newly creative

Ready for February

2012-01-30T11:26:00.000Z

I have been keeping up with my Art Every Day journal and will show you all the January pages later in the week.

In my journal I am also doing the monthly Calendar challenge set up by Kate Crane. This usually involves painting a background and cutting up squares, or in February's case probably hearts, and sticking them on as mini journaling blocks.

However I was inspired by this photo that I found on Pinterest and which can also be found on Flickr.

So here is my version ready for February:

A home for tags

2012-01-25T11:36:00.000Z

I have been on lots of courses run by Anneliese. To the extent that the running joke was that she was thinking of installing a hammock as I seemed to be there so often I may as well sleep there!

Anyway, this has meant that I have part-finished altered books, completely finished altered books, an altered scrapbook book and lots of tags. You can find out about Anneliese's workshops at Creative Journey Workshops.

One of her upcoming workshops is her Altered Technique Book which is a mix of making tags and journaling about the technique in an altered book. And so, inspired by the photo on Anneliese's website, I set about altering a book.

But rather than recycling/upcycling an old printed book I used a sketchbook that I've had lying about for ages. I removed some of the pages ready to start.

When I start projects, especially when I'm at workshops, the fear factor jumps in or the perfectionism streak! I get really stuck with the colours, the theme, the everything about what the finished project will look like and find many ways to procrastinate! So I decided that I would just not think about it, and stick things down and paint and stamp without thought for the end result.

Last year I had taken part in an international swap of collage ephemera all of which I was keeping in the envelopes they came in, inside a box. So not likely to ever make it to a page!!

I spread out all the ephemera on the table and sorted into piles of similar papers or bits.

Then I randomly stuck the ephemera down on the blank pages. I chose 3 colours of Dylusions acrylic paint - Vanilla, Turquoise and Orange. I painted every page all over with the Vanilla and added highlights of the orange and turquoise and used some sequin waste to stencil with.

Then I chose 2 sets of Dylusions stamps and limited myself to those and stamped randomly over the pages.

I took each set of tags which had the instructions on how to make them written on the back and copied the information onto the page and then stuck the tag in. I used a Tippex Mouse to make the white lines to write on.

The tag content so far covers Distress Inks, Alcohol Inks, Using Metal and 10 of the 12 tags of Christmas. And there's still room for 16 more tags. Good thing I'm off to another workshop very soon!

One Little Word ~ January

2012-01-13T11:25:00.002Z

I am using the prompts from Ali Edwards in the BPC class One Little Word 2012. I did the class last year but felt at the end of the year that I had completed the tasks for the class but that my word: RESTORE had not made as much impact on my life as I would have liked.

I am determined this year to move forward, to do less procrastinating and to achieve my goals. And to that end, as you know, I have written them down.

Although I have to be honest and admit that I do love this poster. A brilliant excuse for procrastination.

I am using the same binder as I used in 2011 so needed a page (on the left) to cover the blank page behind the last entry for 2011. I used Wordle to make a graphic of the relevant words and then listed my goals for 2012.

The small page on the left should have a photo of me on it but I haven't found one I like yet!

Ali provides the prompts and the graphics to print out. Instead of putting the 9 cards into individual pockets I have stuck mine onto Kraft card and put it into one large pocket.

Scrapbook Life Journal 2012 update

2012-01-12T09:02:00.002Z

I've been working on and off over the past 2 weeks on my Life Journal. Each week Stephanie provides resources and prompts.

The back cover of my binder

The front cover

The January divider

Stephanie provided this doodle for us to colour.

The theme for January is Honesty

My One Little Word for 2012 is FOCUS and to help me focus I listed my goals for the year

On UKScrappers there's a thread where people encourage each other to walk each week. My goal this year is to take one long walk each week and here are the layouts I've done in my Life Journal to remind me of the walks.

I met a greater-spotted bird-spotting biker

2012-01-10T15:15:00.002Z

In keeping with my goal to do one long walk each week I went to Middleton Lakes ~ an RSPB Reserve. To be honest anything further than walking round Sainsburys is a long walk.

However this was 6km or so (or 3.75 miles in old money!)

I'm not sure whether the distance is calculated on when you get to the start of the walk or includes the distance from the car park!

Anyway after I'd walked the Wetland Trail and met one couple taking photos and a man carrying a mountain bike, I met the aforementioned biker. Who was very nice, and very chatty. He wore camouflage trousers and jacket and a bright red top! He had a fabulous Nikon camera with the most amazing lens. However he said he had wanted to buy a larger one which cost £12,000 and instead had bought a Nikon Bridge Camera for £300 which had the same capacity - 800 mill (whatever that is).

His opening gambit had been 'It's very quiet here today.' So thinking about the 3 people I had seen, I said yes it was but this was the first time I had visited so had no idea how busy it might be. To which he replied 'Well most of the birds seem to be hiding and I haven't seen the longhorn cattle.' (Keep scrolling down for the rest of the conversation!)

Love the idea of this notice - wildlife only please - rather than the usual No entry - do NOT style of sign.

Not sure what these are since I was on the same path as the greater-spotted bird-spotting biker. Look like Longhorns to me!

The path round the meadow eventually came out alongside the canal. What a dfference a few years make. Below this photo is the same canal in January 2009.

Just see how muddy the path was. I asked the gsbs biker if the whole path was muddy and he said some of it was. I said I should have worn my walking boots rather than my walking shoes, but at least I wasn't in my ordinary shoes.

To which he responded: 'I saw a woman who was getting on a bit, she was about 60, and I just had to tell her that the sandals she was wearing weren't suitable for the walk.' I refrained from telling him that I'm 62. Anyway this bit of path was the beginning and end and much of the middle was less muddy!

Near the car park was a farm where there was this stand-off.

