something for the weekend

b e s i d e 

the beautiful work of christina romeo  :: her etsy shop

Work in progress - arty things

This week I'm working on Wedding invitations for one of my best friends. She loves all things kitch and retro so her cards are going to be bright and funky. I started on stage one this afternoon, the drawing/ outline.

She loves tattoos, and has about 6 I think. She designs them all herself because she loves the personal meaning of each one. One of my favorites is a floral design she has on her back. It is a compliation of flowery doodles, not just any doodles though! You know when your on the phone, chatting away and there is any type of paper and drawing instument around? What do you draw?

For me it is circles, and for my friend it is flowers! So she translated these into a beautiful design that she now has on her back. Now you can see where the theme for her wedding invites comes in... it had to be a tattoo theme. I'm going to embroider this design with her and her bo's names, photograph it and then use that as the design for the front of the cards!

The other day Mr LB came home with some more squares of plywood for me and I started working on a new pice for my living room wall. "Her head's in the clouds" is a drawing/ painting on cardboard and them placed on the wood. I added some little clouds from a thrifted book and some cute flowery paper as the grass. I love how the collage aspect of these kind of pices build a different dimention. I just need to add hands and some text then she'll be ready for the wall.

Do you think she should be carrying a basket of clouds?

I had some trouble at the beginning getting the shading around her eyes right and then I ran my paint brush across them and the ink was still wet! Although I had to start again in this first one she does have a kind of tear stained face, and looks sad. So it's not all for nothing.

What are you doing to wind down this week? Are you trying a new technique or style?

Inspiration

washing line #2

I believe in signs and I have been sent quite a few in the last couple of days. In my last post I talked about digging out lots of my collage work and remembering about it. Well last night I was delighted to find that I sold 3 more ACEO's from my papierdelights shop. I am always filled with joy when people select my work to adorn their wrists or their walls, and this particular sale has got my mixed media juices flowing again! So tomorrow I am going to have a collaging day, glue and ribbon at the ready........

washing line #3

Sneaky peek to follow

I don't have any pics yet, because, well I haven't started yet but I'm about to clear my desk of jewels for the next couple of days and start working on some collages. I'll drop by again tonight with some little snippits of what I've been working on.

Have a lovely sunny Saturday where ever you are.

xox

A mixed media morning

Sunday I had planned to get stuck into this new project but friends from far away lands popped by for a visit so my schemes got put on hold. Yesterday I wanted to get the jewels out and the day sped away from me. But this morning I awoke full of inspiration and drive and have just completed these.

This one is my favourite.

I ironed a copy of a little painting I did a few months ago of two little birds on a branch onto a piece of fabric and then layered paint, paper and a snip of vintage lace ontop.

I still have the iron out (a rare sighting in this house!) so I'll keep working away.

Mixed media project 1

Here is a sneaky peak at a little project I am going to work on tonight. I am loving the magazine and am full of inspiration and ideas!

I have been following Suzi Blu and her mixed media classes and other artists and want to give it a go for myself, using my favourite mediums and techniques; sewing, drawing, collage ect.

I am loving the new downloads too, a new look for the blog perhaps?

Everything's Blue

"Some rain must fall"

Firstly, hi to all the new friends I have made through One World, One Thanks so much for all your entries, keep posting in this post to be part of the giveaway.

This is the 3rd mixed media painting from this series and this is my favourite. I love working on these pieces of hardboard and the textured almost sandy surface. I am thinking of making these into prints for my papery shop, but have some jewellery orders to complete first, then I can show the 2nd shop some love!

This block was inspired by my life over the last few years, days of rain flooding in, and my brolly being too small. Then my life now, where there is less rain, just the occassional drizzelley day. I know that sometimes things have to be a bit dull, we grow and learn with every droplet that falls in our lives. So lets celebrate the rain in our lives!

I am planning to spend some time this weekend with the paints out, in between dinner with friends, a catch up with my little bro and watching "masterchef" on iplayer.

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

One moment in time...

"A moment"

Thanks for all your great quotes, I love finding out what makes other people smile :)

I got all my press releases orginized, printed and beautifully and funkily packedged and posted, so heres hoping I get featured in Vogue! And because of that I have been busy making and listing in the shop, you know in case 100's of customers come flooding my way!

I have been sorting out my stock and found so many tiny bits of chain or random beads that I hang on top, just in case, and have finally been inspired to use them. My cousin was over for a visit the other day and she came through to the studio to have a nosey through my bead boxes and she started selecting random beads. Then she picked up 3 pieces of chain and layed them out and placed the beads on top, a said, "I would wear a bracelet like that!".

And so my "Something old, something new" collection was born. I love how they are not all neat and exact, with 5 of this stone or 10 of this bead and all balanced and shiney. Sometimes I get to close to a design and want it formal and balanced. This new random flow has been so exciting to make plus I'm getting to use up otherwise redundant bits and bobs.

Do you like things neat and ordered or do you draw ontop of the lines?

x

Back to my self

"Beautiful Quotations"

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.” Paulo Coelho

I have been using upcycled books in some of my collages over the last few weeks and have found some beautiful quotations. Even cutting along a line of text and selecting two or three words just sitting on their own and they take on a new meaning, or seem to be more intense. At the moment I am using "Cranford" by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell and having read the book first finding these little snippets of words that inspire me gives the story a whole new slant.

