Playing around

Thought I would play around with the original scanned image of my' incisione su gesso'. think I will make a set of ATC's .

THE 3 S's

Hi there,
Here it's very hot and sunny and very, very humid, how about where you are?.

Sunday I went to a yahoo group meeting in Treviso, which is about 3 and a half hours by car from where I live. Luckily we were going against the traffic flow of people who were probably going to the beach, their side was chock-a-block, they weren't moving just stuck under the sun with that horrible heat............I really felt for them. I was in an air conditioned car and was sweating just looking at them all !!!!!!!!!!!.

Spent a wonderful afternoon creating and in my case CRAFTING , with a nice bunch of people. I took a mini course of INCISIONE SU GESSO, working with plaster , glue and paints . Lory the teacher was just fantastic and her work is out of this world. I had so much fun making different forms on the plaster ................can't wait to make more at home. Cris our host was definately the HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTESS................thanx Cris. Was nice to meet people I've chatted with on-line in person for the fist time.

Off to cool down under the air conditioner.................... I feel sorry for Betty our greyhound.........poor thing just keeps hitting that sack due to the heat and humidity.

Photo is of my creation I made in the mini incisione su gesso course, I've called it THE 3 S's, =
SUN, SAND & SEA


ciao ciao
crafty

ATCs DONE !!!!

At long last I've got all my ATCs finished and posted out to their rightful owner's. I've been really behind, due to hospital intervention and then getting my greyhound Betty and mainly dog sitting her .........................or could it be that's she's been owner sitting me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL LOL

I'm just glad that earlier on in the year I went through a period of ATC madness and made tons more ATCs than what I really needed, so therefore I've had a good reserve for emergencies.

Here it's really hot and sticky...............yuk !!!!! can't wait for September when the cooler weather arrives. This humid weather just sucks the energy out of me and all I want to do is .........................nothing !!!!! Now I have Betty the greyhound I have to take her out twice a day for her walkies....usually early in the morning or later in the evening............I come back tired and soaking wet from sweating.................wouldn't mind if I lost a couple of inches or pounds !!!!!!!!!!!!!.

off to cool off
ciao
crafty joan

CRAFT

Hi there,
I haven't posted for the last week as I've been very busy doggy-sitting my new greyhound Betty. The first couple of days I thought "boy have I made a big mistake?", but now she is settling in and I wouldn't be without her.

Have just had a couple of minutes to surf some sites and blogs and I noticed the name CRAFT, CRAFTY, being used an awful lot, it got me wondering " how many of the people using this name actually have the surname CRAFT ? " .

My surname is CRAFT and a lot of people just don't believe me when I tell them in the arts and craft world.........when they realize I'm not joking they find it a little amusing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The MINI AMULET PURSE is from a design by RONDA KIVETT of KIVETT STUDIOS, it didn't take long to do at all and I was very pleased with the finished item.

ADOPT A GREYHOUND

ADOPT A GREYHOUND

I finally decided to take the plunge and adopt a greyhound, that's her photo above. Her name's Betty and she's a 3 year old Irish grey. Have never had a dog in my life, so I'm jumping in at the deep-end so to speak. I hope she will be happy with her new home and family, I know it's going to be tough going for the first couple of months. Will have to start selling off some of my craft materials and art work to get some extra funds until , hopefully, I can find a part time job.

We go to collect her at a greyhound meeting on Friday.................I can't wait although I am a little nervous.

Will keep you informed....................I think my art wìork might take on the subject of greys !!!!!

DREAM FAIRY

Hi there,
Saturday night.................one son playing on the computer, another gone to the cinema, daughter gone to disco and hubby gone to the bar, so it's been a nice tranquil night for me to be crafty and create to my hearts content without being disturbed.

Here's what I've created this evening............a collage using the TRY IT TUESDAY backgroun technique. Must say I think I'm improving a little !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off to my friend Lara tomorrow afternoon.............we're going to have an afternoon of being crafty and creating. Will post and show you what we will have made

ciao ciao for now
crafty joan

ATC

Today I made this ATC ( artist trading card ) . but I'm not too sure if I like it. I seem to be going through this phase of 'I'M NOT SURE '.

Maybe I need to find my artistic self, maybe I need to learn and perfect more techniques, I keep questioning my work. This has all began since I decided to take part in ' Try it Tuesdays ' , thanx to the gals who started this it made me realize that I was doing the same thing over and over again and am in an artistic ru as to say. I had great fun trying the background technique for week 1 that I can't wait for week 2 and to learn something new.

I know my artwork is going to go to another level..............well I'm hoping so.
ciao ciao
crafty

TRY IT TUESDAY

This is my effort for the
'TRY IT TUESDAY' challenge.
This is the first time I've tried doing this type of background technique.

The canvas on the left was a wash done, with yellow, then ocra and then burnt umber, it didn't come out too bad for a first try but I felt something was missing.



