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 19 November 2014

How many butterflies?



Hello all!  I'm back with my second offering for this month's Bugs, Bees and Butterflies theme at Country View Challenges.

I'm afraid I couldn't resist going down the butterfly path again.  Despite all the numerals you can see, there are always countless butterflies to be found here at Words and Pictures!

Really this should have been here earlier in the month, had it not been for my computer collapse.

So I'm very grateful to Chris and Doreen for sorting me out with a swapped date!  But better late than never, eh?!  So here it is...

I played with one of the burlap canvases, the Layered Butterfly die and some of my new Distress Stain Sprays - yeah, well, I wasn't going to be able to resist grabbing those while I was in the States, was I?!












For the background, I started by gluing strips of book pages onto the burlap with multi medium.  I used a hard bristled brush to stipple them down into the woven texture of the fabric.













I added some crackle texture paste through a nice baroque stencil (maybe Prima, not sure?) and then gave the whole thing a wash of gesso.














I started to blend on some blue tones, Chipped Sapphire mainly I think, to add depth and highlight some of the textures.











I cut some Tim Holtz flourishes out of Grungeboard, and applied all sorts of embossing powders to them.









There's some Walnut Stain Distress Embossing Powder in there, and some Ranger Weathered White, and perhaps a touch of the Ranger Enamelware too.












Now for the butterfly himself.  I used some of the Motif Resist Paper Stash, picking one of the white sheets to use my new sprays on.  (I couldn't resist them, but the resist built into the papers will!)












There are various blues and greens involved... I'm not sure any longer exactly which I'm afraid.  But I'm pretty sure I used Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks to highlight the raised texture once I'd embossed my butterfly.













I rubbed the Versamark inkpad across the raised parts too, and then clear embossed over it for a touch more definition and gloss.











And of course there's some of my rescued curly notepad wire playing the part of his antennae.  I used Evergreen Bough Distress Paint to tint them from their original white.











I used the leftover pieces of spritzed Resist paper with the Trellis Frameworks die to create some additional embellishments.  These have a softer more muted colour tone, as there's no clear embossing over the inks.













Some of them were only pieces or half-shapes - so I took advantage of that to make them go round the edges!






I also added some little wooden buttons, altered with the matching Distress Paint colours.

The Remnants Word Band has had just a touch of Distress Paint added and then wiped away, leaving the lettering in beautiful relief colours.









And I must have been feeling in a frivolous feminine kind of mood, as I felt the need for this nice shiny bow tied around the canvas, attaching the Word Band... lighter than air and slightly glossy, like the butterfly himself.






I had such a lovely time making this one - and you can see I caught a nice sunny day for the photographs, which always makes a difference, and definitely reflects the joy this make gives me.


I hope you like him too... and there's still plenty of time to come and play along with our Bugs, Bees and Butterflies theme this month at Country View Challenges - go on, defy that winter weather! - and I hope we'll see you there.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I'll see you soon.  I've just managed to sleep my first night through since getting back, and I'm really really hoping to get back in the swing of visiting now that the butterfly has properly "landed".

Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life.  And everyone deserves a little sunshine.
Jeffrey Glassberg







Just in case you missed it yesterday, you can still catch my Nicecrane Sponsor Spotlight over at Our Creative Corner.

There are lots of ideas for using printables, and quite a pretty tag (feminine and frivolous again, not to mention pink), though I do say so myself!

49 comments:

Helen said...

what a gorgeous butterfly sitting atop that wonderful background piece... thanks for taking the time to catch up with some of my posts, it means a lot.

Astrid Maclean said...

Fabulous project Alison, love the wonderful background on that panel and the colours on the butterfly are stunning!

Deborah Wainwright said...

Excellent Canvass Alison love that butterfly and the colours are fab too. Love it xx

Thank you for lovely comments on my blog Debsxx

chrissie said...

So beautiful Alison and there could never be too many butterflies for me--I love them.

The texture you have created is just amazing and a big thank you for sharing how you made it happen.

