TUTORIAL

Well nobody managed to guess what the tutorial is for. I just hope that nobody is disappointed.

it is for a FAN, of which i was inspired by altered antiquity

WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT LOL

This finished fan, is done in the shabby chic style, but you can let your imagination run riot with this. Can you imagine a Zetti Fan, oh boy, i can. lol

So the first stage is to cut out this template 6 times. I used a cereal box, as they are quite sturdy. They are approximaely 6" in height, but you can easily adapt this to your chosen size.

Next i covered each piece of card, both back and front, using a variety of materials.
For the front i used vintage music sheets, and text, which i ripped and collaged on to the card. I then stamped various swirls, in a haphazard way, with pink acrylic paint. Again you can do exactly what you wish. I then gave a light coating of walnut ink crystals, but this is not really necessary.

For the back I used different papers, and used pink tissue paper torn and collaged along with text paper.

Again i gave it a light coating with walnut ink crystals. I then added a dusky pink paper heart in the centre (which you cannot see here)

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for the next stage i added lace to the top edge, which I had dyed with tea, along with a spotty edging done with a sakura gel pen

With the next stage i added more embellishments, and distressed the edges. Plus using a brown pencil, I outlined the pink acrylic stampings. This gives more depth i feel.

In the above photo, you can just about see where i've marked the position to make a hole for the brad. I did in fact use a paper fastener, as this is better coping with the thickness of the fan.

I tea dyed a piece of a crochet doily to form a flower, and added luscious fibres and a ribbon, all tied on to the fastener.I then glued a flower and a gem on top of the fastener.

You could leave the fan as it is, but it won't be very stable.

There are two ways to overcome this.
The first way, is to fan the pieces out to the desired shape, and glue together where they touch,

Or in my case, i have made it so that it can open and fold up.

To do this. Open the fan trying not to leave any gaps in between each piece.

Take a length of ribbon, and glue only to the centre of each piece, ,preferably with a hot gun, for fast results.

The tea stained doiley is far too dark for my taste, so i will eventually tone this down with dusky pink acrylic paint.

VOILA - ONE SHABBY CHIC FOLDING FAN.

If you make one yourself, tell us here, so that we can link to your photo.

ANOTHER ZETTI FAIRY DOLL

Managed to finish another Zetti Fairy Doll and two key chains, and I'm still not very well. I havn't the time to be ill, what with supposedly painting pictures, making dolls, and all on top of this some other great news.

WE'RE MOVING. AGAIN. I KNOW, I KNOW, I MUST HAVE GYPSY IN MY BLOOD. Our third move in less than 18 months. oh boy.

This is THE final move, as it is within 5 minutes walking distance from my beloved daughter Emma and Grandson Bobby. We were offered it today, and on Monday we get the keys. It needs decorating from top to bottom, carpets and cooker, so will be an expensive time for us as well. But I don't care, i will be near Emma.


So gonna be really busy, and will be offline in the future, when the broadband has to changeover with the move. But i will notify when that will happen.
So here is Zetti Fairy No 2, hope you like her.

Here are the first two key rings that i've made. Both made from felt, and called "Key to your Heart".

Not sure how these will go down, but it was all part of the 'playing' process lol.

Another Booby doll being cut out tomorrow. Got some lush Kaffe Fassett fabric, which will probably use. oooooh yummy lol.

THE MATERIALS TO FINISH THE FAN HAVE STILL NOT ARRIVED AAARRGGH.
SO WILL GO AHEAD ON MONDAY WHETHER THEY TURN UP OR NOT.

ART DOLL

Despite waking up feeling absolutely terrible this morning, with sore throat, swollen glands and laryngitus, I managed to make another doll for my etsy shop. This is another Booby doll, made with Liberty fabric, and lots of beads. I'm afraid it's only a scan, because it's now nightfall. Tomorrow i will take a photo, so that i can put it in my shop. After such a great start, well selling one ACEO, it has come to a standstill. I really hope i can make a go of this, as it's something i really want to do. We'll see.

The tutorial has come to a completely standstill, because the materials needed to finish it, STILL havn't arrived from ebay. Looks like he won't be getting a good feedback.
The tutorial is all typed up, just waiting for its final stage and then you will be able to see it. It'll teach me to never promise something until you can be 100% sure that it is possible to do.

ZETTI FAIRY ART DOLL

After the 'success' lol, at Etsy yesterday, it spurred me on to finish an art doll that i started to make about 2 months ago.

I found it very difficult t0 take a photograph of these in the freezing weather that we are having. So with the first photo above, i did a scan.

She is now in my etsy shop looking for a new Momma.

Unfortunately the supplies i needed for the tutorial didn't materialise in the post, so fingers crossed they'll be here very soon.

at last My Etsy shop is open

Having trouble with my blog today, but at last my etsy shop is opened.
I've put a couple of Zetti ATC's up to begin with, the rest will follow probably next month, after the Chesterfield exhibition is up and running.