The canvas on the right is the finished effort. What I did is I got hold of a Brilliance coral ink pad and added colour around the edges.........I got the effect that I wanted. I've called the collage 'MIO SOLE' = 'MY SUN'

H ave to say I'm proud of my self as I finally took the time to try something.....................one problem .....................as I'm more or less computer illiterate .............how do I upload the photos to take part in the challenge !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

STAR BOOK
hi there,
I'm finally back home after my gallbladder removal by keyhole surgery after the initial surgery and 24 hour stay in hospital I had a little pain which was to be expected but it continued to get worse and worse in the cut in the umbelical so after 3 days I returned to the hospital and after being visited was told that I had a bad infection that I had got during surgery...................another 5 days in hospital.

Can't really complain................didn't have to cook, clean or listen to the kids fighting and arguing all the time. As I 'm not like the model Twiggy, my belly button is ............well let's say deep...................the doctor who had to medicated the wound said it was like a DARK CAVE. !!!!!!CHEEKY THING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....so he had to go real deep down to medicate .....let's just say there was PAIN and tears and a student male nurse who had to leave the room during medication as he started to feel queezy and was ready to faint............. WHY? well the doctor had to pull out the garza that was inside my belly button but what with the infection etc the poor student thought he was pulling out part of my intestines !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! poor thing.....tho I have to admit it did look like it. Anyway the infection didn't spread inside to internal organs or in the blood stream so I'm not really complaining.

Am complaining about one thing tho, haven't been able to create since May 3rd........uuffaa...have to content myself by surfing and reading blogs.................WOW there is so much candy out there........just fantastic art work by great artists well known and those not so well known.

Above is a photo of my first STAR BOOK that I made , I made each page with a different technique like STAMPING, COLLAGE, DECOUPAGE etc.................it's a sample star book.
I just fell in love with them after seeing in on Lenna Andrews website one day.

Hope to start creating again soon
ciao ciao
joan

WORK IN PROGRESS

Hi there,
I'm busy creating at the moment as tomorrow I have to go into hospital for keyhole surgery to remove gallstones. I'm a little nervous NOT for the surgery but not to be able to create anything.................48 hours without creating..........will I manage it? Let's wait and see...................mind you I don't have much choice ....do I ? !!!!!

These earrings are made from shrink plastic / poly shrink, I coloured them with Brilliance ink first then shrunk them.

Pity we can't shrink away our excess baggage like that !!!!!!! now that would really be something...........a blast from a heat gun and voila 2 extra inches gone in a couple of seconds... WOW .

I wonder if I ask the surgeon tomorrow if he could cut a couple of inches off me.......................dream on Joan !!!

bye bye off to create some more.................eventually I will start preparing what I need for tomorrow.

INTOXICATED

Hi to everyone,
Has been a while since I last posted and here in Italy Public Holidays one after the other................I don't even know which day it is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Well, I had a peaceful pleasant Easter and didn't even eat a piece of chocolate...........a miracle .....how I did it I don't know !!!!!.

My friend Martina, who I met over the internet and then in person for the first time last year, has come down to Gatteo-Mare with her daughter Carlotta (4 1/2 )for a mini break. She has been lucky with the weather and Carlotta has been having a whale of a time playing on the beach. Matina is a great scrapper ( scrapbooking) and rubber stamper so I've taken the opportunity for free scrabooking lessons at home......crafty !!!!!!
She also explained to me how to work with shrink plastic / poly shrink as I was forever having disasters working with it.
Actually we have been exchanging techniques...............I've been teaching her how to make ATCs, make ALTERED BOOKS, and we tried working with tyvek for the first time. So we have been having an INTOXICATING time, in the sense of fumes and becoming addicted to working with the stuff.

Wednesday evening was spent at Lara's another scrapaholic, together with her better half Andrea ............who is a fantastic photographer. Lara is a great with graphics and computers and her scrapbooks are just fantastic. Her cooking is great too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

the photo is of a necklace made with shrink platic / poly shrink and hand made tyvek beads which were painted with metallic acrylic paints

DEA

Hi yer,
Today's not so nice so I decided to clear out some of my art and craft boxes. I came across some pre-made goddess body forms that I had previously made and also FLORA my DEA ( =goddess) of plants, trees and flowers, now she took me ages to make .. sewing all those little beads onto her body.

I entered her into an Italian hobby site online competion for BEADED FLOWERS AND TREES. I decided I wanted to do something different to the usual beaded flowers, bonsai trees and bead crochet, but I was unsure as I knew she would not be to the typical Italian style . I was really surprised when my DEA was placed ninth in the category of the most voted on-line.

After finding her I've decided that if I find some time over the Easter Holidays I'll try and make some more, this time I would like to try stamping or painting the body form first and adding beads afterwards. When done I will post a photo of it.

