The Venice project is on a roll!

I thought I had better post an update of the Venice project when I realised just how many pieces I have completed since the last post.
The design source for the first piece was simply the waters of Venice.  You see water from every aspect but the colours are determined by where in Venice you are and what is reflected in them.  This piece was to represent the waters near the sea entrance to Venice which are more sea coloured.

For this panel, I made the base paper using my PVA and loo paper method.  It was made on a piece of frosted, textured glass which had a wavy sea like effect to it.  I colour washed and painted it using metallic paints then covered it with a layer of bluey green sheer fabric.  Next I used lots of different textured yarns in the same colours to couch and stich over the surface, picking out the rolling sea. Beads and sequins were added for the sparkle of the sun on the water.
I made a second piece of this paper because I had intended the first one to be a book cover but I hadn't greased the glass surface enough and so the edges were torn away when I lifted the paper. It was perfetly OK for a panel though.
In order to make the paper robust enough for a book cover, I ironed Vilene onto the back. This time I did not overlay the surface with a sheer fabric so that the texture from the glass was more evident. Other than that, I embellished the surface the same as the panel but with more beads for added texture. I coulr washed sheets of paper and stitched them into the cover using a decorative metallic thread. The tie was some knitted ribbon which just happened to be the right colour.

The next  five pieces stemmed from the fancy hinges which I used on the file cover.  I decided to make a box and wanted to use some fine leather which I have had for many years.  The hinges were made from burnished metal shim.  I used my panel method to make the box.  It opens flat for storage.

Sadly the leather was more fragile than I thought and the satin stitch edging acted a bit like a cutter so I have had to glue to mend it.
Again using the hinge design, I made some bag tags.  Two of them were made using painted pelmet vilene. One painted bronze and one copper.

The other two were made using air dried clay.  I pressed a stencil I had made into the clay forcing it up through the stencil.  The other had a stamp I had made pressed into the clay.

The next series of pieces was based on a fret covering a window in Venice. It was very ornate.

I put this into Photoshop and applied a filter which gave me a wonderful colourful effect.  It sparked numerous ideas.

I cut, pasted and selected to create several pieces.  They were arranged on an A4 size and printed onto transfer paper for black.  These were cut and ironed onto pelmet vilene to make a pocket book, a book mark and a bag tag. I free machined the outlines of the fret design.  Card stock in a matching colour was glued onto the back before machining the edges.

I liked the design so much I printed out another square of the design onto transfer paper for black and this time it was ironed onto black felt. Again I outlined the fret design.  the panel was then used to make the centre panel of a purse.  I had some deep burgundy red cotton satin which was a perfect match for the panel.  I enlarged the design, turned it into a black and white lined drawing to make a pattern.  This was traced onto tissue paper and I free machine quilted the body of the purse.

I used beads and  to make bag tags and also attached the above bg tag to this purse.

Finally, I returned to my music mask design.  I printed a full A4 size mask onto transfer paper for black and ironed this onto black polyester cotton.  This was for the centre panel on the front of a tote.  I painted the gold scrolls with gold twinkling water then free machine quilted the mask.  I used black thread and bullion knots for the music notes.  Once the centre panel was complete, I used a faux black leather fabric to make up the tote.  To make the bag tags, I printed small versions of the masks onto acetate sheet which was backed with the leather fabric but I had to insert a white card behind the acetate to reveal the print better.

 

 

And that will have to do for this post.  I do have four more finished pieces but I will keep them for next time.

                                                                                                                           Cheers for now.