And here's the gsbs biker's bike in the car park.

Today is also 10 on the 10th day over at Shimelle's blog. I thought I would show you 10 of my photos from today's walk. Of course, you will have noticed there are 11 photos ~ but the one from 2009 doesn't count. If you want to see more 10 on the 10th click here.

Art Every Day Journal

2012-01-07T14:13:00.001Z

I have continued this week with my art diary/journal. I started using the Dylusions stamps and was concerned that it looked a little too Spring-like. However by the end of the week it looked more like the Beanstalk from a Pantomime and quite seasonal!

Divine Romance week 4

2012-01-07T14:03:00.000Z

The creative exercise for week 4 was to get out with a camera and take photos. Just what I like to do. Plus I had set myself the goal of taking one long walk each week, so why not combine the two?

I went to Blythe Valley Countryside Park which is just beside the M42 Junction 4. It surrounds the Blythe Valley Business Park and I had never walked round it before.

I took 122 photos! I reduced these to 97 by removing the blurry and the not very good. Although one of my goals is to use the Manual setting on my camera ~ I didn't on this occasion.

I've yet to fully complete the exercise as there are questions to answer, which include:

Was this an activity that you enjoyed or found difficult? What about it did you find enjoyable/difficult?

Out of the pictures you took, what resonated with you the most?

What is it about those pics that spoke to you? Was it God speaking to a current life situation? Or maybe speaking to your creative heart? Be as specific as possible.

How could you use this information to inform your art-making process?

You will be able to find my answers (when I've done them) by clicking here or on the Faith & Art tab at the top of my blog.

Doodles Unleashed

2012-01-05T15:23:00.000Z

Doodles Unleashed is a 4 week online course at Strathmore. This is a free course with Traci Bautista.

I'm also taking part in a photography challenge called 365+1. This involves taking a photo a day and Suzie provides us with a theme for the day. Today's theme was excitement. Now possibly my dining room table doesn't excite you or the obvious mess (although this is quite tidy for me), however the excitement lies in the iPad (a Christmas present) on which I am able to watch Traci's video as I work.

Previously I watched the art videos upstairs on the desktop and then ran downstairs to do the work before I forgot and then ran back upstairs for a reminder viewing!

Traci showed how to make layers on your page by spraying ink through stencils or over masks.

Then adding more layers of paint, oil pastel and black ink. Then doodling with marker pens.

And finally doodle with a white correction fluid pen.

The final effect is not very 'me'. However I'm really glad I gave it a go. One more technique to cross off the 'Is this possibly my style?' list.

Drum Roll please

2012-01-03T22:28:00.001Z

Well after going all round the houses and not being sureabout what I wanted to choose as my one little word I'm back where Istarted. Yes that's right my word isfocus!

from Pinterest

So despite having written in a previous post "However the problem with Focus for me is that I could just focus my thinking but not actually do anything! I need a more active verb.", I changed my when I came across this quote:

from Pinterest

So here I am settling on the word focus and trying towork out how I'm going to set goals to go with that. There are areas of life that I want to concentrate on, tofocus on:

faith, fitness, photography, fun, friends, fellowship, family, art. Ialso want to finish things that I start.

from wordle.net

I've started with the easiest one to set goals for:

Fitnessand Health

1. go for a long walk once a week

2. exercise four times a week

3. lose 3 pounds in weight per month

4. drink three glasses of water per day

I'm still working on the other goals and the action steps.

December 2011

2012-01-03T14:58:00.000Z

My Art Every Day Journal is complete for December 2011. This came about from the onliine course I did with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.

The journal starts with my December calendar. This is for Kate Crane's 365 challenge.

My completed pages:

I'm hoping to be able to keep going through the year.

One Little Word

2011-12-31T10:15:00.000Z

Today many people will be thinking about their New Year's Resolutions and wondering why they don't last past the 2nd week of January!

Other people will be thinking about their One Little Word. This is one word to give focus to the year.

If you google One Little Word you will find a variety of websites, including:
Two Writing Teachers

Ali Edwards

Diane Marra

My One Word

I have been taking part in Ali Edward's class OLW 2011 at BPS this year. My word for 2011 has been RESTORE as in

Freshen recharge recreate refresh regenerate rejuvenate repair

Renew resuscitate revitalise revive reinstate re-establish

And my aim was to:

Rest ~ to improve my sleep patterns

Exercise ~ with my Rosemary Conley DVD that I have used in the past

Spirituality ~ to restore my lost relationship with God

Time ~ to get dressed at an appropriate time ~ not later & later!

Order ~ to find order & routine in each day

Restoration ~ to take part in the Brave Girl course: Soul Restoration

Equilibrium ~ to find balance in all areas of life

However although I took part in the class exercises and I kept the word in the forefront of my mind (but not as often as I would have liked) I don't feel that I achieved as much as I had hoped this time last year.

And now I want to choose a word for 2012. I've signed up for OLW2012 which starts tomorrow and it would be helpful to know what word I am going with.

Initially I was going with FOCUS. Focusing on Faith, Fitness, Fellowship, Fun and Photography. Cheesey I know!

However the problem with Focus for me is that I could just focus my thinking but not actually do anything! I need a more active verb.

I was really interested in Karen's post on her blog as she has taken the priorities she has identified in her life and set goals for each area. SMART goals at that! More Thoughts and Plans

So, I know what I need to do ~ once I've chosen the word (or it chooses me!)
These are the front runners:
Wholehearted: enthusiastic, unreserved, sincere, heartfelt, unconditional, total, unqualified
Action: act, deed, exploit, achievement, accomplishment, feat, stroke, battle
Achieve: attain, get, realise, accomplish, reach, do, complete, pull off
Practise: do, put into practice, live out, carry out, perform, apply, follow, observe

And which ever word I choose will need to apply to various areas of my life: Health & fitness, Faith and relationships (fellowship), Fun and Finishing projects and courses I start.

