This Sunday’s Gothic Arch theme, set by Nancy. I had cut my arch from chipboard and used the off-cuts to decorate the arch!! The lady is from an old Majica Trading card and I cut a metal flower in half to make a crown for her…

I rather like her! Little face stamp from Third Coast RS. Thanks Nancy, for a fun challenge!!

Nancy set us a 2-week challenge to create a shrine for our gothic arches… I started prepping a large cigar box and then changed my mind! That happens a lot, especially if I’m not really sure what I want to do…

So I took a deep frame and played around with that. I used paint, wax paper that had paint on it, more paint, layers of shimmering paint, dictionary words, gold spray paint (just for fun and experimentation!), and then I got out the 2 wooden seahorses and painted (again), the arch under the sea… and added woolly strands of seaweed, some netty waves, more paint and fish round the outside… oh and some glitter, in 3 shades of blue.

Top half…

See the back of the arch they are swimming past?

Shame about the flash, but it’s really pretty – promise!!

Gothic Arches theme this Sunday. Great contrasting colours, aren’t they? The background here is left over paint from backgrounds I was painting for my art journalling class. No spare cardstock goes unpainted when I paint – any surface is fair game not to waste paint. The stamps are all handcarved by me and the image is from Crafty Individuals Miniatures. I used thin copper wire to attach the image and the metallic elements – no glue! Here are the pics…

“You do not realise how far you have come, till you look behind.”

A brass nut, and some tube beads…

Wrapping it all up…

Little spiral to finish, plus an orange seed bead!

When I saw that Nancy’s theme this week at Gothic Arches was to be “Risque”, I remembered the Faux Postage Nudes sheet I had from Ten Two Studios and thought they’d make a cute little Gothic Arches booklet. It did prove a bit tricky as I am full of a cold virus at the moment. It just meant that I had to work quickly, before I lost my train of thought!!

A lot of stitching and very little glue… The rose bud broke off so I threaded a tiny vintage button onto the stitched stem, gluing the bud to that – problem solved! Those are metal washers on the leaves at the bottom, recycled from a card that was just too naff to survive!

The inner pages are recycled pages from an old book and I’ve outlined words to add interest.

The small stitched block in the centre holds the pages together – look Mum, no glue!!

A stitched piece wouldn’t really be mine without some “frays” on it, would it? This is the inside back cover, so a bit of planning required to line things up before stitching. Also, note how the charm is attached with a brad poked through from the back? Here’s why:

The tiny metal tab I have used to close the booklet was a RAK from a very good friend who collects “junk bits” she comes across and sends to me when she has a bag full! The heart brad is left over from 2 Christmases ago!

Do you see my 2 heroes - Harry & Giles? I had stamped these two characters (from Ria’s Home Impressions Victorian Plate) onto scrap book text simply because there was still a fair amount of ink on the rubber… I just knew these two boys would get into some project with ladies in it!

Tips: I cut out the card shape first, on the fold plus a tab for the flap closure. Then I cut the arched book pages, leaving tabs for stitching in the middle. I created my pages before stitching them to the covers. Use minimal glue and avoid edges you’re going to stitch…

Gothic Arches today: “Cities“. I have a great stamp of New York and had this piece stamped from earlier this year, just sitting in a box on my desk. The background is inks over gesso on glossy cardstock… I did struggle to use it as an arch without going OTT with embellishments, so it’s quite basic, but looking at it today, I think it has a bit of Bo-Ho chic?

The book page it’s mounted on is a little treasure I found at a charity shop, with photoplates of the nurses tending the wounded during the First World War. It’s a very poignant read…

Gothic Arches – Vintage Toys – this week set by Kristin Long… lovely theme and I found at least 5 different images I could’ve used on The Little Children Collage Sheet at Ten Two Studios. I eventually picked the 3 that were the most colourful for my vintage grunge/shabby arch!

