A Whimsy Tree House…..

A Whimsy Tree House…..

Hi there.
Thanks for stopping by.
Not feeling that great today.
Maybe something I ate…
Good thing I prepped this artwork yesterday!

I will keep it short and sweet;
then perhaps an early night.

Ready?

Puff some Colour Burst onto your Craft Mat 
and spritz with water.

 Loads of water!

Blot with a sheet of water colour card.

Puff some of the blue powder at the card,
spritz with more water and then chase the drips.

You can make plenty of cool background pieces 
with the rest of the ink,

—but this is the one I am interested in today.

Made a mistake here.
I thought  – stamp the Clarity Tree House Stamp
(the set includes the Tree house mask, bvy the way. INVALUABLE)
over the stain using Picket Fence,
the white ink pad.
Then I thought I should have embossed the lines instead.
Only had the one lovely background,

so here we go!
Overstamped with Versamark
(Not to be recommended, unless you have bionic eyes!
Paul Church evidently has, because he usually gets it perfect!)

PERFECT!!!!
If you like an echo to the left!!!
Ah well, whatevs.
Carrying on, undeterred….

Heat embossed

Now for my cunning plan.
Painted the Tree house roughly with neat bleach.
Toilet bleach.
Now here are the questions…
A)Did I wear gloves?
B)Did I use an expensive brush?
I recommend you DO wear gloves and you DO wash your expensive brush well afterward if you DO use it!
The bleach bleaches almost instantly.
Really really cool.

Using a make-up sponge, reintroduce colour into the tree house
from an ink pad.
I used the new MorningDew from our Artistry Range.

Using said make-up sponge, wipe a tiny amount of bleach across the back of the artwork, to create a skyline of sorts.
And a few planets….

Fairy and some stars needed methinks.
Let’s add a little whimsy subtlety using the Picket Fence ink pad
and the Wee Fairies.

Trim back,

Tone down the edges with the mini blender and same ink.

Mount on more of the same water colour paper,
leaving a slight border.

Love it!
Shooting stars, all sorts.
Gritty and a little imperfect, but all part of it.
It’s as though you are looking through a portal.

I want to pursue this bleach painting more.
More time required, to properly explore .
I remember getting into it over 20 years ago, with my mate Mandy.
She’s sadly no longer with us, but she would have loved this one!
Love & Hugs,
Barb
xxxx

92 thoughts on “A Whimsy Tree House…..

  1. Wow! What a great effect. Who'd have thought of bleach? Reminds me a bit of an underground cave with the 3D effect let alone a starry night! I do hope you feel better tomorrow and get a good night's sleep xxx

  2. Hi everyone, a bit of a lazy day here and nearly read a whole book this afternoon, rarely do that now unless I'm on my hols (2 weeks time and we will be!). Lovely day here. Hubby cooked the pork chops for tea on the bbq and we were able to eat outside. 2 years ago today my dad died and although I think of him everyday I spent a bit more time today remembering things we'd forgotten, it's surprising what springs to mind once you get talking about the past too. I've had some lovely signs from him over the last two years to let me know he's around. Hugs to everyone who needs them and to those that don't too ! X x

    1. Hi Jackie – so pleased that you have had a good relaxing day. It's good to re-live times past, even though it can be very emotional. Sending you hugs too, love Gilly xx

    2. Jackie it does get easier as the years go by, but you never forget them. I smell my dads aftershave now and again, it's 15 years since I lost my dad, we were only saying today about my dad loving something we had recently done. My husband always buys a bottle of the same wine dad used to buy him at Christmas and we have a little toast to him when we drink it. Sending you a big hug xxx

    3. Hello Jackie

      Glad you had a quiet day remembering your father. Mine died almost 36 years ago and next month would have been his 100th birthday. I miss him every day. My youngest child (a son) was born on the first anniversary and I am able to gain some comfort from the fact he is so like his grandfather it is uncanny. When he was little he had all the mannerisms as well, although they have diminished over the years.

    4. Hello Jackie, it's lovely for you that you had such a lovely relationship with your Dad, and some wonderful memories. Thinking of you. Hugs xxx

    5. Rosalind, what a comfort for you that your son was born on your Dad's anniversary. My great niece is due this coming Saturday and we wondered if she might put in an appearance today but she didn't.

