TORN CIRCLES...and three wishes from three little mice.

Clare's Do crafts Weekly challenge has a sketch this time and as it features a circle I thought it was a good opportunity to see if I could tear thicker cardstock and be more precise than the torn flower circles in the last couple of posts. The colour scheme is inspired by the Van Gogh Painting which is the very first challenge on the new blog, SCRAP THE ART. This is a great new blog which is going to use pieces of art to inspire and challenge, and it is not specifically about painting and being an artist, it's purely a starting point.

So I went back to basics and just used cardstock and doodling with pens, as I did in my first posts.

I sketched three little mice (I called them Cheddar, Stylton, and Eeedam) I doodle these mice all the time (mainly on my telephone pad) and they are just based on a simple rounded wedge shape, they were coloured with watered down ink from my pens. I tinted the yellow piece of card (this really was a horrible colour so it needed disguising)with daubers and pens. I then used a wet paintbrush to flick water on the ink, after a few seconds dab the water off with a tissue.

I used a black pen to doodle the border (a modern "homage" to Van Gogh's swirls.

I did use one cheat and that was glitter, watered down PVA glue was flicked on with a brush then sprinkled with glitter...this was my final influence from "Starry night".

THE CIRCLES.....

It actually worked better than I thought BUT PATIENCE is the key.

Choose a circular container or lid and again work on a spongy surface like the back of a mouse mat. Hold the lid in place and draw round (scoring) with an embossing tool or knitting needle DON'T be tempted to press hard, I ripped through the first time and it did spoil the effect, it's best to let the water do the work.

Next draw round with a very wet paintbrush, allow it to soak for a minute or two. REPEAT the process, scoring then wetting....allow to soak in again. Make sure you always hold the lid in place. Once softened try pulling the outside card away, it should pull away quite easily and neatly, if not, repeat the soaking until it does, thicker card will need several goes, allow it soak in properly before pulling.

IF YOU CANT BE PATIENT ....THE WHOLE PROCES CAN BE INTANTLY SPEEDED UP BY ADDING SOME WASHING UP LIQUID TO THE WATER, JUST BE AWARE THIS CAN LEAVE A WATER MARK BEHIND ONCE DRIED.