cardesque

Art journal workshop week 4

2012-01-27T15:02:00.000Z

This is the final week of Traci's workshop so here is my final page. I didn't have the glaze or collage pauge that Traci used but I made do with watered down PVA glue and just added water to some acrylic paint as a glaze (over the face). I did more doodles on news print as the original ones I did would have been too big.

Art journal workshop week3 part 1

2012-01-23T14:20:00.000Z

Week 3 of Traci's workshop over at Strathmore has 2 parts and this background page and doodles are for part 1.
The writing that is partially covered up reads ' don't think just do it NOW'. I am trying to be more spontaneous but I still over think a page and it ends up taking me ages to do.
The background page is a mixture of acrylics, a little watercolour and a little gel medium (I only have that one pot of medium but it is a bit thick) on Strathmore Visual Journal. I used permapaque pens for the writing. The doodles are waterproof india ink on newsprint.

Art journal workshop week2

2012-01-19T13:57:00.000Z

Week 2 of Traci Bautista's worshop at Strathmore is about creating watercolour backgrounds so here is a page I did for that. In real life it is even more vibrant as I used some neon watercolour sprays which turned out to be permanent (I guess they have some kind of binder in them), the orange on this photo appears dull.

Paint: Reaves watercolour tubes: Sap green Chinese white and Medium yellow, Derwent Auatone crayon Zinc yellow, Derwent Inktense pencil Apple green, Dylusions ink spray Vanilla custard, Zia's neon watercolour sprays.
Card: Strathmore visual journal watercolour 140lb
Other: fabric flower, spray bottles

Art journal cover

2012-01-15T19:30:00.003Z

So here is my journal's cover finally! It is made from a cotton cloth which I painted with gesso first then applied acrylic paints a few sprays and stamps. I found a very useful video on you tube that showed me how to stitch some pages into it then I tarted up the spine. A mixture of pink fluffy girly and a bit of grunge.
First I painted the cloth with gesso and make up the background in the same way as a journal page. Next I ironed on some material webbing then stitched this to some calico the same size using a patterned stitch and white thread. (I only added the webbing to make it a tiny bit easier to handle).

As the challenge had 52 weeks of challenges I needed 52 pages so I made 4 signatures; 13 sheets of A4 folded in half then cut down to size, 3 of them containing 3 sheets and 1 of them with 4 sheets. That gives 13 pages which equates to 52 sides.
Take a look at this video by ricefz that shows how to join them together.
I used some white linen thread that I had drawn through some bees wax.

To cover up the large stitches I just used a couple of lengths of pink fluffy feather stuff, small pieces of ribbon, flower trim and beads to tart it up. I added a tiny peacock, buttons and more flower trim for the front.

Art journal week 52: Achievement

2012-01-13T14:09:00.000Z

Do you recognise the background page then? I used the background I made in the previous post: photographed it, altered the colour saturation and levels, added a grunge mask (Jessica Prague), text and ink blot to create my final page of last years ukstampers weekly challenge.

The prompt was achievement:

Did you finish the journal?
Did you achieve your goals for the year? If not will they be on the list for next year?
Sum up this journal in less than 10 words.

I did achieve some of my goals and finishing this art journal was one of them. I found it challenging, fun and difficult. I did manage to blog almost every week but a couple of weeks when I was poorly I did not. Now though I must finish the cover for my journal pages and blog that.

Art journal earthy colours

2012-01-13T13:50:00.000Z

This is the first page in my new art journal inspired by the Traci Bautista online workshop over at the Strathmore site. It didn't start out quite like this as I had sprayed a lovely elderberry colour over some stencils first but by the time I did a bit of washing over the entire surface it took most of the elderberry out. Never mind, I love the effect I achieved eventually.

Inks: India ink
Paint/sprays: Adirondack color washes Terracota, Pesto, and Butterscotch, Chroma jewels Elderberry (most of this came out), Dylusions acrylic paint Avocado, Cornflower and Tangerine and Purple, Lumier Sunset gold (mixed in with the Tangerine)
Card: Strathmore visual journal (140lb)
Other: white inksential pen, black Pitt pens, orange and green Sharpie poster paint pens, oil pastels to highlight areas

Art journal week 50: Toys

2012-01-06T14:52:00.000Z

Still doing last years weekly challenge on the ukstampers forum and week 50 is about Toys:

What toy do you remember from childhood, what was your favourite toy? Was there a toy you wanted and never got?
Do you still have any of your childhood toys? Have you any toys that have been handed down to you? If so what do they mean to you?
Use some vintage images on your page.

Gosh where do I start with toys I remember; there have been so many over the years. I remember a dolls house that my mum made, lots of dolls and girly stuff, roller skates, pogo sticks, sledge, bike, board games, crafty things, colouring books, cot, pram etc. I also used to play with my brothers' toys like hot wheels, garage, cars, mecano and many more. At Christmas time we would always get a Broons or an Oor Wullie annual which we couldn't wait to read. I don't have any of these toys now as sadly none have survived and many were given away for someone else to enjoy.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Distress inks Frayed burlap and Old paper
Card: white card
Stamps: See D's Christmas: Alphabet, Traditional and Vintage, Basic Grey Flourish corners
Other: clear embossing powder and ink, black, white and red pens, Inktense pencils to colour, Diamond glaze, green and red gelly glaze pens

Art journal week 46: Astrology

2012-01-04T16:18:00.000Z

Week 46 of the ukstampers weekly challenge (last year) prompt is Astrology:

Do you believe in astrology, how do you feel about it?
What star sign are you and do you read your daily horoscope?
Include your star sign on your page.

I used to believe in this kind of stuff; after all if the moon can exert a force on all living things then why can't other planets? We are all linked by subatomic particles like neutrinos that we are just finding out about so who knows truth if any lies behind astronomy?
I do sometimes read my horoscope in the daily newspaper by it is always rubbish. If I did read something that was true then I would put it down to coincidence. I am a metal rat according to Chinese astronomy.
I embossed the sun and moon the sprayed the background. While this was still wet I sprinkled over some salt and let it dry. When the page was finished to add to the starry effect I used a toothbrush to spray some white acrylic paint over it.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black in, Adirondack colorwash Denim
Card: white card
Stamps: Inkadinkado Zodiac, Non-sequitur Oriental love letters (moon), Unknown Alice in wonderland collection (sun)
Other: salt, white and black pen, clear embossing powder, white acrylic paint, copic pens to colour

Art journal week 51: Christmas tree

2012-01-03T19:23:00.001Z

Nearly there now, only a couple more pages to do. This is week 51 of the ukstampers challenge (last years) and the prompt is Christmas tree:

Do you own a real or fake Christmas tree? Do you change the theme each year?
Are there certain things that have to go on your tree? Do you have any family heirlooms for the tree?
Stamp a tree on your page.

We have a fake tree that goes up each year and as bit fall of it, it gets a little smaller each year. The same old decorations get hung on it which are of no sentimental value whatsoever. Any decorations that didn't break the previous year get hung on the tree, along with any I have made (but there are not many of them). I used to love counting the trees I saw in peoples windows as I passed in the bus as a child. We have a fake tree as I don't like the waste of growing all these real trees just to get thrown out after a couple of weeks.