What shall I choose? Your thoughts are welcome.

Did you have a word for 2011? Are you choosing a word for 2012, and if so, what is it?

2011 ~ my year in art

2011-12-30T07:30:00.000Z

I have taken several online courses and been to workshops this year. I've practised known techniques and learned new ones. Here's just a part of what I have done this year

January
The year began with a trip to the States. I made this book before I went and journaled as I went along leaving spaces to add the photos when I got home.

February
In February I went to two workshops taught by Tim Holtz. This is the configurations box I did at home after learning how to do one at the workshop.

March
All year I have belonged to an American kit Club, Scrapbooking From The Inside Out. There is an online forum where challenges are set on a particular them each month.

April
During April a group of ladies on Facebook used the challenges from Creativity Bootcamp 2010 to make an art journal.

May
I went to Art From The Heart for a weekend workshop with Dina Wakley where we made 3 mini books. Lovely!

June
She had 3 hearts was an online art journaling course with Christy Tomlinson. We had to ask our friends and family for 3 words which described us and here is one of my pages.

July
This month saw me at a workshop with Anneliese Bates in Derbyshire. This is an A5 book called 'The ABC of Me'.

August
Another online art course. This time with Kirsty Wiseman. My finished book is nothing like the instructions!

September
I made lots of mini books to take to the States to sell at a Ladies Evening. Those that didn't sell are in my Etsy Shop (which needs restocking)

October
A new online course this month with Paulette Insall. This was an exercise in painting with black and white on an A2 sheet of paper. And then adding a small amount of colour.

November
This month I took part in the Art Every Day Challenge. And managed to complete 30 days. It was great because each day I experimented with a technique to see which ones are really my style.

December
I started a course in November with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer called 30 days in Your Journal. I used the techniques there and combined them with Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas to produce an art journal/diary.

2011 ~ A Year in Pictures

2011-12-29T14:34:00.001Z

As we come to the end I thought I would look at what I have been up to over the last 12 months.

January
A visit to the United States included Florida, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. The highlight was a helicopter trip with Roger, Andy & Naomi over the Grand Canyon.

February

Two workshops with Tim Holtz. One with ArtsyCrafty and this one at Art From The Heart

March
The dining room table! This represents the state of play most days during 2011!

April
A weekend in the Lake District to celebrate the 40th Wedding Anniversary of friends from college days.

May
The naughty table at Betty's in Harrogate. We were there for a Dina Wakley workshop at Art From The Heart

June
Roger and I had a holiday in Northern Ireland. We saw some beautiful scenery.

July
I did a photography course with Kirsty Wiseman in Birmingham City Centre and took this photo of the iron man in Victoria Square

August
Roger had an operation on his back at the beginning of August and by the end of the month was able to walk round the lake at Dudmaston.

September
A visit to Pembrokeshire and a walk along the coast path past the Blue Lagoon

October
A visit to San Diego in California with Roger. I then went on to Florida for a week whilst Roger came home!

November
Trying out a new technique. Come back tomorrow to see my art year in pictures.

December
Andy and Naomi in Oxford on their first visit to the UK since May 2009. It was great to have them home for Christmas.

Happy Christmas

2011-12-22T09:37:00.002Z

Wishing everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog during 2011.

Gosh ~ twice in one day

2011-12-13T11:32:00.001Z

Here I am again with an update on my Art Journal/Journal Your Christmas entries for December 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.

I've just started preparing the pages for the next few days using Distress Inks but it isn't going how I expected. Now waiting for the Picket Fence Distress Stain to dry so I can cover up what I've already done. Watch this space!

Tags 11 & 12

2011-12-13T10:27:00.006Z

Timmy tags are over for another year!

I think I ran out of steam for the last two and didn't have most of the supplies so here are my take on the last 2 tags.

Tag 11

Tag 12

A Morag tag and

2011-12-12T11:41:00.001Z

a Timmy tag.

I went to the Solihull crop yesterday and we made this. I say we, because Morag gave us all the die cuts, Nicki made my pine cones because I totally couldn't do it, and I assembled it with Julie's glue. A real team effort. Thank you everyone.

And here's my tag based on Saturday's Tim Holtz tag

Today, being December 12th, is the last day of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas. I still have yesterday's to do as well as today's. Come back soon to see those.

10 on the 10th ~ Christmas in Birmingham

2011-12-10T07:00:00.000Z

On Thursday night I went into Birmingham City Centre to meet friends and had my compact camera with me rather than the all-singing all-dancing Bridge camera so I am really pleased with what I managed to get. Here are 10 photos from the city centre.

1 Bells on a stall at the German Market

2. Lights in New Street

3. The Christmas Tree inside the West Mall at The Bullring. A sneaky snap as you're not supposed to take photos inside - a security risk apparently.

4. The bull with his new Christmas jumper

5. More decorations in New Street

6. The German Market

7. The Council House and Victoria Square

8. Christmas Roundabout

9. Roundabout outside the ICC

10. And coming round the other side!

Tag 9 and Journal Your Christmas

2011-12-09T13:13:00.001Z

I am up-to-date with Tim's tags and my journal for Journal Your Christmas. And it's only lunchtime!

Here's my tag 9 (and Tim's original)

My December journal is coming along. I've already blogged days 1-5.

Here are days 6 - 9.

Tags 7 & 8

2011-12-08T14:43:00.001Z

I didn't get any opportunity to make tags yesterday but I've made up for it today by making yesterday's one and today's. You can see Tim's originals if you click on the links.

