May Photo a Day

See more photos here

Birthday

It was my birthday last week! I had great plans on my birthday eve to cleanse and tidy my desk, sort out various piles of stuff on our coffee table, reflect on the past year, list my achievements and take an oracle cards for the year ahead. That evening I came home from work did a bit of housework and got a head ache and felt completely exhausted...So as yet I have not done any of those things. Sometimes it can be frustrating/annoying how life snowballs around you and you still have the same important task to do that you started with at the beginning of the year/month/week. I have been on holiday for a week having a staycation I thought I would be able to cross these things off my list but other things have come along and jumped them down the list. My list always gets longer rather than shorter... However for my birthday we did cross one thing off my list and that was to go up the Shard, if you even get the chance to go, do it it is well worth it.

We went to the top!

    

April Photo A Day

Here is the round up of April, still not quite a photo a day, but oh well... I enjoyed the freedom of having no list to follow and I didn't feel as if there was the pressure there to take a photo everyday. I just took one when I had the opportunity, something that would remind me of that day.

Yesterday was my birthday and for a special treat, my husband took me into London for the day and we went up the Shard. This is thee view! It was amazing up there and I would recommend it if you ever get the chance, I couldn't believe just how far you could see. 

Creative goddess online course

I am taking part in the Leonie Dawson Creative Goddess online course. It started at the beginning of April. I was attracted to it as the description sounded just perfect; to get me motivated and inspire me into action and I really want to change how I act and feel about creating art. I am very happy and excited to be taking part in the Creative Goddess Course. It is a six weeks course and typical me I am running behind schedule... I have yet to finish week one and we are already at the end of week three! The course involves meditations, creation and reflection. The first weeks task was to go on a walk and collect things that you are guided to. Then create a painting with your findings incorporated into the piece. I have to confess I didn't like the idea of sticking things on to my canvas! I found seven feathers on my walk; I didn't stick them onto my canvas straight away I used my Gelli plate to take monoprints of the feathers that I had found. Here are the prints that I made, I love how much detail is picked up.

I am going to cut these prints up at some stage and use it on the canvas. While I had my Gelli plate out I used it directly onto the canvas. The Gelli plate is so responsive that it picked up the textures from the painting and the canvas itself. 

It was such a beautiful morning while on the walk I also took photos of things that captured my eye, from these photos I developed a series of patterns. 

The photo below is of a wooden fence, I loved how the light giving it contrast.

These are the patterns that I developed from the photograph above, I really like the colours and the various patterns that I have made. I am going to print out my favourites and include them in my painting.I have been meaning to print off some of my patterns for a while now so I am glad that I have finally be given a reason to print them.

I will post more patterns and some photos of my canvas soon.

Life

Photo a Day

The photo a day challenge that I have been taking part of over on FatMumSlim has totally fallen by the wayside these last few months. I have found myself catching up with the days prompts on mass and doing about seven on one day, not really the point of something called ‘photo a day’. So I have decided to do my own spin on ‘photo a day’. I will still be posting my photos on Streamzoo and doing a round up every month, but I won’t be using a prompt or a list. The photos will be of whatever I feel like or what sum up my day. Sometimes I felt as if the prompts were restrictive. I may go back to them but for now it feels right just to snap away and post my favourites. I have enjoyed taking part in FMS ‘photo a day’ and I would like to thank Chantelle for hosting such a great challenge. Here is the round up from March.

  

Mid Week Gratitude

"Gratitude leads to love"

The beginning of this week I spent a few day in London with my Mum, we stayed in a plush hotel, just off Trafalgar Square. We had a great time despite the freezing cold weather. I am grateful that we could spend time together. We watched 'Let it be' I sang all the way through so apologies to the person sat next to me, we stood up and danced and we swapped places so Mum could see. We went to The Ritz for afternoon tea, wow that was an experience. It was amazing, Mum said that it was better than her expectations. We did a spot of shopping, although neither of us particularly like it or are very good at it, it was nice just to be out and about together just me and Mum. We also went to the Lion King, the costumes were so clever. I really enjoyed it.

So this week I am grateful for -
Having a great time with mum
Having lots of layers to keep warm

Being inspired by these people -
Postcards from the edge, Michelle Rumney
Right Brain Business Plan Jennifer Lee
Amazing Biz and Life Academy Leonie Dawson

Talking to my nephew on the phone
Date night
Blue sky when it's cold (better than grey)

52 lists. Week nine - List the places you want to go

Moorea Seal - 52 Lists

Oh, I had fun writing this list, I am sure I will be adding more to it. Already thinking I would like to go back to New York. This week I will be going to Yoga (in my kitchen) and I will be going to stick to my to-do list.

March Photo-a-Day

I am taking part in the Photo-a-Day challenge again this month. Here is the inspiration list for March's photos.The challenge is from Chantelle at Fat Mum Slim. once again she has shared a great list with us. You can play along using Instagram, Streamzoo, Twitter or on your own blog. I am going to take a photo a day and you can see them here at Streamzoo. Enjoy and happy snapping.

