ArtAffair

Moving

2009-12-21T20:25:00.002Z

I have moved to www.cheappsychology.wordpress.com which will soon point to my very own cheap psychology domain - maybe Santa is going to buy it for me :)

Not sure about this one

2009-09-02T10:44:00.003+01:00

Your comments would be appreciated. Gary says it is fine as it is and I agree on one hand, on the other I have the urge to put more on. What ya thinking?

New puppy had a little go at this picture too - she made those little bumps. What a talent!!

Husband with hair portrait

2009-08-03T13:15:00.004+01:00

Another portrait, this time slightly different.

I have only known my husband with a shiny head. He does not seem the man I married in that picture :) Anyway, I love the relationship that shines through between these two university friends who still are today.

I think this is a good way to show off an otherwise difficult to display photo.

I believe I can fly

2009-07-28T07:30:00.003+01:00

I believe I can touch the skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Oscar the cat is clearly ready to take off and believes he can do it! ...... just as soon as he lifts his big butt off the floor .............

Even though I have grown fond of Oscar and his message, he will be up for sale. Husband commented that it is a good thing that I like my pictures enough to want to keep them. It is a double edged sword I reckon.

Puffins

2009-07-26T16:28:00.000+01:00

This is a canvas I was in two minds about. One part of me loves it, the other wants to do some more work on it. It got snapped up by an artist I admire very much - she wants to swap it for one of her pieces. Who am I to argue???

Poetry

2009-07-26T13:21:00.000+01:00

I did this for a friend who writes special event poetry to order. She has a stand at an exhibtion today and I hope it goes well. The poem is © Presence in Poetry and more of her work can be seen here http://www.presence-in-poetry.co.uk/

Click on the pictures for a larger image

Portraits

2009-07-26T10:06:00.001+01:00

My own Tony is now joined by his own Gisela - my sister and brother-in-law look simply marvelous. Their children are next as soon as I get some suitable head shots. My niece has already decided she will wear her horse costume (?!!) for her stint on canvas. Fits in nicely I reckon - they are a great family and I love them to bits.

Starry starry night commission

2009-07-14T17:01:00.000+01:00

So you learn a lot when you ask other people for their favourite song lyrics. Never realised that Starry starry night was about Vincent van Gogh for example. Anne has many reasons to be close to Vincent and explaines about the connection here

I was not sure about this canvas until I had a go at ruffing it up a bit. Now I really like it – looks great on a wall and was great fun to do.

One down - nine to go

The commission I asked myself for

2009-07-08T17:21:00.000+01:00

I have asked over 10 people for a commission to get me in the groove and fullfill my impossible goal I have set for myself in July to fill my (very long) hallway with my artwork ready for a vernissage in September.

I have asked them to give me a line from their favourite song so I can create a canvas around that. I so enjoyed the ones I did for my husband which I posted here. I never thought that most people will have great difficulty to chose one. But they are slowly coming in now and I have been working on them.

Today I finished my commission I had an order in for myself. I wanted to do something around the many many ideas I keep producing and then perhaps not do the most with them (for all sorts of reasons - but a lot of it is doubts). I LOVE how it came out and it really speaks to me.

Added it as an entry to the Wednesday Stamper Challenge

Happy

2009-06-12T10:27:00.000+01:00

I got my first comission wrapped up and into the mail. Just hope the client likes it! I was managing expectations when he placed order and hope it is what he will be happy to give to his friend.

Sardines anyone?

2009-05-27T00:11:00.000+01:00

I have wanted to do something with this text:

If you run the rat race,
If you win in first place,
A rat is all you will be.

But I could not get the right inspiration. I try collaging rats, drawing rats, thinking laterally about rats for months but I came up with nothing.

The text is a favourite line out of a song my husband likes and his birthday was coming up...... and I was eating sardines for lunch and suddenly...............

It became his birthday card with some personal messages and he loved it.

