Matrimony

This is the theme that I have chosen this week over at Mamma's Flickr group challenge/swap.

The reason i chose this theme, is that my husband and I (lol I sound like the Queen), celebrated 35 years of marriage.

And how did we celebrate?

First, we both had dentist appointments, nice.

Then a buyer unexpectedly turned up, wanting to buy not only DH entire tropical fish collection but also his aquarium too. (DH is wanting a new tank), so last night, i spent about 4 hours catching approx 60 fish, emptying gallons and gallons of water, cleaning all the rocks and gravel, then the tank.

And they say romance is dead roflol.

DH did retrieve himself though, cooking us both a really delicious steak meal, followed by fresh cream apple turnovers. No champagne though, it has had to be kept on ice until i finish another course of antiobiotics, which the dentist prescribed me. The abcess has reared its ugly head, and i am now having to have 2 tooth extractions next week. HEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPP.

The last time i had a tooth removed, i felt every single thing, and ended up screaming the place down.
On another occasion, i was left sitting in the chair for 25 minutes, while the dentist went off licking the boots of the owner of the practice.(long story) and what did i do?
Walked straight out.
DH was waiting for me in the waiting room, and tried in vain to drag me back in, and i was in such a temper, NOTHING could have stopped me from leaving.

The receptionist asked DH to bring me back in, and he said, "There's no way on earth she'll come back in here, she'll be halfway home by now".and I was. LOL.

Needless to say, i do not go to that dentist anymore.

DH now warns any prospective dentists to lock the doors, just in case i do a runner.

Anyway enough of that.
Here is the ATC i made today for MAMMA, in way of celebration.

Cyber Fyber

Well I'm back, hubby well again, and myself too. I've got soooo much catching up to do, as i have neglected quite a few things, but managed to pull off a few things this weekend.

First, my Fiber ATC for the Cyber Fyber exhibition, which is being held online at the end of the year, then will be exhibited in a gallery in Colombia, South Carolina. I'm soooo excited. It is all being run by the very talented Susan Lenz. I get to receive one of her beautiful ATC's in return. Oh what fun

Very similar to the skinny fiber card i made, as again i used the brusho ink to dye the patchwork cloth.
I added seed beads, along with some gorgeous teeny flower sequins, which i purchased from Etsy.

Just hope it's good enough, as there are some prestigious fiber artists invited to participate along with us 'amateurs'.

Amongst them, a favourite of mine, Susan Sorrell. I absolutely love her work, and from the 7th October i will be taking an online class of hers making felt pins. It's only a 2 week course, but hopefully next year i'll be able to afford some more of her lengthier classes.
REALLY can't wait.

Here's a link to some of her classes available now.

I've also managed to bead 6 matryoshka dolls, which now need a back sewing on, and stuffed.
HOPEFULLY, i will manage to do some today.

I hope you are all well, and boy, it feels good to be back amongst you all.
xxx margaret xxxx

Bad patch

sorry, need to escape for a short break.
I'm going through a really tough time at the mo, with hubby being ill, and myself included.
I have no inclination, no feeling for art at this time.
Just bear with me, and
I'LL BE BACK.
I'll leave you with one of my humourous ATC's from way back.

French Derriere
(from an old french postcard)

Freezer Paper fabric printing

Here are the results of my latest experiment with Freezerpaper fabric printing.

printed on plain thin cotton

even works with quotes.

So how did i do it.

First i glued the freezer paper to a fairly thick sheet of photo paper, shiny side up.
I used Scotch photomount adhesive to stick it. left to dry a bit.

Then ironed the thin cotton fabric to the shiny side of the freezer paper, which is now attached to the photo paper.

When the printer started up, i gave it a little help, tomake sure it went through.

I have a really old canon i350 printer, and am not really worried if it does damage to it. I'm about ready for a new one.
So if you are worried about it effecting your printer, my advice is "don't print with fabric".

MAKE SURE that there are no fabric threads hanging, which may affect the printer.

