Welcome


Hello, my name is Dionne and I have been crafting for a very long time. As a very young child my mother tried to teach me to knit, it was a disaster. However, it must have sparked an interest in making things and, partly to prove that I was not totally useless and partly because I really wanted to make things, I taught myself to crochet. Over the years I have developed a love of cross stitch and all types of paper craft ..... I eventually even taught myself to knit.


I am married to a very understanding man, thank goodness, because I spend all my time either crafting, thinking about crafting or talking about crafting. I am hopeless at housework and dinner is often late!


Thank you for visiting my blog.


Dionne

Friday, 3 June 2016

The Rude Mechanical Bee

When I first found out about the current 'Butterfly and Bees' challenge at Crafty Boots.  I knew straight off what I wanted to make, a mechanical bee canvass, something with a bit steampunk in it's design.  And, whenever I think steampunk, I automatically think of my Sizzix layered Bigz dies, the ones with the texture fades embossing folders, I have several including this fabulous bee one.


Before starting my design I painted my canvass with Gesso, I then used a honeycomb stencil and some Liquitex Gel Medium to give the canvass a random texture. This was the first time I have used Liquitex, in the past I have always used Pamellia Johnson's fantastic texture paste, that will teach me not to take short cuts.  The Liquitex, held it's shape badly and took forever to dry.  In future I will go back to following Pamellia's paste recipe.


When the Liquidex was at last dry I gave the canvass a coat of rich yellow acrylic paint and, once that was dry, I stamped the canvass with an IndigoBlu's Script stamp and their Tree-mendous stamp.


Next I painted several sheets of card with different metallic acrylic paints and die cut the cogs and my bee.  I used two cog dies sets - a Robert Addams set and an X Cut set.  I also added a honeycomb die cut, a few flat backed gems, a metal key and some bee charms to the decorations. Finally, I dabbed on a few black ink smudges to take away that  shiny new look.


I hope you have a great weekend.


Dionne

PS  Apologies for the pun in the title but as we have been celebrating Shakespeare and I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream the other evening and I could not resist the temptation.
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6 comments:

  1. Pamellia3 June 2016 at 11:34

    Oh my gosh Dionne, this is amazing!! Holy cow, look at that bee, wowzers! Love the metallic shimmer and his bedazzled body, wow!! Wonderful background, and all of the gears are layered and placed perfectly to complement your focal piece! Completely agree with you about the Liquitex. It takes sooooo long to dry! Thanks for the shout out about the texture paste, it's an oldie but a goodie. lol. Well done my friend, this is one heck of an awesome canvas!! hugs :)

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    1. Dee's Craft Room3 June 2016 at 11:53

      Thank you, thank you, you are very kind. I have been having a bit of an artistic rush to the head lately. I think the butterflies and bees theme must have inspired me.

      Whilst you were on holiday I had a bash at an altered notebook cover (http://deescraftroom.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/beautiful-butterflies.html#comment-form) where I tried to copy some of your techniques. I should love some honest feedback if you have he time.

      Dionne xx

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  2. CdeBaca Crafts Gallery4 June 2016 at 02:41

    Awesome card! I love all the metal charms especially the bee. This is a different style and I think it is amazing. Great work!

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    1. Dee's Craft Room5 June 2016 at 22:23

      I think it is good to push yourself occasionally and work outside your comfort zone. How else do you learn new techniques and grow?

      xx

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  3. Mrs Beez4 June 2016 at 15:53

    Oh wow - this is amazing. I love all the jewels in addition to the cogs and gears and the yellow background is such a gorgeous colour. xx

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    1. Dee's Craft Room5 June 2016 at 22:27

      Thank you. I am actually starting to enjoy these steampunk type designs, but they are hard work and take a lot of prep work.

      I like the hint of a neon bulb or perhaps Swiss jewelling, with the occasional small gem.

      xx

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Thank you for visiting my blog, I look forward to reading your feedback on my work. I hope you will visit again.

Dionne

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