a few close ups of the finished piece...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was going to make some cards with the finished artwork, but at the last minute decided I liked it too much to cut it up too much and put it in my Dylusions Art Journal instead.

 

The lovely sentiments are by Donna Downey called Empowered Words, which I've embossed in silver. 

 Lots of photos today, but I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I loved creating them. See you soon xx

Acrylic painting-noisy backgrounds...

These have got to be my loudest, boldest, noisiest backgrounds ever.

I just went for it...

 

Initially I laid down a layer of grey paint and then kept adding lots of layers with magenta, yellow, black and white.

 I used paintbrushes, silicone brushes and an old credit card to make as many marks in the paint as possible.

Then I added loads of splatter... 

 

It was just a case of being completely fearless with the paint...

 

I finished my cards with the Tim Holtz Measured stencil, some Tim Holtz idea-ology word bands and silver cord. 

  Long may boldness continue! See you soon xx

Grunge note book covers ...

You may have gathered from my last post I love the industrial grunge look and wanted to experiment more with this style. So I have made these grunge notebook covers for this week's challenge over at Simon Says called "take note".

 

Using Decoart Media fluid acrylic paints in burnt orange, quinacridone gold and raw umber and then adding some black, I created these backgrounds. I love the rich warm colours with the raw umber and black.

 

The stencils I've used are by Andy Skinner called Code breaker and Typeface, I absolutely love both.

 

The stationary sentiments are by Papertrey.

 

I added some white paint with a dry brush for a distressed look and some other little scribbles and pattern to add to the effect. To finish I wrapped the notebooks in some May Arts black cord and found some bits of metal to add to the industrial look.

Really pleased with how these turned out, hope you like them too,

See you soon xx

Abstract acrylic-Industrial style

This is about as far removed from my usual style as I've ever taken my art. I could not get to sleep last night so got up and just started playing with a silicone paint brush instead of an ordinary acrylic brush.

Initially I hated it. I hated the colours and I thought it was a complete mess. But with a bit of patience I added some detail and this was the result...

I have to say I love the silicone brush. I love the movement it created as I built the layers up and all the different strokes you can create with it. These were really quick to create as well, just a few minutes to complete. I found it best not to think about it too much as I wanted a really random look.

I added a piece of silk sari ribbon to finish this one...

 

I love number stencils, for me these pieces would not have been the same without the numbers.

 

 I have to say these are some of my favourite ever creations and I will definitely not shy away from this style in the future.

 I am having problems uploading these to Pinterest but will as soon they fix the problem. See you again soon xx

Acrylic background for cards in shades of grey...

 A very belated happy new year to you!!

Unfortunately I have had the awful flu that has been rife this winter and it has taken it's toll on me. I am only just beginning to recover and still feel tired a lot of the time, but at least I have managed to do some art so that always makes me feel better.

 

These cards were made using acrylic paint and a sponge to create lots of movement. I used 6 different shades of grey and taupe to add depth to the colours.

 

After creating the background I stamped on old Prima flourish stamp in black Archival ink.

I didn't want to cover the background too much so I just added some simple gold embossed Papertrey sentiments.

 I am off to rest now, hope you are all fit and well xx