I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Hand in hand, heart in heart

Hello all, and welcome to the Artistic Outpost monthly hop.  From never having participated in a bloghop, this is now my second in two days!  There are amazing projects to be seen at my fellow DT members blogs, and they'd love you to stop by. Here's the full line-up:
Gerrie Johnnic, Lisa SomervilleSuzanne CzosekTracy Evans, Linda Coughlin, me, Terry Horrall, Kate Yetter.  That's some pretty exciting company to be in!

Our theme is Valentines, and I'm sharing my heart with you today...



I didn't really have anything obviously Valentine-y amongst my Artistic Outpost stamps... to be perfectly honest, it's not precisely my favourite holiday celebration, so stamps-wise I'm not really equipped - you'll notice this is not pink/red either.  

But my thoughts went immediately went to this enchanting pair from the Sleigh Ride set, and I decided I might be able to "alter" the image to suit the festival.

I started with a blank MDF heart and set to work with some Fresco paints and the PaperArtsy crackle glaze.  The base coat is in French Roast and topcoat in Nougat, for a warm, creamy softness.









I wanted to use a flourish around the edge, so I took the singing bird stamp from the Serenity set and inked it up partially so that I could just use the branches around the edge of my heart.

I blended some Gathered Twigs and Vintage Photo DIs around the edge, and then added some more Nougat paint with a brush to highlight the very edge of the heart, and provide a nice, defined frame.








On a separate piece of cardstock, I stamped the boy and girl in Archival ink, and cut them out.  This was the opportunity to "lose" the little Christmas tree the boy is holding, just by snipping off the end of it.  I used Vintage Photo DI to just add some gentle shading.

Then I cut out a little heart from a leftover coffee cup holder, it's just very gently corrugated which was necessary for such a small heart.








It was tricky to position it so that it hid the rest of the tree without covering up his face.  I think it just about looks as though he's holding on to it!

And in the girl's basket there's what looks like gingerbread or Christmas gifts, so I decided to cover them too with a tiny bouquet of mulberry paper roses - I like the additional dimension they give to the piece.








I layered in some frayed cheesecloth and stuck the couple down using doubled up padded tape so that they would stand proud of the heart by several millimetres.


The words, inspired by their interwound hand-holding position, were stamped with my new little alphabet in Sepia Archival ink.  I love how they look against the crackle background.

I also added a few of the delightful tiny wooden hearts that Trace of inkypinkycraft so kindly included in my tag swap package.  

I gave them a touch of paint to make them a little paler on top, but left the lovely naturally dark edges well alone. 



The finishing touch was some white woven string to hang the heart up with, and I wound a couple of the mulberry paper roses around the bow as a final flourish.










Thanks so much for dropping in today... I hope you'll enjoy hopping round the rest of the team, and I've no doubt you'll find oodles of inspiration along the way.  Next stop: Terry.  Hope you're all having a great week out there in Craftyblogland - see you soon!


Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I'm entering this in the following:
Craft-room Challenge are playing Valentines

52 comments:

Jenny Marples said...

Beautiful Alison. Love the crackle as ever, and that tiny corrugated heart really draws the eye in to that sweet pair. Off to see what everyone else on the team has been up to. Hugs, Jenny x

Brenda Brown said...

A fabulous heart Alison, I love the stamp you have chosen to use and the little corrugated heart and wooden hearts are the perfect touch.
Enjoy your week.
Hugs Brenda xox

Inkypinkycraft said...

Alisonthis is eautiful, I love the soft colors andthe addition of the hearts and flowers are wonderful! Really wonderful hugs trace x

Yvonne Garner said...

Beautifully done Alison. Bravo!

chrissie said...

Really beautiful Alison--love the woven string idea and the frayed cheese cloth. You always add something special to your work.

Best wishes Chrissie xx

Julia S-W said...

Soft, muted and dreamy just as love should be if we believe all we read!! I adore this heart from the crackle, the stamps to the little hearts you used to adorn it. For me, it is perfect.
Enjoy the rest of the week.
Juliaxxx

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Beautiful Alison, love how you have adapted the images to suit Valentines, very clever. Love the muted tones too, so elegant. Love the little heart and the dimensional flowers set against your beautiful background. Tracy x

Mervi said...

Hi Alison,
wow this is so beautiful and fabulous creation;-))m

Astrid Maclean said...

Love your alternative Valentine's colour, much more up my street; and the way you have made the stamp fit the theme is brilliant! A Velentines piece after my heart! Oh and I love the crackle!!

froebelsternchen said...

amazing - quite a bit of "CUTE Shabby Chick" - a special nice combination!
Love it Alison and love to see your fab workdesk too!
I am stunning how much beautiful artwork you are making without a break.-----

WOW!

Great and fantastic to see this!
Thanks for sharing with us!

craftytrog said...

Adorable!!! x

Suzanne C said...

Fantastic heart! Sweet children and love the vintage feel with the brown hues and the crackle! Lovely valentines!

Gerrie Johnnic said...

Sa-weet! Very vintage...luv how you adapted to make a wonderful piece of Valentine art.

Tina´s PicStory said...

very lovely! :)

Tina´s PicStory said...

very lovely! :)

lilscrappers said...

