Bruges visit and IF

I've been to Bruges in Belgium for a few days, land of chocolate.

I went on a boat trip [above] and climbed up the 366 steps of Belfort Tower [below]

I went around the chocolate museum [below - death by chocolate?]

and I saw this unusual hand rail in a street

we came via Brussels, this was an usual path grate I saw

I submitted a flower drawing for Illustration Friday as the theme is 'perennial'

Another Tortoise & Rolling Stamps 9-12

I've done a few watercolour & pen paintings of tortoises/turtles

Below - more rolling stamps

above - fun foam wrapped around a plastic cork

fun foam [leaf shapes] wrapped around 2 corks stuck together

scored polystyrene

fun foam with holes to make a lace like pattern wrapped around a plastic/rubbery cork. I used a hole punch, the type you would use to make a hole in a belt.

Element, Gesture and Audrey

Audrey the cat - digital alteration

below - The sketchbook Challenge - Element

Illustration Friday challenge - Gesture

Eye see a Bird, a Frog and Dried Flowers

Embroidered Mono Prints

These little canvas's [5x7 inches] have been mono-printed with

acrylic paints quite thickly for texture. I then hand embroidered them with cretan stitch and fern stitch. The beads and sequins were put on last.

Tortoise with Flower and Stamps 5 -8

I've shown this tortoise before, but not this watercolour.

The picture started as a pen drawing below which I developed into the embroidery shown below .

Four more rolling stamp ideas

This one was made from an old [painty] textured dishcloth wrapped around an empty paint bottle

Shapes cut from fun foam were stuck to another bottle

A similar repeating shape was stuck around a paint roller.

a fabric doyley was stuck around an empty salt box

Spotty Bird and Bird in a Cage

Rolling Stamps 1-4

I thought I would share some ideas for rolling stamps with you which you could use for painted backgrounds, journals, fabric, paper etc, above is part of the collection I have.

The one below is cut from fun foam and stuck round an empty carton.

This is another fun foam stamp, a small one this time, stuck around the middle of a cotton reel

below - This one is lace stuck around an empty paint bottle

below - Another one cut from fun foam in the shape of a leaf also stuck around a paint bottle

Birds x 3, IF - Stay

Pen & watercolours. There is a little bird peeking out but he is staying in the bird house.

A woodpecker is looking out of the hole in the tree below.

Either of the above drawings could have been used for this week's theme for Illustration Friday, which is 'stay' but I submitted the one below. The bird really should stay on top of the egg if she wants it to hatch.

Sketchbook No 8, p18, 19 and digital alterations

original doodle above, digitally coloured below

Below - doodle digitally altered

Turtle in a Box

I did a series of turtle pictures a while ago, this is one of them. Below is another version of it which I altered digitally.

Sketchbook No 8, p13-16 - patterns

Koala

brush pen sketch

Freezer Paper Experiments

Well I had a bit of a tidy up in my studio the other day, shocked my husband as he could actually see the workbench! Anyway I came across some scraps of freezer paper which I was going to throw away but I thought I would have a little play instead. For the sample above I folded the paper, then randomly cut 'circles'. I ironed it onto fabric then painted with acrylics, after drying I removed the paper. They look like stones, perhaps I should cut them out to make a wall?

For the sample below I used a few bits of freezer paper, which I folded in different ways, then cut out sections, then ironed them all next to each other on the fabric. I used a more watery acrylic for this. I may paint the white parts if I ever get around to doing anything with it.

below - the fabric was already attached to the freezer paper so I carefully scored the paper with a craft knife and removed bits of the paper. I painted with acrylics again to make the wavy lines. I think this piece needs a lot more doing to it.

Sketchbook No 8, p12 & 17, IF - Remedy

below - Illustration Friday - Remedy

When you are a mermaid and feeling {and looking} blue the only remedy to make you feel better is a nice bouquet of seaweed