Ink/paint: Memento Tuxedo black ink, Red, Moss and white acrylic paints
Card: watercolour paper, white card
Stamp: Stamp-it Home for Christmas Cherish, Dylusions Around the edge
Other: Black and white pens, Stickles Xmas red, Lime and Platinum, glitter pen

Art journal week 49: Tradition

2012-01-02T14:33:00.000Z

Just a quick one before my next lot of visitors arrive.

Week 49 of the ukstampers challenge is about Tradition

Do you have any [particular festive traditions? If you do have they been passed down or have you started them yourself?
Are there traditional things you particularly like or dislike?
Include some traditional festive stamped images on your page.

We do like to have a fairly traditional dinner at Christmas but I would much rather have a goose or duck than a turkey. Mum and dad used to host the boxing day bash but that has now passed on to me which I really enjoy (even more than Christmas day). One of the best things about Christmas is the festive cooking! I love the traditional Christmas spices in things like the mincemeat, mulled wine and Christmas cake but I do prefer a clootie dumpling than a Christmas cake. Dad used alway get cigars or pipe tobacco as gifts so these smells remind me of Christmas but he doesn't smoke anymore and I have even been known to smoke a cigar just to get that smell and Christmas-past memory.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Distress ink Fired brick
Card: Nitwit collection Cookin' cookies, white card
Stamps: Nitwit collection Cookin' cookies
Other: copic pens to colour, green brad

Art journal week 48: Wisdom

2012-01-02T10:05:00.000Z

I am still in catch up mode from last years challenge so here is week 48 fo the ukstampers weekly challenge prompt is: Wisdom

Would you class yourself as a wise person? Have you got wiser as you have gotten older or do you act your shoe size and not your age?
Are there any wise words you would like to pass on?
Stamp an owl on your page.

I would say I can be fairly wise and philisophical at times but can still be incredibly stupid at times too. I have definitely learned more by making my own mistakes while also learning from other's mistakes. Getting older has certainly made me wiser.

Inks: Brayed background with Stampinup Not quite navy, Distress inks Black soot and Frayed burlap to colour the owl and skeleton. Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white card
Stamps: Tim Holtz Urban tapestry, Aspects of design Grave tidings, Rubberstamp tapestry owl
Other: white pen, black pen

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T00:00:00.003Z

May the best ye hae ivver seen be the warst ye'll ivver see.
May the moose ne'er lea' yer girnal wi a tear-drap in its ee.
May ye aye keep hail an hertie till ye'r auld eneuch tae dee.
May ye aye juist be sae happie as A wuss ye aye tae be.

-- Slàinte, sonas agus beartas

Art journal week 47: Generosity

2011-12-31T13:27:00.000Z

Week 47 of the ukstampers challenge prompt is: Generosity

Are you a generous person? What is the most generous thing you have ever done?
Have you ever been the object of someone's generosity - what was it?
Be generous with your stamping on your page.

Yes I would say that I am a generous person. Even as a child I was always giving things away. Over the years I have been involved with many a charity even and have been a volunteer with a couple of charities. I have also benefited from other peoples generosity and one that sticks in my mind is when an ex-boyfriend co-ordinated a whip round at our local race track which enabled me to buy my first light weight wheelchair. I am a firm believer that there are many more kind people in the world than bad.

Inks/paint: Memento Tuxedo black ink, white, Ballet pink and wedgwood blue acrylic paint
Card: watercolour paper, white card
Stamps: Aspects of design Daisy flutter (or daisy daydreams?), Sugar Nellie Flowers, Paperbag studios Scrap journal, Scrollworks Netting, Tim Holtz Mini muse
Other: Bo Bunny rub-ons, copics to colour little girl, white pen, Zig painty twin pen Soft blue and soft pink

Art journal week 45: Patience

2011-12-30T14:35:00.000Z

Week 45 of the ukstampers challenge prompt is: Patience

are you a patient person? Do you lose it at the drop of a hat?
What in particular drives you potty?
Use some contrasting colours on your page.

Normally I am a pretty patient person but I do get irritated by stupid questions or when people say they can't find something when they haven't bothered looking. I don't like rude people and with all these new phones about people endlessly playing with their phones when they are in company. I tend to have to wait around a lot: on deliveries, taxis, post, and other people. I say other people because if I require help in any way I need to wait for other people to have the time and inclination to help which is very frustrating. When it comes to crafting though I like to see the finished article fairly quickly.

Ink/paint: Stazon black, Lagoon, Turquoise, Silver, Tangerine, Black and White acrylic paints
Card: watercolour paper, white card
Stamps: Scrollworks Mesh, Stampotique Smushasha
Other: Orange fluorescent marker, black, white and silver pens, orange oil pastel

Art journal week 42: Coicidence

2011-12-30T14:19:00.000Z

Week 42 for the ukstampers challenge the prompt is: Coicidence

do you believe there is more to things than coincidence?
do you have any strange coincidence stories?
include some numbers on your page

Lots of things have happened in my life that I have thought were a coincidence but really, statistically they would probably have happened anyway. Coincidences are just events taking place that may appear at first to be spookily uncanny but there are usually other events or circumstances that link them. Therefore coincidences are inevitable, spooky or otherwise. Just the other night our house alarm went off at 6.50pm and at first I thought I had put my clock alarm on by mistake in the morning as it is set for 6.50am/pm. Just a coincidence.

Ink/paint: Veracraft black, white and black acrylic paint
Card: photofabric cotton poplin, white paper, black paper
Stamps: Paperartsy Man of numbers
Other: white correction pen, computer generated words

Art journal week 44: Inspiration

2011-12-29T20:21:00.000Z

Week 44 of the ukstampers challenge prompt is: Inspiration

what or who inspires you?
are there certain times or places that give you inspiration?
include some inspirational words on your page.

Inspiration comes from many sources such as the web, magazines, bloggers, forums, other art or craft forms, the patterns in nature, geometry, colour, texture and many more. I have Kate Cranes DVD, have taken an online course of Traci Bautista's and follow a few crafty blogs and I am always looking at what people do on you tube. I think the colours and textures of nature inspires me most.

Paint: periwinkle, mustard, orange, black and white acrylics
Card: watercolour paper
Stamp: Dylusions Beyond the edge
Other: orange oil pastel, white and black pens, cool shadow copic pen, computer generated words, letters cut from a magazine

Art journal week 43: Sociable

2011-12-29T20:10:00.000Z

Week 43 of the ukstampers challenge prompt is: Sociable

Are you a sociable person? Do you like the company of lots of people or prefer small gatherings? Can you do small talk?
Can you amuse yourself, do you like your own company?
include some kind of invite on your page.

I do spend a lot of time by myself and manage to fill my day - I don't understand these people who say they have nothing to do as there is always something to do and there is never enough time to do it all (which is why I am behind in these weekly journal pages). Being in the seated position all of the time I find social gatherings where people are all standing around conversing 2 feet above me very tiresome. Not only do I have to strain my neck looking up all of the time but I strain my ears trying to hear what they are saying. This usually leads to me just nodding and smiling graciously and wondering what on earth they were talking about then going off to the kitchen, if I am not hemmed in, to find some food. I am reasonably au fait at small talk but don't ask me to do any public speaking or I will run a mile - so to speak.

