Monday 31 August 2015

Fun times!

I decided to play in my new art journal again.

I glued down some bits of old map using Soft Gel under and over the map.

I mixed some Primary Elements Royal Orchid with Clear Granular gel and applied it to the page through a stencil and left it to dry overnight.

I sanded off some of it where I had been particularly heavy handed!  Then I covered over the whole page with black gesso and some water.

Before the black gesso dried I wiped some of it off with a wet wipe.  Then I sprinkled some Primary Elements Indian Copper onto the page.

I sprayed it with water and the pigment ran wherever it wanted when I lifted the page vertically.  As this had worked I did the same on the other page.

I sprinkled the page with Primary Elements Lovestruck and sprayed with water.

After I dried the page I sprinkled it with  Primary Elements Green Pearl.

When I sprayed the water it reactivated the Lovestruck.

However when I dried it the colours mixed together. I mixed some Primary Elements Teal Zircon with the glaze and dry brushed it onto the raised parts.

So what to do now?

Well, I stamped with Black Archival although it didn't show up too much.  I glued 3 Tim Holtz Pen Nibs.  I tore a piece of paper napkin and glued just the top layer to the page and then stuck a saying on the top.

It's all a bit dark and the photos don't show the colours too well.  However I enjoyed playing and next time I'll use white gesso!

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice



Friday 28 August 2015

TMD: Shaped by Gratitude week 4

For our last week on Gratitude at His Kingdom Come I decided to keep my creative response quite simple.

You many remember that I had done all the backgrounds at the same time so here are the pages for this week's art.

I used the new Dove stencil from HKC.    I drew through the stencil with a pencil and then went over the lines with a black pen joining some of the gaps.  Then I put white dots all along the lines of the dove.  I just used the wing on the left hand side.

I was going to stamp his grace, his gifts, and his peace but then I decided to put the his three times down the left hand page to make the point of being his.   I stamped with a Teal Stazon ink.

I drew round the letters with a purple pen. I wrote the verse in the wings.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice



Thursday 27 August 2015

In my journal

Continuing my France Papillon theme I did a double page in the new journal I made at the weekend.  First of all I watched this video.  I'm not really known for doing exactly what the tutor says but I thought I would try.

First problem: despite buying all that new product at the weekend I hadn't bought white crackle - I bought Platinum Crackle so I used that instead.  I did the layers as demonstrated in the video until I got to the clear crackle layer.  I only had some old Crackle Medium so I used that instead.  When I added the Luminarte Primary Elements they reacted together in an interesting way.

I carried on, adding white gesso.

Can you see the little fluffy bird?

Then the black gesso which was added and wiped off again.

Randomly stamped and splattered.

And some bits left over from the weekend added with a butterfly I found in my stash.


The thing you don't get from the photos is how these pages feel to the touch.  The various layers of glaze and gesso has produced a beautiful leathery feel.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice



Wednesday 26 August 2015

France Papillon part 2

Sunday brought relief from the extreme heat and humidity of Saturday and two new classes with France.   If you missed the first two classes i have described them here.

The first was a tag book called 'Wishful Chronicles'.   I am really pleased that I managed to keep the colour scheme low key.  The tags were supposed to have more turquoise on them but the Summer Breeze colour I used was extremely pale and disappeared!

We did the backgrounds and folded the tags.  We added white gesso through stencils.

We stamped randomly with the stamps that France handed out. They were from her range with Stampotique.

We carried on adding to our tags.

We added tabs and bits of cambric.

We used a Bind-It-All to punch the holes in the tags and put the tag book together with the wire binder.

We added ribbon to the spine.

In the afternoon we made another book in France's class 'Lost Grimoire'.  The whole point of the techniques we used was to make the book look very old.  France provided us with lots of different kinds of papers.



France taught us a different kind of binding for sewing the signatures together.

We aged the cardboard covers and connected the signatures to the cover by using brads.

I'm really pleased with how all my projects turned out over the weekend.  Some of them needing finishing when I got home and I did that on Monday morning.

And of course, a vist to Art from the Heart wouldn't be a proper visit without buying some new goodies.


Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice



Tuesday 25 August 2015

France Papillon part 1

I spent the weekend at Art from the Heart in Harrogate.   I set out just after 2pm on Friday and arrived at the hotel 4 hours later!    This is supposed to be a 2.5 hour journey!  However the traffic was virtually at a standstill on the M1 and then again on the A1(M).  However it was well worth the hassle.

I haven't taken classes with France Papillon before although I have seen her work on the internet.   The first class on Saturday morning was called 'Altered Possibility'.  This was about making an art journal with coptic binding and a cover using lots of products I've never used before.  France provided everything we needed to make the book including some really good quality watercolour paper.

She taught us how to do coptic binding.

She showed us how to use various of Finnabair's products and her own Primary Elements range.  The kit she gave us also included all we needed to make the cover.


In the afternoon we used a small canvas frame to make a 3D Apothecary.

France also taught us how to make her signature heart.


In the evening there was a spectacular storm and I saw this rainbow from my hotel window.  Shortly afterwards there was monsoon style rain and hotel car park turned into a river!

Come back tomorrow to see day 2 of the classes with France.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice


Saturday 22 August 2015

TMD: Shaped by Gratitude week 3

I explained here how I made the backgrounds for my August journaling.

And here's the page ready to work on.  I had added some turquoise to the page when I was doing last week's page.

I spotted some bits of scrapbooking cardstock on my table left over from something I was making for a new class at His Kingdom Come and thought it would look good on the page.

I cut pointed ends to the card and attached to the page with double sided tape. 

 I rubbed little baby hands and feet rub-ons onto the page.

I added another rub-on and a sticker.

I added sponge letters and photographs.  Those who know me well or have followed my blog for a long time know that I rarely put people onto my journal pages.  But who can resist a photo of my 2 week old grandson and his parents.

I am so thankful for all that God is doing in Andy's & Naomi's lives and for the safe delivery of baby Crusoe.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice


Sunday 16 August 2015

More Scavenger Hunt photos

You will be relieved to know there are a lot less photos in this post than the owl post.

I am doing quite well with the scavenger hunt and only have 4 more to find.

I found a couple of version of #11 which I have already published.
#11 A cellular tower or a television satellite dish


#8 Someone plugged into 'social media'

#10 A College or University

 #17 At least 2 people wearing matching outfits or uniforms

I also found this one for #17

#13 A merry-go-round or carousel

Alternative B: Someone holding an umbrella     Here are 3 in a row.

So now, I'm just looking for #4 people playing a board game, #7 a turtle, #18 an overloaded vehicle and Alternative C: A rocking chair.

I rather think this is a tortoise:

And this is an overloaded front seat rather than the whole vehicle.

I've still got a few weeks to find the rest so I'll keep on looking.

Thanks for stopping by
Bernice