Moving!!!

to here......

www.giovannascott.com

everything in the one place and nice and ORGANISED (just the way I like it .... LOL)

Come on over and say "G'Day!!"

Guest Designer at......

THE CREATIVE TYPE!!!!

 The theme this month is **MY NEST**. 
So anyhoooo, began with some cardboard for the base, stripped it back to reveal the corrugation and panited it with loads of BRIGHT acrylics. Then layed some 7Gypsies tissue paper on the top. Another light dry-brushing of white acrylic just to highlight the corrugated cardboard.

 Had this cardboard embellishment of a NEST -believe it or not- in a kit from Storyboard Kits. Just roughed it up with some sandpaper; making it perfect for this theme.

 Hmmm, more layering, this time a cute little Maya Road chipboard bird, some fabric from a kit, some hessian and the buttons from hubby's shirt from THIS POST.

The way I like to approach the challenges at THE CREATIVE TYPE, is to concentrate on my handwriting and experiment with different fonts. Above you can see the handwriting on the photo which I had to alter to suit the space and the size of the nib. The title is written with a big black paint pen available from newsagents. I did not plan or pencil in anything; I use this as a great opportunity to "let loose". I coloured the MY word inside with Unbleached Titanium (Jo Sonja) and wiped it back to reveal the corrugation underneath.

Not sure what I did with the photo?
Here's a little tutorial showing how easy it is with a spray bottle of water, some sandpaper and baby wipes.
Enjoy!!!

ahhh
renewed.......

New Studio!

Hiya!!
The boys are back at school {finally} which has given me time to get House in order. Mind you, I had to mop the floors THREE times before the water was clear.....blerk!
A little change in Rainer's habits has meant I could move my Art Stuff back into the Sleep Out and move his TV and DVD player out.....sooooooo - one whole Sleep Out becomes my Studio !!!! Yeeeessssirreeeeee....

 The Sleep Out is separated from the Lounge Room with this gorgeous sliding door { that was the selling point for me when we inspected LOL}

 This is the view from the Lounge Room to where I will be working. I arranged it so I can work and still see what's going on with the family.

 My main work desk in the foreground with all my supplies behind me. As you can see, there are windows EVERYWHERE which is good and bad....nowhere to hang things *sigh* I have plans to alter the plain pine drawers...stay tuned.

 I really hate these curtains, but until I can afford to rip the carpet up and replace the curtains with blinds, I will be shortening them to the bottom window ledge. When the breeze comes through, the curtains knock everything over.

 This buffet was one of the first pieces Michael and I bought as a couple, so I reckon it's 15+ years old. Big plans to revamp that too!! I'll be repainting the walls my fave Aqua colour and taking the colour scheme a little into the Lounge Room.

I still think I have the best view in the world......no neighbours' rooves, just treetops, powerlines *snort* and the ranges....ahhh.

I will be blogging more too. I have had 4 big occasions in a row - Mackinley's birthday, our Anniversary, Michael's birthday and today Rainer's birthday, not to mention the school holidays in amongst all that - so since about mid-May I've been in full-Mummy/Family-Mode. Time to give a little to myself again until the end of the year.

BIG RENEWAL!!!
XX
gigi

The best four-letter words.....

SOLD - yep, the old house is finally someone else's!!

JACK - gorgeous Spoodle we looked after for 2 nights.

BEST MATE - these boys absolutely adore each other and his Mum and I just cry when we see the love!

REDS - Super Rugby Champions!!!! The adrenalin in slowly wearing off.

Things have been busy while school holidays are on. Boys are back at school on Tuesday.....normal transmission will resume thereafter!!!

I can hear my table of supplies calling my name and whimpering to me....LOL.

Holiday fun and creative goodness!!

It was Day 3 and it began with an early start and Rainer into another fresh batch of SCD Frozen Yoghurt *sigh*. He just loves that stuff.

...and he spends most of the time at the freezer hoping to sneak in some while I'm not looking....yeh, right!!


I decided to capitalise on the kids' wonderful mood and began constructing the CAVE OF STARS that I got from the Play At Home Mom blog and I love it.

It is a HUGE string of fairy lights but was perfect for the size of the box.


Hubby took advantage of the sales and bought some new business shirts so before he threw them in the rag pile, I asked him to take the buttons off. I completely love how the stitching is still on there. Nice one Hubby!!

and buttons were a perfect addition to this secret project!
(all will be revealed next week)

123 for July is up.
The criteria is courtesy of Gina Rodgers:
colour=aqua/teal (FYI, my colour is Jo Sonja's AQUA)
word="thing"
technique=layering to make a scene

Since I downloaded the Sue Pelletier DVD from ClothPaperScissors, I've been dying to try out some paper clay....which I might add....is totally freakin' awesome!!!! This stuff is called Magic Clay and I got it from The Art Shed. You don't need water or glue; just shape it and plonk it on. How easy!!!