Paint: I did the background ages ago but I think I used white and rust acrylic paint
Card: white card
Stamps: Stampin up Cheer and wishes, home made foam stamps Squares
Other: grey and rust oil pastels, mesh

Art journal week 41: Films

2011-12-28T15:39:00.000Z

Week 41 is all about films:

what is the first film you saw at the cinema?
what is your favourite film and why?
include some film memorabilia on your page

Ok I don't remember the first film I saw at the cinema but more than likely it was a Walt Disney film. I particularly like films that have great music. I don't go to the cinema very often any more as my local cinema has been flattened and I don't like going to the big cinemas as I have to sit at the very front or very back as I stay in my wheelchair rather than transfer into the cinema chairs.

Inks: Stazon black, acrylic paints: white, black, lime and yellow
Card: watercolour paper, white card
Stamps: Hero arts Upper-case alphabet
Other: Tim Holtz film strip, tiny silver brad

Art journal week 40: Birthdays

2011-12-28T15:27:00.000Z

I hope you all had a lovely time over the Christmas holidays. It was a quiet Christmas day in our house but a very busy boxing day and I have spent most of my time cleaning, cooking, eating, cleaning, cooking, eating etc....... so I am hoping that I now have some spare time to finish the ukstampers weekly challenge. I am only up to week 41 and I would like to get all 52 done and dusted by 2012 so these last few will be rather rushed. Apologies for poor photography.

Week 40 is about birthdays:

do you make a big thing of birthdays - do you remember birthdays?
what is your most memorable birthday story?
include some candles on your page

I do remember birthdays and I love sharing the celebrations with my family and friends with a good meal (much better than parties). This year my brother Chris and his family cooked one of my all time favourite meals; slow roasted lamb over here and they did all the cooking and clearing up so I didn't have to do anything thing. Mum and dad came over too and we had a lovely relaxing day. The most memorable story however would be at Harry's 40th birthday BBQ in our back garden. He managed to break his ankle just by picking up a CD from the floor and turning round awkwardly. He ended up at A&E the following day and needed his ankle pinned and in a stookie for 6 weeks.

Inks: Distress inks More mustard and Stormy sky, Memento London fog
Card: white card
Stamps: Tim Holtz Urban tapestry and Fairytail frenzy
Other: Intense pencils and copic pens to colour

Art journal week39: Extravagant

2011-11-27T10:28:00.000Z

Week 39 of the ukstampers weekly challenges is all about Extravagance:

would you say you were extravagant?
what is your biggest expense?
use something extravagant on your page

I would say that I am not extravagant although I am drawn to pretty things and would love to enhance my home with beautiful furnishings, I think I am just a bit too practical and most items have to be useful. My biggest expenses have been the house and furniture but having said that we have had the same furniture now for 20 years and most of it will last another 20 years so it has been money well spent.
I made the whole page extravagant but the most extravagant thing on it has to be the Paua (abalone?) shell inlay.

Inks: Versamark ink with silver embossing powder
Card: Black card, pearl and pink vellum
Stamp: Inkadinkado Morphic bugs
Other: Beadazzles Electric slide, TuTu and Disco ball, Cosmic shimmer Aqua lagoon, Stickles Pink, H2Os Cherry sorbet, Black orchid and Sky blue, Paua shell inlay, Diamond glaze, gems

Retirement card for a Physotherapist

2011-11-24T12:53:00.000Z


Enjoy your retirement Joan!

I used the same image for Joan's card and gift label. I have kept it fairly simple as I didn't think Joan would particularly like a fussy, grungy or over-embellished style.
Although I have called it a retirement card I haven't slapped the word 'retirement' over the front as I like it just how it is.

Ink: Stampin up Soft suede
Card: ivory card, brown card
Stamp: Stampin up Sanded background
Other: anatomical image from riandesign

Black and white birthday card: cooking

2011-11-24T12:38:00.000Z

Happy birthday Grace!

I love this image of a woman baking a steaming hot pie and it was just right for Grace to go along with the cook book for her birthday.
Hope you had a fab birthday Grace!

Inks: Distress ink Black soot, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white card, black card
Stamp: Stampin up Polka dot background
Other: Image from Karen's whimsy , Black velvet ribbon, black button, black nail heads, white silk flower, glitter pen, Plastic doily used as a stencil

Tiny knitted Santa hats

2011-11-22T13:28:00.000Z

I have recently started learning to knit and crochet and so far I have only made a few granny squares, flowers and started knitting a jumper. The Bethany Trust have been looking for people to knit some tiny hats, socks and Christmas puddings and they looked like they would be simple to do so I thought I would have a go at these. I had to learn how to cable cast and how to use double pointed needles to knit in the round (a big thank you to Chris who kindly gave me some instruction on Saturday). Knitting with that white fluffy wool was a nightmare but after a few practice shots I did finish 3 tiny hats. They are only about 7cm high and a really cute. I did add an extra couple of rows in one of them as I couldn't remember which row I had just completed.
The Bethany Trust, just knit for charity.

Art journal week35: Sayings

2011-11-14T15:33:00.000Z

I am way behind again with these challenge pages but hopefully I will catch up soon. I have been plagued with neck, shoulder and jaw pain these last few weeks so I have been trying to do very little and only making the odd card or two. Anyhooooo here is my page about week 35 of the ukstampers challenge and the prompt is Saying:

do you have any sayings that are particular to you or your family?
did anyone have a catch phrase?
use a speach bubble and some text paper on your page.

The two that spring to mind immediately are; 'just do it - then it's done' which is a favourite one of mine and, 'it's not 100% but it will do' is one I hear all the time from my other half who tends to fix things using cable ties.

Paint: acrylic brown, ballet pink, antique white and pistachio
Inks: Stazon Black, Stampin up Regal rose
Card: patterned paper with text on it, water colour paper
Stamps: Dylusions Around the edge, dragonfly (unknown)
Other: inktense pencils, clear page pebbles, gems black pen, circle punches and a small balloon punch to make the petals

Zentangle card for dad

2011-11-06T16:34:00.000Z

Happy birthday dad!

When we had friends up a week or so ago we were all having a go at zentangle and I have been trying to get my dad interested in it too so I promised him a zentangle card for his birthday. Now zentangle can look a bit complicated but I have kept this one quite simple and it really is easy to do.
I used the computer to print out the word DAD using Davida Bd BT font then doodled in and around that.

Card: white
Ink: black pens, charcoal pencil

Tag card for mum

2011-11-06T16:26:00.000Z

Happy birthday mum!

For those of you who read the Craft Stamper mag you will recognise this immediately. I have used Helen Chilten's article in the Craft stamper Nov. 2011 issue. I did vary a few of the stamps and as I didn't have pearls I used little glass beads instead.
The top tag has an image of a woman painting and a caption up the left side saying 'the art of painting' which is appropriate for my mum as she is a very good artist.
You maybe can't tell from my photo but the top tag has a portion cut away and the tag is then layered onto another with 3D pads. Mine is not quite as 3D as Helen's. I added another shabby tag with ribbon so it would still open like a greetings card.