Love Chrissie x

Nikki Acton said...

Textures, butterflies and blues and greens! Wonderful panel Alison, right up my street! Nikki xxx ps thanks for all your lovely comments on my recent posts

www.deeadamsart.blogspot.co.uk said...

Beautiful! Dee x

Dagmar said...

You canvas is a dream!!! I love what you have done. The butterfly is fantastic! Hugs Dagmar

Anneke said...

Your work looks great. Thanks for letting me enjoy seeing how you made it. Very inspiring Anneke.

Jennie Atkinson said...

A fabulous canvas Alison - I just LOVE the colour palette and the stencil textures are just wonderful. The butterfly is of course stunning! Jennie x

Deborah said...

Love all the textures on this panel, Alison. The white crackle and gesso background looks amazing against the burlap.

Brenda Brown said...

Beautiful Alison, I love the textured butterfly and that it's on a burlap panel. A great treat to the eyes on a grey morning.
hugs Brenda xxx

Rupa Swaminathan said...

Such a beautiful butterfly in amazing colors,the altered burlap panel is a treat too.

Unknown said...

This artwork is so wonderful... so many beautiful details on the background and the butterfly is really beautifully colorized. Gorgeous!
Thank you for your sweet comments! I am definitely going to do my best to craft as well as work.. :) The work place is not far (30 mins away) so I should be able to combine the two... xxx

cathylynn said...

You have such a way with details, textures and colors. I love your canvas and you have created one very spectacular beauty!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Inky and Quirky Designs said...

Yay,Alison's back :)

Beautiful creation,real eye candy and a treat for the senses!

Big hugs
Donna xxx

maria's knutselplezier said...

Amazing creation dear Alisaon, great background, I really love the colours and structure on it, an I love that beautiful butterfly!!!

Greetings
Maria

Jackie PN said...

Dear Alison, post as many beautiful butterflies as you wish- I love all of your wonderful creations! This one is so delicate looking and I love the coloring! xo

Marci said...

Gorgeous! You weave a spell with your words, too. :-)) Love the color and the trellis pieces used on the canvas. Looks like you left the States just in time weather wise! Unusually cold November, brrr.

Cestina said...

Gorgeous. I need to see it. I've had a bright idea - how about a miniature butterfly farm? xxx

Hettie said...

WOW! Can't say any more just...Wonderful!
Hugs
xx

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Totally gorgeous! LOVE the colors on the butterfly!

Lucy Edmondson said...

This is absolutely g!odious, Alison. I love all the little details of the beautiful butterfly and its juxtaposition with the rough burlap,

Lucy x

Lisa Minckler said...

Curly note pad wiring....Hahahahah...out of all of that, that made me smile from ear to ear. Just LOVE that you throw in tidbits and ideas like that. My family has learned, "if you don't want to see me crawling around in the trash can, then ask me before you throw something away." I think your burlap canvased butterfly decor is truly sensational Alison. I LOVE IT!!
Thanks for the great ideas. You have a super day.
Lisa x

Julie Lee said...

What a great idea to blend the book text into the burlap like this! It makes such a great background! I also love your numerical butterfly! I'm so wanting to try Distress Stains, as I've seen some beautiful projects using them - including this one! Lovely work as always, Alison. xx

Gio said...

Butterflies are so beautiful and I'm never tired to see your different and precious interpretations on your blog. So no worries and carry on! :-)

Dorthe said...

So gorgeous dear Alison,
the butterfly is fantastic and that background just wonderful. I love how you added interest to the word band, inking the letters !!
Your colour mix looks amazing ,too.
Hugs ,Dorthe

Unknown said...

Oh, Alison--this is just the bright spot of Gorgeousness I needed--in this frozen land of N.Idaho! I LOVE this beautiful burlap panel that you've created. That butterfly is outstanding and I love the numbers all over the place :) XOXO-Shari

rkramadh said...

