You make fabric beads the same way you make rolled paper beads, but I prefer fabric. I haven’t had any success when I tried making paper beads (yet). It’s easier to roll the fabric, and the beads get chunkier faster. Here is a quick tutorial to show you how easy and fun this is!
1. Cut your fabric into triangles. I do this without a pattern because I don’t mind if the beads are not the same size.
Fly photo over a Inner Landscape II, mixed media embroidery by Hanna Andersson.
As promised here is the second mixed media embroidery. The first one was very green if you remember. This one is very pink.
It has paper, plastic netting, acrylic paints, fabric, lace and all kinds of stuff in it, but most of all tiny stitches. Lots and lots of my tiny hand sewn stitches spread across the surface. Adding colour and texture. Adding me-ness to my work. Please leave a comment if you like it. And have a closer look below, I think there is much to look at in this one!
More photos/details of this embroidery:
What you need is an old credit card, some acrylic paint, a spray bottle of water, and recycled paper. Then you scrape paint your paper with one coat of colour and spray it with some water. When you scrape away the water after a few seconds you will create the coolest pattern ever! I really like the look of it. Then repeat as many times as you want, for a layered look.
Pretty!
I have sprayed water before but then only blotting it away with paper towels. Scraping with a credit card makes the whole process easier and more fun.
I like to paint my own decorative papers. These are going to be made into a book soon.
Using a card and a spray bottle of water together was inspired by and found in a this painting tutorial that Jessica (of Paint. paper. play. blog) linked me to in the comments. You should try it too, it was fun!
Also, check out the blog 30 journals 30 days for images, links and profiles of inspiring people!
A while back I splurged on some new to me paints, and today I thought I’d write a bit about them. I found one new favorite and a few disappointments. The favorite is the Golden fluid Acrylics, fluid/liquid being what separates it most from what I usually use in other cheaper brands. And the price of course. Golden is expensive, and in Sweden I think it is super expensive if you happen to find it. The little bottle I got is 119 ml (4 oz) and it costs 190 Swedish crowns (24 dollars). If I would get one of each colour you can calculate yourself how much that would be.
But to paint with fluid acrylics was a joy, a real joy. It is very rich and it seams that a little will go a long way, especially if you add water. It has a beautiful transparency to it too. My colour choice was a beautiful rich Quinacridone Magenta. I think it is very nice to paint with and I’m glad I now know what everyone is talking about when mentioning liquid acrylics.
I also bought some pretty ribbons and a pack of watercolours from a scrapbook store. I have read raving things about the paints, so I really wanted to try them when I found them here in Sweden. They are called Twinkling H2O (from LuminArte’) and comes in pretty miniature jars and has pretty names (pink is called Cherry Sorbet) that makes me want to eat them…
But to paint with them? No thanks! Sorry, but not my cup of tea.
First you have to add a lot of water to soften them, then wait because they are really hard. Then when you paint you do get a beautiful shimmer effect, but is almost invisible to the eye and some of the colors are not much of “colour”. My sample is painted on gesso in my altered book, and the photo is taken with a flash which makes them shinier than they look in real life:
The green, called Olive vine, was boldest, but the others were almost invisible to me. As a light colour hint I think they would work fine, but I guess I was expecting something more from these paints… like colours…
Because the embroidery itself is not traditional in any way, my framing is not either. I’ll show you what I did though, maybe you can use it in some way.
I was inspired by what I remembered from Britta Lincoln’s exhibition that I saw last fall, where she painted the visible raw edges with gold acrylics and the frames where black fabric… I have no training in embroidery - or framing, so I went with what I had at home and some ingenuity of my own. Take what you have handy and go with that (Man tager vad man haver as we say in Swedish). Anyways.
Cut out a piece of corrugated cardboard a bit bigger than your embroidery piece. I used this because it was all I could find in the right size, but corrugated cardboard is easy to bend to next time I’ll try to find something more sturdy but equally thick. Then I created kind of a cover, sewing two pieces of black cotton fabric together on three sides and placing the cardboard between the two pieces. It fit nicely, so I glued it closed on the fourth side.