AND those flowers are from Kaisercraft. They are conveniently on wire stems so I just trimmed the wire, dipped the end in Gel Medium and poked it in the heart. Leave to dry and those suckers won't go anywhere!!!
Another trick to make this background is to turn all your expensive die-cuts into stencils and masks. This is a beauty from Sizzix and Tim Holtz. Find acetate that will go through your machine (I have a Cuttlebug) and crank away. I've made stencils and masks from all my die-cuts now and I love the variety I get from having both a stencil and mask in one!

The title is cut from a larger piece that I really didn't like as a whole. I just cut all the words from the corner frame thingy and presto......new life from old chippies!!

AND everything looks better with a light coat of Jo Sonja's Opal Dust. But you could use KindyGlitz in Crystallina instead.

All those ideas should keep you busy for a while!!

And I had a day off today.
I stayed up till 2am this morning doing canvases and mucking around in my art journal and just basically enjoying the serenity LOL.
Slept in until about 9am, showered and went to the Finder's Keepers Markets at the Old Museum. Picked up some bargains (well I thought so) saw Ngaire and LJ and George and just enjoyed having my hands free.

Thanks for dropping by xx
More soon....of course if Blogger behaves LOL
xx
gigi

School Holidays are here!!

I don't know about you, but with 2 boys and one with special needs ..and let's be honest here.... some very socially unacceptable behaviours, looking for things to do IN PUBLIC sends me into a tizz!!!

But this year I've made a conscious decision to be more BRAVE and take them out to interesting places but place some realistic time limits on Rainer's ability to cope with all the new sights, sounds and smells he might encounter.

I subscribe to The Organised Housewife newsletter and this week, Katrina gave some cracking links to holiday ideas. I've already copied a heap of activities for us to try out....and some will even fulfill Rainer's sensory requirements - added bonus.

Here is the link to The Organised Housewife
THE ORGANISED HOUSEWIFE

and tell Katrina I sent you.

Here's one project Rainer brought home from school that your kids will do these holidays

BUSH WEAVING

Firstly attach 4 twigs with twine, then wrap the frame in a zig-zag pattern. Collect all manner of greenery from the garden and just start weaving.

Pretty cool, right?
Looks super cool at the end of our hall on a stark white wall.
No doubt it will dry up and bits will begin to fall on the floor, but it's a great feature while it lasts.

Enjoy your break from routine everyone!!!
I will remember to enjoy the break and fill my days with boy-time and play-dates.....and just R-E-L-A-X.........

XX
GIGI

Fair Weekend + a new fundraiser class!!

Last weekend was Mackinley's school Fair and we decided to "brave" the whole day with Rainer in tow. Luckily, there was a ride that he absolutely loved and the lady running the ride was happy for him to stay on after she called "time", and for me to just keep handing her tickets!!!

I just love people with understanding and common-sense xx

You can see why he loved this bouncy slide.

Still feel like the luckiest Mum on Earth some days xx

On another exciting note...as you all know I participated in Christy Tomlinson's ever-so-popular "She Art" workshop and am still on a "high" afterwards. So I was so happy with the canvases I produced during the classes that I donated this one to the School's Fair Auction

"She knew she could conquer the world"

8x10inch canvas

I was really nervous because on the day I saw that another local mixed media artist had donated a much bigger and bolder canvas (not a "SheArt" type subject) and my heart sank. So the auction began with me outside the hall with Rainer chatting away....and I'm noticing that all the Lots before mine (No.7) were going for well below the value price listed on the sheet.
So the Auctioneer starts bids for my canvas and I'm thinking....."Here we go again. It'll go for about $20 coz no-one understands mixed media...." (can you hear the violins playing?? LOL)

Then the bidding heats up.....$30......$40.........$50 (my secret reserve)........$60 OMG.........$80 OOOOMG.......$100 NOW I'M ALMOST STANDING..........

$110.......FINAL CALL......SOLD!!!!!

So now I'm happier and the violins have stopped playing.....100% of that $110 goes to the School and I get a creative-ego boost.

WIN-WIN 

Yes, even the most capable-looking people get pangs of self-doubt. I just needed someone who had no idea who I am and what it all meant to just simply LOVE IT!

So, if this looks like something you'd like to give a try, I'm holding another fundraising online class. But this time, instead of a scrapbooking layout, a lot of people have requested a mixed media canvas.

I'm happy to oblige.
Here's a sneak of what we'll be creating......