Yesterday's tag

I used Weathered Wood and Broken China Distress Stains and stamped over the top. I painted the snow on the trees with white acrylic paint. The deer are from a set of SEI rub-ons.

Today's tag

I had to have two attempts at this as the white paint in my Paint Dabber was too thin. I think I must have put some water in it at some point. Then I couldn't get the lid off my pot of white acrylic paint so used Dylusions Primer instead to stamp the snow flakes. The word is from a kit (but I can't remember which one ~ sorry!)

Tag 6

2011-12-06T12:16:00.001Z

You can find Tim's original tag here.

And this is my version:

I couldn't find my glossy card so I stuck the foil to a standard tag. I put the tag & the embossing folder through my cuttlebug and then painted the baubles and stars with alcohol inks. I used a piece of tissue tape to finish the bottom of the tag

Tags 2 - 5

2011-12-05T14:33:00.001Z

Inspired by Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas here are my variations on his theme:

Tag 2

Tag 3

Tag 4

Tag 5

Journal Your Christmas

2011-12-05T10:54:00.001Z

For the past few years I have been doing Journal Your Christmas with Shimelle. Once you've paid for the course you have access to it every year. Each year the themes are the same but there's always a new twist to keep it fresh. Although it is a scrapbooking class, it is possible to do it in any media or format that you choose. This year I have chosen to use the techniques I learnt with 30 Days in Your Journal and journal December.

The is a little bit of journaling blocked out on the left hand page because it is about a surprise at Christmas.

As I make each of the 12 tags inspired by Tim Holtz I have been trying to make a small one to stick in my journal.

Come back later to see days 2 to 5 of my tags.

12 tags of Christmas

2011-12-01T19:55:00.001Z

This will be the 3rd year I have taken part in Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas. The joy of it is that Tim provides lots of inspiration and then we make a tag with what ever stash, stamps, dies etc that we've already got. Although obviously there is a slight temptation to go online and buy more!

Anyway here's my take on Tim's tag for today.

A look back at Art Every Day Month

2011-12-01T12:36:00.001Z

At the beginning of the month I made a double page to record what art I did throughout November. And here are the finished pages.

This morning I have been photographing the journals I've made to sell on my Etsy shop. You can find all the details about Wholly Creative here.

aRT eVERY dAY mONTH ~ the last day

2011-11-30T11:51:00.001Z

Well, here it is, the last day of November and the last day of Art Every Day Month.

Today I did a double page in my journal. I applied the acrylic paints directly to the page on the left, whilst the page on the right had a layer of gesso to start with.

I haven't decided what I am going to do with this background. I may journal on it about the month's experience. Or I may not.

In the meantime I would like to thank Leah who set up the challenge. And thanks to everyone who has visited my blog every day and especially to those who have left comments.

AEDM ~ penultimate day

2011-11-29T11:57:00.001Z

29 days down and only one to go!

And today I did two pieces of art.

This is the page in my AEDM journal using Dylusions spray inks as watercolours and then Neocolor II crayons on top

The second piece is for a friend ~ if she approves of it!

AEDM - day 28

2011-11-28T11:38:00.001Z

I'm so pleased that I have managed to do some art every day for 28 days. Only two more days of the Art Every Day Month to complete.

Here's today's art. I randomly stuck down tissue tape across the page and then inked the page with Distress Inks. While I was tidying up I found the tags that I'd been playing with for something else ~ can't remember what!!! Anyway, I stuck those on and then found some rub-ons to put on.

It's hard to tell that there's any ink on the page. When it's dry I may have to go back and ink again. The tissue tape seems to have absorbed all the ink!

AEDM ~ 27th November

2011-11-27T15:21:00.001Z

Continuing yesterday's theme of using Dylusions stamps, I stamped around the edge with a stamp from the Around the Edge set and then across the middle with stamps from the How does your garden grow set.

I drew over the stamps with Glaze pens so it looks more like me doodling than stamping. What a cheat!

It all looks confused and over the top. At least I've learned not to do it again!

Art Every Day Month ~ day 26

2011-11-26T15:39:00.001Z

Today I experimented with gesso.

I spread a thick layer of gesso over the left hand page and stamped into it. Each time I lifted the stamp on the left I pressed it down on the righthand page. I used the Dylusions stamp from the Further Round the Edge set. The page on the right is ready for tomorrow.

When the gesso was dry I sprayed it with Dylusions mica ink.

When the ink was totally dry I stamped over it with black and plum Archival Ink. Here I used the stamps from the Dylusions Around the Edge set.
And then played a bit with some lettering.

AEDM ~ day 25

2011-11-25T12:09:00.001Z

I didn't have very long for today's experiment and you can tell - 'cos it doesn't look finished!

I stamped with black archival ink using some new stamps from Anneliese and then put a very thin coat of gesso over. When it was dry I used Distress Stains over the top - Weathered Wood, Wild Honey and Peeled Paint. I used a wet paint brush to blend them and after drying wiped the ink off with a baby wipe. Then I stamped over the images with Distress Ink.

AEDM ~ day 24 ~ Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:12:00.001Z

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK but I thought I would use it as a theme for trying out various lettering.

I tried out the different alphabet stamps, that I have been collecting lately, around the edge of the page. Then I tried out 5 different styles of lettering that I found in copies of Somerset Studio. I used Ranger Distress Inks for the background - Seedless Preserves and Ripe Persimmon. I used these inks to paint inside the letters.

AEDM ~ day 23

2011-11-23T10:08:00.001Z

Continuing from yesterday's background and inspired by pages by Karen Grunberg and Roben-Marie Smith I did this page today. I think the heart was better before I drew round it with the black pen and it is possibly too big in proportion to the rest of the page. But then the whole point of doing these daily pages is to experiment.

