GPP No 50 ~ My “Ta-Da” List for 2011

This month, Michelle Ward has challenged us to review our artwork over the last 12 months and make a “Ta-Da” list.

What a great ideas and here is mine!

I am quite impressed that I did get so many projects started (and mostly finished), especially with the amount of work and work-related travel I did in 2011.

While I was creating my list, I found the best record was the photos I had taken of my work, so I used iPhoto as my reference. Then I realised I had a pictorial Ta-Da list right there, I just needed to turn it into a collage. Not being Photoshop savvy, I turned to Google to find me a photo mosaic software (free and online, of course). After a few minutes in Shape Collage, here is my pictorial Ta-Da list.

The same 37 photos are in both; I just rearranged them so some could be seen better. If you would like to try this yourself, you can find Shape Collage here. There is a tutorial video to follow and it’s simple enough, except for saving the end file. I couldn’t figure out where they were saved but could open them in Preview (on a Mac), then I re-saved them with a different name, which was just as well, because I can’t find the originally saved files. May be that’s because I used the free version.

Anyways, I love the outcome and I’m sure I’ll use it again!

Thank you again, Michelle, for allowing us to shine and say “Ta-Da – look at what I have done!”

Happy Crusading!

P.S. I’d love you to leave a comment – I will visit you; I promise!

GPP No. 58 ~ Girls on Film

Our challenge this month for the GPP Street Crusade is to get out from behind the camera; not something I do too often (as can be seen in the 3,000 odd photos we have taken this year! Lots of the boys; very few of me.)

I was planning on getting a good pic on Christmas Day but we all got so busy with people coming and going that we didn’t get to do our usual family pics. There was another day that taking photos of me crossed my mind, but didn’t get any there either.

Ethan took this one yesterday, but I realise it doesn’t really show my face.

So I have bitten the bullet (so to speak) and had this taken especially.

More exciting – here are my bright red toe nails; painted especially for the festive season.

It’s summer here and holidays, so no shoes for me!

Happy crusading!

Arty Oz Christmas Swap

This year I received a delightful Christmas present from Lucy Leatham in our Arty Oz Christmas Swap. It’s a gorgeous Paris themed book / shadow box.

Here is the cover:

And a close up of the decorative centre piece. It’s wonderfully rusty (not sure what it may have been in a previous life?)

Opening it up, a fantastic layout appears;

I’m so pleased with it! Thank you Lucy. And thanks must also go to Greta, who gets us organised and creating!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Here are a few more details:

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

GPP No.57 ~ All the World’s a Stage

Michelle Ward has asked us to documents the songs we love to sing along to,
in All the World’s a Stage. Here’s my (cut-down) list.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

This was added onto the background made in GPP No 55 Disappearing Act

Happy crusading!

GPP No.56 ~ I’m a Believer

Last month (I’m a little behind!) Michelle Ward challenged us to review what kind of artists we are and what our artistic beliefs are, in Crusade no 56 – I’m a Believer.

Using a background created in a previous challenge, I’ve journalled my artistic beliefs.

Here are a few close-ups:

I do believe I am an artist!

Happy Crusading!

GPP No 55 ~ Disappearing Act – Scene II

I had so much fun yesterday with the GPP Crusade’s Disappearing Act challenge, that when I had a spare hour, I could have either written another article for MixedMediaArt.net OR done some more painting – the painting won out this Sunday morning!

After yesterday’s oranges and yellows, I felt more purple today.

First, a few quick backgrounds (and I DID remember to note the colours and combinations I used)

Then used the same stamps from yesterday

Adding in an art journal layout for good measure:

Some stamping neat, some stamping random…

Now I have a HEAP of backgrounds, so I was wondering, if anyone else has a heap, would you like to do a swap? I love seeing how different everyone’s backgrounds are and swapping would give us a chance to have a close-up look at others. If you are interested, send me an email at createmixedmediaart (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll work something out!

Happy Crusading!

(now to get the paint off my hands before heading to a conference this afternoon – maybe no one will notice!)

GPP No. 55 ~ Disappearing Act

Yet again, another interesting journey through this month’s GPP’s Street Team Crusade. Michelle has challenged us to take our previous paintings and use the same colours to create a Disappearing Act.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I started with my previous backgrounds made for the Mind Games Crusade. And even though I had lots of lovely backgrounds and the colours noted on cards, I hadn’t written down what colours I’d used and how I had mixed them. So I tried to replicate them  but wasn’t happy with the results.

*Note for young players* Write down colour combinations and how you got them!! DO NOT rely on memory!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Realising I was trying to do this “arse-about”,  I mixed up another batch of colours and noted which paints I used and the mixing ratios.

Then I re-made the backgrounds. As this method doesn’t take long to dry, it was easy to create a few backgrounds.

Then I was ready to get stamping!

And here are the results…

I also used a hand-made flower stencil. [Editors note: Just realised that I made this flower stencil for GPP No 19, way back in April 2008!]