Card: Crafty individuals Tags Landscape and Shabby
Inks: Distress inks Faded jeans, Victorian velvet, Shabby shutters, Aged mahogany, Peeled paint, Milled lavender and Stormy sky
Stamps: Crafty individuals 207, monogram D (unknown), The Artistic Stamper Ephemera
Other: wire, blue beads, button, ribbon

Domino pendant and matching card

2011-10-22T18:00:00.001+01:00

Happy birthday Erin when it comes.

I made a pendant using a domino stained with brown and an image from riandesign. The image is an anatomical image of a woman which I think Erin will like as she is studying nursing and is interested in midwifery. The bail is antique bronze and the ball chain is an antique brown colour which matches the ink. I enlarged the same image for the card and I painted a little papier mache box with similar colours to the background patterned paper. The flower and leaves on the box look similar to the ones in the image.

Card:
Card: white, green card, brown paper punched, Prima - Annalee collection 'sonnet' card
Ink: Stazon Timber brown on edges
Other: tiny brown pearls, Anna Griffin Fleur de Lis punch, Diamond glaze

Domino:
Card: thick paper
Ink: Stazon Timber brown
Other: Antique bronze bail, Tim Holtz ball chain Antique brown, folk art acrylic sealer, Lime green stickles in the dots on the back, old domino

Gift box:
Paint: Dylusions acrylic Rose, Pink, white, Lime and mustard
Other: Mod podge to seal, leaves and flower embellishment

Art journal week38: Lucky

2011-10-18T19:00:00.000+01:00

The prompt for week 38 on the ukstampers weekly challenge is Lucky

Are you a lucky person? Materially or otherwise?
What is the luckiest thing that ever happened to you?
Use a lucky charm on your page

I guess I am, like most people, sometimes lucky and sometimes unlucky. I have never won a big prize, but I have won a few small prizes. My overall health is ok but ageing takes it’s toll on wheelchair users in a variety of ways. I have a great family and a few dear friends. It is only when you really think about it that you realise just how fortunate you really are.

The unluckiest thing that has happened to me would be that I broke my back in a road traffic accident. The luckiest thing would be that it could have been so much worse.

Paint: Dylusions acrylic Lagoon , Lime, Black and White, Cyan ink spray

Card: watercolour paper

Stamps: Dylusions Around the edge

Other: lucky horseshoe embellishment, black, white and silver pens, used some Fozz felt as a stencil to spray through

Anniversary card

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

Happy Anniversary John & Lizzie

I didn't have much time to make a card for John and Lizzie before they went to Greece so this is quite a simple but elegant card. I used a brayer for the background colour then coloured the image using inktense pencils and a water brush.

Inks: Distress ink Scattered straw, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white card
Stamps: Stampology Silhouette blossoms, Hero arts Tiny Chinese wishes (translates as Love)
Other: Copic multi liner to make the squiggled border, Inktense pencils to colour the blossoms and a glitter pen to add a tiny bit of shimmer to the centres

Autumn Landscape anniversary card

2011-09-22T15:11:00.000+01:00

Happy anniversary Ross and Suzanne

For this card I used Michelle Zindorf's tutorial #379 to make the swooshed direct to paper background and stamped trees. I just kept a white border around the card and didn't stamp any greeting or other words over it. I wanted a darker look overall but I do like the sunny look to Michelle's card. I also used some different colours and patted my white pen marks to make them slightly less obvious.

Inks: Distress inks Stormy sky, Milled lavender, Spun sugar and Barn door. Stampin up Not quite navy, So saffron, More mustard, Old olive, Crumb cake and Soft suede.
Card: white card
Stamp: Stampin up Lovely as a tree
Other: white gel pen

Abstract card

2011-09-20T10:14:00.000+01:00

Happy birthday Carey

The last time Carey was up for a visit with the family we got talking about abstract painting and although I have never painted an abstract painting before it struck me that the backgrounds I do for some of my art journals are just that. So I did this painting for Carey's card using the same methods I would for a background but with really bright blocks of colour and almost filling the page. I am quite pleased with the results but it is hard to know when to stop adding bits.

Inks/paint: blue, yellow, red, black and white acrylic paint, coloured pens
Card: water colour card and a large aperture card
Other: stencils, sequin waste, bottle caps, daubers

Art journal week 37 Laugh

2011-09-18T20:16:00.000+01:00

Week 37 for ukstampers weekly challenge is all about Laugh:

When was the last time you had a good laugh? What was it about?
What kind of humour do you like? Do your friends think you are funny?
Include a smiley face on your page

I have no idea if my friends think I am funny or not - they may find my humour a little odd. I can watch lots of comedy shows and not laugh at all but when I do find something funny I will laugh silently and the tears will roll down my face. I do have a rather wicked sense of humour. The last thing I laughed at was out conversation last night with friends over dinner, Lizzie and my atempts at learning crochet, and lots of other little things.
The image for the background is from Riandesigns which is the skull with the smile. I added the edging, scratchy lines and circles, ink blots and the journalling.

Paint: black, red, green and white acrylic paint
Card: watercolour card
Other: black, white and green pens, image background skull image

Art journal week 34 Dreams

2011-09-18T19:57:00.000+01:00

For week 34 of the ukstampers challenge the prompt was Dreams:

do you drem? Have you a recurring dream? Do you dream in colour?
What is the dream you remember most?
Paint/stamp/collage some clouds on your page

I have loads of dreams, some good, some bad, some weird and some that I can actually fathom out some kind of meaning.

Inks/paint: blue, white, yellow and black acrylic paint, Adirondack Pitch black ink
Card: watercolour card
Stamps: Invoke Art tickets, Scrolls work Stamps Mesh, Stampology Silhouette blossoms
Other: computer generated words, coloured pens

Art journal week 36 Risk

2011-09-08T13:39:00.002+01:00

(I have edited this with a slightly more in focus image)

The prompt for week 36 of the ukstampers challenge is Risk:

are you a risk taker or a stay safe person?
which ever you are does it affect what you do now? and what is the biggest risk you have taken or should have taken?
use a colour or technique on your page which you wouldn't usually

These days I am definitely a stay safe person, I have no wish to risk life or limb or anything else for that matter. Age perhaps has a lot to do with it as in my youth I did do some motor cycle sidecar racing and the odd bit of abseiling down viaducts and such like. When you are young you tend to feel invincible - that nothing could happen to you and the risks are worth taking - if you even think about the risks in the first place.

I have used Therma wrap tape (aluminium tape) over watercolour paper for my background (a method I have used before for smaller pieces but not the whole page). Underneath the foil in some areas I have put cardboard letters, bit of sequin waste and sequin type embellishments which I rubbed over with paper stumps. Some of the writing is just using a ballpoint pen and going over it a few time with a permanent pen, others are metal stamps stamped into the foil and highlighted with black acrylic paint. I have used both alcohol inks and acrylic paints to colour the page and white and yellow pans to highlight. I tried using red rub'n'buff wax over the embellishments but it didn't come up all that well.