One good thing about keeping the freezer paper permanently attached to photo paper, is that you can still use it over and over again. BRILL.


So what else have i been up to this week.
Back is still giving me chronic pain, and Sunday evening, a bloomin wasp crawled up the sleeve of my jumper and stung me, just below my armpit. It is still red and stinging, and have been advised to put vinegar on it. A medical professional advised it.

For MAMMA flickr group, the theme i have chosen this week is KLIMT.

So here is the one i've put in the swap

3 ages of woman

It is a copy of klimt's painting, mounted on mount board, which has been distressed using 3 different distress ink pads, then embossed with gold swirls..
The picture was then given a 3-d clear gloss finish. and silver and gold stickers adorn the edge.

Two wire swirls were then added to form a hanger.

Hope

This is a fabric ATC, and has not been put in the MAMMA swap, as i don't feel it is good enough.

The background fabric is Kaffe Fassett, with a Golden gel medium photo transfer fabric picture sewn on to plain white fabric with golden thread.
A gold pen was used to make the dots around the picture.

3 gold swirl sequins were attached to the top

I used quilt batting to fill the ATC after sewing a backing piece of white cotton.


Last but not least is my entry for New Inspirations Monthly Lottery, the theme being 'Make me Laugh".

Beauty

Well you know how much i love humour, and I WAS THE WINNER OF THE DRAW.
So this beauty stayed with me. I'm sure she'll find a home one day lol.

So, what will i be doing this week? Looks like i need to make more matryoshka dolls, as i've sold out of em,in my etsy shop, bar 2. suprised really.
So won't be doing much art i'm afraid, and the fabric book will be on hold.

FANTASTIC BLOG GIVEAWAY
HERE http://krishubick.blogspot.com/

FABRIC ART JOURNAL

I've finally finished my first ever page for my first ever fabric art journal.

I'm doing a journal about Frida Kahlo's works, and quite pleased with the result. I intend to do each page in a different style. It will be 6" square.

click to enlarge

I haven't quite made my mind up on how i will do the edges, we'll see as we go along.

The fabric image was the only one that managed to work with the Freezer paper transfer method.

I'm still working on that one. Another one of those tutorials on the web, that seem so easy, but in reality isn't.
The technique states that you iron the shiny side of the freezer paper to cotton fabric, and voila, just pop it into your inkjet printer and it will print like normal paper.

NOT

first attempt, wouldn't go right through the printer, got stuck inside. so decided to attach freezerpaper/fabric to some thicker photo paper. Tried attaching it with masking tape, but that made it too thick to go through at first , but managed to get one picture from it. (The one on the journal page above)
So then attached it to the photo paper with double sided tape.

no way jose. still wouldn't go through.

So for my next attempt, i'm going to glue freezer paper to photo paper,with the shiny side of freezer paper on top, so i can still iron to fabric.

Fingers crossed this works.

Not sure how much more work i can do this week, as i'm really suffering with acute back pain. Finding it very difficult to walk and sit down. still ne mind aye, as they say in Yorkshire. lol

Edited on Sunday 14/9
The experiment with the freezer paper worked beautifully.
Will show the results and how it was done at a later date.

Hello Kitty

As on the previous post i mentioned that i had chosen the theme KAWAII for Mamma's flickr group swap/challenge.

Here are the 2 cards that i have made especially for the challenge

Hello Kitty ATC
made in felt


Funny BunnyATC
my own design
made from felt

Since making the Hello Kitty ATC, i started looking around, and found all kinds of weird and wonderful items out there.

First of all a Notebook PC

toaster
even makes the toast hello kitty patterned

exhaust pipe
cute eh?


Wedding dress from Etsy seller? $4,000
so elegant

There are even hello kitty wedding rings
Once you're married you can even buy your dear husband hello kitty boxer shorts

And even a power sander for him to take to work

But I thought i'd leave the best to last.

a cute alsation puppy
with his own hello kitty toys


a real life kitty wearing a hello kitty outfit.

