Lynne Perrella

As I said in my last post I went to a workshop taught by LYNNE PERRELLA on Friday.

This is what I made!

 I really liked what Lynne called her "low tech" approach..........not using lots of  overly expensive "stuff".
I mean you have to buy some"stuff" but sometimes not so expensive "stuff" can look great too! And the other thing about using individual "stuff" is that your work doesn't then look like everyone elses! I have always liked to use found things in my work so this approach suited me!

Not to give anything away here as it is Lynnes workshop but I think I can tell you that that face started as a very un-promising looking photocopy that had most of us looking sideways at it! Lynne said that although we were learning her method of working our finished pieces should still look like WE made them. I hope you think this looks like I made it!

 There were lots of stamps available to use to make embellishments but I decided against that (as part of the individuality thing) and when I discovered a bag of black feathers what came to be known as my spirit bundles came into being!

 This brass number 2 is the only thing I have added since I came home......it was meant to be used as a house number on your front door.......again that "found" object thing!

No one here but us dunces!

Yesterday I went to a workshop with LYNNE PERRELLA.......it was good fun, I learned some new stuff, met up with new and old friends and generally had a good day out! My piece is NOT QUITE finished so I'll show it in the next couple of days when it is.

So in the meantime..................

 ...........MEET THE SKELLY DUNCES!

 They are appearing in my A4 journal......I printed them full size on A4 paper and they fill the page quite nicely! Ok, so I know they are heading towards the cute but they just about make it onto my whimsical radar!!

 Aren't they just the funniest things?
I saw them here on MANDYS BLOG (she is Lily of THE OCTOPDE FACTORY fames Mum!) and they made me smile! 

They are digi images from SILLYDILLYBEANS

Pumpkin anyone?

 

Wendy over at THE STAMP ATTIC sent me this Acrylic Shadowbox Frame Pumpkin to have a play with a while ago .......it has a back piece, three frame pieces and then an acrylic cover......you add paper, paint, stamp etc etc to it and then assemble the pieces together..............the only problem with that is that the acrylic cover is shiny and getting a good pic was nearly impossible........you could reflections of the camera, the rest of the room, me................so, I took it apart so you can see better!

 This is the inside and the frame sections.....................

 .....this is the acrylic cover with its added decoration........the leaf comes with the kit, in fact there are three of them......................

 .....this is inside with stamped STAMPOTIQUE bods......I 3deed them a little so they stood out better..........

 .....this is the leaf on the acrylic cover with added twisted wire and plastic spider......they are from the supermarket, amongst the Hallowe'en junk:)

Go over to THE STAMP ATTIC BLOG for more pics and details.

More birds

 This is my third piece as guest designer for 3D JEAN..............go over to their blog SCATTERED SCARLET to see more of the project.

These birds are by THE OCTOPODE FACTORY...............I think the bigger one looks like a budgie!

Is it a blackbird?

The theme this week on TAKE A WORD is BLACKBIRD.......I have a soft spot for blackbirds especially crows, I have to say:)

 I made this journal page as my entry.....not made a page for ages it seems so I treated myself and started a brand new A4 journal. In my other one I tend to work across a double page spread but in this one I'm going to work on single pages

 I used collage sheets from ARTCHIX STUDIOS for my background and the bird dolls........

 

and new pennant stamps from STAMP CAMP that I bought at the Port Sunlight stamp show yesterday!

Where ever I lay my hat?

It's ALTERED ALICE time again! If it seems to have come around again really quickly that's only cos I was so late with my piece last month!
Anyway onto this month where we are celebrating Mad Hatter Day in the USA.......Mad Hatter Day is determined by the label in the Hatters Hat so in the UK is June 10th and in the USA October 6th......any excuse to celebrate it twice!
Your challenge is to celebrate the Mad Hatter, and as OPTIONS you can use something that twinkles or shines AND/OR you can bring some spookiness into it since we are all having a "Twinkle twinkle little bat" sing-along around our mad tea table!

 

So I made my version of the Mad Hatters chair.......it seems he left the table and forgot his hat!

This month we are sponsored by new quintessentially English stamp company INDIGOBLU

I used three Hatter images from their 2 Alice stamp sets inside the spaces in the back of my chair and as we are in the Hallowe'en month I opted to add some bats!

 The Hatters hat hangs on the back of the chair...........along wth its usual price label it also seems to have acquired a bat!

 My bats are made from bottle caps( with bats printed on them) and wings from previous sponsor Stampotique.

Filling in time

Today I was working on a couple of things that I had to keep leaving for paint to dry or for glue to set so in the time between when both were not workable-on I made a card! 

This time last year I bought these kids skull thingies.......so today I took the skull off the purple heart, snipped the shank off the back, sanded it to get rid of the shiny bits and painted it......looks much better now!

 Makes a spooky alternative head for this bat figure from Stampotique!

I do love these pumpkins, also Stampotique!

Don't be scared, it's only a painted doll!

 I haven't joined in a challenge for AGES but when I spotted the theme on THE THREE MUSES this week I had to play along.......the theme is BOTTLES or JARS.

 I have something of an obsesssion with dolls heads just lately!

 And an ongoing obsession with skulls!

 Can you see them peeping out at you?

Isn't he cute with his big toothy grin??!!!

A skull with a moustache?

 

Yes, you heard me! A skull with a moustache!

I recently got this fab steampunk skull stamp along with a steampunk spider stamp and a set of moustache stamps......can see those being used LOTS.........and some Pan Pastels....a new favourite thing........from THE STAMP ATTIC........if you go over to 
THE STAMP ATTIC BLOG I have done a mini tutorial showing how I made these pages.

 The wire mesh is from the garden section of B&Q!

Watts Cemetary Chapel

 This weekend I headed south to Compton a lovely little village just south of Guildford and discovered this ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL place..........Watts Cemetary Chapel.......designed by Mary Watts the wife of Victorian artist George Watts (his newly refurbished and re-opened gallery is also in Compton and well worth a visit)

The outside is decorated with terraotta mouldings.....I really liked these owls!

Beautiful faces..................

 The entrance door surrounded by a choir of 15 angels.................

 .....and then the inside..............OH MY!!!

 Designed to represent The Tree of Life it is covered with BEAUTIFUL 3D raised decoration.....my pics don't do it justice.

 This is the celing...............

 Back outside in the GLORIOUS October sunshine there were some lovely tombstones in the graveyard.......here's just a few of them.

If you get chance to go please do, it was fantastic.