I absolutely love the plaque you made with tissue paper. I have dreamed of doing something very similar for a long time given how many hundreds of wonderful images I have collected over the years. I love tissue paper prints as they are so translucent and dreamy! Your piece has inspired me to finally go and use the ones I have (both store bought printed tissue paper which I collect a lot and home made ones!). So excited, thank you for the wonderful inspiration and detailed steps!

craftytrog said...

Utterly glorious!!! xxx

Corrie Herriman said...

Fabulous !! Pleased to see you use the 'off cuts' from die cuts as well !
Corrie x

Ruth said...

Beautiful panel, love the stippling of text paper into the hessian to get more texture and then the further build up of background texture. The butterfly of course is just gorgeous, love the green and blue hues, delightful Alison! Ruth x

Amanda said...

Absolutely beautiful Alison, as usual loads of fabulous touches.
Love
Amanda x

Cocofolies said...

Fabulous Alison!!! :D Love love your terrific embossed butterfly, and all your experiments and play on this burlap panel! Hugs, Coco xxx

Terry said...

Lovely textured burlap panel, Alison! The crackle effect looks amazing and that big bold beautiful butterfly is the cake's icing! Love it! Hugs!

Meggymay said...

Gorgeous project, love the colour of the beautiful butterfly.
Yvonne

massofhair said...

So many ickle bits to comment on Alison, as always your attention to detail and using wonderful colors together have produced yet again an outstanding and glorious work of ArT, speechless and inspired :-) xxx

Julia Aston said...

What a wonderful background you created and then covered most of it up with your lovely butterfly!! The greens/blues are beautiful on this Alison!

Clare Lloyd said...

So lovely.

Rika said...

Gorgeous artwork!

Maelchen said...

Oh Alison, you are just a faithfull friend!Thank you soooo much for your appreciated comments on my blog! I have followed your journey, your litteral journey to the US, and know, how busy you are at the moment. All the more I am happy to see that you took your time to visit me and even leave some love! Thank you! I am a little intimidated as I myself was always on the jump... I have certainly admired your work as it comes delivered straight into my mailbox. But as I did not only want to leave a short word, I postponed my extended stay on your blog for a more convenient time. But there is not such thing as the right time, heehee... You have to do things straight away or never... But, here I am, admiring your many facets that you are so generous to share with us. I have been digging into every little detail, in order not to miss anything! You are a great inspiration to me, dear Alison, as you know! Both visually and spiritually! Thank you so much! Have a beautiful and relaxing weekend!
Hugs from Manu

Marjie Kemper said...

I can see why you couldn't resist - that butterfly is astounding! A gorgeous creation, with so many lovely details. Off to pin!

Sue said...

This is really beautiful Alison, I love the book pages just showing through, and the butterfly is gorgeous xx

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Heavenly! Exquisite colors and details. You have worked magic here. I especially love all the wonderful details on the butterfly - the resist paper, the clear embossing. An absolutely gorgeous piece!

Hugs,
Linda

Julia said...

Brilliant butterfly project. I particularly like the book pages in the burlap, a lovely texture. I have also suffered from computer meltdown so it is a while since I have commented. Back in action again now and enjoying your projects as always. x

pearshapedcrafting said...

My whirl of a social life made me nearly miss this! I did see it on my phone but hate squinting when I don't have too! Finally I get on to the computer at home!!! So worth the wait! Alison this is gorgeous - a lovely colour combination, the texture and a beautiful butterfly! Seeing those buttons reminds me too that I have loads and don't do anything with them - I will now!!! Chrisxx

sam21ski said...

Gorgeous canvas Alison, love the cracks xxx

Anonymous said...

I love the colours and texture on this, just beautiful
Hugs Julie P

Sandy said...

Like it!?! I love your canvas! Hmmmm - butterflies, buttons and bows. Should be a song don't you think?
Sandy xx

Kezzy said...

Wow wow wow I love it, the crackle on the burlap and the butterfly is truly gorgeous. Everywhere I have looked lately the burlap panels have been sold out grrr lol. Kezzy :-) xxx