ARN'T THEY ALL JUST SIMPLY AMAZING.
There are tons more stuff with the hello kitty emblem on them. Sewing machines, toilet seats, bodyfat monitors, fridges, the list goes on and on.

So i've fallen in love with an imaginary kitten.
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.FOOLED YA
As if,

so here's the REAL Hello Kitty, zettified.

I have had a BLAST doing this week's challenge/swap, i don't think i have laughed this much in yonks.

Researching the photos for todays blog, i had so many tears of laughter streaming down my face, that i choked on em ROFLOL.

Can you IMAGINE getting married in that dress. for pity's sake. lol

And as for the poor hubby, not only having to wear those dam boxers, but having to cart a hello kitty power sander to work, with all his butch carpenter workmates taking the p**s. HAHAHAHAHA

The dog and cat ones are my favourites. The look on that dog's face, can you believe it. I think he has a mental problem, as well as the owner.
And as for the cat owner, can she have any fingers left, after getting that thing on the cats head.

I HOPE I'VE MADE YOU LAUGH AS MUCH AS I HAVE TODAY. GO ON, SMILE, CHUCKLE, OR HAVE A GUT BUSTING LAUGH.

BLOOMIN ECK - MARC BOLAN

Another 2 part story.
First the 'Bloomin Eck"

After my last report, i thought things couldn't get worse. but they did lol

Bought a new vacuum cleaner, and in just under 5 minutes, managed to break it. shoot

The plumber arrived, supposedly mended the leak, and lo and behold, made it even worse. Had a different plumber arrive the next day, and fingers crossed it's fixed. Turns out, that the fitters had put the pipe in upside down, when fitting the new sink, can you belieeeeeeve it.

What else?. Well several other purchases turned out to have bad workmanship, and the weather is atrocious, and i've a headache, and i've run out of wine. lol. Keep taking the tablets girl. roflol

So what about the second part of the story "Marc Bolan".

Well this week is the birthday of a dear friend of mine. Can't say who, as it will give the game away. THINK she is a fan of Marc Bolan, well if not she'll have to be roflol.

I'm sure most of you know of Marc Bolan from the group "T Rex" and if not WHY NOT.

So i have done her a small drawing/painting, with brusho inks and permanent marker pen, on mountboard 8" x 8" (20cm square)

On Mamma's Flickr group, i caused a bit of a furore with the choice of this weeks theme.
KAWAII. what's wrong with that i ask you.
Still it's supposed to be a challenge as well as a swap group roflol. I wanted everyone to get away from the vintage, wings etc. type of thing that we all end up doing. I LOVE A CHALLENGE.

I'll show you my efforts when i've finished them, hopefully today.

THE RETURN OF ZETTIOLOGY

I expect we are all the same, artists that is, flitting from one thing to another.

Me, i go from shabby chic, to zettiology, to fabric art, and finding sooooooooooo much enjoyment in everything that i do.

So today, i just had to return to zettiology, to put a bit of fun back into my life. (still waiting for the bloomin freezer paper to arrive so i can start my fabric journal).

It was soooooo much fun, especially the researching for quotes. I just LOVE research, in fact in some ways i like it more than the actually making of art. But that's another story.

So here's the latest and I'm loving the quote.

PS no way am i mocking people with schizophrenia.

Rubber stamped Teesha Moore images which are then collaged onto Brusho background, and then coloured using Brush Marker pens, Zig Memory Pens and edding Colour pens.

Sharpie pens and souffle white pen were also used, along with photocopies of Andy warhol camouflage, and vintage Bingo card.

All on Mountboard 8.5" x 5.5"

I hope it makes you smile.

Lost for Words

'ANGEL'
ATC
Made for MAMMA's swap

What a day.

It's only 10.47 am, but boy it feels like a whole week's experience has happened in just a few hours.

First off, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and becuase it is mainly white, it takes some cleaning. After the floor had dried, went to put the cleaning materials away under the sink, when noticed that EVERYTHING in the cupboard was soaking wet with water.

