Thursday 15 April 2010

Mo's Digital Pencil - Project of the Month Blog Hop!


Woooooo, my very first blog hop and I'm delighted and honoured that it is as a member of Mo's Dream Team!  If you've arrived here from Rosette's blog, then you're on the right track.  If not, why not hop over to Cheryl's and start from the beginning.

This month's theme is buttons, which I love and adore but don't always have the occasion to use.  So I went a bit overboard and got all buttoned out!


Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Mummu and Virginia' (see below)

Papers:  Bo Bunny (brown frame); Docrafts 'V&A Collection' ('wallpaper'); SEI (sofa); DCWV 'Linen Closet' (rug).

Other: Buttons from stash and a bit of knitting done especially for this project by a not-very-skilled knitter (me, of course!).

I used Mo's wonderful Mummu and Virginia for this project, which you can purchase from Mo's Digital Pencil store, here. I love Mummu, in all her guises, but this particular image evokes very lovely memories for me.  You'll find more details about this project below so I hope you'll come back and take a look.

But, if you're anxious to hop, please visit Lori's blog to see what wonderfulness she has come up with!


So, ready for the details?

I wanted to make something other than a card for the hop and this image is almost photograph-like, catching a quiet moment between the two of them.  So I thought I'd turn it into a picture. It's a real shame that my photography skills are so lacking - in real life, this is beautifully three-dimensional.

This is the closest I've ever come to decoupage - the top image is separate from the bottom and is raised slightly by the heavy paper-piecing on the sofa.

This is what the bottom layer looked like when I started:


You will see that I've paper-pieced the sofa in green velour paper from SEI, each separate piece of the sofa being a separately cut piece of paper, to give that real 'joined together' look, instead of just a flat piece of paper.  I added some shading by chalking the edges with dark moss green and using my Copics to suggest the pleating around the bottom. I coloured around the edges of Mummu and Virginia with a dark tone of the final colour, to give some depth behind the top layer.

I'm sure Mummu would have a rug to put her feet on, so this one was paper-pieced again, with an embossed DCWV 'Linen Closet' paper, and shadowed around the edges with chalk.

Then I coloured and cut out the top layer:

As you can see, I've completed the colouring and then cut so close around the image that there is no free white paper to deal with at all.  Here, Mummu and Virginia are 'free-standing' against a white background so I could photograph them.

As Mummu is knitting, I thought I'd join her.  How funny was that?!  I can't knit to save my life and with my clumsy fingers it was hilarious to all watching.  But I managed to knit enough for this project and now my needles will reside at the back of the craft cupboard for ever more. 

I covered the frame with the knitted length, scoring the frame first to ensure a good key for the PVA glue I used. 

Next, buttons, which were sewn on through the top layer of the knitting, and to finish, some pearl-headed hat pins.

All I had to do then was carefully mount the top image on the bottom one.  I didn't need to use dimensional pads as the heavy paper-piecing on the sofa acted as a spacer between the background paper and the top image.  I used just a few small glue dots to hold Mummu and Virginia in place.

When I was a girl, I used to love rummaging through my grandma's box of buttons - it was like treasure.  That's why this project is so dear to me - it reminds me of my grandma, who would sit by the (gas) fire, knitting.  She's no longer here and I miss our time together. 

It also reminds me of my lovely mother-in-law who, when she first met me, tried to teach me to crochet, with disastrous results!!

This one might actually go on the wall!

In case you stopped to read, here's the link to Lori's again, so that you can hop over to visit her. 

Thank you for visiting - enjoy the hop!

Happy crafting.
Photobucketxx

23 comments:

  1. Hi Peri,what a sweet one.
    Heidy

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  2. Beautiful work Peri, I love all the gorgeous details.

    Liza x

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  3. Peri, this is just gorgeous! Love the details and your fab colouring.

    Hope you're feeling better now!

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  4. so sweet, loving this project, I hope you a feeling a little better today Peri.

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  5. Gorgeous work Peri,love all the colours and the image,
    hugs Dianne xx

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  6. This is gorgeous and I never would have thought to do that with a stamp. Great job!

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  7. Love your coloring! great card!

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  8. Wow, what a great card and what a great use of odd buttons. This is fabulous.
    Hugs!
    Cec

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  9. Now THAT is a LOT of buttons. I'd have to have some kind of therapy to give up that many of my button-y babies (yes, I'm a button hoarder....). I applaud your self sacrifice and what a beautiful project too. Stunning! Lauren x

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  10. wow Peri what an amazing piece of work, beautifully made and your colouring is beautiful as always...brilliant idea for the hop
    Mina xxx

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  11. Oh! this is fantastic! look at all of these fun buttos... just wonderful!
    Judy

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  12. O-M-G!!! this is gorgeous, your image just pops! it's amazing!

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  13. Peri this is gorgeous.. My grandma taught me to crochet and this reminds me of that.. I love all those buttons.. I hope you are feeling better..:)

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  14. truely amazing,just fabulous work of art..

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  15. Wish I could wee this in real life, bacause in your pictures it is pretty darn special! I think it's great how you showed some of your steps! Just beautiful!

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  16. Wow what a work of art. Love the image and how you have coloured it. The paper piecing is fab and I just love the buttons. Debs xx

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  17. You never fail to astound me! You're originality and attention to detail is incredible and (to me) in a league of its own. The joy and passion on your face, along with all the hours of concentration, is an inspiration and I am happy to know that you have, once again, found something that you love to do!

    I am more than proud to shout:

    THIS WOMAN IS MY MUMMY AND I LOVE HER WITH ALL MY HEART!

    Knowing that you are excited about something again and how amazing you are at what you do, along with logging onto your blog gives me tingles!

    Love you xxxxxxxxx

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  18. This is amazing!!! Thanks for sharing the process-beautiful!

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  19. wow this is soooooooo beautiful
    love how you did'it

    karin

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  20. Oh! I am moved to tears. This image reminds me so much of my grandmother and her craftiness and how she was so patient in trying to teach me to crochet... I know this is knitting, but the sentiment is still the same. It is beautiful.

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