Buzz and Bloom

Canvas by Philippa Barr

We recently bought a new lounge suite and rug for our living area. We've always had a big 'gap' on one of the walls but now was the right time to fill it up. I had this huge canvas sitting in the garage for a long time, just waiting for inspiration. So off I went to the art store and grabbed paints and texture paste. I had been saving orange bags for a while and had a pack of the Buzz and Bloom Botanica Flowers - Large already here. It took me two nights to complete. First I popped down a layer of texture paste and stuck the orange bags and flowers into it, covering bits with paste again. The next night, I started painting. Once I start, I don't procrastinate, lol. To finish off, I did a little bit of dry brushing and used some different sized bowls and ramekins to do the circles. My kids were looking at me very strangely!

"Am I...." by Philippa Barr

Here I've used the Buzz & Bloom Wiggly Worms Pointers. I've simply sponged with black ink. As my sticker sheet didn't have any question marks, I cut off the tail of one of the pointers and made it a question mark for my title.

 

"Enjoy the journey" by Philippa Barr

  A simple card using some lovely textured, patterned paper and the new Buzz & Bloom Aboretum Palm Small. I used a gluestick to attach the paper to the chipboard, then roughly trimmed with a craftknife before finally sanding the edges for a neat finish. The sentiment was printed out onto the journaling card using probably the best tip I have ever learnt! Print your sentiment onto normal printer paper then attach the patterned paper or scrap of cardstock over the printed sentiment using temporary adhesive and run through the printer again. This is a great way to use up your scraps!

"Jump for joy" by Philippa Barr

Another quick layout! Here I've used the Botanica Flowers Small, Rustic Teensy & Rustic Mini. I love the alphabets, they are so versatile. Again, I have simply inked the chipboard using the pad direct to the chipboard and using masking tape to mask off different areas of the flowers.

 

"T is for" by Philippa Barr

T is for tears, tantrum, trouble.

I still wanted to make a pretty layout with this photo and the Botanica T was perfect. I have simply coloured the image with chalk inks. I masked off sections of the chipboard with masking tape before using the ink pad direct to the chipboard.

The layout size is 11" x 8.5".

"Miranda Card" by Philippa Barr

I created this card back in August last year using the Mademoiselle UM sheet, Long Corner Flourish (small) & Nautilus Scroll (small).

You can see full instructions on how to make it here.

"The S word" by Philippa Barr

Just a quick and fun layout to document a very funny moment with our five year old daughter, Peggy. At school they are taught that S words are bad - silly, stupid, shut up etc.

I have simply painted the Buzz & Bloom Tubby Alphabets with white paint and then doodled around the edge of the layout and the S.

I have also cut a freehand felt circle to frame the photo, plus some felt triangles for devil's horns.

I silhouetted the photo to get rid of a very distracting background which wasn't relevant to this layout.

"Little Boxes" by Philippa Barr

My canvas "Little Boxes" was inspired by the song recorded by Pete Seeger in 1964, and no I am not that old! But my mum used to sing it and I had completely forgotten about it until I was watching a TV show called "Weeds" and that was the TV show anthem! It brought back memories, just simple, happy thoughts. So I was inspired to have fun with a canvas. I have done it in a childlike manner as it is memories of my childhood.

  I started with a blank canvas and roughly sketched in the black border and the hills. I then stamped "on the hillside" using the Buzz & Bloom Billy The Kid Alphabet plate and embossed in black. I then began to paint. The hills, sky, pink and black border are all done in watercolours. Once that was complete, I used the green gingham decoupage paper to enhance the hillside. I attached it with gel medium.

I have then cut four houses out. The two middle ones are from heavy weight scrapbooking paper, and the two outer ones are from decoupage paper that I have put on to cardboard to stabilise. I have then used a black pen to draw the black lines to enhance the houses.

The symbolic sun has been made from a Buzz & Bloom Round Corner Flourish chipboard with the rays being cut from cardboard. All have been coloured with H2Os before attaching.

The clouds are painted with white acrylic paint.

The "Little Boxes" title is from Buzz & Bloom Tubby Jnr Alphabet (chipboard) and watercoloured with black.

The little owl on house number three was handrawn and cut from patterned paper using a black watercolour pencil for the drawing.

I have used Buzz & Bloom Garden Sketchbook to stamp on patterned paper and embossed with black embossing powder. I have cut them out and decoupaged them to the hill. I then used green dmc thread for the stems, using gel medium to make them stick.

The Prima flowers on the hill have been stuck down and then a small orange bead glued to the centre of each.

I used a black watercolour pencil to highlight the hills, clouds and the sun, plus a bit of doodling around the white Prima flowers.

Do what I have done and let out your inner child and create some whimsical artwork to remind you of your childhood!