Making Acrylic Paint backgrounds

Yesterday I made my way to Balfron (near Stirling) to give a class on making acrylic paint backgrounds for the students of the Diploma Course in Creative Sketchbooks. This is a series of classes run by a friend of mine, Gillian Cooper and you can check them out on her website.

It was an adventurous day that started with a power cut at home. The next obstacle was the wet weather which made it necessary to stop in the lane to ascertain in various dips if I could get through the water with the car. The weather also made for heavy traffic congestion and it took me over 2 hours to reach my destination. When I phoned John to inform him of my arrival and to ask after Flora's wellbeing he didn't believe that I was parked in bright sunshine, although it was cold, with glorious views of snow on the hills.

I was there to teach how to make acrylic paint backgrounds for their sketchbooks. It's up to the students to then take such backgrounds forward and add their own unique touches to the pages. We made two projects and I worked alongside them for demonstration purposes. This is one of my pages. There is so much on this page but here are the main ideas.

We started with collage using vintage book pages, music sheets, wallpaper, vintage map etc. and one of the students even had a Chinese book and let us use the pages. No idea what it says but love the texture it gives to the page.

We added our paints (I used a gird like arrangement), then stamped and stencilled on the pages. I used an art foamie Ring Tic-Tac designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer for Art Foamies as well as a stamp from http://www.impressmenow.com/. I stencilled using stencils from The Crafter's Workshop as well as Stencilgirl Products(the large stencil from April 2016 Stencilgirl Club) and we also glued on bits of deli paper that we had stamped and stencilling earlier.

I will probably develop the background further in one of my future projects.

The traffic was just as bad on the way home (I'm so pleased I don't do this commuting lark on a daily basis!) but the welcome I received from my little dog was overwhelming. She remained glued to my side during the rest of the evening and at night.

Today we have practising (in a very small way) the COME command. It involved many little biscuits! And of course today is a gorgeously sunny day (although freezing cold).

Sketchbooks and Fabrics

The last couple of weeks haven't been the best  (and I expect the coming weeks to be more of the same), and I must admit that when the going gets tough I turn for my solace to the odd buying spree or two (or even more!).

So when I came across a picture posted on Facebook by one of my friends of a selection of sketchbooks by the Pink Pig Company I simply caved in and went for it and bought one of their Pig Parcels which for a mere £35 gives you much more than that in a box full of sketchbooks. What I love most about this was the fact that you get a wide variety of sizes that you don't usually see, from very dainty to gigantic. It's also a very good buy and if you are tempted yourself here is the place to go!

The sketchbooks are resting on a Garden of Earthly Delights piece of fabric, acquired this morning when I made my way to Biggar Stitches who are celebrating the first anniversary of the shop today. Again there were bargains galore and great discounts. I fell in love with the fabric range called The Garden of Earthly Delights (designed by Studio KM for Free Spirit) and you can expect to see the fabric in a project I have my eye on. I have never made a quilt from a pattern but I'm going to give it a go, just to see if I can. I tend to do my own thing pretty much all the time as far as quilting is concerned so this will be a challenge. Starting with fabrics you love is always a good way to begin anything. Biggar Stitches will be open all day so if you are nearby, pop in and see what you fancy!

Did all this indulgence make me feel better? Temporarily, yes!  But the effects aren't lasting and I know that it's up to me to turn my mood around, so I'm giving it my best. Time to grab needles or brushes and bury myself in art where for me I can find my ultimate salvation.