The Craft Barn Extravaganza & Stuff!

What a whirlwind weekend at the craft barn! It all started on Friday when I held a workshop using the cathedral box.
The run up to the workshop was tense as there were a few problems with the boxes, thanks to poor Ian who had to physically saw them in half just an hour before the workshop began!!

When everyone arrived I was in panic stations, but this quickly passed as they were such a relaxed and lovely group and I soon calmed down.

Here is the tea caddy we made.

 

I returned home that evening to stock up with samples for the next two days only to get stuck on the M25 for 3 hours, there really is not a strong enough word to describe how I feel about that road!

Anyway, I returned Saturday morning fresh and raring to go, set out my table in good time and was all ready for the doors to open at 10am.
As soon as I started demonstrating with the blending tool it became apparent that I had a very wonky table, three cups of spilt tea later, one going straight into my heat gun, paint stripper thingy it was starting to get beyond funny!!

It was however lovely to see everyone and catch up, it was especially good to see Lindsay mason there who was on the table next to me working her magic with Ranger glue and seal and Distress Inks!

 

Ok where was I?……. Oh yes, so got back to the accommodation at 6pm, we had arranged to go out for drinks and a meal at 7pm, I was running a little late so Liz Welch kindly told me the directions as it was only 5 minutes away... Now I am one of those unfortunate people who can only hold that sort of information for a very short period before most of it has left my brain! 45 minutes later I am still driving and searching for the venue, Obviously being male asking for directions is not an option lol, so at this stage I decide to grab a take away,  go back to my room, watch the tennis and big time sulk!

Here is my version of one of the new Tando Creative Carriage Clocks, loved doing this!

 

Sunday went much smoother I'm happy to say, I got the table sorted and there was no more crying over spilt tea and the M25 on the way home was bearable.

 

I was very happy to see this week that I have made it as the spotlight artist over on the Decoart Helping Artist site, been hoping for this for a while now, below is the link to the article.

http://www.decoart.com/helping-artist/andy-skinner/

Well that's about it for now, working on lots of stuff that has to be kept under wraps at the moment, I will however be demonstrating at the Art Shop 11 - 12A Bondgate Darlington DL3 7JE this coming Saturday.

Andy

Mixed Media Canvas Workshop

Hello,
I was back at the Craft Barn today holding a mixed media canvas workshop using Decoart acrylic paint, Derwent Inktense pencils, Marker pens, Archival Ink and a few other mediums.
This workshop has techniques very similar to art journaling but instead using a 12" x 12" canvas and predominantly acrylic paint.

Here are some pictures of todays awesome…(did I just say awesome??..:) canvases.

I am hoping everyone on the workshop would have learned a few techniques which they can build upon with lots of practice,  we had only four and a half hours to produce these canvases,  I often need to step away from the canvas for a few hours or even sometimes days!!  I honestly think you all did an amazing job!

Lindsay Masons new Stamps work so well with this, I would absolutely love to be able to write freehand on this type of artwork but my handwriting really is atrocious, a bit like a doctors so thank goodness for these stamps!
I have now nearly moved in to the new home, one more trip tomorrow to finish it all off.
As for unpacking!?!……well unfortunately, that has not happened yet although I am hoping to get a few days free next week!
Kathy,  thank you so much for the kind gift of the Duck eggs today,  I really can't wait to try them :)
Take care
Andy

Next Weekends workshop………Expecting Steampunk?

Here is an example of the 12" x 12" style of canvas we are going to produce on my workshop at the Craft Barn this coming weekend, No distress and No steampunk this time,  instead lots of mixed media including colour washes, Derwent intense pencils,  pens, ink and some very cool Lindsay Mason Stamps!

 

 

Andy

Catch up

Hi all,
Just thought I would catch up and share with you what I have been up to this week so far. On Monday I held a ceramic aboriginal decorating workshop at Country Love Crafts.
Now, I normally keep my glazed pottery pieces away from this blog and have them on my website, but i am thinking of doing something like this on cardstock or an altered box?

Click On Pictures For A Larger View


I also managed to finish the mixed media painting I started which I will now put up for sale on my Folksy shop, I am really happy with the way it turned out.



This afternoon I worked on a bisque bauble trying to come up with a simple design for children, using Americana acrylic paint, round sponge dabbers and a product from Decoart called Triple Thick brilliant gloss glaze, this stuff is amazing, one coat and your item will look as if it is kiln glazed. We are expecting a delivery of this acrylic spray from the states in three weeks, I will let you know which suppliers are stocking it then.