Fish food bucket + Juice Cartons

2009-05-26T17:01:00.000+01:00

are the basis of my next flower pot. Loved making this with the metalic insides of milk & juice cartons, stamping, embossing, alcohol inks and simulated liquid leading.
Before:

After:

More flower pot play

2009-05-25T19:45:00.000+01:00

have really enjoyed playing the last couple of days. Recycling is so much fun and my head is spinning with possiblities. Here is another of my flower pots - so cute, the blue beads are made of felt.
Before:

After:

Challenge

2009-05-24T10:59:00.001+01:00

I have given myself the challenge to play one hour every day with my art and finally overcome my perfectionist tendencies which are not helpful! I have wanted to spruce up the pots in the garden for some time so they are going to be the subject of my mixed media attention for this week as they need planting up. First one came out quite cute and has a message to me about Cheap Psychology.

Chandeliers

2009-05-08T15:22:00.000+01:00

Long time no post! But I have been doing some pretty stuff, just have not been taking any pictures of it. I blame our wonky camera! At the moment I am big into recycling and have been experimenting with fish tins and the inside of drink cartons which open up amazing possibilities.

Today I found a new banner by the very generous http://www.shabbyblogs.com. I LOVE chandeliers. I want one in the kitchen and a bathroom with a ceiling high enough so I can put a huge one over the bathtub. Perfect banner for me then!

Will take some pictures soon and also give my art business a kick or two in the proverbials so that I can see some turnover.

Dare Me - Metal Frame

2008-12-03T10:22:00.000Z

I made this at the first craft course I have ever been to and finished it today (inspired by Wednesday Stampers dare which was metal) - maybe I manage a couple more metal items this week as I am hooked - soooo many possibilities. I have always lusted after the beautiful arty projects I see advertised in America and I finally found Linda Brown from LB Crafts Ltd and Leandra French from Paper Artsy who put together this day. All I can say is WOW!!

I can not follow a recipe to save my life. Be it cooking or anything crafty - I always end up doing it differently. But because there were so many interesting techniques and limited time, I followed the instructors quite closely. I just changed the sentiment on the frame to remind me to give myself a daily dare (it will hang above my desk). The result is simply stunning and I can not recommend their courses highly enough. Great instructors, fabulous room set up with tons of equipment and materials to use. I was sitting with a group of women who are regulars and they could not stop singing their praises.

They have got a whole weekend course coming up next year...............

Fab background paper for star swap

2008-10-17T13:49:00.000+01:00

I had some of the paper left over I had created for the swirls and crow ATC so I decided to use it for a star swap I am participating in here

I still seem to be in my glittery green and blue phase - I so want to create something dark and mysterious. To that end I have joined here and 'dark' is the theme of my next project. Wish me luck and dark thoughts.

paper cutting

2008-10-01T21:35:00.000+01:00

This week I am big into cutting out swirls. There are two layers of them on these ATC's which gives the card great texture. I even allowed myself to do some handwriting - not totally thrilled by that but I like the sentiments.

Think Monday -Think ATC Handwriting

2008-09-17T00:04:00.000+01:00

Great challenge! As I do not like my own hand writing, I always find a way around it

Not the most accomplished of bloggers

2008-09-10T14:00:00.001+01:00

But I do have a good sounding excuse at least.............................

I have nearly completely recovered from an operation and got my mojo back when I took part in a weekend challenge to produce some ATC's. It was a lovely, gentle and non threatening way to get myself painting, glueing and trading. Here is my favourite of that batch

the rest are here:

http://www.atcsforall.com/forum/gallery/index.php?u=511

Upwards and onwards........................

Travel Journal

2008-04-17T08:53:00.000+01:00

On Theme Thursday the challenge is stripes.
These travel journal covers are made from a recycled cardboard box. I die cut the hinges from a tin - I probably will not try that again with a food tin. The metal is a little too thick and when I managed to cut it, the edges were dangerously sharp. I nearly took my finger off. Best option is drink cans, the metal is much thinner and the edges can easily be sanded down.

Altered cabinet card

2008-04-16T15:20:00.000+01:00

I have been looking for somewhere to use this bit of rubber !

Create!

2008-04-16T13:56:00.001+01:00

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.'

Mark Twain

Inspire Me Thursday - Envelopes

2008-04-16T00:18:00.000+01:00

Oh, I like envelopes nearly as much as bird houses. I finally found a cheap paper source that can stand up to my abuse with lots of paint and glue and stuff without shrivelling up - long live my lovely die cutting machine. Envelopes are so much easier to alter when they are unglued.