February Photo-a-Day

Here are the photos I taken this month for the Fat Mum Slim Photo-a-Day challenge. All of these photos have been taken using my phone. I have a few apps that I like to use, 'Retro Camera' being a favourite this month. I am pleased with most of them and I did try and take more while I was out and about. I have to confess most were not taken on the day, it was kind of more like a week in one day! I only missed one prompt this month and that was 'Inside your fridge'.Each month I am going to share with you the photos from the months challenge and also a couple of my favourites. You can check out more of my photos here.

View from Compton car-park

Snow drops

These two were both taken while on the Isle of Wight for the weekend. Snow drops are a sign that spring has sprung and that longer days are on the way.

52 Lists. Week Eight - List your favorite Albums

Moorea Seal - 52 Lists

52 lists. Week Seven - List things that make you feel healthy. Mind-Body-Soul

Moorea Seal - 52 Lists

52 lists. Week six - list the ways in which you can love others

Moorea Seal - 52 Lists

Happy Valentines Day

52 Lists

I have decided to take part in the 52 Lists project over at Mooreaseal. I love writing list, so I thought this would be a fun and inspiring project to take part in. I only found the project last week so I am going to share my first four lists in one post.  A new list prompt gets posted every Tuesday by Moorea over on her blog. 

Week one - List the words that touch your soul

Week Two - List your greatest comforts

Week Three - List the things you should be proud of 

My to be proud of list is a bit short and I am sure there must be more that I am proud of but nothing else springs to mind...

 Week Four - List your current and future goals and dreams

February - Photo a Day

Here is the February list for the Photo a Day by Chantelle over at Fat Man Slim, once again she has shared a great list with us. If you want to follow along you can share on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr. I share my photos on Stremzoo, here is the link to my stream. Enjoy and happy snapping.

January - Photo a Day

Here are the photos I took for the Fat Mum Slim Photo-a-Day challenge. All of these have been taken using my phone. I am pleased with most of them and I must remember to take photos while I am out and about!  Each month I am going to share with you the photos from the months challenge and also a couple of my favourites. I have to confess I did miss a few days but no-ones perfect. You can check out more of my photos here.

View over the River Thames to the Houses of Parliament. Word of the day 'Sun'.

 View after it had snowed on the way to work. Word of the day 'Electric'.

Monoprinting with a Gelli Printing Plate

I love monoprinting. In the past I have tried different types of mono printing; I have used glass to draw into and press object into, I have used oil based inks, and a printing press using perspex as a printing plate. I found out about the Gelli Printing Plate at the beginning of 2012. I find it a great medium to use and really love the textures it picks up and how easy it is to use.

For more information on the creators of the Gelli plate follow this link.

I love my Gel Printing Plate.

The equipment you need to print with is quite minimal.

•      Gel Print Plate

•      Perspex Sheet

•      Brayer

•      Paint

•      Imagination

These photos show the Gel printing plate and the Perspex sheet. You can see how responsive and flexible the plate is, it is great for picking up textures of delicate objects such as feathers and leaves. The Perspex sheet is used to protect the plate and if I am doing prints on top of prints the images will line up. I use the black lines that frame the plate to guide me as to where I need to put the paper.

 Brayers are used to apply the paint to the Gel printing plate and for rollering textures into the paint. I have three types – A soft roller, a hard roller and a small soft roller.

I use various paints each type/consistency reacts differently. The paints I enjoy using are Liquitex, they are Heavy Body Artist Acrylic Paint, they have a thick consistency for traditional art techniques using brushes or knives, as well as for experimental, mixed media, collage and printmaking applications.

  “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.” -Albert Einstein

If you use your imagination for mono printing your prints will be very varied and interesting.

When it comes to mark-making on the gel plate, you can use various things such as bubble wrap, sequin waste, buttons, rubber stamps, embellishments, fruit nets, dried leaves, stencils, corks and anything that makes a mark. The softness of the Gelli plate picks up the delicate textures amazingly. I have previously used feathers and dried leaves, the print is really clear and it shows all the details.

How to monoprint

First you squeeze the paint out onto the plate; a little goes a long way. So a little blob is enough.

You then gently roll out the paint with the soft brayer.

  

Make sure that the paint is spread out evenly.

You just need a thin coating of paint on the plate.

This is a wooden embellishment that I discovered in the art shop, as soon as I saw them I thought they would be great to use on my Gelli plate. I am always on the lookout for interesting textures and things to use on my plate. To use it I stuck it to a cork using a glue stick> I was very pleased with the marks it made.

This photo shows me adding textures and marks to the printing plate. Here I am using taffeta tied in a bunch, I used my small roller to press the taffeta into the plate.

This is the plate after I have made all the marks, stamping, and rollered onto the plate.

Here I have put the paper over the plate and gently pressed down and gave it a rub. The print is then transferred from the plate onto the paper.

This is the print that I produced. You can see all the textures that have been made from the various things that I used for example; the circles were from a bottle top, the thin lines were from matchstick stuck onto card, the windmill shape at the bottom is a hand carved stamp that I made and the blocks at the side are from an eraser.

  

Once you have made a print it needs some where to dry, this is the drying line that I have made to hand my prints; it can hold up to 20 prints at a time.

Here are some of the cards I have made using the monoprints from my Gelli Plate –