Thursday 26 September 2013

Just a bit of me time.....

Hi there friends.
Every now and again I think it is necessary to step back and carve out a bit of creative time that is not for a class, DT project or similar I use my art journals as an escape too but today I really needed to just do something 3D...... and I have to say that I feel SO much better now!
I began with a wood shrine and started by cutting card to size for both the front and the inside. I used Dylusions inks to colour the card and dried it. I was thinking of using paint to colour the exposed wood areas but then thought I'd see how the Dylusions looked (Fabulous is the answer!)
 I stamped Franswar onto the card and also onto paper to create a mask to cover the image on the card and stamped Fantasy Background over both pieces. I inked the edges and glued them in place. The sentiment was stamped onto kraft paper cut out and glued in place. I used charcoal and a paper blender to add shadows.
 Inside was done similarly, I used Kiki as the main image, the background is Retro Square and Doodle Scribble in the centre piece and Fantasy Background on the outer edges.
 I added some detail with Ranger Liquid Pearls and hot glued a metal flower to add interest to the top whether closed or open.
I thoroughly enjoyed doing this; so much so that I may have to do another one for me as this is going somewhere else tomorrow....I think it'll make a good journal page too so that will probably happen soon too...
All the stamps I've used are my own and if you want to get hold of them too click HERE to go to The Artistic Stamper......
Take are and have a great afternoon. Now I had better get back to work.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

WOYWW 225

Hi there friends.
Well, after a couple of times where my desk was more of a mess than anything else I thought I'd tidy it up a smidgen for your visit.....
 A nice high overshot with just a few bits out because let's be frank here; none of us visit  to see an empty desk. shall we start left?
 Bit of impulse temptation here with a couple of stamp sets from Sir Tim. And the Idea-ology buttons are something I've loved since they came out but at around £7.00 I've never got any.Well, if I told you that I paid less than I would usually pay for 1 plate of stamps for all this goodness I'm sure you will understand the temptation was too hard to resist.
 Then, this is a bit boring but I've bound and torn the edges of these papers ready to make a couple of slimline journals from them. Still trying to decide whether to go steampunk or not......
 Having fun in my journal. The page on the right is done and I've just started on the left.
 Lastly, I haven't moved yesterdays tag yet. Need to find a home for it.
Oh, and lastly, hiding behind the coffee cup, a trio of beetles. They are gorgeous images from De Stempelwinkel.

So, there is my desk this week. I bit neater than last but hopefully still interesting! Hope you all have a great day. For many more amazing workplaces head on over to Stamping Ground and join in the fun.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Tag time

Good Morning peeps.
Yesterday I shared painting on fabric and said I'd be back with a tag using it, so here it is.....



So, just a quick run through of how I made it.

I used a 10" tag for the base. I coloured it by using Cut and Dry foam (hard side) and blending all the left over colours from the mat yesterday after finishing the fabric. Because it was very watery it gives a lovely soft finish. I used the same to blend onto a smaller tag which had an image stamped in Snowflake and dried so the over layer created a resist image.
 I used Grunge paste through a mask onto the large tag and dried it.
I stamped some oriental fish onto the main tag. I also used the same stamp to create a border around the smaller tag and stamped the fish onto a spare tag (A crackled surface that I wasn't too happy with!)
I used London Night and Chocolate Pudding with Cut and Dry foam to edge the two tags, to highlight elements of the mask texture and I added some Treasure Gold to add some shine to the texture.
I cut out the fish and used a watered down Pumpkin Soup to add a layer of translucent colour to the fish.
Everything was then assembled with foam and brads. Ribbon through both tags, I tried to keep the fabric looser rather than totally flat to add interest and finished the bottom of the tag with some old jewellery

Another look at the finished tag (In case you've forgotten already LOL)

Take care.

Monday 23 September 2013

Painting on Fabric with PaperArtsy

Good morning friends
I hope you are well and that you have had a good weekend.
Yesterday I was at The Craft Barn teaching a class all about the wonderful PaperArtsy range of products. Spending time exploring the possibilities was fabulous and of course we ran out of time! This is some of what we got up to as well as the ladies being busy busy.




One of the things that we ran out of time to do was working on fabric so I said that I would pop on the step by step here so here it is (Lots of photos!)


