Archive for the month “December, 2011”

28 Dec 2011
1 Comment

The Quail’s Egg

I have a fascination with birds.  Their beauty, their grace, their intelligence and what they represent – freedom.  The freedom to just be.  For me the bird is a natural metaphor of life.  Which is probably why I also have a love of eggs – I mean not to eat (well, I like to eat them too) but more so what the egg represents.  No matter whether it’s a tiny finch egg, or a large ostrich egg – I find beauty in their perfect shape, the different colours and patterns of the shell – and what they hold inside.  A single egg that is able to sustain a growing being until it is ready to break open the shell and start life.  It’s the miracle that is life.

It follows then that I often use images of birds and eggs in my artwork and am drawn to papers and image sheets of the like.  For quite a while now we have also had plastic craft eggs available at Scraptivate in a few different sizes.  Very cool.  But of course, how cool would it be if I had my own supply of REAL spotted eggs to use?  I already had an aviary …. so a beautiful little pair of Japanese Quail soon moved in.  They are really quite adorable (in my opinion) and full of character, very easy to look after …. and they produce almost an egg a day!  Their eggs are pictured above, they are small and spotted and each egg is adorned with it’s own unique pattern – no two eggs are exactly the same.

I have finally mastered the technique of safely emptying the contents using a needle and syringe and disinfecting inside.  And voila – I have ready to use real quail eggs!

So I combined the egg, a representation of young budding new life, with an old book – a juxtapositioning of old with new.  I’m pretty happy with the results ….

 

The book doesn’t open – it is now purely ornamental, with the archway carved out through the pages to house the little egg.  I will be running this project as a workshop at Scraptivate in January … click here for details!

I hope you can join me!

Natalie x

 

Posted in Altered Books, Classes
21 Dec 2011
1 Comment

Clearly Resin

I thought I would share one of my latest creations ……

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This is an 8″ x 8″ double thick canvas which I have painted using a combination of my favourite Caran d’Ache watersoluble crayons with gesso, glimmer mists and glimmer glazes.  The effect of glimmer mist over the top of watercolour is simply awesome – in my humble opinion lol.  The “flowers” are created using an impasto medium which once set has been coloured with the mists and finished with Gilder’s Paste.

I then added a layer of Ice Resin to the top of the flowers which really makes them pop off the canvas.  I’m in love with the effect and will be creating more of these little beauties for sure.

This canvas is for sale in my Etsy store – you can see the link on the right of my blog – however if you are interested in creating something similar leave a comment and I’ll organise a class!

Smiles
Natalie x

 

Posted in Etsy, Wall Art
20 Dec 2011
1 Comment

Owl-licious

I was teaching my regular card class the other day and one of the ladies requested I incorporate owls into the next one, as she loves them so much, like many of us do.  I knew straight away I would use the little Collections owls (available here) as I love the simplicity of this owl shape which allows you to do anything with it.  So I pulled out my Tim Holtz dies, embossing folders, Martha Stewart punches, papers, UTEE, Metallic Waxes, calico …. and came up with these ….

I will be teaching these cards as part of our Cardmaking Double Class on New Years Eve at Scraptivate (see below for full details) …. I do hope you are happy with the owls Judith!  On that day I will be running a morning card session as per normal with the owl cards, followed immediately by a second session featuring the black and white cards.  You can book into the first or second session, but if you do both you can stay after the second class and continue making your own cards all afternoon in our studio with free use of our Cuttlebug machines, dies and embossing folders.

There is loads to learn in both classes so I do hope you can join us!

Saturday 31st December 2011
Session 1  9.30am – 11.30pm  $25
Session 2  11.30am – 1.30pm  $25

If you would like to book in give the shop a call on 9444 6626.

Natalie x

 

 

Posted in Cards, Classes
19 Dec 2011
4 Comments

I’ve moved!

Since I have been having some issues with Typepad I have taken the plunge and moved over here to WordPress!  Please update your links and spread the word ….

It’s been a little while since my last post and since my blog was feeling a little neglected and sorry for itself it is probably fairly good timing to move here and start a fresh.  I get SO busy running the shop and everything that entails plus general family life – children, animals, fiance’s, more animals …..

So I recently decided to take another plunge and open an Etsy store.  There isn’t a lot in there at the moment – it will take a few weeks for me to upload pics in my spare moments.  But I would like to start by sharing with you a couple of mini canvases I have done which will make their way into the Etsy store this week ….

These are created using my all time favourite medium – gesso – combined with my Caran D’ache watersolubles for the background effect.  Impasto medium and glimmer mists are used to create the hearts, which wrap around the sides of the little canvases.  I have more of these underway, with various sayings on them ….

I actually have quite a few projects to share with you all, but since it is 1am in the morning and I need to be at work bright eyed in the morning, I shall leave my first WordPress post here …. and we can chat again very soon I promise!!

Take care of YOU
Natalie x

Posted in Etsy, Wall Art

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