Have to decide what to cook for the FEASTIVE holidays...............think I'll do lasagna.

ON THE BEACH ATC

Here is my ATC 'ON THE BEACH' . It's been painted in watercolours.

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Here it is a wonderful day, blue sky, sunshine and warm. I've been sitting outside listening to a U2 Cd and having a nice cuppa tea and getting some sun, during summer it's just impossible as I have very fair skin which burns very easily, so I might as well make the best of itwhile I've got the chance.

If it continues like this hopefully we will get the chance to go for a walk along the beach and have an icecream over the Easter holidays. I'm not a great lover of festive holidays as everyone seems to go crazy doing the festive shopping, too many people pushing and shoving , buying more than what they really need as everyone is worrying ' will I have enough till the shops open ?'.

I wanted to include an image but the system won't let me at the mo, so I'm posting the blog instead

AMERICAN MAGAZINES

Today, after finally managing to upload an image with my posting, it's been a peaceful lazy day. My American magazine CPS ( cloth paper scissors) and Legacy arrived , so I made a nice cuppa tea, plonked myself down on the sofa and had a nice read and be in awe at the wonderful images that jump out from within the mags, they have contributions from so many wonderful artists . Cloth , paper, scissors is a magazine relating to mixed arts, fibre and paper married together with great finished pieces of art, Legacy on the other hand is a magazine that relates to heritage using a mixture of techniques great for artist who are tracing the family tree.

I really love the American arts and crafts scene, it was by chance that I stumbled upon the mixed media sector. I started joining different on-line groups and surfing the web for information and looking at the maze of links to be visited....................24 hours in the day were not enough for me!!!.

The American and Australian artists have been really great to me, being so kind and helpful giving out tips where needed even sending me surprises in the post , as some things I just can't find here in Italy, I have made some really great friends over the years but there are two that really struck a cord with me...............one day I hope I get the chance to meet them....
their names are STACIE RIFE of www.baileysbliss.com and TRACY ROOS of www.tracyroos.com, apart from being the sweetest and kindest of gals they are also really talented artists who have inspired me.... and still do, I read their online journals daily.

I might as well say hi to them HI STACIE, HI TRACY.

Ah well I suppose I better go and get on with some housework otherwise I'll be in the dog house.
My artwork is done in watercolours and is titled 'STRAWBERRY FIELDS' .

ciao ciao
crafty
joan

I DID IT !

I DID IT! Yes , I actually did it...........did what?...... I actually managed to upload an immage together with my blog..................don't scoff ...... for me it's a miracle.....there's hope for me yet!!!!!

Not much to say as I'm lost for words for what I've just achieved

I've uploaded an image of one of my ATC s ( artist trading cards ) that I made a couple of years back, titled 'WHEN IN ROME'.

Now that is what I call SERENDIPITY..


ciao ciao have a great day.
joan

BEAUTIFUL DAY

Here in Cesena it is a beautiful spring sunny day. This morning I decided to go to the town market to buy some new clothes , I'm a little on the large size so it's a little difficult to find something that is fashionable in my size...... and not too expensive ! I was amazed at the prices... who said markets are cheaper !!!!!!!!!!!. After walking around and around for some time I eventually came across a stall with reasonable prices.....the stall owner was pleased to find out I was English, as she is frequenting an English course for adults, so she was over the moon that she could try out her English with a mother tongue speaker., needless to say I received a very good discount from her !!!.
I then decided to go to my friends shops, one has a shop where she sells beads, charms, findings etc for making bijoux..........she is so creative with such wonderful ideas , her dress jewelry is to die for. She loves to try and imitate my English accent....but I get my own back by doing the same with her Italian romagnolo accent (Emila-Romagna is a region in the north east of Italy, Bologna is the regions capital city ). Next door to her is my other friend's shop has all conected to the world of paper...entering his shop is majic, you feel as if you are being transported back in time, he has fountain pens , the old style writing exercise books, hand made albums made from handmade paper and much much more He's even caught the SCRAPBOOKING bug which is sweeping through Italy, the Italians have a tendancy to follow the latest fad ...this goes for all sectors, we have been going through a period of decoupage and bijoux for the last couple of years, so it's nice to see a change .
I could stay all day in these type of arts and crafts shop all day I just feel so relaxed and feel as if I don't have a care in the world. ah well tomorrow off to 'PLANET CREATIVITY' a craft fair for retailers only.......roll on sunday.
Tonight I'm off to have a pizza with some off my friends who have come down to Planet creativity as demonstrators...............and I complain about outsize clothes !!!!!!

Serendipity blogger

I've become a SERENDIPITY blogger...........it all happened by chance. Everything that I will write will be SERENDIPITY , by chance, it will entirely depend on my mood of the day. I'm useless at using the computer .........so hoping that I will be able to post every now and then....I'm brain drained just opening this blog................ah well ...what will be will be.
ciao ciao
joan