Material Mondays - Painted Recycled Fabric

Painted Recycled Fabric

I have been having fun painting fabric for use in a variety of creative projects.  I found out by error that acrylic paints don't come out when I was painting while wearing an item of clothes that should have been covered up, but wasn't.  After washing the paint didn't come out, and so acrylics alongside fabric paints became part of the tools used to create designs.

I have also been using a lot of recycled materials that would normally be unusable for making another item of clothing prior to painting because they are too tatty, but once painted the materials take on a different texture and then can be incorporated into your design as you wish.

The first three fabrics were taken from a school uniform trousers made from a polyester and cotton mix and to prepare the fabric I used gesso as a base and then applied the paint, pens and stamps.

On some of the fabric like the one below which is a school shirt which I used as a mop up while painting other projects came out with quite nice patterns and will make a great lining for another project.

old school shirt

Here is a shirt decorated with paints and stamps and used to line the inside of my bag journal.  You can check how I made the bag journal HERE

using school shirt to line the inside of Recycled bag journal

Here is the inside of the journal once completed with more painted fabric used as pockets

recycled bag journal and inside pages

When you use fabric that has already got an unusal pattern within it it can create some great effects

Baby wipes - I used them quite a bit in the studio, as a means for clearing up, but when they get soaked with paint, they begin to take on new life and I can hear the sewing machine calling for some experimentation.

baby wipes can be used in creative projects

I also found some scraps of leather that I have begin to experiment and play it has a great texture and I am looking forward to using it in a project.

Old leather can be given a new lease of life by painting

Back to the school uniform trousers, because the material was quite thick I didn't need to coat it in gesso first. I wanted to experiment with different mediums and so used derwent artbars and applied glitter on certain places on the piece below, 

fabric portraits using artbars

This piece used gesso as a base then I used artbars again along with pearlised glue, and fabric paint. The colours do come up slightly brighter.  I used a sewing machine to highlight some of the features and the flower.

I have not yet decided what I will be using this piece for, will have to give it some thought.  Have you tried experimenting with fabric?  It would be great to hear about some of your work, so do leave a comment and link to your post.

Using stitching to add to the effect of the fabric portraits

If you are considering learning how to take part in creative activity check out Craftsy online courses, at the moment they are doing a special offer on some of their classes, and they are offering some free mini courses. Click here.

Space - Creating in Faith

When I look at the valley, mountain, forests and see I know there is a God.  I don't have any of these environments near my how, we have a small local park and an open space that you can take a stroll round, and almost pretend if your close your eyes real tight that you are in a tropical type location. 

Kew Gardens - view from the treetop walk!

If you jump in your car you can come across much more open space and with a small fee you can share the experience and some is wild and others carefully tended.  As kids we were use to having access to open space, much over the years have been turned into luxury apartments!

Away on holiday, making the most of the outdoors!

One of the things we really appreciate when we go away on holiday is how much space people have, not only in the homes but outside space as well.  We make more of the space and venture out daily exploring our surroundings.  Is this purely because we are away and the cares of our daily lives have been dis-guarded as we locked up house and got in the taxi to the airport?

My sister-in-laws' back garden

Personal space

Does anyone else find that as they get older they desire to have some space from themselves - just to get time to think? I catch myself sometimes - as I tell my son to stop making so much noise wondering when my ears became so sensitive to this beating his hands on the table an unknown rhythm and expression of his creativity. Seemingly sounding like my mother did I understand and really 'get' now in my adult years what they were talking about.

Tired what can be construed as clutter I seek solace in a minimalist environment with the sound of the waves lashing in the background the fresh breeze dancing across my face.

What does the idea of space hold in your mind, how can you create more of it in your environment?

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,    which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither whatever they do prospers.  Psalm 1:3

Christmas Fair and Concert Today!

EEC Christmas Fair and Carols

Today is the day of my stall, there will be lots of lovely displays and people sharing their work.  There is an International Food Hall where you will be able to sample a lot of the delights, if you are in London, near to Victoria or Westminster then why not take a detour and come down and start your Christmas celebrations in style!

