Shabby

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are now looking forward to the new year.
We had a very relaxing couple of days including my Granddaughter Faith pictured here relaxing in her new ball pit!



On Christmas day we decided to video a few Christmas messages by way of chin puppets and I just had to share these two with you.
Check out Oliver who is second up in the video and in the middle of loosing his baby teeth….hilarious!

I have been asked to come up with a new workshop next year at Country Love Crafts covering handmade gifts Shabby Chic style.
We were asked many times last year if we would do this so the dates are now set and the first one will be on the 26th March and will be a full day workshop.
Alternatively it can be booked on a bespoke basis and taught one to one.

Hear are a few of the items I have been working on showing some of the techniques being taught.

Here is a present for my daughter…although at the moment with Faith having a cold and teething, I doubt it will be used much!

A simple hinged wedding ring box.

Something for Valentines day??

A christening box, very much with an East of India style.

Finally a little wooden chest of draws.

I bet your shocked that there's not a spot of rust in sight!

Have a great day,

 

Andy

Wishing You All A Very Merry Christmas

Hi all,
I thought I had better take this opportunity to wish everyone I know, have met and all of you who have been so supportive this year both on the blog and out and about a Very warm and heartfelt Merry Christmas. 
I really don't think I will get chance to blog before the day as It's Xmas food shopping tomorrow with my eldest daughter, Friday will be all the last minute stuff to organise and Saturday I am going to my daughters house for the Christmas period so I guess this is it.
I will be back home however on the 27th continuing work on the Timeworn Techniques Workshop …Hey come on it may be nearly Christmas but I still have to plug it :)

It now has gone up from 15 faux techniques to 19, here is the list: Burnt Copper, Aged Brass, Copper Patina, Worn Patina, Chipped Aluminium, Chipped Worn Metal, Deep Chipped Paint, Old Wooden Floor Boards, Pitted and Corroded Paint, Leather, Old Ivory, Peeled Paint, Rusty Tin, Mild Rust, Texture Rust, Washed Rust, Decayed Rust, Worn Rust, and Rust Drips. Also included are two new non toxic antiquing methods. The PDF's are nearly complete its now left down to completing the videos.

Here are a few techniques not included in the video.

Warn Rust


Washed Rust


Aged Brass

Starts Feb 24th 2012

Have lots of fun everyone,

Andy

The Challenge Revealed

Hi all,

I was recently set a challenge by a friend to produce a piece of altered art/assemblage using 5 items and themes of his choice.
This idea came about after a few glasses of wine which I deeply regretted in the morning upon remembering the theme he came up with..
Tribal, shrine, entrapped, scrap metal, rust, distressed and all of this along with a hint of steampunk!!

What's even worse are the five items he chose for me..get these,  a decopatch tissue box, a wooden bear money box, a small decopatch frame, a trinket box and finally just to add insult to injury….. a decopatch princess mask!!!….. yeah…. thanks for that mate!!



I was however allowed to add any bits I had lying around to the piece and of course, Decoart acrylic paint.

This was a tough challenge because there were other things I wanted to use but without further ado, here it is!

Can you tell I am being very influenced by de Mengs work at the moment?! :)

Old trophy handles where mounted on the sides of the tissue box.

The tribal part of the theme was added by making this head from epoxy putty, mounting it in the small box and adding the frame over the top.

The money box was fitted with a light and a watch face fitted over the hole….I'm afraid the teddy bear had to go!
I then stamped the butterfly girl from my Altered Easter stamps onto some acetate and mounted that inside the box… this is the entrapment part of the themes.

The steampunk element came from the glasses mounted on the mask, these were made from old binocular parts and a pocket watch.
A light was then fitted behind the lens.

Lights out!

Have a great day,

Andy

That's it….I'm Finished!

I've been busy working on a few things this week and last week I was given six items and asked to combine them in an altered art/assemblage piece which was great as I wanted to do something using some of the techniques taught on the new Timeworn Techniques workshop and this was an ideal opportunity!
The problem is the light at this time is not good for taking photos….but guess what??….. this piece has lights! so here is a night time clip :)
I will share daytime photo's tomorrow.

Andy

Timeworn Techniques Now Open

Hi all,

Registration is now open, details and registration for this new workshop can be found on my online workshop blog or by clicking HERE

Unfortunately Places will be limited

Andy

Are You Ready?… New Online Workshop Announcement

Hi everyone,

You can tell 12 tags is on as the internet goes very quite!

Some of you already know that I have been working on a new online workshop, this workshop will show you how I create many of my faux techniques.
The problem is I keep discovering new ones which is making the task longer in putting it all together!
Originally the workshop was going to start in January 2012 and was going to involve a series of faux and texture techniques using Decoart acrylic paints along with a little ink and mediums and would run a total of four weeks. 
I then started thinking…..always dangerous I know…….things have now changed.
It will now start on February 24th as I have Stitches and Bahrain beforehand, these commitments would make it very hard for me to maintain support in the forum.
The workshop will now run for a total of six weeks allowing you to practice the techniques, 15 in total, and then come up with a piece of altered art combining some or all of the techniques learned!
All Altered pieces finished and entered by photograph will be judged by two top altered artists along with a sponsor from Decoart. The winner will receive a £50 voucher to spend on Decoart products!

A product list will be given to you 4 weeks before the workshop commences and access to the workshop website, including video and Pdf downloads along with a workshop forum.

Here are a few of the techniques demonstrated on the workshop, I have painted most of them on cardstock, but as its acrylic paint it will adhere to most surfaces.

Click On Pictures For A Larger View

Copper Patina on embossed card stock

Burnt Copper on embossed Cardstock

Leather on embossed Card Stock

Rusted painted Metal on embossed card stock

 

Weathered peeled paint on wood

Chipped Paint on Die Cut Cardstock

Deep Chipped Paint on card stock

Aged Ivory on Plastic

Painted Tin on embossed card stock

Decayed Rust on embossed cardstock

Ok that's enough for now but hopefully you get the idea.

The cost of this workshop will be £28.00 for the six week period. 
The booking process will go live tomorrow and places will be limited, I will give booking details in a blog post tomorrow.
Materials wise, well it is mainly acrylic paint with a few household items, although an embossing machine would be very useful for practise.

Bye for now,

Andy

Coming to the End

Well the year is coming to an end and I have to say it has been a real whirlwind one for me!

I have spent much of this morning reflecting on 2011 and it has been such a fantastic and busy year.
It has been a year in which I have met so many wonderful people both in my travels, online workshops and my workshops at Country Love Crafts.
December for me is the one month in the year where it all goes quite and I can catch up with all the stuff I unfortunately have to put to one side.

My first priority is to complete the new online workshop which is going to be amazing if you love altered art and faux techniques,  I am also going to concentrate on making some new Video tutorials…….it really has been a while so do watch this space!

I will leave you with this little montage……….

Andy

New Book

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post to show you this mornings experiment.
A few weeks ago I saw a steampunk book on the web that had a rock like finish, I tried to find it again this morning but to no avail but decided to have a go at creating my own version using Decoart Modeling Paste and Decoart Texture Sand Fine.
After yesterdays disaster I am really happy with how this has turned out.

Have a great day.

 

Andy