Inks/Paint: alcohol inks Sunset orange, Sunshine yellow and Red pepper, acrylic paints pink and black
Card: watercolour paper, Therma wrap tape
Stamps: metal alphabet stamps
Other: cardboard letters, sequin waste, sequins, coloured pens

Art journal week 31 Smile

2011-09-03T17:02:00.000+01:00

Week 31 of the ukstampers art journal challenge is all about Smile:

what made you smile this week - list your top 5
use a happy colour on your page
stamp some kisses

I have used some yellow, orange and pink for this page and I tried to transfer an image using Golden medium and printed acetate. The image is a couple of years old - Tegan was playing with my hair and put it up in a bun on the top of my head; I have rather a stupid grin on my face and it reminded me of the song about 'a smile and a ribbon in my hair'. It came out very dark so I scribbled over the hair with some pens. Some things that made me smile this week include my dog launching himself into his bed and rolling about in it without a care in the world, the baby dove is still about in the garden and visits everyday, the sun came out briefly, I made pancakes for lunch today, and the roofer finally came to fix the guttering which broke last winter with all that snow. You might not be able to see the stamped kisses - they are 3 tiny crosses after 'Rare' and after 'hair'.

Inks/paint: mostly yellow, orange and pink acrylic paint with some black and white
Card: watercolour card (and acetate to transfer)
Stamps: Paperbag studios Scrap journal (bubblewrap stamp), Eline's Huis cross-stitch (tiny crosses)
Other: coloured pens, Golden medium

Art journal week 33 Spiritual

2011-08-30T16:08:00.000+01:00

Week 33 for the ukstampers challenge is Spiritual:

are you a spiritual person, what do you believe, are you a work in progress?
use a quote on your page
stamp some symbols that have meaning to you on your page

What a big subject to tackle - I am basically a spiritual person (I believe every one is to some extent) but do I believe in one particular religion over others? - well no. I take the bits out of various religions that I like and that I think help make me a better person in some way. Actually I don't know that much about any religion, so I am a work in progress. Is that hedging my bets - maybe? I am however drawn to this symbol and whether it is called yin yang or Dao or Tao I like what it stands for and instead of using a quote I have included the three jewels of the Dao: Compassion, moderation and humility.

Inks: acrylic paints and Distress ink Black soot, black document ink
Card: watercolour card
Stamps: yin yang symbol (unknown)

Other: black, white and silver pens, small piece of patterned paper

Cheers! birthday card

2011-08-21T18:00:00.003+01:00

Here is an easel card I made a few days ago for someone who likes their beer. I painted a beer mat to prime it before I stamped the images. The beer glass has glossy accents on it to make it look like glass and the froth is liquid appliqué. I bashed a bottle cap then added the greeting and more glossy accents. The background words were made on the computer using different fonts, colours and some international ways of saying cheers.

Inks: Distress inks Antique linen and Frayed burlap, Black document ink
Card: ivory card, Basicgrey, Hang 10
Stamps: Stampin up Circle of friendship, Personal impressions Mens1, Dimension Fourth bubbles stamp
Other: bottle cap, glossy accents, beer mat, brads, liquid appliqué, gold pen, black gloss pen

Art journal week 32 Sport

2011-08-13T17:31:00.000+01:00

For week 32 of the ukstampers challenge the prompt is sport:

are you sporty? love it or hate it? have a favourite sport?
what sport if any would you love to try?
stamp some circles/rings on your page

I kind of went over sport a bit when I did my hobbies page so for this page I have chosen Martial arts as the sport I would love to try. I did dabble in judo for a very short while but that all came to a halt when my pal hurt her knee very badly then the classes stopped, then I moved home etc etc. If my circumstances were different I would love to try out different martial arts as there are quite a few out there. It would be a fantastic way to keep fit with discipline and self defence.

Inks/paint: Black document ink, red, gold, white and moss acrylic paints
Card: white card, copy paper, Yuzen Chiyogami paper
Stamps: Calligraphy (Ying-courage), Elusive images Dragon, Non-sequitur Oriental love letters, English stamp Co. Oriental set3, Paperbag studios Scrap journal
Other: Copic pens green and red, Pearl ex-press watercolours metallic, embossing pen, Moss and gold embossing powder, gold and white pens, coin
The pearl ex-press watercolours give a nice shimmer to the dragon and the sprinkled embossing powders give a nice texture to the page.

Art journal week 15 Travel

2011-08-09T17:21:00.000+01:00

Week 15 - yeh I know from ages ago but I kept putting this one off. I am not a big fan of travelling and now when we do go anywhere we take sooooo much stuff!! The image on my background page is from a card Harry gave me a short while back and I love it. Thank goodness for estate cars with top-boxes is all I can say. For ukstamper's week 15 challenge we had to include:

travel - love it or hate it?
where are the best and worst places you have travelled?
use an old map on your background

We tend to just travel around Britain and we haven't really been to any bad places but a few of our favourite places include Aviemore, Cornwall and Wales. I love woodlands and forested places whereas Harry likes open rolling fields. Whenever we do go out and about we have to plan out route carefully for good accessible toilets for me and plenty of nice places for our dog to stretch his legs. The map is a scan from an old Roadfinder atlas. I tore it in strips before pasting to the background then sprayed the whole lot. To make it a bit more visible I outlined it roughly with a pink pen then white dots.
You can't tell from the main photo but you might be able to see in the closer shot that there is a nice shimmer on the background.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Dylusion ink sprays Post box red and Cyan, Cosmic shimmer mist Aqua lagoon
Card: water colour paper, torn scanned image on copy paper
Stamp: Stamps away Arrow
Other: Tim Holtz tissue tape, black and white image scanned from a card then coloured using copic pens, white, black, pink and blue pens

Art journal week 30 Smell

2011-08-07T12:02:00.002+01:00

The young lady's chin is the old hag's nose, the old hag's mouth is the young lady's choker, and the old hag's chin is the area under the young lady's choker.

The ukstampers weekly challenge number 30 is about smell:

have you got a favourite smell? is there a smell that reminds you of something - if so, what?
add something smelly to your background
use a nose image on your page

I have used E.G. Boring's optical illusion image as my image of a nose. You either see a young lady looking away or an old hag. I traced around the image to make 2 pages with one page being not quite a mirror image but almost. I splodged the paint on with a baby wipe roughly where the dark areas should be then rubbed over the tracing paper to show roughly where to draw the black outlines. I then went over the darker areas with a grey copic pen to give then a bit more definition.
Smells can bring back memories or people, places, holidays and happy times. My grandad used to buy blocks of tobacco which he would tease out and rub then dry in front of the fire. I loved the smell of his tobacco pouch so the smell of tobacco reminds me of him. The smell of cigars bring back memories of Christmas as my dad would always get cigars as a gift. Mincemeat, mulled wine and Christmas pudding also remind me of cosy family Christmases. Some things I just simply like the smell of, like: ferrets, stables, my dog, old books, leather, churches, hippy shops and incense (not the smoke of the incense), open fires especially peat and wood fire, the forest in the rain, coffee, fresh bread, flowers (but not lilies), the pits at motor racing, harbours when they are painting the boats with antifouling paint, dewy mornings when camping and many, many more besides. Perfumes on the other hand I am pretty fussy about. I find that a lot of perfumes smell like fly spray and I don't like perfumes with too much vanilla in them. My everyday perfume is Paloma Picasso and my good perfume is Chanel No. 19.

