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 24 April 2013

The Silence Between



Hello everyone; hope you're all having a great week!  It's my birthday today, so I decided to indulge myself in catching up with one of my favourite projects.

I was so excited to be invited to Guest Design for Calico Crafts on their blog in February, but I only gave a sneak peek of the projects here at Words and Pictures.

I've caught up with one of them, but it's time to get add the other to my full collection here.  I use this blog like a virtual scrapbook of my work, so it feels important to get them all "under one roof".  So, forgive me if you've seen this before...

I love the eclectic mix of products Calico Crafts offer - so much inspiration just from the crafty stash.

The first piece I created for them was a hanging created out of unassuming beer mats, rusty metal and bits of driftwood.  I love the sense of "found objects" being turned into something beautiful ... well, I think it's beautiful - I hope you like it too!












I started by covering the beer mats with the large Vintage Collage Sheet called Principles of Music (sadly not available at the moment, but there are lots of others to choose from).  I love music manuscript and notation, so this huge sheet of old musical principles and rules really delights me.










Once the mats were covered, I sanded the edges for a more distressed look, and then added some gesso with rough brushstrokes to weather them even further.











I stamped some of the gorgeous hedgerow grasses from the Artemio Wild Summer Meadow set randomly across the three beer mats, and added the rusted hearts.  

I arranged the mats on my craft table in the order I thought looked best, and adjusted the position of the hearts until I was happy with how it all looked.








I got some of the small driftwood sticks and lined them up in between the mats to check that the idea I'd had was actually going to look okay before I started getting twiddly with the rusty wire.  I also gave them a couple of sweeps of gesso for fun!












I punched holes in the beermats and then started threading the whole thing together, making sure to leave enough length in the wire for doing some curly wurly stuff at the ends.









I stamped the quote - which, I should of course tell you, is a thought of Mozart's - and cut them up, inking the edges.  

I attached them using padded tape, for extra dimension, inserting a bit of metal mesh behind the most significant words to highlight them. 



And that was pretty much that... a fairly simple make, but one that really pleases me.  I'd love to know what you think, though please don't feel you have to leave a comment if you did last time!











My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence.
Edith Sitwell

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.
William Penn


Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb.
Pythagoras

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.  If you've never been there, it's well worth visiting the Calico Crafts blog for lots of lovely inspiration, as well of course as the online store for lots of lovely shopping!  Happy crafting!

Ingredients from Calico Crafts - click to go straight there:

57 comments:

chrissie said...

Terrific Alison--love the title as well as the piece.

Have a very Happy Birthday

Love Chrissie xx

Helen said...

Oh, Alison, happy happy Birthday!! I love your gorgeous hanging - and if you can't indulge on your birthday by doing a fave project, when can you!! Have a lovely day. xxx

Fliss said...

A very Happy Birthday from me too Alison and Many Happy Returns! Hope you have a fab day.
Stunning artwork there, so elegant and wonderfully full of detail.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Sue said...

Hope you have a very happy birthday Alison. I love your driftwood in your piece it goes perfectly with the rusty wire xx

Brenda Brown said...

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you ...... Can you hear me singing it? Have a great day Alison.
I love this gorgeous piece and I understand what you mean about trying to keep everything together.
........ Happy birthday dear Alison, happy birthday to you.
Big hugs. Brenda xox

Debi said...

Great creation! and it seems the ladies are saying its your birthday :-P so wishing you a very happy birthday- have a great day, Debi x

Astrid Maclean said...

Have the most wonderful birthday Alison, can you hear me tune in with Brenda's song? I really like this project you did for CC and look forward to your next one, - oh and great post title too.

Hope you get loads of crafty pressies and have a great day and year ahead!!

brenda said...

First of all Happy Birthday Alison, hope you have a lovely day.

Well done on being a GD for Calico, I had no idea they had a blog until I saw your post. When they had a shop I used to do classes and workshops for them, so know Steve and Helen.

Thanks for sharing your lovely piece.

B x

Chrissy said...

A very Happy Birthday Alison, hope you have a wonderful day...
I love your project here today,rustic and gorgeous...and love the sentiments..

Luv CHRISSYxx

Amanda said...