Art Every Day Month ~ day 22

2011-11-22T16:49:00.001Z

I love the background of this. I spread gesso with an old credit card so that there was some texture. When it was dry I put watered-down acrylic paint with a brush and add some lime green with the credit card. The numbers are stickers which I then coloured over with Neocolor crayons.

AEDM ~ 19, 20 & 21

2011-11-21T15:13:00.001Z

I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't get time to blog but I did do some art every day.

Day 19
I went to a workshop run by Anneliese to make a Junque Journal. However instead of making it using a composition book we altered an old library book instead.

Here are 3 sets of pages that I did.

Day 20
On Sunday after church I went to the Solihull Crop where I had a fun time. It is, however, where I get to hone my procrastination skills and come home having done very little. Yesterday I managed to start a minibook that I have been commissioned to make through WhollyCreative and here's a sneak peek of it.

Day 21 - Today
This page, back in my journal, is a practice piece for use in a different journal!!! Random pieces of paper were glued to the page with matte medium and then a layer of gesso put over. Whilst the gesso was wet I dry brushed some acrylic paint around the edges. When it was dry I stamped with my new Paperartsy stamps and then coloured the flowers with a Neocolor crayon and a wet brush.

AEDM ~ day 18

2011-11-18T11:20:00.001Z

This morning I was watching some technique videos by Moira Richardson over on the Art Journaling group I belong to.

So today for Art Every Day Month I have done a page of experimenting with different techniques.

First I used Ranger Alcohol Inks through a stencil. Alcohol Inks are supposed to be used on glossy card but I've tried them on cartridge paper before and they were okay. I hadn't tried them with a stencil before though. I did some with the blender and some without.

Then I sprayed some Dylusions inks over the paper and dried it with paper towel. I used a Wild Honey Distress Stain around the edges and then tried spraying water through the stencil on part of it.

I wrote 'experiments' with a brush and Dylusions Black Acrylic paint before outlining or dotting with a Posca Pen. I also stamped with a Dylusions stamp and some Archival Ink.

The scruffy black bits around the edge is the black acrylic I used yesterday on the back of this page!

AEDM ~ Day 17

2011-11-17T11:14:00.001Z

Another experiment courtesy of Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. I didn't have any black gesso which what was suggested for black background so used black acrylic paint which I applied rather to thickly. I used Neocolor II watercolour crayons to apply the colour.

AEDM ~ Day 16

2011-11-16T15:31:00.001Z

I ordered some Crafters Worskhop stencils, a Kaisercraft stamp and some Hero Arts alphabet stamps and they all came this week so I thought I would try them out.

AEDM ~ 15th November

2011-11-15T14:39:00.001Z

This piece was relaxing to do but I don't like the finished result. The words are totally overpowered by the background.

AEDM ~ Day 14

2011-11-14T11:12:00.001Z

Wow! Almost half way through the month and still on track.

While I've been taking part in Art Every Day Month I have been trying out different techniques hoping that eventually I will identify a style that's really me. Today's technique is really simple. Derwent Intense Pencils and water.

Art Every Day Month ~ Remembrance Sunday

2011-11-13T15:44:00.001Z

Day 13

AEDM ~ day 12

2011-11-12T12:00:00.001Z

And I'm still going.

This is inspired by a page and tutorial by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer using watercolours. I dripped some Dylusions spray inks down the page and then drew with a waterproof Posca pen. That in itself is amazing for me. Normally I would draw it with a pencil and then go carefully over the lines and get annoyed with myself when I didn't get the lines right. But I aimed for total freedom of line drawing and splodged paint on wherever it landed.

And I'm really pleased with it.

Should I or shouldn't I ....

2011-11-11T21:48:00.001Z

... take part in Journal Your Christmas this year.

See what Shimelle has to say about Journal Your Christmas

And if I do, there's so much to decide

type of journal
size of journal
art journal or scrapbook

And it's only November 11th and I don't want to think about Christmas for ages yet.

Although I did buy some rather nice stamps at the NEC

AEDM ~ 11.11.11

2011-11-11T11:26:00.001Z

This has an unfinished look about it, but I lacked inspiration for anything else.

For other artwork I've been doing please look at my other blog

Here's a taster:

AEDM ~ 10th November

2011-11-10T15:57:00.002Z

Well, I'm 10 days in to Art Every Day through the month of November and I'm still going.

A third down. Two thirds to go.
10 days in. 20 days to go!
33.33% done. 66.66% to go.

Well you get the picture!

And here's what I've done today. It's definitely a technique page. I'm not sure whther I'm going to do anything else to it or just write what technique I used and leave it that.

What do you think?

In no particular order ~ 10 on the 10th

2011-11-10T07:00:00.000Z

If you're not a Strictly Come Dancing fan I should look away now!

Here are 10 of my favourite moments from Strictly.

Tom & Camilla's Showdance in 2008

Mark & Karen's Argentine Tango

Chris & Ola's Charleston

Alesha and Matthew's Waltz

Pamela and Jame's Viennese Waltz

Matt & Aliona's Charleston to the amazing 42nd Street

Kara & Artem's Argentine Tango

Jason & Kristina's Quickstep

Holly & Artem's American Smooth

Gethin & Camilla's Waltz

So what have been your highlights?

To find links to other people's 10 things go to Shimelle's blog

Art Every Day Month ~ 9th November

2011-11-09T09:05:00.000Z

Got up and got going early today.

I stamped with the Iced Spruce Distress Ink and then with Black Archival over the top to try to give depth to the flowers. The page looks more monochrome in the photo than in the journal.

AEDM 8th November

2011-11-08T14:13:00.000Z

Here's today's page:

And an update of the chart page:

AEDM - days 6 & 7

2011-11-07T15:59:00.001Z

I didn't complete a journal page for day 6 however I did do some art! I prepared the background for day 6 and part of the background for day 7.