This envelope will go into my journal and be stuffed full with my 'not sure if I dare dreams'

Look here for more ideas others came up with.

Sisters

2008-04-14T08:37:00.000+01:00

This is one of my self imposed commissions to get myself making art. The other two are still in the works so to speak and are challenging the hell out of me.

This is my beautiful sister. Love how this one came out

Have a look on take part tuesday for more faces

monocles

2008-04-10T13:23:00.000+01:00

One of my prize possessions is a box of antique optician test lenses which have been quietly gathering dust. Some I made myself use (trust me - these things are NOT easy. I even am reluctant to cut up a beautiful piece of paper) on the ampersand from the last post and two more are used here. I am not sure about these two. I like the first better than the second and wonder if I should take the torsos away completely and finish them with tiny caricature bodies. Or are they complete crap?

Ampersand & ATC's

2008-04-03T14:22:00.000+01:00

I enjoyed making this, even though I liked it more than the recipient (men !!!! ;-) It expresses what I think of some of his marvelous traits. On the back of each lens is a dictionary cut out with more text.

And here are some ATC backgrounds I made for a swap. The idea is that somebody else somewhere in the world finishes the ATC off with their own art.

Evolution or unable to stop when it is enough?

2008-03-25T08:29:00.000Z

As I am playing more I am getting more done and probably becoming a bit more daring too. My mantra is, layers are good and gesso is my friend!

Had another go at a couple of canvases.
This one was far too tame last time. Now that I slashed the canvas (I can recommend that highly - it is very therapeutic) and grunged it up it had a much better feel to it. And after listening to the song lyrics again, I am also thinking about adding razor blades and barbed wire.

This one was way too empty too. The notion that I should wear clean underwear because I could get into an accident just makes me giggle every time I think of it. So if there was no chance of an accident our parents and grandparents would have walked around in dirty knickers???
So I have added those three guys - they have a slightly ethereal look coming out of that bath tub. This canvas will also be in the works a bit longer, there is still stuff missing. I am sure it will come in time.

A canvas just for me

2008-03-17T17:46:00.000Z

I did not like the purple canvas with the tea pot on it from a couple of posts ago. So I ripped off what I had stuck on and used the famous Duerer wing to make something that was just for me.

The quote I added is by A A Milne and reads:

Still you wait and will not try
A bird with wings who dares not rise and fly

Canvas transfers

2008-03-17T17:07:00.000Z

I am finally getting in the swing of it. Gary's birthday was a great opportunity to finally nail a technique where I can transfer pictures onto canvas. Whenever I tried before I ended up in a soggy mess - but with the urgent need to whip up some birthday presents I managed to make them work. I am always coming back to pictures and words - its my thing. One seems so lonely without the other. Now be warned, Gary does have eclectic tastes in music - I asked him to give me some favourite lines from his favourite songs. And I had strange images coming to me when I set about combining the words with visuals.

I LOVED making these, so much fun!

Don' stop me now....

2008-02-25T17:05:00.000Z

I am having a good time, having a good time........

Sometimes I miss those head banging days!
I love the simplicity of an image and some unexpected words.

My first canvas

2008-02-24T21:59:00.001Z

This blog seems to chronicle many firsts for me. It is quite a journey 'coming out creatively'

Thank god for gesso - I had to take out a frightening monstrosity which in my head was going to be this funky metallic duck. A case of imagination overtaking skill levels.................

I will work out how to take pictures of pictures as well one day

Fairy Artmother

2008-02-12T23:59:00.000Z

If I had one this is what she would look like:

Considering that I think I am pretty much unable to draw anything - I quite like her. Perhaps she is in my life already. Flitting in and out with glasses of red wine (purely for medicinal purposes you understand), mad advice and even madder schemes. She really is growing on me!

Baby Box

2008-01-09T18:02:00.000Z

The baby box is one of my very first products I ever sold. Great gift item for new parents and grand parents! The box itself is sturdy and covered in beautiful paper and is hand embellished It contains a scrapbook, papers, embellishments, ribbons, photo corners and die cuts. Can you spot those very tiny knitted jumpers spilling out of the box?