      Thanks everyone x

    6. Hi Jackie,
      Glad you've had a relaxing day and it's good that you have got good memories of your dad. As Diane says it does get easier but you never forget. I think about my Mam and Dad every day and wish they were still here. Love and hugs Alison xx

    1. Hi Julia – I know exactly what you mean about ending up bleaching the wrong things, should you try this! That goes the same for me – best not methinks! Hope that your day has gone well, love and supportive hugs , Gilly xxx

  3. Wow Barbara I've wouldn't have the courage to use bleach such a beautiful piece of art please get some rest you have got a busy weekend ahead and no doubt you will be prepping for it too lots of restful hugs xxx

    1. Evening dear blog family of friends sending lots of hugs your way hugs to all on the blog
      I've been doing a bit of crafting today got 2 appointments tomorrow Podiarty and Drs for bloods last weeks bruises haven't gone yet .and got my liver scan on Friday so don't think I will be crafting much this week xxx

    2. Good evening Sheila, my lovely – I'm so pleased that you have been able to do a little crafting today! I hope that your appointments goe well this week, and that you will have enough energy to get through them all! I will be thinking of you, take care of yourself! Lots of love and special hugs, Gilly xxx

    3. Hi Shelia,
      Just take everyday as it comes, if you feel like crafting then do a little bit, if you feel that you need to rest then do that. Hope everything goes well with all of your appointments, will be thinking of you. Love and hugs Alison xx

  4. Hi Barbara
    This is beautiful, the fairy sits so well with the tree house. I thought it looked like a reflection at the bottom, might be my eye sight or the glass of wine I've just had! Hope you feel better soon, it's not a good week to be poorly is it ( mind you no week is good to be poorly!). Early night for you I think.
    Love Diane xxx

    1. Hello all my lovely blog friends hope all is well. Emma arrived in Edinburgh at 8 this morning, 12 hour bus journey! Lovely. She will make it to Aberdeen on Thursday ready for term to start. The house is quiet but there's still a trail of 'stuff' around, I will tidy next week. Sending hugs all round xxx

    2. Hi Diane – glad to hear that Emma arrived safe and sound! It's bound to feel strange at the moment, but no doubt you will need to get stuck in to some crafting – maybe some spending when you see the new Clarity goodies at the weekend! I forgot to say congratulations – I did see your name as a winner on another craft blog, didn't I! Love and hugs, GIlly xxx

    3. Glad that Emma has arrived safely Diane. You should be so proud that you have raised such an independent young lady. The time will fly by and before you know it you will be counting the days waiting for her return. Love and Hugs xxx

    4. Hi Diane,
      Glad that Emma has arrived safe and sound. The house will seem quiet but as Morag says, it will be no time at all until she's home again. Love and hugs Alison xx

  5. Hi Barbara – so sorry to hear that you aren't feeling so good. This is a great piece of artwork, thank you for showing us how to do this, I don't think that I should try using bleach, as no doubt I would create havoc! I hope that you will have a good night's sleep and that you will feel much better tomorrow – hugs Gilly x

    1. Hi to all of my lovely blog friends – I hope that you have all enjoyed a lovely sunny day! It's been beautiful down here in Cornwall – not done much today, had a long lie-in, followed by brunch and did a few emails. Then this afternoon I had a shower and washed my hair, and that seemed to use up my energy. So it's an early night for me, ready for going to the hospital with Neill tomorrow! Love and hugs to you all, Gilly xxx

    2. Hi Gilly,
      Glad you've had a restful day. Hope everything goes well for Neil at the hospital tomorrow. Hope you've got your wool sorted this week. Love and hugs Alison xxx

  6. That's amazing Barbara. And sure does look like you've ripped through to a parallel world. Have you been watching Dr Who repeats?!!!! I wouldn't use bleach, makes sharp pains inside my nose, my hypersensitivities. But I'm sure I could achieve similar results lifting the colour with water and a brush, maybe not totally white but good enough, better than missing out on trying it anyway. Sorry to hear you're feeling poorly. Hope it's just a 24 hour thing. I thought with all your burnt offerings you'd have an iron stomach by now!!!! 😉 I do hope you've not been eating that cheese, or salad leaves that have recently been thought to be the cause of e coli outbreaks.

