Friday 20 October 2023
A Short Update with Invites to some DT Projects (and then some)
Friday 20 January 2023
Self Made Winter Decoration with Tim Holtz dies and Quarterly StencilGirl Column Invite
To fix the fir branches to their spots I first drilled a hole (using a hand drill) to insert the cut to size branches into, filling the hole with tacky glue. I also added more grip paste around these little "trees" as an additional support.
Sunday 13 November 2022
A Short Creative Update
Hi, servus and thanks for stopping by!
I hope you are all doing well and are looking forward to enjoying a lovely Advent season!
I have been having a hard year to be honest - health-wise. Luckily the new home in our house near the lake and my garden are great sources for happiness, so gardening, hiking (or rather taking walks), riding my kayak and simply being out in nature have been helping with keeping me healthy on the mental side at least.
I have also taken on a new hobby that is a perfect means to deal with inner restlessness - archery! My husband and I found we have an archery club nearby and it is located in a most beautiful corner there a ten minutes drive away. Spending time on the shooting range (or the 3D shooting course), trying to focus on the perfect motion sequence and the tension of your body and then letting go just feels so calming and it brings the shaking of my hands and mind to rest.
I have also started to write again - poetry mainly. It also is something that calms the mind and it is a creative process too - I am painting with words in a kind of way.
I haven't spent a lot of time in my studio this year - being ill for such a long time, crafting and being creative with stamps, paints, stencils and all the other mixed media goodness just wasn't what appealed to me and my restlessness and shaky hands weren't helpful either.
BUT...I still have been creating projects for StencilGirl Products and PaperArtsy and is always quite a rewarding thing to do. I mostly do home decor pieces for the new home at the moment and being able to plan and make these in my own pace also makes it easier for me to not get panic attacks the moment I enter my studio.
So to get to the core of his little update, I would like to present both new projects and the links to the according posts on the StencilGirl Talk blog and the PaperArtsy Blog:
For StencilGirl I created a little canvas, collaged with stencilled tissue paper elements. I needed something to go on the wall near the fireplace that matched the colours of the metallic grey and the rocking chair grey as well as the wooden wall...
The other project that has just gone live on the PaperArtsy Blog is a cloche displaying an autumnal arrangement of stamped leaves, paper beads and dried seeds and twigs.
I also used their fabulous Rusting Powder and some Infusions. How? Find out by clicking here:
Paper, Seeds and Twigs - Autumnal Cloche
There's some cool techniques there to check out and of course a lot of steps and detail images as well.
I hope to see you there!
Stay healthy and enjoy the last days of this beautiful autumn!
Claudia
xxx
Sunday 19 June 2022
A Leftovers-Mixed Media-Assemblage Piece for PaperArtsy
Hi, servus and thanks so much for stopping by today!
I am sharing another project I've done for PaperArtsy, using some of their lovely Fresco Finish Acrylic paints and products alongside some beautiful stamps designed by Lin Brown. "Leftovers" is the actual theme over at the PaperArtsy Blog and that was definitely a theme straight up my alley!
I actually hoard leftovers of all kinds in all kinds of boxes (preferably old beautiful cigar boxes), vintage or vintage looking drawers, wood, tin and ceramic bowls and cabinets of all sizes. Leftovers for me include paper scraps and other tiny left over bits from previous projects as well as found objects like nature finds or rusty bits and also items that I have because I needed a single piece for a previous project and could only buy them in packages of two or more pieces of the same kind. I even keep tiny scraps of trims and paper strips - who knows? Maybe these will come in handy some day with one or the other ATC or assemblage piece...I even have some small tin and wood bowls on my studio desk that display leftovers and found objects for an inspiring space to work in.
As you know you can click on all the images for a larger, closer view.
Speaking of assemblage pieces...I've done a new one for PaperArtsy and creating it was a process I thoroughly enjoyed - thanks to my inspiring collections and studio desk! The whole finished project can be checked out at their blog (HERE), but I am sharing some detail shots in this post. It's design was inspired by the leftovers that spoke most to me on that day.
I guess you might already have seen this one being shared on social media:
The texture was done using PaperArtsy Crackle Glaze and Fresco Finish paints and the paper trims I used were - yes, of course - leftovers. The blue-ish dry brushed one at the very bottom is a design that I really like and need to use more often I found. It's a paper strip done using the fabulous Tim Holtz Lattice Trim 3-D Impresslits. The thinner Star Trim on top is actually an old (slightly damaged) scrap of original gold Dresden Trim but you can also use Tim's Star Trim 3-D Impresslits to create one yourself if you're not able to get these ( I do have that Impresslits die as well as I love to be able to create my own Dresden Trim whenever I am in need of one and will have run out of the "real stuff").
In the picture below you can see the two trims "in action" on the finished project. Another star on my assemblage is the little glass vial that I altered using PaperArtsy Infusions. I wanted to get an aged look instead of having the boring white glass of the vial and found a cool way to create the beautiful drip lines and the tint (it is all explained in detail in the PaperArtsy blog post along with the other stuff of course).
You may also have noticed the highly textural piece to the right in all its aged and worn glory...if you want to find out what it is, how I did it and how it looks as a whole, simply click HERE to get taken to the PaperArtsy blog and post.
I hope to see you over there soon!
Hugs and happy crafting!
Claudia
xxx
Tuesday 10 May 2022
Luminescent Specimen Cabinet - a PaperArtsy Project
Servus, hi and how's everyone doing these days?! I hope you are all fine and enjoying Spring and (finally!) warmer temperatures!
Over at the PaperArtsy Blog they have just started a new topic - "Specimen Jar". You can tell I loved that one right away! I immediately thought about all the specimen neatly aligned in the beautiful vintage glass cabinets in Vienna's Natural History Museum. I could look at these for hours and just feel happy and soothed (I guess not only because I love studying fossils, insects and other small specimen but also looking at something so intriguing to me being displayed in such a neat order and large numbers).
My aim with this project was to capture the feel of a cabinet from the Victorian era and also re-create an effect from a display box from Salzburg's "House of Nature" where they show some fish of the deep sea that make their own light down there. You press a button and their lights turn on - how cool is that?! So, yes, you're guessing right - I also used some mini-lights with my cabinet (and that was great fun).
Just a few pictures to lure you over to PaperArtsy's blog.