Jigsaw Puzzle Piece Swap - By the Sea

I received a little wooden jigsaw piece in the post for a swap. Sadly it was snapped in half right across the middle.

But I repaired it and decorated it with metallic acrylic paints, texture paste, embossing powders and tiny little shells I got from dismantling a charity shop necklace.

Here is a close up - with a tiny vintage image of a bathing beauty!

It looks all shimmery in wet with the naked eye but I can't quite capture that in the photos.


The back and sides have been painted metallic blue too - and the back has had waves painted on it.

Wings - for This Thursday Challenge

I found this quite a challenge this week. 'Wings' if only it had been that theme last week I could have entered my butterfly - so what could I do that was totally different?

After spending a few hours on an angel - I finally admitted defeat and started a totally different piece of art.

Firstly I chose a few images and then focussed on this one.

A lovely picture of a Japanese young lady.



I decided to age her by painting her with acrylics - to give a vintage oil painting feel to her. I cut out butterfly wings and colour washed them the same colour as I had painted her shawl.

Next I cut a small gothic arch and painted the background with acrylics - then collaged on top of it the wings and the lady. I painted her hair to fall down her back and wings to ensure that they looked part of her rather than added. I put that to one side and cut out a larger arch and covered it with a sheet of a Japanese newspaper.



I coloured this with TH distressed inks to match the colour scheme of the small arch. Then stamped a few small butterflies on top.

I mounted the small arch onto the top one and added gold leaf (which unfortunately is showing up quite bright in the flash light). In natural light the gold leaf gives it an aged effect - like peeled gold on wood.




I have photographed this at an angle to try and show the small arch edged to give an illusion that the girl is in a room looking out through an arched window.

More pieces of aged gold leaf, and textured with clear embossing highlighting some areas to add to the aged look and give it more depth as on the fan etc - it feels wonderful and looks so much better in real life.

Little Boy Blue

I am entering this for a challenge on Arty Girlz Challenge Blog this weeks' challenge is Blue.




I have altered a child's wooden domino.

First I primed it - then I painted on a lovely metallic blue paint, sandpapered it, painted on Gesso, sandpapered that - then painted on a top coat of metallic blue again - with the aim of giving it a distressed look.

When dry I stamped a Paper Artsy image onto it. I embossed the little boys hat with black embossing powder so too part of his cloak - to add definition and texture.

Around the edge of the domino I used textured paste to make a 'frame' then added different embossing colours - including gold, silver, distressed blue and clear embossing.

The sides and the back have had several coats of metallic blue paint too.

I drilled a hole through the top for a silver wire 'hanger loop'

The domino is a lot smaller than this photo! He looks lovely under a light.

Altered wooden domino - distressed

This is a wooden domino - altered for a forum swap




This one is supposed to look like peeled and cracked paint - a long lost Japanese 'treasure'

It has had several layers of paint which has been distressed with sand paper.

The image is stamped on and I went bonkers with the texture paste, all different colours and textures of embossing powders - including matt and distressed as well as well as gold and silver - and I have to say I am pleased with the result.





I even drilled to hole at the top - to put through wire to hang it up!

MADJAK DESIGNS - Butterfly Stamp

I am entering this for This Thursday Challenge Blog


At last I got to use one of my beautiful stamps from MADJAK designs. It is one of a set of four ATC sized stamps and they are gorgeous - I am trying to do them justice!

After a visit yesterday from Paula I was inspired by the way she colours her backgrounds with different shades of ink - so I had a go. O.K. so it looks mainly black - but there are different shades to make it look like that!

After shading the backing card, I stamped out a butterfly on acetate and coloured the back with firstly alcohol inked gold - then once dry added red acrylic paint. Although you can't see it here - it gives the butterfly a lovely gold shimmer on top of the red. A bit like painting in reverse!

I had a whale of a time with textured paste - as you can see - and incorporated butterfly red, gold, silver, black shades, and white.

I stamped on layers of ferns - with the top layer having some sea foam embossing.

I sprayed some dried twigs black and that was 'sunk' in place with a No Nails product and coloured to match the rest of the texture.

The butterfly is resting on the twigs - its head is the 'bud' from a dried twig as cutting out the head and antennae of the butterfly out of acrylic was a bit out of my scope. The butterfly antennae are twigs with 'buds' conveniently on the top, painted with gold leaf

It hangs by gold thread at the top.

I would just like to thank Linda for the stamps, together with Zuzu, Ginger and Paula all of whom have inspired and encouraged me - and I think that their guidance and influence is beginning to show in my work.

'Butterfly' ATC house shape swap

Firstly I stamped (with my new second hand stamp -thanks BB) the Asian Lady. Then I masked her.

The backing colours were done next in pastels (they look brighter and softer in real life) and then over the masked lady I stamped Oriental Calligraphy which I embossed to give texture.

The butterfly was an image I bought - which I covered in UTEE to enamel it. It sits proud of the lady so that the wings are not glued on just the body with a glue dot.

Mermaid - Third Coast Designs

I finally got around to finishing my texture mermaid - I bought the stamp from Third Coast Designs and wanted to make something to do it justice.

I got the chance when Zuzu and Ginger came to visit for a few hours and they showed me how to use texture paste. I didn't get to finish it at the time - but have spent a while adding bits and finishing it off since then.

In real life - it is lovely and shimmery and 'wet' looking just like a mermaid under the sea. The pearls around the edge and her necklace are all done with liquid pearls. There is silver and sea foam embossing too - and of course lots of texture!

I have been trying to find something to dangle at the bottom - a single pearl - but alas can't find one anywhere - so she is hanging in my studio until such times I can find what I have in mind.