Jo Inspires Again!

This week has been an exhausting one at Magpieheaven! As followers of the blog might know, we've been moving my mum into a flat. She's been far more bewildered than we had anticipated and - whew - did she have some belongings! Fifty crates - one entirely full of hats, bless her! The removal firm who were supposed to pack had somehow mixed rubbish in with 'precious things', so it was great fun (!) for us to sort it all out! But every single cloud has a silver lining! Mum is now close by where we can keep an eye on her; our dear friend, Patsy came and stayed way longer than she had intended just to help out and Jo Myhill has provided a wonderful release in the form of inspirational art work over at Paper Artsy! This week I'd like to link up what I've created with the Paper Artsy Challenge. I've been running between the Magpie's Nest and the new Granny abode and slumping in front of my laptop then feasting my eyes on all the beauty! Please click HERE to take a look at Jo's lovely work yourself. I wanted to craft this week to relax and I also wanted to create a gift to say 'Thank You' to Patsy for all her hard work in sorting things for mum and helping her to settle. I loved Jo's idea of creating Shrink Plastic flowers using hearts as petals, but I wanted to incorporate a Lynne Perrella image in my work - I don't know what it is, but her images always perk me up! Multiple images on the petals would have been too much, I thought, so I used the SP hearts as centres. I didn't have any of the sweet little frames Jo had, but I did have mini canvases, so I used those instead.

Patsy has a beautiful little cottage by the sea with the prettiest garden I know. Her dining room is blue and serene, so I am hoping she can hang these little canvases there. I used Crackle Glaze on the canvas - Mermaid Freso over Holly edged with Inky Pool and Chocolate pudding; a touch of Hey Pesto and just the tiniest hint of dry brushed Little Black Dress all along the edge. I accented my corners with UTEE and a sprinkling of Frantage - Stampendous, Champagne Crushed Glass. The hearts are metal card run through an embossing folder and coloured with different shades of Treasure Gold.

I really liked the depth and different levels and textures of Jo's frames so I used corrugated card at the centre and my canvas became the frame. I painted my SP with Lake Wanaka, as it is a nice, pale shade that deepens a little as the plastic is heated. I also used scrunched and Treasure Golded waxed paper and the flower petals are waxed paper cut with a Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.

For the background I used the following Paper Artsy Stamps: E, Sara Nauman 07, Mini 26, ID02 and HP 1006.
The Lynne Perrella images are LP006, LP009, LP013. The images fitted into the hearts quite well and reminded me of little enamel miniatures - one of my favourite areas of the Victoria and Albert Museum is the miniature section.

Taking just that section of the image that fitted into the heart changed them so much. This lady even has a completely different hair style now!
I had so much pleasure from playing along with Jo and creating my own canvases inspired by her. I was working into the small hours on them, but it was so therapeutic. And - joy of joys - Kevin arrived on Friday with the most beautiful kitchen cupboard doors in a lovely shade of silvery green so watch this space for more news of the Magpie Kitchen Make-over, possibly the slowest on the planet but we'll get there in the end!