For someone that doesn't buy into Valentines Day, you hit it bang on! I love the muted shades, the way you altered the stamp, everything.

Lisa Somerville said...

Beautiful vintage heart! Fabulous way to use the sweet children, just by altering a few things, they take on a whole new look! Love the added crackle, flowers and cheesecloth!

Terry said...

Beautiful hanging heart and such a great idea for Valentine's Day! Love the vintage feel of the crackle and those sweet little darlings!

Redanne said...

How clever of you Alison to re-purpose that Christmas image and replace the tree and basket with a heart and flowers. You have distressed the large heart beautifully and the addition of the smaller ones is perfect. Hugs, Anne x

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Ooh, this is just super yummy, Alison. I really love the way you used the branch flourish around the edges and how you modified the children image to fit the theme. Super piece for your first hop with AO - so thrilled to be designing along side you.

Karen McAlpine said...

Love your heart! That crackle finish looks so cool!!

Marjie Kemper said...

So sweet, Alison. Love the crackle and the corrugated one you added to the child. Lovely!

Suzanne B aka brookfies said...

Your work is always outstanding and this is no exception. Congrats on your recent new DT posts ..well deserved. thank you for sharing with us at the Craft Room "valentine" challenge this time. Wishes, Suzanne x

Paper Profusion said...

Gorgeous vintage heart Alison - they are such a sweet little pair and I think the colouring is so perfect for them. Great crackle as ever! Nicola x

Almo said...

Hi Alison, I love this little heart, crackle is one of my favs. Also really love your covered tin in one of your earlier posts.
Mo x

Anonymous said...

Beautiful project Alison, love the colours you've used and how you've adapted the image ! I'm not a big fan of this theme either but I love how you've interpreted it, definitely given me food for thought ! Sue C x

Anonymous said...

Amazing crackle and the sweetest additions such as the heart the little boy holds and the girl clutching the flowers.
So beautiful.
Wishes
Lynne

Michelle said...

Lovely work! I'm sure it will be a treasure!

Shelly Schmidt said...

This is fabulous! I love the crackled BG- love the image you used and the touch of cheesecloth behind it!

Martina said...

Alison, your new projects are amazing! You make such wonderful art, such a variety and very inspirational!!
Have a great week.
Hugs MARTINA

sam21ski said...

Love the style of the heart shape Alison but further more I absolutely love what you've done with it - so shabby chic - gorgeous xxx

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

So Sweet, such lovely vintage, great heart Alison!

greetings, Alie :-)

May said...

Gorgeous vintage heart Alison, Love the background & texture.. matched with such an adorable image.. Simply Beautiful work as always... Hugs May x x x

Netty said...

Loving your beautiful heart, the crackle paint gives it a gorgeous vintage look. Looking at your photo can see you had some sunshine today, unfortunately we had freezing fog...not nice. Hugs Annette x

Hettie said...

For someone who does not have any Valentinesey stamps you have done a cracking job Alison.
Another stamp set I want now!
Hugs
xx

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Such a wonderful heart hanging. Love the cracked background and the lovely image.

Annie said...

Excellent improvisation here Alison................Love the textured background....gorgeous crackles. Love the finished piece:)



Hope to take a look at the blogs of the DT team on Friday as out again on THursday.
THanks for the shout re FSC. I am tickled pink!!

hugs

Annie x

Kate Yetter said...

Just gorgeous, Alison! I love the sepia colored ink with the white crackled background. Such a lovely image in the center!

Patti P. said...

Couldn't be more perfect. I especially love the treatment around the edges and your revamping of the stamp. I {heart} your heart!!!

Cathy L. Calamas said...

My heart beats faster when I know I am getting ready to visit your blog. No kidding. I am always treated to such luscious pieces of creativity.
Inspiration galore!!

Unknown said...

Oh how lovely!!! This is awesome!!

Sue said...

What a beautiful heart Alison, I love the colours and the crackling, and what gorgeous little flowers x

Nikki Byrne said...

Beautiful heart hanger! Thank you for sharing it with us at Craft-room challenge. Good luck

Hugs

NIKKI DT

Sandi McLean said...

Love the treatment and the creativity!

Lucy Edmondson said...

So adorable! Actually, I like Valentine crafting; it is Christmas I don't like!

lucy x

Sandy said...

So nostalgic - so very pretty!
sandy

Bärbel said...

So ein wunderbares Stück, Alison, die Struktur des Hintergrundes, das schöne Paar und die süßen Herzen - ein perfektes Valentinstag-Geschenk!

Unknown said...

I love the textured background and the wonderful vintage image is an amazing focal point. Terrific project Alison!

Margaret said...

Your vintage Valentine is so beautiful! Your slightly altered Christmas image looks amazing with the crackled background and the wonderful cheesecloth.

Maria said...

Oh wow! I absolutely love this! You've achieved such a gorgeous vintage finish with the crackle glaze and colours, and I love how you've adapted your stamps to suit the theme. Thanks for joining in with our Valentine theme over at the Craft-Room Challenge, and good luck.

Maria x

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

A beauty! Perfect for Valentines too!

craft-roomjulia said...

My oh my, this is just beautiful. I just adore every single thing about this gorgeous vintage heart. Thanks for joining us at Craft Room Challenge and good luck. Julia xxxx