Decoart Helping Artist & New Blog Heading

I'm really excited to share with you that I have become part of the DecoArt Helping Artist Program.

DecoArt work with artists and tutors, providing them with products and materials that they hope they'd use in their art work and classes.

They sent me this amazing selection of their new Media range paints, mediums and misters!

And some stencils too!

Well I just couldn't wait to get started on something, so I wanted to give the blog a bit of a revamp so went for making a new header. I used these paints to start off with.

I got some plain natural calico cotton to draw some houses on.

 

I mixed some Media paint with DecoArt's Fabric Medium, and painted my houses on the calico.

I left it to dry overnight, but you can dry it with a heat gun in minutes too. 

When it was dry I washed the cloth to make sure the paint was fixed. It sure was.

I dried my cloth and cut out my houses.

I then painted a background on some more calico.

 Wrote out "The Hobby Room" on a piece of paper and pinned it to the calico background.

I used the sewing machine with a free motion foot on and sewed along the letters

This is what it looked like when I had finished.

Pull off all the paper and you have your sewn name. 

I appliqued the houses to the Hobby Room cloth.

And added a cheeky washing line and some birds too with the sewing machine.

Well I have to say I love these paints, and the fabric medium is brilliant too.

It's given me an idea for more fabric painting and sewing!

So watch this space. 

Hope you like the revamp.

Michelle xx

A year went past in a blur! Where did 2014 go?

Last year was a bit of a blur, everything went so fast. I'd gone back to working in geology, working very long hours, so I didn't get much time in the craft room. :( But I did get very muddy though!

My Mum started 2014 off in January in hospital in critical care for 3 weeks followed by a whole year of endless hospital stays and appointments, which is still ongoing.  I still had lots of classes to prep for in 2014 though, so when I wasn't working, sleeping or at the hospital, I was frantically beavering away in the craft room.

Well it all got too much by September as I was working away in Cambridge too and I had to stop teaching for a while. I miss it very much.

Here's some pictures that never made it on the blog from last years classes I taught. 

 February 2014 Mixed-media canvas AFTH -  Believe in your dreams, follow your heart and create.

  

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March 2014 Preview class AFTH - I'd rather be crafting desk sign.

I love neon paint on Kraft card.

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March 2014 Wynyard Canvas Class - Birdhouse and Bunting

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April 2014 AFTH - Give your heart the wings to fly

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July 2014 Wynyard Canvas Class - The Beach Huts Day 1

Hinged Canvases Day 2 at Wynyard

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August 2014 AFTH - Altered Book Class

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August 2014 AFTH - Colour Theory Class.  

This was my last class at AFTH. :(   But not forever though!

 This is Karen, she's super talented and she's now teaching at Art from the Heart too. Go on girl!

                    Steven Macari was over from Paris to see family and managed to fit a class in too. :)

Those colour charts will come in handy. 

These were the amazing flowers that Ben gave me for my last class. They were absolutely stunning and they lasted for weeks! :) Thank you x

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This was my last class of 2014 in Cambridge at It's Crafting Time shop in Shepreth.

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I did a large acrylic painting in September for a local Mexican restaurant called Mahujo's.

It's a Mexican tree of life. I'd like to do a Los Muertos skull for the next one.

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Mum went to the Butterwick Hospice in the summer and I went with her a few times. They had a watercolour painting class on so I had a bit of a dabble too. 

This was my first one, I liked it, but didn't like the clouds. :)

Then I tried this one from a watercolour book. 

I like this too, but I wrinkled the paper a bit.

So then I had a go at painting a photo I had taken of some bales of hay at the foot of Roseberry Topping. I enjoyed my little flurry with watercolours. I could easily retire with all my hobbies, but it won't pay the mortgage, so I had to put my paint brush down for a while.

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Me and Helen went for a couple of days to Llandudno in July, a well earned break and a walk up the Orme. Worthy of a quick scrapbook page I thought!

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Well that's kind of it for 2014. Sorry the blog posts were a bit thin on the ground.

I've dragged my sewing machine out of the cupboard lately, so I'll do another update this week. 

I think its high time the blog got a revamp anyway, don'tcha think? :)

Have fun in your crafty room, whatever you're doing

Michelle xxx

Mixed-media journal and catch up

I bet you thought I had disappeared never to return again? 

I've got this crafty thing running through my veins, I'll never leave! 

I live in Teesside but I've been working down in Cambridge lately, and it looks set to stay that way until Christmas at least. I come home on the weekend though so I can stroke my crafty stash at least once a week. :)

I've done a few crafty classes over the past year which I'd like to share on the blog at some point.

But here is a project that was a class I taught in Cambridge at It's Crafting Time. 

If you live near Cambridge you gotta get yourself down to Nina's shop because its amazing, I wandered round for hours just filling up my basket. I like a good mooch. There is so much great stock there, all of Tim's range, lots of mixed-media paints, mediums and canvases, card making products and scrapbooking papers galore! I can't wait to go again, I need to take photo's! Nina has amazing bargain bins too, I was rooting for ages and came home with tons!

You can find Its Crafting Time here at:-

Unit 8, Dunsbridge Buisess Park, Royston Road (A10), Shepreth SG8 6RA

However the post code on the sat nav takes you to the garage on the opposite side of the road! 

Drive into the business park, through some big open gates and Nina's shop is on your right as you go in. You won't be disappointed. :)

Here is the class project I taught, a mixed-media 7 gypsies journal.

It started life as a black cardboard folder.

But then I covered it in torn up bits of paper and book pages

I painted over it with gesso and paint then did some stamping, stencilling and some transfer rub-ons too. I distressed the edges with vintage photo. I used my own family photo on the front and added some die cuts from my favourite Tim's honeycomb die too. 

I glued a button on with hot glue for an anchor for the ribbon to tie round.

I made an insert for the inside to attach all my ephemera and photo's to.

Then I started to fill my pages up. This was the best part playing with Tim's ephemera packs and adding scrapbook page elements. Loved just playing and adding things. I want to make another one!

I used acetate here with Stazon ink

The ladies at the class were so lovely, and creative I love seeing what other people make. 

Thank you Nina for being so wonderful, well organised and the perfect host and thank you for putting me up for 2 days, you are a wonderful person, and a fab cook! Love the lasagne!

Hopefully I might be able to squeeze another class in at Cambridge if I'm not too shattered.

Take care everyone, be back soon

Michelle xxxxx