    I chickened out of phoning about the boiler, the fear of phoning being greater than the fear of the boiler not working with not being the time of year heating is required. The hot water was working again today anyway. Taking that fear out the equation improved my day an awful lot!

    Hope you get a good sleep and feel much better in the morning
    love Brenda xx

    1. Hello Brenda, thank goodness you had hot water today, that's half the battle. We don't want you being cold when the weather changes though so you need to be brave soon. sending hugs to you and Daisy xxx

    2. I'm with you there Brenda. As long as Barbara knows how precious she is to us 'that person'can think and say what she likes. I didn't even bother reading her second lot of ramblings.
      I'm pleased you have hot water at least today. But hopefully you will find the courage to get it sorted before the weather turns. Take care. Love and Hugs xxx

    3. Hi Brenda,
      Pleased you've now got hot water at least. I'm in agreement with you on the other matter too! Hopefully your boiler problems will be resolved before long. Love and hugs to you and Daisy, Alison xxx

    4. Hi Brenda. Sorry you're still having problems with your boiler. Sometimes, if it's a new boiler the water pressure can drop down, and you just need to adjust a dial on the boiler to fix it. Have a look in your boiler manual x

    5. Thanks Susan. It's not a new boiler, and unfortunately there is at least one fault in it, but everything is intermittent so the engineers aren't seeing what the problems are for themselves. At the end of winter they misdiagnosed the problem greatly, and I went through a horrible time with it, and them. And ended up no further forward. Which is all giving me even more fears and therefore reluctance than I would have had anyway to get them out again on my own. That's the only option I have at present sadly. Maybe these posher, energy efficient boilers are not worth it, if the engineers struggle to work out what is wrong if it hasn't completely broken down! But thank you so much for trying to help. Hope you have this lovely weather up your end? A bit windy here but still nice and warm and sunny xx

  7. Oh dear, hope you feel a lot better after a good nights sleep. Sometimes these things just catch up with you when you've been under pressure. Loving this 'bleachy' thing going on, very whimsical. Need to get my craft room back, my blokey been doing some pipe work up there, so haven't been able to access all things Clarity! What a lovely weekend it's been with Clarity on the telly and lovely things on the blog – amazing! Xxx

  8. This looks great Barbara and the bleach has made a clever background and I love the way you have reintroduced some lighter colour back in. I tried using bleach once and I think I went a bit mad with it because it ate through the card..lol. Sorry you are feeling under the weather and hope you feel better tomorrow after a good night's sleep. x

  9. I am sorry you are feeling rough 🙁 . Workshops went well, Groovi went down a storm as did the stencils :). I am in the throes of sending some pics in the next few days. Thanks x.

  10. I think your body is telling you slow down – we all need you Barbara. Love the whimsy. I haven't heard about the use of bleach before, something to try when the grandchildren are not here. Pleasant dreams and wake up refreshed tomorrow Barbara xx

  11. Hi Barb,
    Sorry to hear that you are feeling a bit rough today. Hope you feel much better tomorrow. Lovely piece of artwork today, but not sure I would dare use bleach! God knows where it would end up – probably on my little shadow otherwise known as Scamp. Poor little thing has already been covered in gilding flakes, glitter, paint !! Love and hugs Alison xx

  12. Hi bloggy friends,
    Hope today has been as good as possible for you. Beautiful day here so it was gardening today. Got my baskets all deadheaded and the pots tidied up. We are in the middle of redesigning part of the garden which was a very overgrown rockery so that is taking up most of our time. It will be lovely when it's done ( I hope!). Been to a friend's house for a meal this evening – Morag you just caught me!- and had a lovely time although a certain person is somewhat worse for wear! I'll just have to make him shift some more rocks tomorrow!! Love and hugs to you all, Alison xxx

  13. Well, that's a completely new one on me! I would have thought the card would disintegrate. But does give a very dramatic white.

    Hope you have a good night and wake up feeling better.