 To begin with, you need fabric; I'm using curtain lining. I find that it is a fine weave so it's easier to stamp a decent image (and it's cheap!) Calico and cottons work too so it's worth experimenting to find what works for you. I washed and ironed it so it was ready. Use Archival ink to stamp; make sure your stamp is well inked and hold it in place for a little longer to allow it to soak into the fibres. Once stamped use your heat gun to dry. This makes your image permanent.
 Choose the colours you want to use and pop a TINY dot of each onto your craft sheet and spritz lots of water around.
 Take a small round brush and pull a bit of the paint into the water to get a very watery mix.
 Once you've got your brush loaded with a watery mix take it to the fabric and very lightly touch it to the fabric starting in the middle and you will see the colour wick out over the area. (it is worth taking a scrap of fabric to test to see how far it moves) If you are working on a larger area you can use more paint, if you are working with smaller areas it is wort using less paint to begin with.
 If you pick up a second colour and add it to the edges you can blend colours together. It's also a good idea to have your heat gun handy so if it starts to wick out over the edges you can dry it quickly.
 Carry on adding colours as you want.
 I've used Toad Hall to add shadow areas to the face; along the right edge, under the eyes and below the chin line.
 Pumpkin Soup for the hair and a bit of Rose added a splash of blush to the cheek.

So there you have it. Hope you enjoy it and give it a go.
I'll pop back tomorrow with a tag made with it! Until then I hope you have a good afternoon.

Saturday 21 September 2013

A touch of metal at The Craft Barn

Goodly morning peeps.
I hope you are well. It's shaping up to be a busy weekend here at HQ. It all began with my class at The Craft Barn yesterday. A lovely relaxing day exploring art journaling.  Today in between work and stuff I need to finish packing for tomorrow's class at The Craft Barn where we'll be looking at the wonderful world of PaperArtsy products and techniques.
I'm looking forward to it, just need to finish packing!
Today too, I've a project over on The Craft Barn Blog HERE. A recycled trio of glass jars. I'd love you to pop on over and take a look!.
Here's a sneek peek part of the way through the transformation......


Hope you all have a great weekend too.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

WOYWW 224

Good morning.
I've a twofer today. I had made such a mess in my studio that I couldn't find enough place to do what I needed to do so I decamped to the dining room (Instead of making the effort to clear it up a bit! My justification for this laziness? I still need the stuff scattered on my desk so what's the point of clearing it away?)
So here is my studio desk...

 I'm sure you can see what I mean, especially as I needed to spread out a bit and do some fiddly bits.
The only thing that you may find remotely interesting is this piece of decorated  acetate and my box of flowers, the rest is just mess!
Let's head of back to the house then shall we?
 Little letter stamps, my journal, ink, scissors and a pen, all sorted. Can't show you exactly what I was doing so here is another page I was working on.
Right, that's my desk(S) this week, for more desks hop on over to Stamping Ground where Julia is waiting with open arms......
Hope you have a great week

Monday 16 September 2013

Catching up a bit in my journal

Good afternoon friends.
Today I thought I'd better spend a bit of time catching up in my journal. One of the things I find, especially with teaching is that during classes I don't have time to finish pages as we are too busy having a great time exploring different background techniques!
 So, for example, this is the journal we've been working on over the last 3 classes in Cambridgeshire; lots of yummy backgrounds but not too many completed pages...... so today I was sorting though them, getting pages in an order that was pleasing to me and starting to work on them. I've been having a great time and here are two of the pages that I've finished today.

 The background is textured and painted. I added further details using my masks and stamps and used images from Crafty Individuals which were all on the theme of journeys and dreams.
 This was a fun page. The background has been created using Distress Paints and spritzed with water to let it drip down.
 I added the border with my Geometric stamp and highlighted it with Dylusions ink so it stood out from the background. The Artist is from my Cheeky Chappies set.
The Journaling is a fun dig at the response I think many of us can identify with : "What do you mean mess? I'm not making a mess, I'm busy making art!"
I've got a few more in progress so I'll share them when done. I need to get a wiggle on though as in a couple of weeks I'm back so I'll be in "trouble" if I've not got further.......

If you're interested, my stamps are available from The Artistic Stamper, Crafting Time and That Craft Place and my masks and book kits are available from That Craft Place, Crafting Time and The Craft Barn (And other Tando Creative Stockists)

Sunday 15 September 2013

Just popping my head round the door.....

Hi there friends.
Just wanted to pop my head round the door and say hi. I've spent a lovely day up at Crafting Time in Shepreth today for the third in my series of journaling classes and, as usual, it was a fab day. Everyone got stuck in and we spent the day playing hide and seek! Flaps, pockets, headless owls and lots more............
Here are some of the photos from the day.

 I love wandering around and seeing all the lovely colours and creative interpretations take shape..... Everyone begins with the same information and same pieces of card. Even the same book kit in the beginning yet all the creations are so individual and creative it is a real thrill for me to see.


 Piles of inky painty goodness in progress.
 I fully expect to see this piece of kitchen towel next time....glued down on a page.







Right, I'd better make a start unpacking....maybe tomorrow, it's cold and wet out there so I think i'll stay here a while and doodle, after all, I have everything I need to journal in the house where it's warm and dry.....
See you later folks, hope you have a good evening.