Altered Jigsaw Canvas - Revamped

Several years ago I, along with six other

crafting friends did a Jigsaw Jam Swap -

my chosen theme was 'Beautiful Vintage Ladies'.

When I received all the jigsaw pieces back

I mounted them onto a canvas

(From the top, the jigsaw pieces from left to right

were altered by Wendy, me, Nicks, Maureen,

Jan and Trudy.)

 

Until about a year ago, I'd had this hanging

in our dining room but was never entirely happy

about the background - too heavy and orange.

I've been re-organsing my craft room (again!)

and when I found the canvas again thought

 it was about time it had a revamp.

I took all the pieces off

Sanded down the canvas, gave it a rough coat of white

acrylic paint and found some lighter coloured handmade paper.

 

 Then stuck the jigsaw pieces back on.

(It's actually lighter than the photo shows)

I added some lace top and bottom.

Put the vintage looking earrings

back on, but dispensed with the beads.

I also added some real pressed flowers which

I attached with Liquitex Gel Medium.

Aaah, that's better!

Here are some close ups.

I've always loved these beautifully altered jigsaw pieces

and now I can appreciate them even more!

Before

After

As the canvas has butterflies (the earrings)

and some flowers on it, I am linking this to

Mrs A's new Butterfly Challenge site -

and hoping that she doesn't chuck me off 

as it's not a completely new project!

Thanks for looking :)

 

Jiggy Mermaid!

'Alter a jigsaw piece' is the theme over on the Flickr group 'Art 'n' Soul' and the theme is 'monochrome ... interpret any way you wish'. 

I used an old jigsaw piece from a child's puzzle measuring approximately 5" square at it's largest points.  Rather than going with black and white I used different shades of blue.

I peeled off the shiny picture from the jigsaw piece and coated it with some gesso.  Once that dried, I sprayed it with some Colour Wash (Stream).  I rubber stamped around the edges and embossed that with two different colours of blue.

For the mermaid, I coloured her (air dried clay) face and (card) body with some alcohol ink (Pool) and dressed her with some nylon netting type fabric.  I cut her tail from card and stuck on some of the tissue I had used to protect my desk when spraying on the colour wash.  Over the top of that I stuck some more of the blue netting with Matte Accents and sprinkled in some Beadazzles.

As there wasn't much contrast between the background and the mermaid, I sprayed her with some Glimmer Mist (Marshmallow).  On reflection I probably should have used Glossy, rather than Matte accents on the tail, but it has given it a dry, grungy look - just like it's been underwater too long!

UK Art Raffle - 'Summer' entry

The UK Art Raffle is back up and running and the current theme is 'Summer'. You just need to sign up, send in an item of art and then you're in the draw. The winner gets all the items sent in!

For my entry, I altered a jigsaw piece (it measures approx 3" x 3"). I used a vintage picture of three young ladies in their bathing costumes and collaged it onto a background of the L S Lowry's painting 'At The Seaside' a strange mixture and the ladies are not of the same era, but I thought the muted tones of the Lowry picture went well with the image. I painted a wash of cream acrylic over the background and edged and highlighted it with some crayons. A string hanger and some shells completed it.

I used the same image to make an ATC. This time on a background of tissue paper coloured with Brusho paints. Again edged with crayon and some Anita's 3-D clear gloss finish at the bottom to look like water - although it hasn't come out too well in the photo.

All the raffle entries need to be in by 23rd August - can't wait to see if I'm the lucky one, and also to see all the other entries, which I believe, will be posted on the above mentioned website after the draw has been made.