Happy Birthday Alison, what a great make to celebrate your day, it's super. Love all the collected items.
Love
Amanda x

froebelsternchen said...

this is fab.. earth connected piece with an artsy charming soul!

Love it Alison!

jasann said...

Happy Birthday!!!! thanks for sharing your new project it is so beautiful,

froebelsternchen said...

HAPPY B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y* Alison!

Ephemera said...

Have a fabulous birthday! Your project is gorgeous, so delicately stamped with such a wonderful sentiment. xx

Andrea Small said...

Happy Birthday Boxing Day
A xx

Redanne said...

And it's a Happy Birthday from me too Alison. I saw this gorgeous creation over at CC, it is really beautiful, I love the rusted wire and the driftwood elements along with your wonderful arrangement of embellies. A truly beautiful hanging! Hugs, Anne x

PS They have a great sale on 7 Gypsies stuff at the moment too....

barbarayaya62 said...

HAppy birthday Alison!!!!!!!!! Love this work, natural colors are wonderful!

Sophie said...

Wow! Hipp hipp hurra!!!
Du hast Geburtstag, Alison?!
Gut, dass ich das grade gelesen habe, sonst hätte ich es verschwitzt :-)

Ich wünsche dir alles Gute, alles Glück der Erde und viel Sonne im Herzen.

Umarmung und liebe Grüße von Sophie xx

Nan G said...

Happy Birthday, Alison! Your work is so inspiring! This piece is fab!

Kelly said...

Happy Birthday dear!! May you be blessed with many more! I love the earthiness of your hanging especially where you took the photo. I love the charm it has and it looks like it belongs together. Very beautiful and the sentiment has me pondering a bit. I love music but cannot sing at all. hehe so I am silent all the time listening to the beautiful voices and instruments. Lovely piece of art Alison.
Big Birthday Hugs to You,
Kelly

Abbeybufo said...

Happy Birthday! [4 days after mine ...] - Ruth

mytawnyinspirations said...

I hope you've had a lovely birthday, Alison. Love the colours and textures you have used with this hanging. Great idea for coasters. Love your work and looking forward to seeing more. Have a great week. Cheers, Di

Gio said...

Just brilliant, Alison!! Have a very nice and warm weekend, and of course Happy Birthdayyyyyyy!! :-)

Tonniece said...

Your haning is beautiful. Love that pp and all the yummy rust.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Hugz Tonniece

catherine said...

This looks stunning as always with your projects Alison. must pop over and visit the blog
x catherine

Rita said...

I can't stop looking at this Alison. Its absolutely beautiful and you should be so proud of yourself being able to achieve such a great piece. Hugs Rita xxxx

Rita said...

Forgot to wish you a very Happy Birthday. Hugs Rita xxx

craftytrog said...

I love this piece & that wonderful quote, I'm a huge fan of silence & music!
Hope you had a wonderful birthday Alison xxx

Kim Dellow said...

It is wonderful! Kim

Sarah said...

May your birthday be filled with all of the things you love! Happy Birthday, Alison!!!

Almo said...

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
HappyBirthday dear Alison......
Happy Birthday to you.
Love everything about this project Alison, all the elements have come together so beautifully. Ireally like the effect of the rusty wire through the driftwood and the mesh behind the words. Hugs Mo x

Silvia(Barnie) said...

That's a fantastic hanging, great use of the coasters.

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Firstly Happy Birthday Alison, hope you have had a wonderful day and been spoiled rotten. Did you get Amy crafty goodies? Love your trio hanging , love the rustic feel and colour tones to this piece. Beautifully crafted. Tracy x

May said...

Happy Birthday Alison... Have a great one!! enjoy every moment... Fabulous hanging.. Love the use of drift wood, Fantastic stamping & adorable rusty hearts... Love the design.. Hugs May x x x

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

Wow Alison, you did it again...a real "Alison"!!! Love the driftwood sticks between the stamped parts. Such a natural look in total...Compliments!

kind regards, Alie :-)

Jenny Marples said...

Fabulous hanging Alison. Love the design and the way you've added the driftwood sticks in between the beermats. Hope you've had a wonderful birthday, Hugs, Jenny x

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous hanging Alison ! Love the pieces of wood and of course the words are fabulous as always. Sue C x

Jennie Atkinson said...

