Wednesday 31 October 2012

Advent at The Craft Barn

Good morning all
I thought I'd post this separately to my WOYWW post. This week we're all Christmassy at The Craft Barn and today, being my turn, I have a slightly quirky (Well I think so) Advent calender to share with you made using a metal wreath, sizzix birds#3 die and more. Tinsel too, after all, it is the Season.
There are lots more details on The Craft Barn Blog HERE and I'd love you to go on over to take a look.

This is the finished piece though.


This is what I used and this weeks special offer;  and over on The Craft Barn Blog are all the details, more photos and how to make it .......



Sizzix Birds # 3 die
Alterations snowflake (both) and Inside Out strip dies
Perfect Pearl Misters - Sunflower Sparkle and Perfect Copper
Tim Holtz Season's silhouettes and Joyful Christmas stamps
Distress stains - Forest Moss, Walnut Stain and Fired Brick
Distress inks - Frayed Burlap, Fired Brick, Pine Needles and Walnut stain
Distress Markers - Mustard Seed and Wild Honey
Archival ink - Olive and black


 Our special offer this week
Order any advent calendar from our site, 
It will be added to your parcel.



WOYWW 178

Good morning everyone; WOYWW goes all spooky I'm sure this Wednesday but grab the nearest broomstick to head on over to Stamping Ground to see what's bubbling in the workplace cauldrons of the world
Now I don't celebrate Halloween at all though you will see some bits pop up but mainly for DT projects etc. A little while ago you will have seen the beginnings of a canvas with skulls etc; well I thought I'd share it with you today as I've finished what I wanted to do with it. So here it is on my desk (Which I photographed in the afternoon while I had some light!)
 Yes, I've turned it into a book front piece. There's not much else on my desk as I've been packing stuff up as I'm at The Craft Barn for a few days so needed to get everything sorted. But, back to the book. Here it is a bit closer.
 A Scripture that has been very special and dear to my heart since my army days(So a LOOOOOONNG time ago!) is Ezekiel 37: 3-10 where the prophet is speaking about dry bones being brought to life by the Word and Spirit of God. I had that in my mind when I started the canvas and once it was finished I made a book and covered the front with scrunched tissue and painted with paint dabbers and gold mica sprays. The scripture has been then written out onto the cover, around the canvas. The cover and canvas have some copper tape around too.
 I know it looks a bit macabre to some but for me, rather than being that it is more my book of life; it reminds me of the dry bones of my past and how God has brought life to them by His Grace and Mercy and I look forward to using this journal to record some of the special verses that encourage and inspire me.
 The other thing on my desk are these two tins just waiting to be altered but you'll have to wait and see what they become; that's another day's surprise!
Hope you all have a blessed and creative week.

Monday 29 October 2012

Bit of a scrape.......

Good morning everyone.
Can't quite believe it's a new week already and almost a new month! This year seems to have flown past. Still; I try to be grateful for each new day and for the possibilities it brings; as the psalmist says: His mercies are new every morning.
Thought I'd share a journal page that I finished on Friday evening. On Friday's (after supper and catch up of Downton Abbey) Susan and I go down to the studio just to spend some time creating together, mainly in our journals. It's a time that I appreciate and value very much. This is what I ended up with
 I started out by covering the page with Studio Gesso and then using the back of a paintbrush to doodle and scribble my way across the page. I did this in the morning and popped it by the radiator to dry (though you could always gently use a heat gun)
 When it was dry in the evening I used Distress stains to colour the page and highlight the surface texture and dried it with a heat gun. I stamped random texture from Tim Holtz mixed media over the page. The image is from Stampotique and has been coloured in with Distress markers.
 The "sign" is Tim Holtz. Very apt I think.
I stamped Dyan Reavely's border stamps along the bottom and top and coloured with her inks to add colour. Once everything was dry I sealed it with a spray sealer because the inks don't absorb into the gesso.

I love the texture on this page; it's fun to do.
Hope you all have a great and creative day.

Sunday 28 October 2012

Fun class.