Had to completely empty the cupboard (don't know what your sink cupboard is like, but mine is jam packed with cleaning stuff, when only one item is usually used, old tins of paint ((now rusted up))).which made the bloomin floor dirty again.

The trap from the plughole is leaking, and i can't tighten it up. Plumbers coming tomorrow morning.

Then postie arrived with quite a collection of envies.

First one i noticed was an envie practically opened up, with a pair of pinking shears i recently bought on ebay. THE BLOOMIN THINGS ARE COMPLETELY RUSTED UP , and won't cut a bloomin thing. (can you tell i was getting angry at this point).

Got onto the seller, and sent him a rather polite letter, and he has given me a partial refund.

So then decided to open the rest of my mail. One was a rather interesting package, and I opened it with anticipation.

WELL YOU WON'T BELIEEEEEEEEEEEVE IT.
Inside was a book, a really really lovely book, a book that i've been slavering and slobbering over since i borrowed it from the library.

A book for me to keeeeeep, and languish over and treasure for always. A brand spanking new book, smelling of freshly printed paper, ALL FOR ME TO KEEP.

So where did this book come from.

MY DEAREST FRIEND JAN. I'm finding it so hard to believe that someone could do something so precious for little old me. THANKYOU, JAN, BIG HEARTFELT THANKS GO TO YOU. MAY LIFE'S JOURNEY BE SWEET AND SECURE WITH EVERY STEP YOU TAKE. XXXX MARGARET XXXXX

Oh, and what book was it, here it is lol

I've now stopped crying and shaking, and have the BIGGEST smile on my face.

Hopefully i will meet up with Jan, and the rest of the 'gang' one day. FINGERS CROSSED

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

Had another go at the Golden Gel Medium Transfers today.

Yesterday, i had printed out 2 sheets of Acetate with the Frieda Kahlo pictures, and like a Booboo, put them away to dry, with the printed parts facing together. And guess what lol, they were stuck together.

So i printed them out again on paper, and left them to dry overnight.

This morning, i gave them a couple of light sprays of hairspray, to stop the ink bleeding, left it to dry a while, and then work began.

THIS time, i slowed myself down, which is very very difficult for me to do.

But the results are a lot better this time round. Judge for yourself.

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Still imperfect, but this time they really do have a vintage look to them, instead of looking a complete mess like yesterdays attempt.

So what did i do different this time round.

First of all i cut each photo copy out with a border left all round. This makes it easier for pulling the paper away.

Then i painted on the gel, but then put a small blob on my finger and rubbed it on also. You can get a better feel for it this way i think.

I also went over the edges, to make sure i could get a better edge to the transfer.

I cut a piece of white cotton fabric, larger than the photocopy, and stretched it out on a flat surface, holding it down with masking tape.

I then laid the photocopy, face down on the fabric, and rubbed with my finger. I rubbed and rubbed, making sure that EVERY part of the transfer had been rubbed down. I didn't rub too hard, but kept on rubbing til the paper itself started to rub away. This way i knew that the transfer had taken.

Then i gently peeled away the paper, smeared a tiny piece of gel medium to the back of the fabric. and left it to dry a little bit.

I then got a piece of cloth, which was hardly damp, gently wiped it over the transfer, and gently rubbed away the remains of the paper.

So will i be using these for the Fabric Art Journal I have just started making. I'll let you know.

Last night i was so frustrated at my miserable attempts at this, that i ordered some Freezer Paper online, so that i could print out my own fabric.

Freezer paper isn't so readily available in the UK, and can only be bought at specialist places, not like in the USA, where it can be bought in the supermarket.

So when the freezer paper arrives, i will show you the results, and then make up my mind which i prefer.

In the meantime, this is the 7th Transfer that i did today, and this one i have falled head over heels in love with.

I know it's imperfect, but i looooooooove the look of it. Something i don't hardly find in my work. Just wish I had painted it.

But that's another story for the future, til then, you'll have to wait.

PS , there were 8 pictures to start with, but one was a complete bodge.