I have also taken the plunge with the guitar, (Sacrilege)…..I had a little play on it for 10 minutes and then gave it a hug before removing the scratch plate which amazingly came off without causing any damage, so its now ready to be completely steampunked! I will keep you all updated with its progress!


Finally I made a small video as a little surprise for Lindsay Mason as a way of thanking her for all her support over the past few months. Its only short but highlights some of her most recent and fabulous designs.

Bye for now,
Andy

East Of India

These East of India tags from Calico crafts have been on my desk for a couple of weeks now and I finally got a chance to do something with them.
These super strong luggage labels come in Black, natural and white. They are ready punched and strung with twisted paper twine.

The first picture was made using a natural tag and the second one of the black ones.

Stamps from my Stitch in time set were used for the first tag.
I first stamped the sewing pattern with VersaMark and embossed with clear embossing powder.
Next I blended fired brick and faded jeans Distress inks around the edges.
Faded jeans was then used to stamp the cotton real and Brushed corduroy for the tailors rule.
A Stitch in time was then stamped with Archival black and the tag was finished of with an old button and the cool tailors scissor’s from Calico’s Steampunk range of pendants.

Stamps from my nature set were used on the second tag along with some decoupage paper and Perfect Pearls.

Here is a quick tag I made using Decopatch paper on 300 gsm cardstock with some of Lindsay Masons new stamps.


Andy

Mixed Media Backgrounds

Below are a few test pieces using the watercolour, gesso and acrylic paint method mentioned in my last post inspired by Helga Strauss.
On the first piece of cardstock I have used a castle stamp from Lindsay Masons new designs along with the geese from my Nature set.


The Gesso gives fantastic texture to the cardstock as you can see in the close up picture below.
I"m currently working on a quick PDF tutorial for this technique which I will post here as soon as it is finished so don't forge t to check back!

Andy

Finally I Can Announce The News!

Two posts in one day!  Well I was going to save this post until tomorrow but I have been waiting to officially announce this news for such a long time I could not wait so here goes….. I am now a stamp designer for Personal Impressions…yippee!!
I was approached at the end of November and submitted nine sets of designs at the beginning of January which were all excepted by both Personal Impressions and QVC.. I was so pleased but did not want to mention anything until I had a set of sample stamps in my hands ……Look what arrived yesterday!


The long awaited package full of my stamps!

The stamps are going to be launched at the Craft Hobby & Stitch Trade Show at the NEC on the 19/02 to 21/02 2011 So unfortunately I still cant show Images of them yet until that date but above is a little sneak peak!
I have now got just a week to make samples for the show but the great thing this year is that it will be using my designs.

Both myself and Lindsay Mason are running two workshops at Stitches working with our new sets and the remainder of the time I will be on the Decoart stand….Oh that reminds me I need to finish Sally!
Workshop 1
Workshop 2

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Andy

Triple Thick Accents

No time for a tutorial today as I am off to visit my two daughters for shopping and lunch but before I go I just wanted to share with you some 4” x 4” tiles and a star Christmas decoration accented and sealed with Decoart Triple Thick brush on gloss glaze.
It works very much like Glossy Accents and stays put where you place it and dries quickly.

Click On Pictures For Larger View

Image transfer, Versamagic and Triple Thick

Image Transfer, Distress Inks and accented with Triple Thick.

Image Transfer, Lindsey Mason Stamp with stazon and glazed with Triple Thick...See I can do cutesy!!

I have a feeling that when I return home my pockets will be empty!!
Have a great day,
Andy

Me…Nervous?… Maybe just a little ... Ok Ok lots!

Can I just say a big thank you to everyone who attended the trade day at Country Love Ceramics on Monday, It was quite a nerve racking experience for me but you were all so kind and really helped put me at ease.
I have only been experimenting with stamping onto pottery for a short while and having to demonstrate this to people who do it as a business?? Yikes!!!  I literally had no idea what to expect and honestly thought you would all look at my samples and know exactly which techniques and materials I had used, but to my surprise that was not the case.
I fully understand now that for many of you it was information overload, so as promised I will post some of my techniques up here on the blog next week.

Moving away from ceramic glazes for a while and getting back to my old love of Mixed Media has been a fantastic experience, I am now completely hooked.
After spending an afternoon with the lovely Lindsay Mason who taught me so much about inks and stamping techniques in the few hours we had has made me want to go shopping this weekend to buy more inks and stamps to experiment with!….Thank you Lindsay for helping me spend my money :).
Also a big thank you to Paula Pascual  who was so kind and helpful throughout the event.
Here are a few of the pottery Items from the day, I will post more next week.

Andy

Gesso

Acrylic and Stazon ink

Distress Inks

Image Transfer and Stazon Ink

Acrylic and Versa Ink