Happy birthday Alison - I hope you have had a lovely day. Thank you for sharing this wonderful project - it really is fabulous and I love your use of the driftwood.

Terry said...

Firstly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Alison! The world is certainly a more beautiful place with you in it! Love the hanging and all the recycled bits and those rusty hearts! Beautiful! Have a wonderful rest of your birthday! Hugs!

Alexa said...

Hope you had a great day Alison and the sun shone on you! This is a lovely piece of upcycled art which looks gorgeous! x

Hettie said...

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Alison, Happy Birthday to you! Hope you have had a few bechorovkas to celebrate!! In which case you won't be reading this until tomorrow! LOL!
Gorgeous piece there Alison. Love all the lickle bits to look at here.
Divine!
Hugs
xx

Kezzy said...

Wow stunning hangings, I love how they are hung with wood, awesome creation. Happy Crafting :-) Kezzy xxx

Marjie Kemper said...

Happy Birthday, Alison! Hope you are having a wonderful day. Very smart to keep all your work under one roof. I remember this beauty -- love it!!

mark gould said...

me likey likey. love the drift wood and rusty wire x

Dianne said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU:):) A wall hanging,I'm overwhelmed
I love every milimeter. The wire you joined it with is soooo koool..I've had not seen it, so a pleasure for me. Okay Miss butterfly, you had me looking all over google to find,Sylphide tutus. Had me reading La Sylphide it was great. I came up with this and was so excited.
Sylphs are winged air elementals or fairies. They ride the wind, flying high with eagles, Sylphs are female and are almost transparent. They're slender and graceful, with large glistening eyes and huge wings. Sylphs befriend and protect other flying creatures, such as birds, moths and butterflies. Sylphs can move as fast as lightning, but they may also drift along on draughts or puffs of wind.
Thanks honey for giving me my lesson in english folklore, I'll be making one out of my beer mat and calling it that. LOL. Have a wonderful creative day.

House of Bears said...

A very (late) happy birthday from the bears. We love the altered beer mats, especially the way you've joined them together so neatly.

Unknown said...

Beautiful! I love hangings and this is a stunner, great work. Belated birthday greeting too Alison. Chris xxx

sara j said...

Happy Day After your Birthday!!! Hope it was fabulous...spend all week celebrating. Love the project, but am curious as to the size of a beer mat. I'm guessing it's bigger than a coaster because I can't envision all that cool stuff fitting on a beer mat! Another great project Alison. Also fun to visit.
Sara j

toni said...

Belated birthday wishes Alison I hope you are having a fab week! I love these two projects great use of the materials . Have fun xx

Annie said...

Happy Birthday Alison....I hope you had a lovely day.

I remember this piece and just loved it as driftwood pieces are a huge favourite of mine.

TFS

sorry I have not been around much will certainly catch up over the weekend

Hugs

Annie x

Dorthe said...

Alison, I loved your first shown beer-mat piece, and seing them all hanging in a line, from driftwood pieces they looks gorgeous.
The hedgerow stamp and rusted hearts are wonderful together!!
Hugs,Dorthe

Kate Yetter said...

I love the driftwood! A fabulous hanging, Alison.

Neet said...

Belated Birthday Greetings from me. Hope the day was as lovely as you are.
The beer mat hanging is lovely. I do like the muted tones and the way you have mounted them is quite inspirational. Looks really good!
Hugs, Neet xx

Matilde said...

Very nice project! :))

Mrs.B said...

This is a beautiful hanging, and lovely to see.
Belated happy birthday. Hope it was enjoyable.
Avril xx

craftimamma said...

I'm sorry I missed your birthday Alison but I do hope your day was really special and the year to come brings you lots of joy in many ways.

Speaking of joy, this beautiful creations is a joyful thing to look at. I love everything about it, the earthy tones and the rusty pieces together with the bits of wood. I have loads of coasters waiting for some TLC and you make me itch to get them out. I'm so glad you showed this project again.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Sandy said...

Well I am a little late in wishing you a Happy Birthday but none the less - late is better than never!!!! I do remember this when you made it and I was intrigued by the words "beer mats"
Sandy