As usual at this event which I attend yearly there will be a feast of colours from the neighbouring stalls, and there will be so many lovely arts and crafts on sale.

On my stall I will have some of my art pieces and a selection of my Capturing Moments mini journals and have designed some mini kits that contain 2 mini journals, paper pack, ephemera tags, beads, glue etc for you to get creative with,

Captured moments kit to encourage your creativity

I thought is is a great way to dip your feet into getting creative and everything comes in the kit.  They also come in a lovely clear box that helps you keep everything together, and make lovely gifts.

Captured moments mini kits

If you don't want the kit I have some small mini journals that come with tags as seen below.

Captured Moments mini journals with tags

I will have some available on my website over the next week so if you want to order one of the kits you can. If you can't wait and want them before the Christmas rush then email me at amanda(at)realityarts(dot)co(dot)uk and I will sort something out:)  The Kits are £10 plus £3.50 pp, the mini journal with tags are £3.00 plus £2.50 pp.

Captured Moments Journal Kit

I will be giving 30% of all sales to Oxfams disaster relief appeal and I hope to make as much as possible to donate to the appeal.  I thank everyone in advance who will make a purchase for either themselves or a loved one for their special occasion.  Your purchase will go to support a family whose whole world has been turned upside down and whilst we are far away we can do as much as possible to show our support.

Also for those who are looking to continue the evening how about coming to a concert with a range of local artist.  III Chronicles Studio will be hosting their 7th Anniversary concert.  There will be an array of performers will be contributing to the night. I'll be there, so stop by and say hello.  I hope you have a blessed weekend and do share what you will be getting up to!

III Chronicles Studio in Wembley

Gratitudes and Celebration Week 22 - You are Wonderful!

Did anyone ever tell you that you were wonderful, no? yes? what ever your answer I thought that I would remind you that you are!

I know this post is about what I am grateful for and celebrate, but that is just it, your part of that celebration!  If you have taken the time to visit my blog and read my posts you have shared a snippet of my world.  In my post last week I said no man is an island.... we are all connected somehow whether you want to be or not.

Today I want you to know that I think you are wonderful and are a blessing, and whether you comment or not, I want to remind you about that hidden talent you have, the one your weren't sure about revealing or the creative thoughts you have been wrestling with that wanted to be worked on, but you were feeling insecure about.  Even that video that you were going to make or those pictures that you wanted to take, I wanted to encourage you that even when you don't feel wonderful, someone (me) thinks you are - now go and shine your light!

Today I am grateful for you!  You have come a long way - there have been many doors and ups and downs. You know when you have persevered or nearly thrown in the towel but you kept going, you know you have and I celebrate your life. Now that you have been reminded that you are wonderful how does it make you feel?  I would love to hear from you and share what you will be tackling next.

As this week draws to a close can you think of the beautiful things in your life. Do leave a comment and have a blessed weekend!
If you want to see how I made the journal (click here)

Kitchen - Memories of Home

Welcome to Memories of Home, if you would like to find out more information about the series, Click here

Being in a supportive environment is important to our growth as individuals, not everyone has had that opportunity and as adults we try and create an environment that will nurture and bless our children and indeed ourselves.

Kitchen

The kitchen in our home growing up was always the center of all activity. It always had wonderful aromas coming from it and was the warmest room as mum would create her delicious recipes. Mum was a great cook, and could turn her hand to anything. Her baking was divine and we would all get our own individual cake that she made on our birthdays, there was always something going on and we had to celebrate with a cake. When we were little we would help her mix and when she was finished she would give us the bowl and in those days tasting the mixture never posed any problems and tasted good, but times change.

Growing up and having homes of our own we all found we did exactly the same, the kitchen became the heart and usually when we go to each others homes we all gravitate at some point in the kitchen as we relax and reflect. My thoughts recently have been dwelling on the loss of my brother, it has now been just 6 months and new routines are being faced, with the Christmas season quickly approaching we hold his memory dear to our hearts and we gather and reminisce on how things used to be.