White fabric glue all over the back.
Then I put fabric glue on the back of the embroidery, and adhered it to the black “framing”. All this on my three mixed media pieces - just hours before the exhibition hanging of course… Aphu! I also sewed a thread on the backside for easy hanging, and Voilą:
Framed and ready at the exhibit. I like how it came out!
Yay, quick easy and done!
Have you seen this embroidery video? It’s in Swedish but oh so beautiful and inspirational, watch here:
* Fiber Arts Mixed Media - ning-network with images, links and contests, add me as your friend when you join/log in.
* Contemporary Textile Art Pool - more photos at flickr
* * Mixed media Stitch Pool - photos at flickr
* * How to frame - Mary Corbet has done a great tutorial on “lacing” the backside to a piece of cardboard.
Something other than paper today… The first of my mixed media embroideries presented to you in full colour and many details. My new found happy maker.
When I finished it the name just came to me, in English Fly photo over a Inner Landscape (in Swedish Flygfoto över inre landskap III). I love this name! It goes so well with what I see in this embroidery; myself. The winding roads that my mind takes, with its creative ideas and bits of hesitation, passion, joy and mindfulness…
This embroidery is rich and complex, just like our minds. In mostly green and covered with thousands of little hand sewn stitches it portraits a inside in development, and maybe you too can identify with it and see the map it portraits? I hope so.
This is one of the embroideries that I exhibited together with my Embroidery Group in May here in town, and it was the only one I sold there. I know that the lady that bought it (whose favorite colour is green) saw many things in it, including herself and the way she feels. That is amazing to me and maybe what art is all about. Free interpretation and associations… To sell it and to such a positive and appreciative person made me very happy, so it was not difficult to let it go. The experience transformed my feelings for the artwork and made it even more meaningful! It had meaning to me already, but of course all the hours I’ve spent sewing this I was never sure where I was going or what I was doing. Sewing right now is an experimentation to me, an exploration of what is possible. That others appreciate what I create is such a positive thing that I can hardly explain it in words, though happiness is one good word for it…
I call it my “mixed media embroidery” and that feels like an appropriate name for what I’m doing, since it is a mix of all kinds of materials in there! It is like a free form embroidery but on a mixed media surface. I’ve been working on a series of three mixed media embroidery all through winter. Sewing little stitches on the train or dark nights in front of the TV (watching good movies).
This embroidery is made on a white cotton fabric that is now almost invisible. It was covered with different colors of acrylic paint before I started to stitch. Painting on fabric is fun but acrylic paint hardens the fabric and makes it difficult to sew through, so it is not really recommended. But once I had started with my three pieces I just wanted to continue to stitch, and so I did. I covered the whole surface with my small stitches and could not stop.
The materials used in this mixed media embroidery are:
Even more close up photos:
Now that I’m in love with rolls of brown wrapping paper I want it everywhere. I’ve rolled out some out on my work surface. This paper has been protecting the desk from getting dirty with acrylic paint while I was been painting.
Actually I think it is extremely pretty. Call me crazy, I don’t care… If you get it you get it. If you visit my blog regularly I think you can understand.
I think this is my favorite background paper ever, and I didn’t even create it on purpose… Isn’t that cool? It feels spring like. And Happy. I don’t know what to do with it yet, but I could even frame it, but probably won’t. Maybe I’ll cut it up and use it as collage papers and backgrounds. But for now, lets just look at its colours.
Look:
Love this quote! And so appropriate, because overdoing is my favorite thing to do too!
Last month I did a few flowers on brown paper and noticed how much paint the brown paper can take. I’ve got a few rolls of brown paper for gift wrapping and it is amazing how much paint you can slap on it without it tearing or getting bubbly. And if you roll it out you can also enjoy painting big without the need of a expensive canvas. So if you worry about being neat and producing wall-worthy art when you paint on canvas, this is a great option.