The first few pages, I had a neat pattern, then I had a few more random stamping pages, and they looked much better, so I want back to the first ones and stamped randomly over the top of the neat patterns.

In my quest of using up ALL of my paint, I also dug out the tissue paper created in the last Crusade and added more random stamping. I was pleased with myself that I know when to stop! (A somewhat rare occurrence for me)

So there is another very fun Crusade complete!

Happy Crusading!

GPP No 54 ~ Mind Games

Last month we made new colours and named them – I had two goes with Spicy Cinnamon & Sunny Glow, then a range of Teals.  And this month, Michelle has gone COMPLETELY mad and wants us to create names, then make colours to match!

Sounds COMPLETELY mad, doesn’t it?!? AND COMPLETELY cool! and fun! So here is what I’ve thrown together for the Street Crusade No 54 Mind Games

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
GPP No 54 – Mind Games

Where to begin with creating names for colours before having the colours? Michelle had some suggestions; I was thinking about some of my favourite quotes and song lyrics. What caught my attention was a small object sitting my desk; I’m starting a new project next week and I will be learning all about making microphones, and I have a small, shiny disk on my desk that goes into a mircophone, hence where my train of thought ran (or derailed – whichever!)

Introducing:

Microphone Pop

Singing Rays

Pop-pop Beat

I am pleased with the mix of colours – the names seem a little crazy under the light of a new day (may be I shouldn’t be painting after 10pm after a stressful day!).  As I mixed the colours, I added some to an art journal layout (the ONLY page I had pre-gesso’d – UGH!)

And, of course, there was lots of paint left over, so lots of colour got added to text sheets for future projects.

Happy crusading! Thanks for leaving your comments and “likes”!

.

GPP No53 ~ Mad Scientists – Take II

I just had to have another go with this Crusade (GPP Crusade No53 – Mad scientist) and the bluey / green painting of Michelle Ward had seeped into my imagination, so that’s where I started with this.

It turned into an epic painting session, so for those who only want the highlights, I’ll put the colours and names first, then you are free to go.

For those that want all the details, then continue to scroll down!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
GPP No 53 – Mad Scientists

Started with blue, yellow and white, and a gesso’d art journal layout.

Then mixed 50/50, then mixed a colour between each of those.

Names
Cool Yellow – Grassy Green – Regal Teal – Dark Royal Teal – Cerulean Blue

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Epic Paint Session

Started with mixing colours and painting the art journal layout – not my usual style but it will do.

Then I had paint left over, so I pulled out some chipboard and painted in various colours to add to the layout later.

Still more paint – credit card painted a text sheet.

Mixed the colour together to get the mid teal and added a wash to another text page.

Still more paint …. what to do? Ahah! Pulling prints – pulled out more text pages from an old book, tore into pieces and added it into the paint. Little too much, then smudged in onto another text sheet.

Still more paint… what next? Ahah! Tissue paper – grabbed a handful, narrowly avoiding a pin left in it by my grandmother and avoiding injury. Added teal in a wash. Grabbed another brush with a bit of yellow and added highlights; another brush with blue.

Almost over… grabbed a sponge and added circles onto a text sheet…

That’s it ….. no more paint; AND it’s dinner time and I can hear the boys fighting – better clean up and get dinner ready!

Phew! What an epic paint session! What a mess! I can hardly get out of the room!

Thanks for getting to the end! Happy crusading!

.

.

GPP No 53 ~ Mad Scientists

Crusaders, this month we must go forth bravely and mix colours!

Michelle Ward has challenged us to create and name new colours in GPP No 53 – Mad Scientists.

As luck would have it, I have been doing a spot of paint mixing these last few weeks.

Firstly I created Spicy Cinnamon, to match some scrapbooking paper I’m using to create “Journal Jumps” (inspired by Samantha Kira Harding, Somerset Studio – March/April 2011 p84).

The paper is a dark red / maroon and my red paint needed quite a bit of terracotta (light brown) with a touch of darker brown and cream.

The second colour I blended was an attempt to make cream, which I was using for the background in my journal jumps. I’m almost out of Warm White and thought (?!?!) I could create an off-white blend by adding a little yellow / light bone to lots of white.

Sometimes I do really wonder what I was thinking! At times, it’s like my inner toddler just won’t believe it can’t work out just as I imaged it will! Having said that, I did really like the colour I came up with – it’s the depths of winter here and it was like a ray of sunlight had hit the page and brought a smile to my face. So I’m naming this colour Sunny Glow.

I liked this so much I even added a daub of colour into my sketchbook and added notes on how I had made it (unlike the Spicy Cinnamon, which I needed to replicate and hadn’t written down which colours or approx how much of each!)

Thanks for visiting, Crusaders ~ and to Michelle for creating another great challenge (I was a bit worried when I initially saw the wall painting!) This is so much fun. I’m sure I will do some more paint mixing before the month ends.

Happy Crusading!

P.S. Please leave a comment – I will be along to see your work soon!