Paints: acrylic paints yellow, purple, red, grey
Card: watercolour card
Stamps: Scrollwork stamps Netting
Other: stickles Starry night, incense sticks Sandalwood and lavender. grey copic pen, black and white pen

Art journal week 29: You

2011-08-03T14:34:00.001+01:00

I really like these colours together and although I made a few mistakes making this art journal page I am actually quite happy with it. I tried using white rub-on words for 'my thoughts' but they didn't stand out too well so I went over them with a white pen which made it worse so next I tried smudging a little charcoal pencil around the words. It worked ok but not that great. For week 29 of the ukstampers challenge the prompts is; You (as in me):

describe yourself in 5 words
use some stickers or rub-ons
include your fingerprint on your page

Do you know just how difficult it is to think of just 5 words to describe yourself? These were the 5 words I came up with that more or less describes me although I am sure some people may disagree but these are my thoughts, about me, and no-one else's.

Indecisive - I take such a long time to make decisions and I am always worried that I have made the wrong choice.
Average - I am pretty average at everything - I have been described before as a Jack of all trades, master of none.
Fanciful - whimsical? would love for fairies and ghosts to be real, love fairy tales
Nice - I am a nice person, kind, generous and friendly
Inquisitive - I love learning new things about everything and I am always asking questions (these days I tend to forget the answers!)

Inks/paint: Acrylic paints: turquoise, rust, white, black, and silver, Inks: Stazon Jet black, Distress inks Tumbled glass and Spun sugar
Card: water colour card, scrap of silver and white patterned paper
Stamps: Tim Holtz Chronicles 'i' and Mini muse, Stampin up Sanded background, Stampotique Gooseneck, English stamp Co. Oriental set 3 (grass), Paperbag studios Scrap journal, Aspects of design Daisy flutters (flower), small alphabet stamps unknown
Other: BoBunny Whimsy rub-ons, Cosmo cricket rub-ons, Stickles Aqua, shiny butterfly sticker unknown, charcoal pencil and coloured pens
The mouse is my fingerprint.

Getafix card

2011-08-03T14:05:00.000+01:00

Jake loves Asterix books so another one is winging it's way to him for his birthday and to go with it, this Getafix card. I used a colouring page from the internet and coloured it with Copic pens then printed the greeting. And before you write in to let me know about the lower-case 'i' in birthday - that is how some of the text is in the books! I was in a hurry again so apologies for the poor photo.

Art journal week 28 Truth

2011-07-26T11:08:00.001+01:00

Here is my week 28 page for the ukstampers weekly challenge. The prompt is Truth:

what does the truth mean to you? are you a truthful person?
is it acceptable to tell little white lies? have you ever lied or been lied to big time?
include some splodges of paint, an exclamation mark and a question mark on your page

I was trying to keep this page plain and simple - like the truth but I found I kept going back to embellish it! Hm what does that say about me? If you hadn't notice yet I have bought a couple Kate Crane's Art journalling videos and they are very inspirational. I haven't quite gone done the road of collage work yet but I am sure I will soon. One of her techniques is to stick to one main colour but use several different shades so I have tried that here using black and white to highlight.

Paints: rust and white acrylic paint
Card: white card
Stamp: Stampotique Moon girl
Other: black, white and coloured pens, Stickles Tiara, crackle glaze for the angel wings

Art journal week 25 Ambitions

2011-07-23T17:01:00.000+01:00

The prompt for week 25 on the ukstampers forum is Ambitions:

are you ambitious? if you are have you acheived them?
have you got a bucket list? if so what is in it?
use some kind of glittery star embellishment on your page

As you can see I went all out with the neon colours for this one. It didn't turn out quite how I expected it to but I like it anyway. The black memento ink that I used on the stamping is rather dull so I may have to experiment a bit with other makes on acrylic paint.

I am just not ambitious in the least, sad I know, but it could be that I am happy and content with life just the way it is so I don't need to be ambitious. Or maybe I am just lazy! Perhaps it is only greedy people who are ambitious? always wanting more! I just kind of bumble along in life from one thing to another.
After painting the background with pink, blue and yellow I did a bit of splattering.
I stippled some white paint through a plastic reusable doily then sprayed over the top with ink sprays. The journalling was written onto pink tissue paper then pasted onto the page using mod podge. Next came the stamping, doodling and doting. The star embellishments are the pale pinky/purple gems in the shape of a star and some tiny pale silvery blue stars.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white card, dark pink tissue paper
Stamps: Elusive images Funky doodles Fresh
Other: pale purple gems, mini silvery blue stars, neon pens, black and white pens, spray inks and paints: acrylic pink, blue, white, black and yellow, sprays: Dylusions Post box red and Cyan, Ecoline Chartreuse, and a neon yellow spray, blue, yellow and pink Sharpie poster paint pens

Birthday card

2011-07-21T16:14:00.000+01:00

Happy birthday Val

I made this card a few days ago using the free stamp from Craft stamper magazine. I usually colour flowers in pinks, red or mauve but this time I went for a more orangey look. Maybe it is because there were a few projects in the magazine with lots of orange in them - who knows.

Inks: Stampin up Soft suede, Distress ink Dried marigold
Card: white, orange and brown card, Stampin up patterned paper
Stamps: Stampin up Cheers and wishes, Free stamp from Craft stamper magazine
Other: fibres, Lime stickles, grey copic pen for the pale shadow, Prisma pencils with Sansador to colour

Art journal week 27 Celebrity

2011-07-19T19:37:00.000+01:00

Week 27 of the ukstampers weekly challenge is all about Celebrity:

would you like to be famous? would it be heaven or hell?
do you have any claim to fame? or know any one famous?
include some stamped stars on your page
if you could be famous for one day who would you be?

I guess I am too shy to want to be famous and to have lots of publicity and no privacy would be hell. I don't know anyone famous or have any claim to fame. I wouldn't really want to be any celebrity for a day but it would be nice to know what it would be like for a sports star on the podium having won Olympic gold for their country. Someone like Denise Lewis perhaps.
You can't really see the shimmer and sparkle over the page so you will just have to take my word that it looks better in real life.

Ink: versamark with gold embossing powder
Card: white card painted with yellow, orange, brown and rust acrylic paint with touches or black and white
Stamps: Bring out the star in you (unknown), A stamp in the hand Field of sky
Other: Vintage image from art-e-zine, paper stars, gold stickles, Perfect pearls Heirloom gold, white, black and brown pen

Art journal week 26 Commitment

2011-07-17T16:32:00.000+01:00

For week 26 of the ukstampers challenge the prompt was Commitment and had to include:

are you determined - once you commit to something do you hang in there or are you easily distracted?
what is your biggest commitment you have made - or what is the one you never kept?
use a dictionary quote on your page

I like to think that I see things through until completed but at the same time I like to quit while I am ahead ie. I don't want to waste my time and energy on something that simply will not work. My biggest commitment is my marriage (don't have kids otherwise they probably would be).

Inks: Distress inks Mustard seed and shabby shutters, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white card painted with yellow, teal and white, some black
Stamps: Judikins Artifacts cube, Aspects of Design Daisy daydreams, Tim Holtz mini muse
Other: white pen, computer generated text

Art journal week 21 Hobbies

2011-07-17T16:01:00.000+01:00

Finished another journal page: this one is about hobbies and had to include:

how many hobbies or what hobbies have you had over the years?
what is your earliest recollaction of doing anything crafty?
include some kind of hand made embellishment

Wow - where do I start with this one - I have had a lot of hobbies and most of them were some kind of sport. I dabbled in gymnastics, ballet and tennis as a youngster. Athletics soon took over for quite a few years then motorcycle sidecar racing for a few years. I then started athletics again just to keep fit and also had a go at judo and modern dance. Next came weight training which I kept up for many years with a little dabble at wheelchair basketball. I have to watch what I am doing these days so I now consider my main hobbies to be gardening, cooking, reading and crafting. My first recollections of crafting are making paper chains and pom-poms, rub-ons (transfers), toilet paper flowers, papier mache bowls and finger knitting. There were loads more but I remember those in particular.