Hi there everyone.
Hope you are all well and have had a wonderfully creative weekend. Today I've been at The Craft Barn teaching one of my book classes.
As always it was a fun-filled day with loads of laughter and banter. Hard at work; you can almost feel the concentration!


 Lots of inky fun building the pages...

Great fun and the end result that we were aiming for?




Once again, thanks for a great time ladies!

Friday 26 October 2012

All taped up at The Craft Barn

Good morning everyone.
Over at The Craft Barn Blog this week the team has been exploring tape - Washi, Tim Holtz and more. Today it's my turn and no surprises really that my tape of choice is Tim Holtz, tissue tape. I love the stuff !
I've more details over on the blog post HERE but to whet your appetite to go and look here's a photo.

I've used the tape in a variety of different ways on this journal page; randomly, to create a bunting, to overlay an image and to create a ribbon.......all fun ways to use the tape other than to just use it to edge a page!

I hope you'll pop on over and take a closer look.

Here are the product links and this weeks special offer too. Hope you all have a fun creative day.


Tim Holtz - Artful Artifacts stamp


Our special offer this week
20% off the Glue Dots masking tape
Enter the code TAPE20 at checkout



Thursday 25 October 2012

Friday November 2nd at The Craft Barn

Good morning folks
I hope you are all well. Just wanted to share the class that I'm doing at The Craft Barn on Friday the 2nd November. There are some places available still if you are in the area and fancy joining me for a day of inky layered fun.
This is what we'll be doing

The canvas measures a lovely 12 x 12 so there's plenty of scope to play! Lots of layering and painty inky goodness in store for you. You can either create the frame inside as I have with stamping or use it to display a photo.
More details can be found HERE at The Craft Barn.

I'll also be demonstrating on Saturday the 3rd November at The Craft Barn Christmas Gift Minifest so do pop along and join myself, Andy Skinner, Jenny Mayes, Di Oliver, Jo Firth Young and Helen Chilton for an inspiration filled day too!

Take care.


Wednesday 24 October 2012

WOYWW #177

Morning all.
Just a nice quick share of my workplace this morning before I trot off to take the missus to work. As always, if you are from another planet and confused then pop over HERE to get to the portal to trawl more universal workplaces.

 So, looking from my chair it is nice and clear in front of me and you can see the push out of the way method in full flow everywhere else....
 Even the visitors chair is occupied by a pile. This is my art journal. I'm busy painting a page at a time just to get everything I don't want to see covered up. When that is finished I'll get working on i properly I guess!
 Then there's this lovely photo of my daughter and her boyfriend all "steampunked" up for a party. I love the photo and have printed it out on canvas ready to use.
Lastly, my new favourite stamps and peeking out is a hint of Christmas.........
So there you have my world today. Hope you have a good and blessed day today.

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Just a couple of pages

Hi there folks.
Been a busy couple of days with one thing and another. Some days there doesn't seem to be enough hours to do everything. I have managed to finish a couple of  journal pages.
 This was one of the backgrounds I started in class last week. I love the vibrancy of the inks and enjoy adding the details with pens.
 Of course, once my new stamps arrived, they came out to play  too. I love this  chicken wire stamp and know I'll be using it a lot.
 Then, As the release date for my new masks is getting closer and closer I was playing a bit more with them. I really love the two sea theme ones and used them in a few different ways on this page..
Details - I used gesso and a brayer to get this lovely crisp layer.
 This side has some lovely raised detail, also with gesso.
 Some areas used opaque markers.
 This tangled yarn one you may have seen before but now I've finished it off a bit more.

I'll let you know  when they are released, but it should be by the end of the month; I can hardly wait.

