Experiments with backgrounds: My Play School Moments

Splodges become flowers?

Paper Bag for Sweets Page and some alcohol inks

Kitchen towels and watercolours

 Lots of photos in this post - may be slow ...

Sometimes what I love the most is just playing with my materials and seeing what might happen. Sometimes it works and sometimes it is a disaster - I think of this time as my play school moments as there are no restrictions, no rights or wrongs and it is just for fun which is what we used to be taught at Play School (Kindergarten) before some government inspector and politician decided we should restrict and monitor and evaluate everything. After all that is why most of us do this, isn't it?

The paper in the bag seemed to almost stop the inks blending - I was thinking of rhubarb rock and cinnamon balls here

I also played with those cheap Lidl pearl acrylic paints. I had been painting some backgrounds and using a piece of card as a palette when I decided to see what would happen when I put some acetate onto the paint. Oh that was fun and the only acetate I had to hand was box lids for flowers.

I had downloaded the document about mixed media backgrounds from Cloth, Paper, Scissors and decided to try using water colours and kitchen rolls. I love the bright colours and will hopefully use these papers in a project soon.

Art Journal - Best Gifts

My best gifts are the small acts of everyday kindness rather than one in particular.

I like the contrast between the cool blues and purples and the hot red and golds

I finished this on Sunday night but was back at work so no daylight - although only managed a couple of days before the evil swine flu came back. It really is a vile virus and I am quite fed up with it. Today I am feeling a little better and able to get out of bed but still so tired and sore.
I did manage to include all the prompt elements in this one as the frame around the heart is recycled packaging from some journalling cards and the first layer was made using tissue paper that covered a gift from eldest DD. I used a mix of yellow, gold and red pearly acrylic paints from Lidl - bargain of the century as they only cost £4.00 for 5 jars and they seem to work a lot like those expensive liquid pearl paints.

Torn up and mod podged down - is that a verb? To Mod Podge...

Once this layer was dry I stamped three border stamps in Adirondack Earth tones Espresso to create areas on the page (I think the stamps are crafters companion but lost packaging...) I printed a photo I had of cupcakes and freehand cut it into a G and then on different cakes wrote about the cakes and tablet (Scottish fudge) that Lens Guy will bring home as a surprise for me. I found three images of teapots and cups on Graphic Fairy and coloured them with promarkers and paint. I added dictionary definitions of gifts and gift horses from dictionaries and also wrote some of them on with a sharpie. I added further definitions around the cardboard frame that was swiped with paint. I doodled and painted the heart and gave it flame like tops to help attach it to the frame.

Recycled packaging for the frame. Paint dots around heart

journalling about the endless cups of tea Lens Guy makes me and some of the borders I stamped

The g was a cupcake photo with extra tiny journalling on the icing.