Card: white card painted with green and red paint, bits of black and white too
Stamps: Tim Holtz mini muse
Other: bottle cap, red UTEE, heart cookie cutter, glossy accents, dragonfly punch, Stencil The crafters workshop Circle Circle Dot Dot, white pen, gold pen, punchinella, crackle glaze

Art journal week 24 Wildlife

2011-07-07T11:16:00.000+01:00

Two pages in two days, have I got my mojo back - let's hope so? Here is my page for week 24 on the ukstampers weekly challenge. The prompt was Wildlife and you had to include:

do you like animals, do you have pets, what was the name of your first pet?
if you were an animal what would you be?
include some animal print on your page.

I couldn't make up my mind about what animal I would rather be so I left that out and instead of including animal print I included animal prints - the faded mouse paw prints (artistic license and all that!)
We have had many pets over the years and they include: tortoise, budgies, goldfish, dogs, cat, gerbils, rabbits, rats and dogs. I loved them all and couldn't contemplate not having some kind of pet and at the moment our dog is enough to cope with. We also have plenty wildlife visitors to our garden. The first pet I really remember is a cat called Sherry. I used to dress her up as a Queen and sit her on a regal cushion and I sometimes would push her about in my toy pram which she didn't seem to mind.
When I was young I would go out for walks in the meadows or woods and I was always bringing something back to either just to show my mum or for her to 'look after'. This could be anything from baby frogs, voles, birds, sticklebacks, caterpillars, bees, bugs of all sorts. Even dead things came back with me like sheep skulls, bird skeletons, snail shells, owl pellets and the like. Boy was my mum thrilled!

Inks: Stazon Jet black, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: White card
Stamps: Inkadinkado Morphic bugs and Patterned pets, SeeD's Cute as a bug, Crafty secrets Mouse party, Joanna sheen JNM Meercats, Lavinia stamps silhouettes Bats, spider, web with twigs and damselflies, House mouse Mouse feet, RS tapestry Tiny frog and mayfly, Autumn leaves Silhouette blossoms
Other: Acrylic paints Mustard, Sienna and Moss and dabber Snow cap, coloured pens, white and black journalling pens, That Special Touch honeycomb mask

Art journal week 23 Secrets

2011-07-05T17:28:00.003+01:00

For week 23 on the ukstampers challenge the prompt was Secrets and you had to include:

can you keep a secret or how long have you kept a secret?
use some hidden journalling
stamp some hearts on your page

Edited: I have only just noticed that I have made the masquerade mask upside down!! DOH!! Hmm or have I?

I started this page a few weeks ago and I can't quite remember all the colours I used but here goes...

Inks: Stampin up Mellow moss and Cameo coral, Distress ink Black soot, Black stazon
Card: white card
Stamps: Studio G small alphabet, Elusive images Diamond art, Heritage rubber stamps - lips, Free stamp from craft stamper mag - eyes from Visage, Non sequitur Grave tidings, tiny heart from Papertreyink Out on a limb
Other: punchinella (stars and circles), rub-on arrow, Tim Holtz tissue tape, acrylic paints, beads, Tiara stickles, white and black journalling pens, diamond glaze, gems, black ribbon
Template for the mask is from splitcoast stampers (I think).

Birthday card

2011-06-26T15:49:00.001+01:00

It will soon be Suzanne's birthday and I have spent the last few days wondering what card to make for her. I have hundreds of stamps and loads of ink pads and embellishments but I have kind of lost my mojo a bit. Never mind - Craft stamper mag. to the rescue again!
In the May 2010 issue Katy Fox did an article on Re-use Re-cycle to make a mini album. I used her design and colour scheme with a few tweaks of my own to make this card. I have tried to capture the shimmer effect but sadly it just looks shiny in the photo rather than pink shimmer. The photo it taken against a dark brown background.

Inks: Stazon Timber brown, Distress inks Scattered straw and Rusty hinge
Card: white, brown, card board box, Prima Flights of Fancy patterned paper
Stamps: Stampin up Pocket silhouettes and Just believe, Non sequitur Samurai butterflies), flower stamp free from an old Craft stamper mag.
Other: Prima Say-it-in-pearls (flower centre), white pen, Stickles Coffee (looks pink), Cosmic shimmer Mist Angel mist, old card board box, white Gesso, Punched fronds, Natural linen thread

Father's day card from the dog

2011-06-19T10:00:00.004+01:00

Happy father's day Harry from Chiquo!

I have been using another dingbat to create a card and this time it is a doggy one.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black
Card: White card
Stamps: All night media (actually a cat's paw print but it looks similar to a dog's)
Dingbat/font: 2peasDW Bow Wow (images) and 2peas Gingersnap (text)
twopeasinabucket dingbat fonts
Other: black pen to make the scribbley lines borders

Father's day card

2011-06-19T10:00:00.003+01:00

Happy father's day dad!

Dad really enjoys watching the birds at the feeders and bird bath from the conservatory window so I didn't go for a historic cars or sports theme but instead went for these wee birdies having a sing song on the cherry tree. My parent's garden is absolutely full of baby birds at the moment all chattering away and I too could while away the hours watching their antics.

Inks: Versafine archival Vintage sepia
Card: Brown textured card, aqua card, patterned paper
Stamps: Crafty Secrets Bird notes
Other: linen cord, brown flat backed pearl

Celebrate card

2011-06-18T20:00:00.001+01:00

Happy birthday Lizzie!

This is a pretty card for my great friend Lizzie's birthday and yes we will be celebrating!
The design comes from one of Katy Fox's articles in the Craft stamper mag (Aug 2010) and I really love how pretty and floral it is without going over the top with flowers.
I have a few pieces of floral material that I scanned, printed then cut to make the bunting and scalloped piece. The rose is a rub-on and the only stamps I used is the word 'celebrate' and the green stitched border.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Stampin up Mellow moss
Card: white card, Stampin up patterned paper
Stamps: Stampin up Celebrate, Technique Tuesday Hanging by a thread
Other: Prima Fairy flora Rub-ons, material scanned and printed, black linen cord

Mini thank you cards in a pouch

2011-06-18T18:00:00.001+01:00

You can never have too many thank you cards when you have babies (or so I have been informed) so this is a pouch or wee bag with 16 mini thank you cards I made for Kat's baby shower. I can't believe that I didn't use a single stamp when making these cute little cards. The images are dingbats coloured with copic pens.

