In my garden - shabby panel

 In My Garden

The Great Outdoors CVC #2 July

Well I'm out and about in my garden for the second challenge for July at Country View Crafts and I've created another shabby panel. I also seem to have gone somewhat French (see later info in the post about this!) - that came about because Tim has some bee images that have been labelled in French, so I clicked with it and brought out a bit of school learnt French, but checked it on Google as well :0)

So in my garden I have bees and that was true when my Olive tree was flowering a few weeks ago - there were bumblebees buzzing away and flitting like mad from flower to flower. It surprised me because the flowers are so, so small! I have lots of flowers and bushes, I have raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes, courgettes, cucumber, runner beans, sweetcorn, roses, dahlias, fuchsias, hydrangeas and more - and I love it. I've also had lots of blackfly and slugs and snails, caterpillars, but very few butterflies and ladybirds sadly. 

Finished Panel

So the time to create this panel took longer than I had anticipated but read on and you'll find out why,

Process steps

Two pieces of paper adhered to card and brayered with white acrylic paint to tone it down.

Texture paste scraped through Tim's stencil for texture and left to dry. Water spritzed over the stencilling and walnut stain distress ink mixed with water on craft mat puddled through using a paint brush. Neat ink then painted over a few of the stencilled shapes to give variations of tones. Any puddled colour was splattered over, but most of it soaked in and can't really be seen.

Pieces for the focal point layers were collected together, much of it in bags as leftovers from previous projects. I keep lots of the bits and pieces to use for collages and toppers. The only things I had to do were stamp the bees (on leftover background) and create the text pieces on the computer. I also gathered a butterfly rub-on and embossed on vellum to add to the specimen slide.

The bees are stamped with an old Tim Holtz stamp mounted on wood. It was fabulous using it again and to give it an outing.

I layered up all the elements and lost the butterfly duh! But found a little one in the field notes snippets I could replace it with. Buuuuutttt .... I wasn't happy with it, there were imbalances - like the left side is so dark whilst the other side is very light, to me that took away from the focus of the bees and garden. So I had to have a play.........

This was what appeared. I got rid of the black flowers, added from the wildflowers dies and also added a ladybird peeking out at the bottom. Although there is a depth imbalance on either side now, I think I can live with that because now the whole piece is lighter and looks more like a garden.

Here you can see the contrasts and differences. I'm happy.

NEXT DAY

Is it a Bee or is it a Wasp?

I hadn't glued anything down before I went to bed and today everything changed!!! (Typically Me!!).

I brayered over the brown stencil texture to lighten it more, 

I didn't like the yellow on the bees (or wasps?).

Because I think this is more likely to be a wasp the French text seemed inappropriate so I made some in English.

I also stamped the panel mount with text from the Entomology set.

I added some snippets.

Now I'm even happier.

xx

Supplies

TH Sizzix dies - Specimen, Entomology, Wildflowers

TH Stampers Anonymous stamp - an old wooden stamp of a bee?, Entomology CMS328

TH Mediums - Collage Medium Matte

Th Distress inks - Walnut Stain, Wild Honey, Scattered Straw

TH Snippets - Field Notes, Curator

TH Small Talk stickers

White acrylic paint, White Gesso

Background papers and text - Tim Holtz and my own

Butterfly panel - watercolouring with distress inks

 Butterfly Metamorphosis

The Great Outdoors CVC #1 July

I'm doing a workshop at CVC headquarters this month with a theme of butterflies, bees and moths and it's focussed on creating sketchbook pages. I had created so many pieces to add, that I am completely zoned in on butterflies again and I wanted to create a butterfly painting by watercolouring using distress inks, but rather than draw and paint I decided to use one of Tim's butterflies being used in the workshop but use it in a completely different way.

To begin I stamped it in antique linen so that I could use the shape but not the pattern.

I used salvaged patina, rusty hinge, ground espresso and uncharted mariner with a fine round brush.

I cut out the butterfly .....

.... and blended ground espresso round it.

The orange edges in the wings looked very sharp against the blues so I blended them using white charcoal pencil.

Then used a white posca pen and black drawing pen to add final details.

xx

Supplies

TH Distress inks - Antique Linen, Salvaged Patina, Rusty Hinge, Ground Espresso and Uncharted Mariner,

TH Butterfly stamp - Perspective CMS213, 

White charcoal pencil,   white posca pen,   black ink pen fine 

TH - Collage Strips, Snippets, Remnant Rubs, Mummy Cloth.

Gesso

Are you an Artist or a Crafter? What is a Sketchbook? Do people who make crafty projects keep a sketchbook?

Who is a craft artist?

To me it is someone who creates handmade projects using a whole variety of substrates and media to bring something beautifully creative and artistic to the finished product. Do you love to design and make individual and imaginative works of art to show on social media, sell to people, to give away to your friends or just to keep for yourself? Well, a sketchbook is a fantastic place to keep lots of trials, experiments and practice pieces and is used by many of us who are not just pure artists (in the sense of those who are learning formal art), but also those of us who consider ourselves to be crafty individuals who are also artistic.

A sketchbook is called a sketchbook because it was specifically designed for sketching which generally refers to making rough, unfinished drawings or quick studies, but the term "sketchbook" implies a space for experimentation, practice, and the development of ideas, rather than finished, polished artwork. I have many such books that I have been calling journals but actually I keep many of my mixed media designs in them, crafty, vintage and shabby panels and sketches or paintings that I have created over the years. Why have I called them journals? Well, I really don’t know, but maybe it’s because I didn’t see myself as an 'artist', many people think that craft, in the sense of papercrafts and similar projects, is not art. If they’re not, then what are they?

Here's a Google AI overview answer to my question ‘Can papercraft and similar projects be called art?