  14. Hi Barbara, first time I've ever commented on a blog but since I've been reading yours avidly for a couple of weeks, older posts 'n all, I wanted to say a very big THANK YOU for your inspiration and tips, your honesty and sheer friendliness. Tonight's bleach hit a sore spot as, being too lazy to change, I cleaned the bathroom this a.m using bleach. Am now experimenting with Inktense blocks to fill in the white blobs on my all time favourite shirt. Bought them on impulse last week and this is their first outing, serendipity reigns! Anyway this really is just to say thanks for giving such a nice way to end the days. Hope you feel better in the morning too.

    1. Hello Eremis welcome to the blog. Oh dear, I think we've all done something like that at some stage. let us know if the inktense works, if it does the purchase was meant to be, if not they are something to enjoy!! Xx

  15. Hello everybody. My username was eremis ( relates to my previous 'life' as a hermit which changed 7 years ago) as in above post. Have now amended it to my normal name Lynne. Only saying this as would love to join in the chats. Best wishes to all.

    1. Hi Lynne, just jump in, everyone is welcome. Just be warned, we are a bit of a mad bunch, in a fun way of course, but I guess you've worked that out from reading previous posts!!! Xx
      (another night owlet is always welcome – owlet until you earn your stripes, then you get promoted to night owl status!!!!)

  16. What a beauty, I love how you rescued it…it's amazing how cards turn out….what fun! Hope you are feeling better this morning.Happy new week xx

  17. Hi Barb

    I now hope you're feeling a lot better? You are so talented, turning a splodge of blue into a very interesting, and oh so different, design. It's gorgeous! I'm lethal at the best of times with bleach, but will 'gird up me loins' and give this a try! Now for the Marigolds….

    June x

  18. Morning Barbara, Here's hoping you are feeling much better now !!
    I love this !! I have never tried the 'bleach' technique, and don't know if I would trust myself hahaha.
    Lots of love from Patricia xx

  19. Hope you are soon feeling better, you have been so busy lately I expect it is all catching up on you a bit. Probably would not be much use suggesting you ease up a little doubt that it is possible. So just take care. I will try the bleach but I can imagine Fred hovering over me making sure I do not spill any on our furniture. I am going to change our conservatory into my craft space once our lodgers have moved out. Greg is very busy making their wedding favours in there at moment and is making a very good job of them too. Etching on glass. Anyway I do like your design, I have this stamp so will be brilliant for new home card. xx

  20. Just love this one. Love the imperfect perfection, don't they make the best pieces of artwork? I am terrified of using bleach though after I managed to get some in my eye years ago and ended up in A & E. Beautiful colours, love the shooting stars especially.

  21. A lovely card as always ,,,..
    Was this just me or did anyone else see this , but as I was looking at the picture , these words just above (—but this is the one I an interested in today ,) ,,,,, I could see a face and hair flowing ,,,,,, love to know if anyone else could see this !!!!
    Hope you are feeling a little better today Barbara ,, I'm feeling a bit tied today as I had to take hubby to hospital last night and I didn't get into bed till , 3-40 ,,,…his knees have swollen and they drained them it looked so painful ,,,. They have keep him in as he couldn't put weigh on them ,,They said it was suda gout ,,. This is the second time it's happened in a week,,. Xxxx

  22. I hope you are feeling a lot better this morning, Barbara. Do allow your body to have a chance to recover properly. I have used a touch of bleach on a card before, but I would never have had the courage to go for it quite as thoroughly as you did. I love that effect, really ghostly and mysterious. xxx Maggie

  23. I hope you are feeling better today. I have never been brave enough to use bleach I am sometimes clumsy so I'm sure I would get it on the carpet and it would show up more than the glue and ink that is already there!

    1. Hello everyone. I was too tired to comment again last night so am doing so while my blackberry and apple jam bubbles away. We have a good friend and neighbour with a small orchard that has gone back to the wild. The blackberries were then cultivated sort 20 years ago and are as big as gooseberries. We picked a kilo today for jam and half a kilo for pies which I will make tomorrow.

  24. Great effect Barbara – I've used bleach with coloured card, but never to take ink off a piece of card, but I'll be having a go now. Hope you're feeling better today and that you're drinking lots of water. x

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