The page on left started with a covering of Dylusions black Primer. And here it is after some more acrylic paint, stamping and writing. Who knew I had so many colours of Stickles!

And here's Day 7.

AEDM ~ 5th November

2011-11-05T15:51:00.001Z

heART quilt

I was inspired by a friend's piece of artwork to do this today

AEDM ~ Day 4

2011-11-04T10:48:00.001Z

Today I thought I would try out some of the other new things I haveacquired ~ whether bought earlier or yesterday at the show.

I am using the Art Every Day Month to try out different techniques to see if there are ones I particularly like and should develop further.

Today I used the new Ranger Distress Inks ~ Ripe Persimmon (orange) and Seedless Preserves (purple) plus the new Papermania stamps I bought yesterday and two of the stencils. I only bought 3 stencils so you've seen all of them in action now!

AEDM ~ 3rd November

2011-11-04T10:38:00.000Z

Yesterday I spent the day at the NEC helping out on the Craftsulove stand which left very little time for doing a page in my November journal.

Earlier in the week I had found this video

Knowing new products that come out in the States take a while to arrive here in the UK, at the show I was most surprised to find the 6x6 version of the stencil used in the video.

So here is my take on it, using another stencil that I bought yesterday.

AEDM ~ Day 2

2011-11-02T18:02:00.001Z

This has taken me all day. I'd do a bit and then go and do something else and then do a bit etc. This afternoon I was shredding 6 years of child protection paperwork and the shredder had to keep cooling down!

Consequently it was dark by the time I finished this journal page and so the photo is not as good as it might be.

Art Every Day Month: day 1

2011-11-01T16:54:00.003Z

I've started ... so I'll finish.

I mean it this time. Honestly. I'm going to do some art every day for the month of November. And put a photo of it here on my blog.

Today I did the intro page:

And a chart page to record what I have done each day for the month.

I borrowed the idea from Kate Crane. She is featured in the latest edition of Somerset Studio. I have tried to do the monthly calendar before but haven't ever managed to finish it.

Story of my life!!!! And a story that needs to change.

How to motivate myself

2011-10-28T21:21:00.002+01:00

I was surfing the web this evening - probably a dangerous thing knowing my propensity to sign up for things. And I found this: art every day month

I thought it might be a great way to motivate myself to do some art every day for 30 days. It starts on Tuesday 1st November. Why not join me in making art everyday throughout November. And the best thing: It's free to sign up!

Black & White ....

2011-10-27T22:59:00.000+01:00

... and a touch of orange.

To find out more about this painted page go to Artful Faith or Faithful Art

Why do I do it?

2011-10-22T11:33:00.000+01:00

I expect you can guess what's coming.

Yes, yet again I have signed up to multiple online courses. One Little Word with Ali Edwards at Big Picture Scrapbooking is a year long course which ticks along in the background.

It's a bit like when I shop at Michaels in Palm Bay. I only spend a little each time I go ~ using the 50% off coupons, obviously, ~ but when I get to pack my case I realise I have bought quite a bit.

So with the online courses, each one comes up and I think, 'that sounds great' and I sign up. Then at a point sometime later (like today!) I write down everything I have signed up for and find that I really, really have signed up to too many things.

And as regular readers know I am an A* pupil of Procrastination so I haven't actually started on any of them!

However I do have a good excuse this time. On October 1st I went to San Diego for a week and then to Palm Bay, Florida for a week.

I'll treat you to some photos of my trip instead of any artwork!

An online course

2011-10-18T15:50:00.002+01:00

You know how much I love online courses. You know, all those courses I start and never finish.

Well here's another one. You could sign up too! Join me in starting a Divine Romance.

You can follow my progress with this course on my other blog.

Mr Random Generator

2011-10-18T12:39:00.001+01:00

Who should I Pass the Book to?

Thanks for your comments for passing Art Saves to someone. I asked my lovely husband to act as Mr Random Generator and he pulled out Carolyn's name.

Congratulations. I'll get it in the post to you as soon as possible.

Pass the book

2011-10-12T08:00:00.001+01:00

Here's your opportunity to read the book 'Art Saves'.

Leave a comment below by Sunday 16th October and on Monday 17th I will choose someone to receive it. Only condition is that if you are chosen, you have to pass it on.

To find out more about 'Pass the Book' go to Sian's blog.

To take part in Pass The Book Year Two, please visit Melissa at Daily Life - Bits and Pieces.

10 on the 10th

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000+01:00

This month I thought I would share 10 of my favourite photos.

1. This photo was taken by a friend last October and is the best photo we have of the two of us.

The next 5 choices are my favourite photos taken this year with my Nokia phone.

2. The Blue Lagoon at Abereiddy

3. My favourite beach: Broadhaven South

4. A layout from the charity crop I attended

5. Sunset in Northern Ireland

6. Tenby

Back to my Panasonic.

7. The Giant's Causeway

8. A bullrush.

9. A butterfly

10. My favourite person. This was taken (with my phone) 10 days after Roger had a serious back operation. We walked round Shustoke Reservoir on my birthday. He had been walking a mile in the morning and a mile in the afternoon but this day we did 1.75 miles in one go which was a bit much!

You can see other 10 on the 10th blog posts by going to Shimelle's blog and looking at all the blog posts listed there.

31 days of October

2011-10-01T06:47:00.003+01:00

I was hoping to take part in the '31 days of .... ' project. However, as ever, things have escaped me.

But that doesn't stop you following along with it. Go to the start and see where it leads you. Happy Hunting.

Finished page

2011-09-30T08:57:00.002+01:00

Here as promised is the finished page from yesterday.