SOLD

I've triple checked that i am allowed to use Teesha Moore's Zetti stamps on art for sale, and it is ok. phew, don't want an attorney on my back lol.

Funds are low at the moment, so need to instil a bit of cash into my craft funds. Boy this is an expensive way of life. With Fine art,all you need are paints, brushes and paper/canvases.
The craft world, is afloat with goodies and gadgets which you REALLY need to have to survive lol. So fingers crossed, that someone somewhere will like my art enough to buy some.
I have never used etsy before, only ebay, and everything that i put up for sale on there was sold. Not that i put a great deal up for sale, because the heavy ebay and paypal fees made it unworthwhile. Still needs must, so i'm giving etsy a try.

HOPEFULLY will be able to do the mystery tutorial (nobody's come up with the correct idea of what it is yet lol), but i'm awaiting arrival of goods from ebay which will enable me to finish the ? off.lol. (thought i'd tell ya didn't ya)
Fingers crossed my lovely postlady will be bringing my parcel of goodies to my door tomorrow. If not, there will be no more post until Tuesday, so if that is the case, the planned tutorial will be delayed, sorry folks. but i PROMISE you that it will be done as soon as possible.

Hope you are enjoying the Easter holidays, we here in the UK, have an extended holiday with Bank Holiday Monday. So nothing gets back to normal til then.
Happy Holidays

Tutorial coming up

This weekend I will be posting a tutorial for everyone to use. What is it?. Well here is a sneak preview

Can you tell what it is yet? lol.

This is a very simple tutorial, but with a fantastic outcome. I DO hope you'll join in and make one yourself.
Supplies needed:-
Card
Scrap paper,
Ink pads
lace
brad
embellishments
vintage images.
glue

And that's it.

So come on in, and join the fun

What the Postlady brought today

As some of you may know, i organize a monthly doll swap in the yahoo group that John, my friend runs with a group of us ladies. lol.
This month was the advertising doll, and my swap partner was my dear friend Jan.
She arrived this morning, and oh boy did it make me smile. You can see why from the photo below.

Jan's advertising doll

She is now hanging on the fridge door, in the hope that she will encourage me to eat healthily. oh boy has she got her work cut out.

This was my doll to Jan entitled "A Woman's Lot"

I made her from adverts for Tena Pads, Durex, Canesta thrush cream, the Birth Pill, Clearblue pregnancy test, Lil-lets , her body a Fairy washing up liquid bottle advert, and her gloves cut out from marigold washing up gloves.

Enough about me.
Along with the fandabby advert doll, Jan also sent me an exquisite Zetti button fairy RAK , that I had admired in her photo album.
Here she is , isn't she the most amazing zetti doll. i love love love her. Thankyou Jan. xxxx

"Jan's Zetti Butterfly Fairy"

She has now hanging on my new rusty wire tree that i bought in Chesterfield a couple of weeks ago. This now stands on my coffee table for all to see .

Button fairies left to right
Jan, Ange (who does the most amaaaazing tutorials), Yvonne my swap partner in the button fairy swap, , and an easter RAK from Maureen.
All of them great friends, and I feel very lucky to be able to call them friends .
PS that lonely little easter egg is supposed to be jhoined by a dozen more, but i havn't got round to making them. maybe next year roflol.

PUTTING ZETTIOLOGY INTO CHESTERFIELD

Well I thought to myself, if i'm taking Zettiology TO Chesterfield, Derbyshire, I may as well put Chesterfield into the Zettiology. lol.

This is the 5th painting I will be exhibiting, and I'm liking this one a lot. It's not very often that i do like my own paintings, but this one has got to me. Maybe because it's about my two passions, zettiology and Chesterfield, my birthplace.
I still get a buzz when i'm arriving at Chesterfield, and see the famous Crooked Spire . This is featured in the painting. All of the buildings are of Chesterfield town. It's a great shopping place, great atmosphere and markets on Monday, Friday and Saturdays, and a 'flea' market on Thursdays. There are also special markets throughout the year. see the above link.
Chesterfield is one of the oldest markets in the country, having been granted a charter in 1204 by King John.
The ram is the symbol of Derbyshire, but not usually seen zettied up roflol

Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 20"

The trouble with this photo, is that you cannot see the fine details. c'est la vie.

AND THE WINNER IS

And the winner is.....

















CINDY yeahhhhhhh
It'll be in the post tomorrow for you Cindy. Hope you like her.

Not much going on i'm afraid, but i have managed to make some ATC's. Gone for the shabby chic look again, i must admit i do like shabby and pretty. Instead of the usual pink i've gone for lilac.

Happy Easter to all of my friends. xxxxxxx

New Dolls

Here are the proto-types for 2 of the dolls i'm trying to design for myself.
By making them first, i can see what needs doing to fine tune them, and with hindsight would not have used the precious fabric on them. The geisha girl is made from fabric imported from Japan, and the Booby doll is Laura Ashley. Still you learn from your mistakes.