What part of your home holds those special memories, please leave a comment and I hope you continue to join me on my journey over the weeks, as I share my mixed media houses and look back to the memories of home. I look forward to hearing about some some of your own memories. Blessings and peace to you!

Material Mondays - Recycled Bag Journal

I wanted to show you one of my favorite bags.  In its hay day It was lovely and soft, very flexible, I loved the colour, but alas I wore it out...

Whilst it was not leather, it meant that it didn't last as long with the daily uses.  I would take it every where and it began to get a bit worse for wear.  I decided that I wanted to see if I could create something else that would prolong my use of the bag.

I decided to make a cover for a journal, where the inside pages would be able to be replaceable, but I could keep the essence of the bag.  Taking it apart was easy, and in the back of my mind I had a vague idea of how I would reconstruct it.

It was one of those projects that once I started I was determined to finish.  Armed with glue, needles, wool, painted fabric and some signatures I was ready to begin working out how to put together the bag. 

I added stitching here and there and with a bit of perseverance it began to come together.

Adding tassel's on the bag

The inside detail includes painted fabric which you can recycle from old clothes or sheets.  This journal uses my sons old primary school shirt and trousers and the strips of fabric provide spaces for extra storage.  The signatures as I said are attached by the plaited blue and purple wool, and is a selection of painted papers from projects that I didn't use.

Painted recycled materials for pockets on the inside

The pockets are deep enough to store supplies and still be able to close and not be too heavy.

The bag journal came together really well, I added detail on the back using fimo clay, sequins and fabric paint and made a woolen button as the clasp.

With corresponding wool, I added tassel's and placed painted fabric on the handles give them added durability.

Quite a different looking bag now, I am looking forward to using it, might even use it as a travel journal!

If you are considering learning how to take part in creative activity check out Craftsy online courses, at the moment they are doing a special offer on some of their classes, and they are offering some free mini courses. Click here.

Confidence - Creating in Faith

Confidence

What do you know that you know, that you know to be true?

Earlier this week I had a mini revelation or understanding about my life.  It wasn't something now I think of it that I didn't already know, but it was clarity that shone its' light over an area of my work.

'You know that you know that you know to be true.....'

In my prayer life I have been praying for change, but we all know that change can only come if you do something different, taking that step each day doing something different until you get the required results.  The change could only be activated if I had the confidence to know that despite what things look like, something totally different than the current view is expected.

I am confident in knowing that if I want to learn something and everyday I do a little bit to expand my knowledge, put it into practise, review and learn some more, I can be guaranteed that in a year I’ll know more than I did when I started.

Having confidence helps me to know that in every situation there are several outcomes possible and if I am flexible in my approach and not ridged then it is possible to be able to gain insight and understanding from any outcome.

In our faith we have confidence that there is a living God who cares for us and wants us to live a life beyond anything we could possibly imagine, using the gifts, talents and abilities that we have all been given, working on those ones that need work, sharing, giving, blessing....

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength... Philippians 4:13

God wants you to be curious about life, to stretch beyond what society tells you is the norm and to keep asking those questions like a child who learns about his surroundings starts to ask the ‘why’ questions.  God’s word tells us to 'ask and you will receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be open in Matthew 7:7'.   There is no standing still, no static, or staleness but an excitement about each and every day, knowing that the difference that it will bring depends on our perspective and whether our glass is half empty or remains half full.

The Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught... Proverbs 3:26

What have you put your confidence in?

Recycling Project - Mini's

From some of the projects that I have been sharing here and here, you would have realised that I have a thing about quinoa and textures as part of a creative project I thought that I would make a series of mini frames that you could use in different ways. You could use them in and on your journal or cards, or a range of other projects.

I wanted to create antique type look and having old photographs within the frames enables you to achieve this effect. There are many royalty free images that can be used that you can find on the internet.

I guess I have found the quinoa to be quite versatile in creating surfaces but also as edging as once it is dry it becomes really hard.  For the one below I tried out linseed's.