Dylusions excitement

2011-09-29T12:11:00.000+01:00

Earlier in the month Art from the Heart had a 10th birthday celebration with a blog hop and a birthday weekend. Sadly I couldn't get up to Harrogate for the celebrations but I did take part in the blog hop. You can read my contribution here.

As part of the celebration we were invited to put a party invitation on to our blogs and send an email to Ben to say that we had done so. All the names were put into a hat and my name came out. Whoop whoop.

The official prize was a set of Dylusions stamps of my choice. However I own rather a lot of them already so I was very cheeky and asked if I could possibly (pretty please) have the new set of spray inks instead. And the man from ~~Delmonte~~, sorry AFTH, he say YES!

So thank you very much Ben and Dyan, I really appreciate it.

The inks arrived while I was away so have only just found some time to play. I sprayed all the inks except the black randomly over the page. Dried it off, sprayed with water and then with ink again.

Then I sprayed through some masks.

Here are the different colours

And here's as far as I've got. I sprayed the black through the alphabet stencil.

I haven't decided yet what I am going to do with this background. Come back tomorrow and see if I've finished it.

Pass the book

2011-09-20T10:25:00.000+01:00

I have various people's blogs on Google Reader and Julie Kirk's 'making notes on paper' is one of them.

A few posts ago she offered the book 'Art Saves' through the Pass the Book scheme. You can read all about Pass the Book here.

So I entered to receive it, and Mr Random Generator chose me. Woohoo! :) So I get to read the book for a month and then pass it on.

Keep coming back to my blog to see when I'm ready to pass it on and you will be able to have the opportunity to read this book by leaving a comment.

25 years

2011-09-19T17:34:00.002+01:00

I have spent today making a travel journal for my trip to the States next month. You can see it here.

Whilst I've been assembling it I've been contemplating where the last 25 years has gone. Here's a photo from this day in 1986.

The photo makes us look as though we had the plague ~ but we didn't honestly! It's been on display for 25 years and has not stood the test of time.

And here's the baby in 2011. This was taken in Las Vegas when we took a road trip with Andy and his wife Naomi.

Here's to the next 25 years!

10 on the 10th

2011-09-10T08:15:00.000+01:00

I almost missed this. I had forgotten what date it was but fortunately my friend Pippa reminded me.

I thought I would share 10 scrapbooking layouts with you. You may have seen one or two before. I belong to a scrapbooking kit club called Scrapbooking from the Inside Out. Each month there are challenges on a particular theme. Some of the layouts have hidden journaling.

Drum roll please

2011-09-05T13:23:00.001+01:00

Today I am pleased to announce that my new online shop, WhollyCreative, is OPEN.

To keep up-to-date with what's happening with WhollyCreative go to the shop blog and become a follower or make a link to Google Reader.

Here are some of the items for sale.

Art from the Heart's birthday blog hop

2011-09-04T08:30:00.000+01:00

Welcome to a very exciting blog hop in Celebration of 10 years of Art from the Heart!

Lots of exciting things happening at Art from the Heart next weekend where the big birthday bash is happening. Want to know more then do click here

So in Celebration we are having 5 birthday blog hops.

You should have reached my blog from Catherine's blog and are on the Dylusions team hop

here is my project

I used
Dylusions Spray Inks: Warm Leather, Velvet,Cyan, Aubergine and Lime
Dylusions Stamps: Aroundthe Edge, How does your garden grow, Further round the edge, Write between the lines, QuintessentialQuotes, The right words and Say what you mean.

If you would like to find out more about how I made the book go to this post, but don't forget to come back here to collect your letter and move on to the next blog in the Dylusions team hop.

Before you move on - you will need to collect a letter from me which is

This is part of an anagram of a Dylusions product

Once you get back to Dy's blog please email your answer to Ben
by 6pm Sunday 11th September

So after leaving me a comment you need to move on to

Kirsty

Have fun hopping!

Art from the Heart Birthday Blog project

2011-09-03T09:03:00.002+01:00

It’s a privilege to be part of the AFTH’s birthday blog. You will get back to my blog hop post from the Dylusions team hop. If you haven't hopped then you need to start at Dyan's blog.

I love using Dylusions products. If you haven’t encountered them before thereare stamps, spray inks and acrylic paints. I opted for the Dylusions team for the blog and if you scroll downthrough my blog you will find other posts about using these products.

I decided I would make a minibook as my Dylusionsproject. I sprayed Dylusions inks ontoan A1 sheet of watercolour paper on both sides and then randomly sprayedthrough sequin waste. I used WarmLeather, Velvet, Cyan, Aubergine and Lime.

When the paper had dried I cut it up into 12” x 5” pieces. Ifinished up with 8 pieces and some odd bits left over.

Using a scoring board I scored at the “2, 6” and 10” mark on4 of the pieces and at 4” and 8” on the other 4 pieces and then folded. I put the folded pages into pairs.

Using the Dylusions stamp sets: Around the Edge, How doesyour garden grow and Further round the edge I stamped randomly on the pages.

I cut one of the spare pieces of paper down to 4½” x 3½” andthen ran it through the Cuttlebug in a Tim Holtz embossing folder. I then highlighted some of the raised partswith Dylusions White and Turquoise acrylic paints.I cut 4 of the other spare pieces down to 5” x 3” and foldedthese in half. And on the last piece ofspare paper stamped some journaling tags from the Write between the lines setand cut them out.

The last thing to do before assembling was to stamp quoteson some of the pages using Quintessential Quotes, The right words and Say whatyou mean.

Assembling the book.

I made signatures with 2 of the large folded pieces and one small piece and sewed each signature together.

Then holding the 4 signatures together I wove embroidery thread through the stitches in the signatures.

And then added charms to the long threads left from sewing the signatures. And added the embossed paper onto the front cover to complete the book.

