Luonnonmateriaaleja / the natural world

Jehkottaren #6-haasteeseen osallistuminen meni viime metreille, sillä lupaavan alun jälkeen en tiennyt miten jatkaa.
Sekoitin sahanpurua, valkoista akryylimaalia ja valkoista liimaa ja tein siitä eräänlaista kohopastaa. Sitä levitin reilulla kädellä sapluunan läpi valmiiksi maalatuille korttipohjille. Pasta kohosi ja kohosi kun sahanpurut imivät itseensä nestettä ja turposivat. Kun olin alkuun suunnitellut kollaasia, ei tämä nyt ollutkaan mahdollista. Piti siis vaihtaa suunnitelmat ja ryhtyä tekemään korttia pohjan ehdoilla.

Koska pohja oli jo kolmiulotteinen päätin jatkaa samalla linjalla.

Näistä tuli unenomaisia ja hieman maagisia (vrt. aamupostauksen peurat). Oksista riippuu kaikenlaista mielikuvituksen matkalla tarvittavaa.

You can hardly see the thin copper wires that I have used to hang objects from the twigs. I hung items one might need on a journey to a dream land.

Dream big and follow your heart.

Close your eyes, open your mind.

Spread your wings and jump!

This was my mad adventure into 3D. The stuff for background stenciling was mixed by yours truly: a concoction of white glue, white acrylic paint and sawdust. The sawdust was rather coarse and as it took in the liquid from paint and glue it just kept expanding.

August Flowers

How I wish that I would have all the crafting supplies at my fingertips that I could ever wish for! Don't you?  I imagine that being a lot of fun.
But then again, it might just be a pain to remember everything you have and look for them.

So I decided to see how precious little I could get away with. Just for fun, for a challenge. Work with a kind of "make-do" attitude.

First I sanded some cardstock and painted this with "linen" acrylic. Then I chose my products: one stencil, three colors and some small colored scraps in those colors. I took two geometric stamps (circles, chevron) and a book page. (And then I felt like I had much too much product already. Where did the downsizing go??)
And finally I chose three challenges.
Let's see.

I stamped the backgrounds through the punchinella in pink and yellow, then added stamping with green ink and the chevron stamp.

Bloom where you are planted

Next I took the circles stamp (Rubberdance Art) and the book page, stamped all sizes, then repeated this onto some yellow and pink scraps. I cut them out and set aside.

Create the world you want to see

Using the chevron stamp and green ink I stamped onto the green paper, then drew freehand stems and leaves and cut them out.
I assembled my cards, and as a finishing touch added some sentiments or affirmations.

Flowers dancing together

entering into:
Mix it Monthly: Mixed Media Flowers
Lost Coast Portal to Creativity: #15 Circles
RubberDance Art: August challenge

Hot hot hot

It's time for bathing and beach life...

... these beauties come directly from the sizzling Seventies...

"Soleil." - Masculine or feminine?

Give the poor chap a chance.

Not that these ladies do... So all we can wish for them is:

Shine on - you are beautiful

This series was inspired by a few challenges into which I would like to enter:
TioT: hot colors
Lunagirl: Retro Summertime
Stampotique: SDC205 stamped background using household materials

I started with cards cut from a yoghurt container. The background color was unified first with some orange ink, then stamped with bubblewrap and the insides of paper rolls in red acrylic paint.

The Omnipresent Mr Sherlock

I was very inspired by a couple of challenges and created this:

It shows the many faces of Sherlock Holmes.
Indeed, he can be a very dapper gentleman, fashionable in his top hat, or walk the streets looking ordinary in his homburg and plain clothing, or indeed, wear no hat at all.

I wanted to explore grunge and therefore used a restricted and darkish color palette (brown, white and black), plenty of stamps (Crafty Individuals, Tim Holtz and Artistic Outpost, all done on separate paper, fussy cut and colored in), pieces of a vintage tape measure, a clear acrylic tile, a puzzle piece, a key brad - all mounted on brown background made with India ink, acrylics and pencils.

linking up with these challenges:
Fashionable Stamping Challenge: #101 It's about Men
Die Traumfabrik : #21 Sherlock Holmes
Crafty Individuals: Face Value
Simon Says Monday Challenge: anything goes

and joining ArtJoyStuff July ATC swap with these cards. The theme is Grunge (Tim Holtz style). I am not exactly sure what TH style is, except perhaps plenty of layering? But at least this is grunge (right?).
I am so happy to have found an international swap - yay!

Simon says: Bake!

... No, not really, they only tell you to use x, y or z at Simon Monday Challenge Blog. (I chose y for yellow.) I have never entered before, I wonder if stamping is obligatory? Well, I'll be bound to find out.
So it's vanilla custard yellow for color as it pairs very well with my intended theme of baking.

I have had these bakery-themed photos for ages, received in a swap. On their own they are too large for the ATC format, so I decided to make it a triptych.

I am also entering this triptych into into The Mirror Crack1d 's May challenge.

Kesää kohti mennään ja leipomuksia peräänkuulutetaan TJK 21-22:ssä, onhan toukokuun loppu suurinta leipomiskautta kun on kaiken maailman valmistujaisia ja lopettajaisia. Mutta miksi tyytyä yhteen kakkuun, kun leipomossa voi tehdä niitä kymmeniä? Näin minä tuumin, ja rupesin hommiin.  Muinoin säästämäni pahvinen kakkulaatikko sai uutta käyttöä korttipohjina. Lisäsin kaikenlaista kivaa skräppiä erilaisista tarvikevaihdoista, maalailin hieman taustaa ja eritoten nuo kirjaimet. Ne olivat alunalkaen mustaa muovia. Ne saivat päälleen akryylimaalia ja vielä suojalakkaa.
Kortit ovat vapaina vaihtoon, mielellään menossa samaan kotiin. Olisi kiva vaihtaa toiseen triptyykkiin eli kolmen yhteenkuuluvan kortin sarjaan.