The words are rubons from Scenic Route Paper Company (I have had them a long time – lol!!)

I’m not blogging quite as much as usual – got quite a few biggish projects on the go at the moment… but I’ll share when I’m able. Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend. TTFN <3

Gothic Arches this week – “Roses”. I’ve combined a lovely soft Romance Tag from Ten Two Studios with a grungy background and a gothic rose stamp from Home Impressions with a little piece of a broken earring from my collection of junk jewellery. The fabric rose is on a wire stem which I threaded through the arch and taped down at the back.

Because the background, (acrylic painted and stamped book page), was very bright, I toned it down by sponging white paint through punchinella (sequin waste)…

Such a haunting song… it’s driven me mad this morning as I created my Gothic Arch ATC for Nancy’s challenge! I had already cut up one of my Layer Love paintings to make a twinchy-sized book/pendant yesterday, so I cut this ATC from the remains of the same painting.

I used the Gothic Plate of stamps from Home Impressions (which are sold by The Stamp Attic in the UK now – yay!) for the images and had a near disaster with the words!!

I did actually leave the watercolour paper edge on the left as it is, untrimmed, to complete the “tattered” effect! The heart at the top is from a set of mini-stamps that I bought 3 years ago, and when I stamped onto the old, very fragile, dictionary page, by sheer coincidence, I have managed to capture the word ‘arch’ at the midpoint of the heart! How cool is that???!

NOTE: Today is your last chance to put your name in the hat for the $400 worth of collage goodies at Ten Two Studios!! Hurry!!

I have washing on the line, though sporadic showers are forecast…

I am going to write to the Mobile Phone Ombudsman about Orange and their deplorable service…

But first, a cup of tea and some toast!!

Here’s a Gothic Arch I created this morning, fitting the GA challenge “Wings” this week and also TGIF - “alphabet”. The central image (Duchess Doll) is from sheets created by Lisa Vollrath at Ten Two Studios, originally designed for the creation of Ribbon Fairies, which are totally charming. Here’s a link to the complete tutorial on Ten Two Studios, in the Project Ideas section, so you can make them yourself… 

The Marie/Duchess I chose is printed out in black and white and I paired her with coloured wings. She’s tinted with Blue Jeans distress ink, applied randomly with a small brush. I have also used stickers for her name, sticky-backed fabric borders and rub-ons. The mini block alphabet stamp is from MaVinci.

If you are a Marie Antoinette fan(atic!), there’s a whole section of digital and paper products for you at Ten Two Studios HERE.

Tudor Arch

Wikipedia to the rescue!  I think I’ve discovered the name of the unusual arch shape which predominates in the design of Sacred Hearts’ Church. (This has been puzzling me for a while.)

Wikipedia explains:

Tudor arch, a low, wide arch, was a common architectural element in the Tudor period in England.^[1] It is a flattened pointed arch usually drawn from four centers, the four-centred arch, which was a defining feature. The arch has a low elliptical shape.^[2]

The Tudor period refers to a period between 1485 and 1603 in England during the reign of the Tudor dynasty. The Gothic period’s pointed arch was blunted into the flattened Tudor arch.

From a functional perspective, the Tudor arch design, also called a semicircular arch or parabolic arch, can handle a span over six feet and bear a load capacity of over 1,000 pounds per foot. It has a rise-to-span ratio of more than 0.15.^[4]

^Julie

“Peace” is this week’s theme at GA and I knew straight away that I wanted to use my “Birdie” stamp in lieu of a dove, to symbolise Peace. I chose some green and silver handmade paper (as I am trying to use all the stash I have laying around…) for the background and all the stamped images are from my handcarved collection.

I cut my arch from the lid of a shoebox and the tree from the remains of that! The silver CND-discs are recycled from the Scrapstore – I just drew the “Ban the Bomb” logo on them with a black sharpie. I did use a pic of a dove from the oldest dictionary in my collection and the leaf is from a packet of pressed leaves I’ve had for yonks!