Opening on Monday

2011-09-02T18:09:00.002+01:00

The countdown has begun.

The WhollyCreative Etsy shop will open for business on Monday 5th September.

WhollyCreative can be found on Facebook and on Etsy

September 1st

2011-09-02T09:30:00.000+01:00

It's amazing where the year has gone! The shops are putting out their Christmas displays and we haven't had Autumn yet. I don't allow myself to think about Christmas until after Andy's birthday on September 19th. However this year I was really organised about his birthday as friends were travelling to Australia and have taken his present with them! So I could possibly start thinking about the end of the year.

Today is the first day of Learn Something New Every Day and 30 Days of Lists. One of the things I've learned today, yet again, is that I really do sign myself up to too many things. So I'm afraid 30 Days of Lists may well fall by the wayside.

I've had a day off today from preparing for the launch of Wholly Creative. In my mind, September 1st was going to be launch day but it's tomorrow now.

I thought that today I would finish all my August challenge layouts for Scrapbooking From the Inside Out and here is my last one.

On Saturday I am taking part in the Art From the Heart blog hop which will start on Dyan's blog. I've completed my post for that so come back on Saturday to take part.

My new project

2011-08-29T18:19:00.000+01:00

I have been working for a while on a new project. I am setting up a small shop on Etsy to sell handcrafted journals, prayer journals and travel journals.

The lovely Kirsty Wiseman designed a great logo for me

and a blog banner.

I set up a blog account and a website with a domain name and sorted out an Etsy shop.

I hadn't realised just how time consuming all the background stuff would be. However I am planning to launch the shop (on the unsuspecting world) at the end of this week.

Here's a sneak peek of what will be for sale.

To keep up-to-date with WhollyCreative you can find me on the website, Facebook and on the blog.

He-Art Journaling

2011-08-24T13:22:00.000+01:00

This week's assignment:
Create a spread or a page using layering and paper piecing techniques.

I used an article in the May/June Somerset Studio magazine and the video on Dyan's blog as inspiration to do this journal page.

I met some ladies online through Soul Restoration 1 and an ephemera swap was organised. I received envelopes of goodies from 6 ladies. Thank you to Pippa, Mel, Judy, Dawn C, Dawn B Sue H and Juel.

Back to School

2011-08-24T09:54:00.000+01:00

In the real world in the U.S. the school semester has already started. Here in the UK, Scottish schools have started the Autumn Term and in England and Wales teachers, parents and children are contemplating the return to school in a couple of weeks. (Sorry any readers from Northern Ireland, I have no idea how the school system works there).

And in Shimelleland it's time for Learn Something New Everyday 2011. This is a class that Shimelle hosts every September with 30 days of prompts. Once you are signed up for it you have access every year. I signed up in 2008 and am pleased to say that I finished the whole 30 days. I've just discovered that in 2009 I did the cover and nothing else. In 2010 I decided I would do an altered book and I managed to day 12.

So this year I decide I was doing it and would complete it. Then I decided I wouldn't do it. Then yesterday I was watching a video on Shimelle's website about maintaining continuity and I had a flash of inspiration. (Little did I know I had the same flash 2 years ago!!!)

I used to be a Creative Memories demonstrator and have loads of unused 8x8 albums but they are a bit wasteful on paper. The flash of inspiration was to use a set of 8x8 CM paper that I have (actually about 5 sets of it) and cut Kraft cardstock into 6x6 and stick in the middle of the 8x8.

At the time I couldn’t remember what I did for LSNED in 2009 but now I know! I have just found the album and I had done the cover although as an inside page because of the type of album it is. And guess what! I had put the background patterned paper on each page and it is exactly what I had decided yesterday to use. So I've just got to cut up my 6x6 Kraft cardstock and stick it on too and I’ll be ready. Woohoo.

So are any of you joining me in Learning Something New Everyday?

Bernice

P.S. I bought the Kraft Cardstock from Sarah's Cards on a really good offer. I ordered it at 11.12am yesterday and it arrived before 9am this morning. How's that for service?

Did you know?

2011-08-14T09:31:00.000+01:00

Did you know that I am a scrapbooker? I don't do it very often I have to admit. Mostly I do layouts for Scrapbooking from the Inside Out. This is a monthly kit club which includes between 5 and 7 prompts/challenges each month. The month has a theme and the prompts provoke some personal thoughts or journaling of life experiences. This month's theme is Growth, but I thought I might share some of my layouts from other themes.

When the journaling is very personal I usually hide it although apart from the other members of SFTIO no one actually sees the layouts anyway. I haven't ever shared them on my blog.

So here are a few with the monthly theme identified.

Theme:Discovery

Theme: Enlightenment

Theme: Nostalgia

Theme: Renewal

And then every now and again we have an Ironscrapper. This is where we are asked to use the same photo. I used the photo in the centre of this grid.

The Girl in Me

2011-08-13T11:29:00.000+01:00

The instructions for this week's Heart Journaling were:

WEEK 4 - The Girl in Me

Assignment: Create a spread or a page using the concept of hand-drawn girls. I want you to actually draw a character in your book!!! It can be sketchy, cartoony, realistic, or even stick figures.

Tip: Try a different medium that you've never used before.

This was soooo out of my comfort zone. I really don't like doing journal pages with people on them whether they are collage elements cut out of magazines, photos or hand drawn. However I thought I would give it a go!

I had previously put gesso on the page and thought I would leave it as a white background. I drew with pencil and then coloured in with Faber Castell PITT big brush pens. I bought these when I was doing the She Had 3 Hearts class but really haven't used them. I used the Dylusions Further round The Edge stamps for the frame and for the journaling lines. I added some verses from Psalm 139.

And here is the finished page.