These two boxes were commissioned for Christmas and I gave them both a different look.

I will put a couple of boxes in my etsy store next week and see what happens

Do I need a doctor?

2008-01-09T17:51:00.000Z

I simply can not stop making these little bird houses. This time they are for a Valentine's Ornament Swap that is winging its way to the US as I type. I am not a particularly gooey person so I had to include my favourite 'Love is'
quote on the birds nests. It makes me smile every time. I hope others can appreciate my sense of humour.

First book binding

2007-12-05T17:11:00.000Z

My lovely friend Elisa got married this summer and I wanted to give her a journal to use for her pictures or perhaps as a diary of her marriage or maybe something entirely different. I am sure she will find a good use for it!

So I set about binding my first book. It really is not that difficult to get started and whilst it was not perfect, I was very pleased with my first effort!

I had this gorgeous suede like paper in a rich brown with gold print. The texture of this paper is very unusual, I could stroke it all day. It was part of a monthly box of goodies I recieve from clubstamp
There is no choice and it is part of the fun to open the box and discover what it contains this month. Obviously I like some box contents more than others. In that particular month I loved everything! Also included was this little trinket box project.

Colourful notepads

2007-12-04T18:38:00.000Z

These are great fun to make! I die cut them from complimentary paper and mountboard. The covers on this one are embossed black paper finished of with some lovely ribbon and a chain. They would fit in any handbag or look lovely on a desk just to jod down notes.

This one is looking for a new owner, leave me a message on this mail and I will draw a name out of the hat beginning of January 08

Ornament swap

2007-12-04T16:46:00.000Z

I just finished my ornaments for this 2007 ornament swap and am very happy with them. Mainly because I managed to use a lot of recycled materials like the beads from a friends old jumper and the wire I took out of a broken Chirstmas tree light last year. Love the wallpaper I used - it made it to the final selection when I chose the wallpaper for my (nearly) newly decorated living room.

I used a couple of new dies I have just bought and die-cut the shapes from mount board. My die-cut machine is just wonderful. It takes a variety of dies and thicker materials. I am really only limited by my imagination.

There I was beavering away today and the plumber (who has ripped the entire ground floor of my house open this morning) walks past my desk and says matter of factly 'Oh, you are an artist'. Bless! If he was not already charging handsomely for his work I would have given him an extra fiver.

yes I do have a personality

2007-11-30T18:24:00.000Z

I am a sucker for personality tests. Like I need confirmation that it is ok to be the way I am............

Here is a test I really like because of the visual way it let me find my place on the scale - lots of knobs and slights to move!

I think, however, benevolent is an unfortunate word to chose to describe anybody other than Mother Theresa or the like.... But on the upside it confirms that I am creative - if they say it, it must be true!

Increasing Creativity

2007-11-22T11:43:00.000Z

I have always been able to come up with a huge amount of ideas on any given topic. If I am honest, there are usually too many to act on. The reason I like swaps is because they help me by giving me some guidelines and often a theme. The narrower the guidelines and topic, the easier it seems to get it done. Below are pictures of an ATC swap (Artist Trading Cards for the uninitiated) where we had to use 'googly eyes'.

My enthusiasm for combining words and pictures took over and I came up with some ATC's I still love months later (that is quite an accomplishment for me!). English is such a great language to play with words, something I do miss in the German language. Here are the ATC's I came up with:

I wonder if they would make interesting greetings cards? There are more ideas where that came from.

The moral of the story is to create a fairly tight frame work when I am trying to come up with an idea

2007-11-20T10:58:00.000Z

Anne and I have been talking much about earning money with what we love doing. Of course that is easier said than done when you are self-employed.

I loved my 20 year career in hotel & catering until nearly the end. I used to go to work well in excess of the required 40 hours and often did not take the holidays owed to me. I used to be passionate about the people I worked with and providing great service for our customers. I held on to my passion much longer than most but finally the ‘corporate straight jacket’ got to me and sucked my enthusiasm out of me bit by bit. I was not going to do go to work like the walking dead so I handed in my notice without knowing exactly what I would do next! It would definitely have been more lucrative for me in the short term to stay employed but in the long term I would no longer have been able to be me.