Here’s a pic of the handcarved stamps I used:

The corner stamp with all the “texture” I carved last night (and stabbed myself with the carving tool – first time ever!), is carved on the reverse of a piece of lino/vinyl flooring. It was hard going, but I do like the odd hatch effect. Actually, it was carving another small stamp on the shiny side that made me slip and cut my thumb… In all honesty, this type of stuff is quite tricky to work with, so I wouldn’t recommend it for carving stamps. However, it’s cheap and easily available for lino-cuts and bolder, less intricate designs, perhaps for textile-printing, which is something I shall try to find time for later this year!

Here are a few “Show n Tell” photos of my new workspace. Please don’t be shocked – I have the landing/gallery area upstairs and most all of my stuff is unpacked. I only got the table up yesterday and decluttering that will take a while! You can probably see why I am trying to use up all the stuff I’ve been collecting for a year or so…

Those shelves behind where I sit were rescued from the downstairs bedroom and work wonderfully for me. I never had any shelves in the last house…

Isn’t the light from the Velux window amazing? And please note the prominent position of a mug of tea!!

The big IKEA sideboard holds so much stuff and I have labelled each drawer and the doors too. On top of that are my inkpads, books, pencil cases, another long skinny table with boxes of kids’ puzzles and more stuff. To the left is the plastic drawer unit housing most of my Wood and UM stamps, canvasses and paper plates for painting and there’s an assortment of stuff in the little drawer unit on the right.

My sewing machine sits on a camping table and beneath are boxes of fabric, etc.! To the left is a basket holding a few bits ready to be altered…

Did you spot my Ten Two Studios Collage sheet binder, open and beckoning?!! I have been working on several projects simultaneously this last week, which is probably why the table is so full… Well, I did say probably, didn’t I? *grins*

Heute sollen wir uns bei Gothic Arches von den Farben des Regenbogens inspirieren lassen. Fällt gar nicht so einfach bei diesem Wetter… Regen ist zwar da, aber die Sonne fehlt mal wieder. Ich habe mich mal wieder für mein Lieblingskombination entschieden

Be inspired by the colours of the rainbow, that’s todays theme on Gothic Arches. Looking outside, seeing the rain and searching the sun it’s not an easy challenge And no question what colours I’ve taken

Fantasy ist das heutige Thema bei Gothic Arches. Dieser Bogen ist an diesem Wochenende auf dem Medina entstanden.

The actual challenge on Gothic Arches is Fantasy. I’ve mad this arche during the last stamping-weekend, called Medina in Bielefeld.

Gar nicht so einfach, die heutige Herausforderung bei Gothic Arches. Pink-Braun… sind nicht unbedingt meine Farben

Not very easy the actual challenge on Gothic Arches. Pink-Brown… not really my colours

Das heutige Thema bei Gothic Arches lautet Tea Time. Was liegt da näher, als die Afternoon Tea Platte von Oxford Impression aus der Schublade zu holen ? Und bei diesem grauen Winterwetter muss natürlich wieder Farbe ins Spiel

Todays theme on Gothic Arches is Tea Time. What is closer to take the Afternoon Tea Plate from Oxford Impression? … And… no question, looking out of the window into the grey winter-scene I MUST use friendly colours

Karneval/Fasching oder auch Mardi Gras…. nicht wirklich mein Ding, aber auch diese Herausforderung bei Gothic Arches habe ich angenommen

Carnivale / Mardi Gras… not really my thing, but I’ve taken the actual challenge on Gothic Arches

Gothic Arches this week is all about ‘Hearts’ and of course, at Ten Two Studios, you can find the most divine little cherub-filled hearts HERE. One of these faux postage stamps is what I used for this very pink, very fluffy Gothic Arch. I kept it light and soft, because you can’t grunge up cherubs, now can you?

And look out for more softness tomorrow…