For some of the mini's I used a combination of polymer clay, stones, clay and friendly plastic.

There are so many beautiful things that can be made using recycled materials, the only problem I am finding is running out of space either from the things I have been collecting to make something else or the things I end up making. There will be lots of handmade gifts being given at Christmas this year:)

I hope you have a blessed weekend, and allow your creativity to push back the boundaries in order to allow yourself to really soar! 

Come back on Tuesday to see how I make the Mini's in Tutorial Tuesday. Do share creative ways in which you have used recycled materials and leave a comment below.

Gratitudes and Celebrations - Week 21 -Support

Support - Gratitude's and Celebrations

When you feel like quitting, reach out to your support network

Who is in your support network?

The saying, 'no man is an island' reminds us that we were never meant to be in this on our own.  Here is a song courtesy of Dennis Brown.

We can isolate ourselves or feel isolated in certain circumstances but we have to make sure that we surround ourselves with encouraging and positive people who can not only keep it real, but also see further than what is in front of them - our cheer leaders near and far that encourage us to go another mile, take another step to be more than we ever thought we could be.

As we look to surround ourselves with encouraging people, let us also be the one who can encourage and shine the light on others.  Your words of encouragement to another could make the difference between them giving up or getting up and dusting themselves off and trying again. 

I celebrate the encouraging souls near and far that have been a source of strength along the way and I am grateful for another day to be able to encourage someone else.

As this week draws to a close can you think of the beautiful things in your life. Do leave a comment and have a blessed weekend!

If you want to see how I made the journal (click here)

In the News - Christmas Fairs, Concerts and Reviews!

There are two events happening on Saturday 7th December that will inspire, encourage and bless you.

EEC Christmas Fair

If you are in London on then come along to the EEC Christmas Fair and Carol Concert.  I will be there displaying some of my work, there will be other craft stalls, international food and more, starts from 1pm to 6pm.

For every item purchased on my stall on the day I will be giving 30% to charity for the Philippines disaster appeal organised by Oxfam, so come down and show your support.

Concert

There will also be a concert the same evening starting at 7pm at Tokyngton Community Center, St Micheal Avenue, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 6SA.  There will be a wide range of talented musicians sharing their skills.  My husband Alan will also be show casing one of the songs from his Ekidz album about internet safety for children. For more information on the concert at Tokygnton, email iiichronicles@yahoo.co.uk or call 07986893511

Book Review

DIY Gift Guide - Quirk Books

This book is one that I downloaded on my Kindle, I am always looking for mini projects to try my hand at and this seemed like a useful start.  The book was free on Kindle, so I didn't hesitate in ordering.  It has a selection of DIY ideas curated by Homemade Quirk, which is a place where people share their stories, ideas and they are not only craft based but have ideas of food gifts and treats.

The book is split into 6 sections - for the bookworm, for the lovebirds, for the kids, for the animal lover, for the foodie, for the geek, and aims to appeal to different needs has a total of 18 projects, 9 of which are food based.  The instructions are fairly straight forward to follow.

My favorite 3 projects were making the Tiny books, pink champagne cake which I intend  try substituting the wheat and dairy, and the mini candi charms using polymer clay.  My least favorite was the cat portraits made with real cat hair (never knew you could do anything with cat hair, although for those with pets this would be a great recycling project.  It is a nice book for kids to try their hand at trying to make some of the project, it could have had a few additional ideas or variations on the projects that were listed.  All in all as a free publication you can't go far wrong and it is definitely worth a look at least!

Katherines Corner

Today is also Thursdays Favorite Things on Katherines Corner Take a stroll over there and visit some of the inspiring and encouraging blogs, If you have a blog you can leave a link to your post and show some support by visiting others who have listed theirs.

It would be great to see you at one of the events if you are in the location or even in the UK on Saturday 7th December, share what you are up to, and if you have a pet will you be giving the cat portraits ago?

Finally, have a great day and blessings to you and yours!