At almost no cost you can paint huge paintings, and you don’t need to worry about the result. If you don’t like it throw it away and then just roll out another piece of paper. If you want to make super cheap art - pick up some brown paper and start painting! You can use the paper from grocery bags, buy a whole roll - or recycle some brown paper like I did (got this one in the mail with gifts inside).
Did you notice the pen on the paper above? It’s there for size comparison:
Because this is XL for crusade #40, called Step up the scale! I thoroughly enjoyed painting these backgrounds, mixing colors as I went along. Experimenting with dry brushing, stencils (both bought alphabet stencil and some round ones I’ve made myself), stamping (my new favorite is a empty sewing thread spool) and some collage (from an old school book, recycled wrapping paper from dad’s birthday plus some labels). You could go in and add details, doodle on top of this, cut out shapes or just paint something figurative on top of it I guess. You could do anything. I kept on painting.
I painted the backside of the above brown paper too. Here it is again, covered in paint:
Then I moved on to another sheet of paper, even bigger this time:
Both of the big papers together (notice the pen again!):
I promise I will let you know what these are being turned into in my next post!
And check out some close up photos while you wait:
Lately I have missed making square collages, like a lot. So I decided to make at least one one, to get me started. I sat down by my desk and cut out a foundation to start working on, from card board.
Green Owl Collage on card board. April 2010.
I feel kind of silly doing a owl collage, because so many others are making cool owl stuff. But I guess I’m not done with owls yet. I still love how they look. Eloquent. Soft feathers, sharp beak. The are similar to cats when you think about it. Both are night creatures, hunters but still so beautiful. Killers yes, but with that soft lovable look a girl just can’t resist… I love the contrast in that. I love contrasts. Plus, owls are the symbol of book reading and knowledge, something I have a close love for.
I drew a square in the middle of the cardboard and created the collage (almost) within those lines. The surrounding white is a bit of a mess, but not meant to be viewed much…
The collage is the perfect fit inside the mat board of a Ribba frame from IKEA. Pro! look:
The mat board (this white paper is called passpartout in Swedish, from French of course) will hide the stains I accidentally made around the actual collage, and also has a more practical functions: to separate the art from the glass.
I think anything will look great and very professional with matting and framing. I’ve added this Green Owl Collage (SOLD!) to my Etsy Shop. Check it out. The collage is sold without the frame but because IKEA is available most places I hope it will get framed and beautifully hung on someones art wall! If you want to cut mat boards yourself you need some tools and a bit of practice. I have never tried it though, I prefer pre-cut mat boards.
A day later I made another owl collage, number 2:
Pink Owl collage. April 2010.
I’m really pleased with both of these collages. I have added the Pink Owl (SOLD!) to my Etsy Shop too.
AND sent out my rare Newsletter - finally. If you’re a subscriber I appreciate that you let me be commercial with you. Sending out my newsletter is a nice way to let people who likes what I do know about it. It’s been on my to-do-list for a few months now… Maybe I will try to send out another one this year, hehe. I also noticed yesterday I had 400 followers at my twitter account (where I share my favorite finds from the net; videos, articles, tutorials, giveaways, etc). Today I have 402 followers! Kind of cool! I haven’t even sent out that many tweet messages yet, hehe.
And I have started with four new collages already! I can’t wait to finish those too, I think I will do lots of square collages now, because as I said, I miss them. In 2008 I made an art card each day (!), so maybe the habit is still in me… I am deciding right now to get into the habit of making more art. But tonight I’m having coffee and embroidery with the Embroidery Group - yay!
See ya!
Remember these? Some of the papers I was filling with colours turned into postcards, some sent out, others waiting for stamps and/or occasion. I love how they look:
And while the sewing machine was out, I made two fabric postcards too:
Fun fun fun! What did you make today?