What are your favourite quotations?
(I really enjoyed "The Comffy Chair" An interesting story about a road trip taken by three friends to collect a reclining chair)

Getting in the mood

"My Sweetheart"

I have been getting ready for the next "date" on my calander Valentine's Day and thinking love, romance and rich red.

"Acknowledging our love"

I have been flitting between mixed media and jewellery this week and loving every minute, but I think I'll stick to the paper and illustrations this weekend and then get down to businessey things on Monday. I was about to pack all my papers and paint away this evening but I got a quick visit from Miss L with lovely new brushes, so I'll need to try them all out. Thanks Missy!

A few months ago my bo was unpacking the car having just finished refurbishing someone's kitchen and was making a pile of materials to take to get recycled, when I spied this meter piece of hardboard. I knew I could use it for something and asked him if he could saw it up for me into small squares and rectangles. So on Wednesday night I began transfering some of my recent sketch book pages onto them.

I have enjoyed working on this series so much that I am getting very little sleep. I just can't seem to switch off at the moment which is such a buzz. I am beginning to understand my creative cycle and just work with it. I seem to have a quiet time of doodling, designing and then playing, which is followed by an almost frenzied splurge of production. At the moment I am in the midst of a frenzie, and have a very messy studio to prove it!

My bo is always so understanding of how I work and has been so patient these last two weeks while I have been in hibernation covered in PVA and paint, so this evening I promised him my undivided attention. We have had lovely dinner and are now watching "The Puffy Chair", and I have sneeked a few minutes in blogland while he take Pablo out for a walk.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend x

Dancing some days

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin

Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in

Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

"Dance me to the end of love" Leonard Cohen

Creations

I finally got round to completing my submission for our etys team fashiondesignandlifestyle July challange. The theme this month is Glam and after much rumaging in my bead drawer I had a vision of all things glamerous. I love the combination of the jet beads with the white and aqua.

I mentioned last week that I had been working through some big bits of work and I have one finished and one to go! It is all numbers work so as a little treat to keep me going I was making time to play each day, which really helped me stay focused on the job at hand, rather than being distracted and disheartened by all the lovlies I would rather be making. And these little peg dolls were one of my creations. I had such fun making these and creating little characters for them.

Dancer 3

I found a wonderful collage artist a few weeks ago Megan Coyle, and was so inspired by her amazing art work that I thought I needed to try collage again too. But as soon as I decided that's what I wanted to create, I froze up. I have always felt quite comfortable with design and calling my self a designer, but the thought of creating something concidered art always fills me with self doubt. The more I thought about it the more I realised I needed to relax and take the pressure off myself to create a master piece! Once I had made this decision I surrounded myself with pencils, pens, paints, papers and glue and messed around. I spent about 3 evenings playing and began to see elements of dance in the pieces. So I started on a collection of collages based on this theme. So far I have only done ballet, but I'm thinking spanish dancers next.

Lesson of the week: Give it a try!

Day 9 - Help is at Hand

Della's Yibble Cottage

Made using satin, silks, aqua beads and silver glitter glue

Yesterday the Yibble Liberation Front gained a new member, my little cousin Della. She has been the inspiration for the Yibbles from the start. She is currently working on a little book about them too, creating characters, their cottages and lots of other fine details. So yesterday we met up to do some making with fabric, beads, glitter glue and PVA and she suggested that we made some collage Yibble cottages! She was very clear on how they should look, 1 door for the Yibbles and 2 extra doors for foxes and mice! I had a wonderful time, it has been so long since I just cut and stuck. And I think Della enjoyed it too!

Close up of Della's "Button Collage"

This was my attempt. I have been struggling for weeks to come up with ways to creat the Yibble kingdom and 10 minutes with Della and it all becomes clear! So keep watching, when the Yibbles are Liberated you may well get a little cottage for them too! I would like to say a big thank you to Della for a fab day and all her Yibble help. She asked if I could post her pictures for you all to see and she'll be checking it out very soon, so hello Della P!

I would also like to introduce you all to Eleanor, the wonderful mind behind A good idea on paper. She is a fine artist who specialises in Book art and has a really interesting post about sharing a page from your sketch book. I think this is a great idea, getting to nose into a page of other creative minds and to share the different ways that we all work. Head over and take a look at her beautiful paper dress up doll pages, leave a comment and she'll post up your pages. Get going, I'm sooo nosey and can't wait to see what you are all up to!

This is one of the pages from mine, it is little Olive in Paris! I still love doodling about her and find the different surfaces of the book to really lead me in starange directions. Well I'm off now to walk my pup and get sewing and I'll be back and let you know the date for the Liberation and some more little details. Happy Wednesday x

Pure Heaven

Well I decided I was going to spend some time today making up some inspirational collages for the wall that my desk faces, and here is one of them! Chocolate delight. I have mentioned before how much I love food photography, anything from cupcakes to beautifully styled sandwiches! I think it all started during my final year at art school. My specialism was knitted textiles and one of the schools sponsors was Rennie Yarns. They set us a competition, to use their yarn in an creative and unique way for a display for them to take to an International trade show.

I decided on knitted and felted chocolates and I came 2nd! During my research I spent a lot of time photographing chocolate, reading books on it and it was at the same time that the film "Chocolate", with Jonny Depp and Juliette Binoche was out in the cinema! This is where it all began, I don't really like eating chocolate, but love the smell and how amazing some of them look.

It is coming up to my 100th post so I'm going to run a little competition, I haven't quite decided on the fine details yet but more to come very soon, and I have some very special delights for prizes!!!!!