Sunday 21 October 2012

Bit of a catch up

Good morning all.
I've been absent for a few days so here's a bit of a round up of the latter half of the week. On Thursday morning I was pottering around getting some deadlines finished and quite pleased with the way things were going. The afternoon turned out slightly differently than planned as I had a spot of car trouble and while pulled over hazards blinking on the dual carriageway waiting for the AA, someone hit the rear side of the car. Not great though I will say one thing, I thank God that I was not in the car at the time; the other driver was not hurt and no one else either. It could have been so much worse than it was! God's hand definitely was over me that afternoon as I had just moved away from the vehicle. So now, the insurance guy will be out on Monday.......he couldn't come on Friday because I had a class at The Craft Barn; teaching my Journalling #4 class which was great fun. Silly moo that I am, I forgot to take my camera out of my bag ! But here is one of my pages from the day
The class was focussing on detailing, writing and doodling and it was a great day so thank you to all the ladies. It was lovely to see how everyone's journals had progressed and we all were having a good time checking them out. I particularly like the way on of the ladies had used Crafty Individuals images and did warn her that I would be borrowing the idea. Which I did that evening as Susan and I wandered down the garden path to spend a pleasant few hours together journalling away.
 Coffee is always a good idea !
 So here is the page I did using Crafty Individuals images in the centre, tissue tape, and rock candy crackle along with distress inks, stains, masks and more.
 The edging is liquid pearls which adds a lovely detail I think.
The tags are stamped and embossed IndigoBlu image and they were masked and the backgrounds were added to them using images from the same plate (Pomp and Pageantry)

Saturday brought Happy Mail in the form of goodies from America. Last month I was blessed to win $50.00  in the Inspiration Emporium challenge and they arrived

A printers tray configurations, Those lovely Tim backgrounds, some UTEE and Distress card. Joy also enclosed this lovely tag too which has gone on my inspiration wall. Aren't I blessed?

So that's what's been happening around here. Hope you all have a great Sunday.


Wednesday 17 October 2012

Over at The Craft Barn....

Good morning (again)
Yes, I'm back because over at The Craft Barn Blog HERE I'm sharing this card with you using Crafty Individuals masks and stamps.


If you follow the link there is a full step by step with photos too.


Crafty Individuals mask - Magic Roundabout
CI-309 stamp 
Dreamweaver pearl paste
Distress Ink - Forest Moss, Fired Brick, Frayed Burlap, Wild Honey and Walnut Stain
Tim Holtz Bird die (from the Caged bird)


Our special offer this week
20% off selected Crafty Individuals stamps. 
From CI-017 to CI-250 included
use code CRAFTY20 at checkout

WOYWW #176

Morning folks
It's blowing a gale round here this morning, dark and miserable too, however, I am alive and blessed so that is enough reason to be happy today! I hope you are all well. It is, of course, Julia day today, where we all toodle off to Stamping Ground to wander the smorgasboard of desk delights that is WOYWW.
Here is mine; excuse the lousy pics, it's still pretty dark in there!

 So, looking from my chair, this is how I left it last night, lots left to dry. Lets start at the other end.....
 Two different canvasses I'm playing with
 I have a plan for this one, it's taking shape slowly though.
 Then, just a bit more light hearted is this little tag, Dylusioned masked and just waiting to finish.
 Then, painting in my art book using up some left over paint
And lastly, on my inspiration wall, you can see I've made my first Christmas tag! So there's my place this week. I hope that you are all having a good and creative one too!


Monday 15 October 2012

Yesterdays class and journal pages

Good morning everyone.
I trust that you all had a wonderful weekend.
Yesterday at The Craft Barn I taught my Art Journalling #2 class which is all about textured backgrounds which is always a fun class to do as it involves stains, inks and lots of paint!



 Here they are, all working hard; don't they look happy?! This is some of what they were getting up to during the day.





Some cool backgrounds ready to work on. What I enjoy is getting more backgrounds done for me to work on too. so when I got home last night I was looking through them and before I knew it these to pages had taken shape

 I love the way this page turned out in terms of the background so I didn't actually want to cover too much of it up but I think these Stampotique work really well on the page. A bit dark but quirky too. The 3 peeps sending a wish flying to cheer the girl up. She does look rather miserable at the moment.

Once I'd done this background I knew I wanted to use the " Mighty Oaks from little acorns grow" sentiment and of course this new Tim Holtz/Joe Rossi image is perfect!

Righteo, I must away, places to be, things to do. Hope you all have a blessed and  creative day.