Giving up working like a maniac meant I could find the life I was passionate about. Never known to make life consciously easy for myself I took a variety of routes to happiness after I left my corporate career and ended up with having tried out many things I can make money with, I found the love of my life, I worked on my personal development, I did a 500 mile walk, I met a lot of amazing people and have a big network

So here are the things I am passionate about and earn money with today:

I love writing my own material and work as a trainer on personal and business development subjects. I do this most successfully when I work with a partner. My sister I work closely together here and at the moment we are recording one of our live teleseminar courses to sell as a download option.

My husband is to be blamed for my next passion! He got me into playing poker. I only ever played for fun until he entered us both into a $ 100 poker tournament on New Year’s Eve 2006. I had never played for cash, so it came quite as a surprise when I won the tournament and over $ 6500 dollars. After that I continued playing small cash tournaments for fun, not earning a great deal of money but holding my own and learning a lot. Last week after much encouragement from Gary I decided to take it more seriously and try to earn a small income from playing poker. So I play more regularly and keep account records of my ‘work’. My goal is to make $ 500 in the next couple of weeks. Only $ 260 to go!! Best thing is that poker is tax free in the UK

Last but not least there is art and craft. I discovered the joy of creative creating not that long ago and am still amazingly shy about it. Doing swaps has helped to get me out of my anal self-analysis to ‘JFDI’ when a swap dead line is looming. My goal is to crank up my craft business and make some money with it, but also do swaps and grow my confidence and skill.

I KNOW I should only concentrate on one thing and do that well and I have tried for the longest time to do that. I have finally got to admit to myself that that is not going to happen for me. I will always suggest to others who want to start in business for themselves to find a niche and become an expert. I stand by that. It makes business life much easier, more manageable and the likelihood of success much greater. But if that is not working for you, do something else!

Skinny Book swap

2007-10-07T15:23:00.000+01:00

Loved doing that swap - I got carried away with numbers for some reason. Just could not stop doing the backgrounds with them.
The pages went out beginning of October and I just hope they left the UK before the postal strike started on Thursday - if not I am really worried because there will be another strike tomorrow and Tuesday.

But lets hope for the best! I have uploaded my pages to flickr
Here some of my favourite pages:

New directions

2007-08-25T12:41:00.000+01:00

I was considering starting this with a soap box moment, saying what I think is wrong with the world – you know: selfishness; need for instant gratitude; thinking one is worth more or better than others due to wealth, religion or status; inability to be grateful for what is there...but I think I skip that, mainly because I am guilty of some of those myself.

I set up my art & craft business four years ago and have produced a lot of different things. Lack of ideas is truly not one of my problems. I always felt I had not found a distinct 'style' yet and that was a good way of stopping myself to go out there and sell more! So I have decided on promoting the large album boxes I do have in stock and for new products concentrate on my great love at the moment: hand-made journals & albums.

One of my goals is to recycle items in my work - so if you have something knocking about for which you have no use, let me know! You will see what I mean when I start putting up completed products.

There will also be regular give-aways so do come back often!

a public affair

2007-08-16T17:11:00.000+01:00

is what I am attempting. It took me a while to get to this point!

Considering that I am an opinionated and self-confident woman, my dithering and procrastinating to get a blog and a shop going has been quite pathetic.

No longer – I am coming out!

What I love most is putting words and pictures together. I often can see funny connections or twist and image or wording to bring out some humour. Whilst I am not great at drawing or sculpting I think I have a good eye and combining things is my forte.

I am never happy to follow a recipe to the letter. I will always adjust weights and ingredients. I am a seriously bad follower of instructions and will only read them when forced by extreme circumstances. I loath repetitive tasks and am always looking for new ways of doing things.

My library of art and crafts books, magazine and artist blogs is large – I tend to only look at pictures and sometimes skim over the how to. I can identify when others write from the heart about their personal journeys of struggle and growth in trying to express themselves.

So my aim with the blog is to share my ideas and attempt to be as generous with my ideas, words and images as the many people that have inspired me to get to this point.