Yes, papercraft and similar projects can be considered art. The distinction between "art" and "craft" is subjective and often blurred, but many papercraft forms involve creative expression, aesthetic appeal, and skilled execution, which are all characteristics associated with art. 

Recently a very good friend told me I should not be calling some of my sketches 'doodles', they are sketches or drawings she said and told me that I shouldn’t shy away of seeing myself as an artist. So, you know what? She is absolutely right! I think so many of us crafty artists feel the same. As I said in the opening paragraph we are people who create handmade projects using a whole variety of substrates and media to bring something beautifully creative and artistic to the finished product, therefore we are artists.

 

With that in mind I have started a sketchbook to bring together lots of ideas, ‘practice’ pieces in drawing, painting and collage using all the materials and tools that I use in my day to day creative craft and arty sessions in my studio (actually it’s a small bedroom lol).

If you are interested in keeping a crafty/artistic sketchbook that will contain some of your trials, some finished pieces and some collections of other media like die-cuts, stamped and coloured images with other snippets then maybe my ‘Creative Sketchbooking’ workshop is for you. The day will be packed with 6 mini projects that will be linked together with practice and learning opportunities to include a little sketching, some tracing and what I call painterly water colouring which is using acrylic paints in the same ways that we can use watercolour paints.  Along with the die-cuts, snippets and colour swatches these will all come together under the theme of Butterflies, Bees and Moths to bring 2 x A4 pages to sketchbook life.

Some people like to stamp...

Some people like to draw ...

Some people like to play with colour ...

Some people like to create collage, and use snippets, design and get involved with details, use die-cuts ....

There is something for everyone. 

The workshop is on Thursday 17^th July (One space only) and Friday 18^th July 2025 (several spaces available) and can be booked online at Country View Crafts . It will be held at Country View Crafts headquarters which is –

Country View Crafts
Country View
6 Wrestlingworth Road
Potton
Sandy
Bedfordshire
SG19 2DP
United Kingdom

Susan is the owner and has this amazing online and physical shop where she sells a huge variety of products from a large number of different brands. She is a one-man band running her business but her customer service is second to none and on many occasions orders that have been placed before 3 pm have arrived on my doorstep the very next morning. (Thanks to Royal Mail as well).

Workshops are actually held in her shop, normally the maximum is 12 and she provides a free lunch.

If you are interested I am a teacher by trade, I no longer teach in education, I am retired, but I love doing workshops. I pack the day full so that it caters for those who are less confident and experienced to those who are more confident and accomplished, wherever possible there are opportunities for you to personalise the content and further develop your own ideas and reflect on your own creative journey and interests. I am there to help, support and advise to the best of my abilities and many of my workshop participants are returners who keep coming back to enjoy making the projects I bring. Why not come along for the day to see what we offer and have some fun and learning as well.

 

Social media links –

Me - https://www.facebook.com/Bumblebutterfly/

My Blog - http://www.bumblebeesandbutterflies.com/

Me - https://www.instagram.com/bumblebutterfly/

Country View Crafts Shop – https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/index.asp

Country View Crafts Workshops - https://www.facebook.com/groups/380480706160675

Distressed vintage travel wallet

 Travel Wallet

Travel CVC June #2

Meet George Roberts who has a long journey to school every day. This means him having to rise at 6 and catch the 7.05 train from Springfield Street Railway Station in Windsor, to London, as he needs to be there by 8 am. He alights at Paddington Station and walks 10 mins to Paddington Technical College where he is studying engineering.

George buys his ticket every day which costs him 2 shillings. He has to be back at Paddington to get the 4.50 train home or get an evening ticket if he wants to stay later. He sometimes does that so he can socialise with friends he has made.

He keeps his tickets with a travel identity card provided by the Springfield Street Railway Company and distributed by the Post Office. If he is asked for it by the train conductor, he must show it as the certificate allows him to travel on School Day Tickets.

The wallet is a TH file folder covered with two different pieces of TH papers (one front and one middle). The story is told with the found relative photo, ephemera and stamps, I like to create additions myself if I can't find what I want in my supplies and here I did with his name, identity card label and Paddington station label.

This is my second June project for Country View Crafts 'Travel' FaceBook challenge. If you've popped over from there thankyou for your support.

xx

Supplies

TH - Idea-ology -  Found Relatives, Ephemera, Die-Cuts Layers Urban, Snippets, Number Strips, Layer Frames, Paper Strips, Paper Pad French Industrial, 

TH - Stamps - Travel Ways - CMS 162, Air Travel CMS102, Correspondence CMS225, Tidbits CMS488, Field Notes CMS396, 

Tissue/Washi Tape - my supplies

Identity Card label Name of Station, Names for George - made by me.

Paper Dolls panel

 Adding to my Butterflies, Bees and Moths Creative Sketchbook

Whilst pulling together ideas and a large number of designs for a workshop next month, some made the cut and others didn't.

I'm teaching my take on Creative Sketchbooking on the 17th and 18th of July at Country View Crafts headquarters.  Thursday the 17th July is sold out but there are some spaces on Friday 18th. Bookings can be made here. 

 This was one of the experimental projects I made that didn't make the cut, but I will add it to the sketchbook later along with some other bits and pieces I have left over. It will be good to add them as they are still important being part of the creative process and decision making.

Paper Dolls panel 

Cut panel 10 x 8 cms punch rounded corners. Paint surface with gesso – dry. Using small sponge blend over a mixed colour to your liking.

Dip into puddle of hickory smoke, dry and blend same ink round edges.

Stamp bug with watering can archival ink.

Gather dolls and blend ground espresso round them and the same with snippets.

Add something to ground the girls I used the small alphabet strip.

I will add the actual Creative Sketchbook pages here after the workshop in July. 

xx