All you need to do is become a Follower over at my other blog
Gist Creative
and I'll post more details as they become available.

Spread the word and I hope to see you over there.
xx
gigi

Keeping Busy....

I've been having an absolute ball putting some canvases together the last few weeks.
Granted, it's been slow-going as life with my kids is non-stop, but I always manage to surprise myself with what I can achieve in a limited amount of time.

My Mum comes to help out every Thursday, and it really helps when she remarks that perhaps the artisitic gene in the family skipped a generation and that my artwork reminds her of her Father's (whose name was Giovanni, strangely enough). And as I created these canvases she told me stories of her childhood in Italy and of how when the Winter was over and the wall behind the stove was cleaned, her Father would not only clean and repaint, but also once drew the most amazing butterfly.....just because.

I may endeavour to include more butterflies in my artwork.

This one has a freakishly cool colour combo and will be available for sale soon.

I imagine this one will have a night-time theme to it...

And the next is a commissioned piece with an underwater theme....

I've been continuing my Design Diva commitments over at Scrapbook Creations magazine and was in love with this project.

And just so I don't forget that I'm a Mother, my children "ordered" a batch of home-made frozen yoghurt (with banana and peach) and for good measure, I threw together some blueberry sauce.
I can tell you now that 2 litres of the frozen yoghurt lasts about 2 days here....and with the current price of bananas - well, at least someone's eating well!!!

I am looking forward to the next few days of freedom before the boys begin their 2 weeks of holidays. It will give me a chance to get things ready for another online class to be run very shortly.

Details coming soon!!

Three Hearts....an art journal in progress

Well, Christy Tomlinson has done it again! The art journal workshop "She Had 3 Hearts" is in it's final stages and I've re-discovered my love of the small format.

And I'm not just "doing" it, but also making it a Working Journal of Techniques. I took an Art Journal class many years ago with the delightful Vivian Bonder and forgot to take notes (duh!!), so forgot all the details about what makes a page/layout/canvas stand out from the rest.

This time.....
I'm taking notes on one side, and DOING on the other. Then I make more notes about what products I substituted and how they were treated (or mistreated LOL).

I love tearing up magazines and including them in my art journals. You've probably noticed this on a lot of my pages for 123 Challenge this year. I'll continue to do that.....the ultimate in recycling!!!

And don't forget to pop over to 123 Challenge. Another fab-o mixed media artist Angela Churchill is in the spotlight this month and her canvas is GORRRRR-GEOUS!!

Make haste!!
I'll have more exciting news in a few days.
A new venture and a new long-term outlook.....just a wee bit exciting over here!!
Darn-it, this family needs to slow down so I can breathe!!! LOL
xx
gigi

Happy June 123...

Here is the criteria for 123 Challenge in June

COLOUR=BROWN
WORD=CREATE
TECHNIQUE=TAPE

I covered the chipboard crown in Pink Paislee tape by layering it in all different directions, then carefully trimmed it. Underneath the photo is a little mix of 7Gypsies tape, the same Pink Paislee tape and plain ol' masking tape.

This is such a tender photo of hubby and Rainer, it really needed a softer treatment and I love the result.

Don't forget to go to 123 Challenge and check out the rest of the Creative Team's entries this month. There is a style for every scrap-artist to be inspired by.

And remember -- it doesn't have to be a standard scrapbooking layout......let your imagination run wild.

More soon.......

cReaTivE tYPe + ART journal

My good friend Charmane Koch has a great forum called Chat with Charm. It's a one-stop-shop for just about every Blog/Manufacturer Challenge in Australia and overseas, including DT/CT Calls. Gotta love that!!!

Last week she ran a CyberCrop which gets you motivated to do some challenges and try new ones too.

Here are my picks from the CC.......

The lastest challenge over at The Creative Type is to use a word not from your native tongue. I cheated a little, coz my parents were born in Italy, but you know what.......it's not MY lingua franca.

I used The Polkadot Place kit that the beautiful Bridgette Hatton puts together each month.

WARNING....PROFANITY AHEAD!!
I love the challenges over at A Year in The Life of An Art Journal but rarely get around to them. Happy to report Idid this one and managed to get a whole lotta yuck off my chest.

I guess no-one takes abandonment very well. I generally try to empathise with the other person when they do things I find really really stoopid. This time though, I really didn't see it coming, and haven't spoken to her since. Time to let that pigeon fly away, never to return.

I hope you're enjoying this creative spurt as much as I am. I'll have some exciting news to share with you soon, and some canvases. Whheeeeee-heeeeeeee!!

Don't forget you can follow my blog via Google or FaceBook. Unlike some, I will share on both media continually. That's my new promise for 2011.

xx
gigi