I've got some gorgeous Kaffe Fasset fabric, and will NOT be using that on a protype. LOL

Geisha Girl


Booby Doll,
Pamela Anderson eat your heart out LOL.

Like i said these are just proto-types, and need a fair bit of fine tuning.
My next painting is coming along slowly, so won't be revealed until next week. Another zetti of course.

MONA GONE ZETTIOLOGY

Well here is Mona, zettied up, and i'm really liking her this way. MUCH more interesting, and I'm not going to part with this one. I'll put an excessively high price on it, so nobody will buy it, lol.

Got some beautiful fabric and a clear rubber stamp yesterday, both Babushka style, so will be making lots of these little dolls to sell on Etsy, hopefully in April.
The stamp will make a good label for the dolls, and finish them off nicely.

ZETTIOLOGY STILL GOING STRONG

Here is the third in the Zetti Fairy series, for my forthcoming exhibition. I think this will be the last of the 'pretty' zetti's that i shall be doing. Hopefully they will just get weirder and weirder as i go along.

This is just a scan of the canvas, so the top part is missing lol. Couldn't wait for daylight to take a photo.
One thing i am finding difficult is to stray away from the pretty, i suppose it's because I'm frightened of bad criticism from the exhibition. I feel as though I am not doing the paintings for myself, but once again playing 'safe'. I have got to get away from this attitude, always trying to please, and my lack of confidence. I suppose it's a bit late in the day to change now though.

The Mona Lisa is totally transformed, but you will have to wait til tomorrow, when hopefully the sun will be shining so i shall be able to take a photo.
I much prefer it now it's been Zettie'd. Before it was just a bad fake that i did of Mona Lisa, now it has become my own. This one i DID enjoy doing, even though it was frustrating. It took longer to alter, than it did to do a painting for some bizarre reason.

Mona Lisa going to Zettiology

Yesterday, I called in at the Gallery in Chesterfield, with bated breath, to see if my paintings would be accepted. They were, but I'm still not sure if they were liked or not. lol.
The thing is, he has asked me to do 12 paintings altogether, along with some altered art(Which i've no idea what i'm going to do )
I did show him Teesha Moore's website, and asked would it be alright to go a little bit weirder with my work, and he agreed.
Soooooo, I've dug out an 'old' painting of mine. Mona Lisa in the Pink. This was for an exhibition at a gallery in Ware, Herts, in aid of Breast Cancer, in which all the paintings were to be done in Pin. These were to be sold off for£100, the proceeds going to the Breast Cancer appeal.
Unfortunately. my painting was not sold, and so it has been laying in my garage.
Whilst browsing the web, looking for inspiration, i came across someone elses good old Mona, which had been altered. so my little miss pink mona, is undergoing major surgery lol, zetti style.

After calling in at the gallery, i called into 2 craft shops, and before meeting OH, i called into a new art gallery/shop in Chesterfield. There in the window display was a beautiful rusty wire tree, with small easter eggs displayed on it.
So without further ado, I bought it. Started chatting to the lady owner, (actually the mother of the owner), and she asked about my work, and so i showed her the photos of the Zetti Fairys/ She was impressed, and said they may get intouch with me about me hanging work in their gallery.

Trouble is, i'm not sure if i want to go back to the Fine Art side of my work, I feel much more happier, and safer in the craft world. We'll have to see how it goes, but i'm not going to go out of my way pursuing Galleries/exhibiting.

One of the reasons for surfing the net, has been because i have been unable to find a great site that i visited just a short while ago. For the life of me i do not know why i didn't bookmark it, and so have found it impossible to find the site again.

This lady's site, featured altered art/assemblage and she made wall art, using kitchenalia, ie sieves, cutlery, pudding basins etc. and making them into fairies. and i sooooo wanted to have a go at it for the gallery. Still, i'll just have to do it my own way, which is for the best anyways.


Don't forget, my giveaway doll is still open, so if you havn't got your name down yet, please enter.

MATROYSHKA DOLL GIVEAWAY

As tomorrow, Sunday 2nd March 2008, is Mother's Day here in the UK, i am giving away my very first handmade matroyshka Doll. To me this doll represents Motherhood, and so it seems appropriate that it should be given away with love at this time of year.

The doll is of my own design, and i've 4 other dolls already designed, just waiting to be made.
There are over 100 seed beads individually sewn on to the doll, and it is entirely hand-sewn. The face is hand embroidered with silk cotton.

So how do you get your hands on this doll. All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog, and on March 16th (my late Mother's birthday), i will draw a name out of a hat for the winner. Of course you must have a blog so that i can get in touch with you if you are the winner. Goodluck everyone.

Just another way to say thankyou to every one of my craft friends, that i have made over the past year here on line. I've had a great time getting to know you all, and hope our friendship long continues.