Card: white, pink, patterned paper, yellow and blue vellum
Dingbats/fonts: 2peasDW oh baby! (images) and 2peas Gingersnap (text)
twopeasinabucket dingbat fonts
Other: tiny safety pins, tiny baby bottles, ribbon, mini rik-rak, white fun flock, daisy

Art journal week 19 Lists

2011-06-09T09:52:00.000+01:00

This page is for week 19 on the ukstampers weekly challenge and the prompt was Lists:

are you a list maker, do you need lists
include a list of somekind on your page
use some arrows on your page

That has to be a big yes for me as I am very much a list maker. I like to break down big jobs that may look overwhelming at first into lots of smaller easier to manage things to do. I then get great satisfaction as I score them out once accomplished. I try to write them in a logical way for example I still write my online shopping lists by aisle that I used to go around the actual supermarket, or maybe write them in order of importance. If I don't write a list I will usually forget something. Sometimes if I have written a list and then lost it or leave it behind I can at least picture the list in my head and still remember things that way. I even have the post-it note gadget on my computer desktop with little reminders.
It isn't just about remembering things but it can also be a good time-management strategy.

Card: watercolour card
Stamps: Tim Holtz chronicles alphabet
Other: acrylic paints, copic pen cadmium red, white and black pens, neon pencils

Acer leaves card

2011-06-06T20:00:00.001+01:00

Happy birthday Chris!

I was going to do a gardening themed card for Chris for his birthday but no matter what design I came up with, it just didn't look quite right for him so I opted for a more arty style and instead of using autumn colours for the Acer leaves I chose green.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black
Card: water colour paper and a white aperture card
Stamps: Non sequitur from Samurai and Cranes sets
Other: Adirondack colour wash Pesto, Chroma jewels Amber, Lime, Neon colour pencil Lime, Copics YG25, YG23 and G82, Stampin up colour spritzer with black pen and green pen, Diamond glaze

Art journal week 22 Random

2011-06-03T20:35:00.003+01:00

I am even doing my art journal pages a bit randomly at the moment. This one is for week 22 of the ukstampers weekly challenge and the prompt is - Random and should include:

5 random facts about you
5 random stamps
a random embellishment that was lying about your desk

My 5 random facts are: 1. I love my new bed 2. I am not on facebook 3. I love opening new jars and tubes of things and throwing the old ones away 4. I laughed when I ran over Harry's toes as he hopped about in pain (he had bare feat and was looking for an ice pack for his sore elbow and I was helping him but got too close to his toes with my wheelchair), and 5. I have hazel eyes.
My random stamps are: a mermaid (newest stamp still on my desk), silhouette plants, Eastern style patterned leaf, small maple leaf (not put away from my last card) and numbers (up the right-hand side in teal embossed in clear sparkle, but it didn't stamp very well on the textured surface). My embellishment is a punched tab with a piece of faux dichroic glass. I have a small box next to my desk where I chuck things that I have got out to use on a project but weren't quite right and they stay in the box until I have a big tidy-up. I didn't wait for the paints to dry - I used my heat gun until they bubbled up then heated again until the bubbles burst into craters to give loads of texture. Using tissue paper to stamp on, colour in then apply using mod podge also gives more texture.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Distress ink Worn lipstick, Stampin up Teal
Card: watercolour paper which had been sprayed randomly from another project with Aqua lagoon Glimmer mist
Stamps: Stampotique Smumauha by Daniel Torrente, Stampin up Just believe (silhouette plants), Tim Holtz Fairytale frenzy (numbers), Non Sequitur Samurai (small maple leaf), Eastern style leaf (unknown make)
Other: Distress crackle paint Tarnished brass, Acrylic paint Ballet pink, Adirondack dauber Snowy cap, Distress stickles Worn lipstick and Broken china, Punched tab, small piece of faux dichroic glass, copics to colour, tissue paper, Mod podge, clear sparkle embossing powder, black and white pens.

P.S. don't ask your partner to give you 5 random facts about you as it will only cause an argument!

Surfboard birthday card

2011-05-31T10:00:00.001+01:00

Happy birthday Becky!

While searching the internet for a surfboard rubber stamp I stumbled across a photo of a row of surfboards propped up against a fence. so I used that as my inspiration for this card. If I was doing this one again I would make the fence a lot lighter - more like the colour of driftwood, the sky lighter with some fluffy clouds and maybe put a few more layers of waves at the base of the card and no shells.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Adirondack Sunshine yellow and Stonewashed blue, Stampin up Old olive
Card: white, pearlised aqua, white silk card
Stamps: Magnolia Surfboard, Sun and Beach fence, Hero arts Four dolls (the flower design in one of the boards), Flower soft The gate (for the grass)
Other: copic pens to colour in, Crystal stickles, shell stickers

Art journal week 20 Food

2011-05-29T19:37:00.000+01:00

This one was done in a bit of a hurry. It is week 20 of the ukstampers weekly challenge and the prompt is food:

what is your favourite food and why - does it trigger memories (choc does not count)
what is your food hell/has it traumatised you?
include a recipe on your page

One little page is not enough to get in what I would like to say about food (I am a bit of a foodie) so I will keep this to the bare minimum.
I don't really remember cooking with my grannies but I have always cooked with my mum, especially baking and having to fight my brothers to be the one to lick the spoon.
I will try most food items but still haven't plucked up the courage to try mussels and the like and I will not try chicken feet. Cheese has to be a definite favourite although not goat's cheese and really good fresh coffee is a must. I have always enjoyed fried egg rolls and fresh home made bread goes without saying. Dauphinoise potatoes are my favourite way of cooking potatoes. My food hell is flowery potatoes as I find them difficult to swallow and I have always been told to leave a clean plate especially in someone else's house but I usually have to leave these. The recipe I have included is for a very simple rice pudding - it is so easy and by the time it comes out of the oven the milk has evaporated to leave it nice and creamy. The image is from Karen's whimsy.

Inks: Distress inks Tumbled glass, Bundled sage and Scattered straw, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white card, black card
Stamps: Stampin up Something yummy, Marianne design Eline's Huis Cross-stitch (leafy flourish)
Other: coloured pens, white and black pens, black half pearls

Art journal week 18 Domestic Goddess

2011-05-29T10:15:00.000+01:00

Week 18 for the ukstampers art journal page challenges prompt is Domestic Goddess:

are you a domestic goddess - if not - what are you?
include some stamped or painted wings
include a figure on your page

The figure I have includes is part of a napkin (don't know who the artist is but it is a Born to shop brand) and just for the record I don't drink wine but I do use it in cooking!
I love cooking and entertaining and I am not too bad at it. I do loads of housework but I like our to house to look like a home and not like a hotel so it is never perfect. Therefore I would say I am definitely domestic but most definitely not a goddess.

Inks: Black Stazon, Distress inks Wild honey and Dried marigold, Versamark with opaque white embossing powder
Card: white card, acetate,
Stamps: Stampin up Out of the box (cupcake), SeeD stamps Domestic Goddess, dragonfly wings on acetate behind the cupcake (unknown)
Other: Napkin, acrylic paints white Prussian blue and gamboge, sequin waste, small bit patterned paper

Anniversary card

2011-05-28T10:00:00.001+01:00

Happy anniversary Mark and Kim

I love this stamp from Julia Hawkins - Stamps Happen. It is one of my oldest stamps but I have used it a lot. This time I decided to use colouring pencil to add the colour only I managed to mix up my watercolour pencils with my Prisma pencils - DOH! So when I tried to use my aqua brush on some segments I wondered why nothing was happening and on other segments I used both types expecting them to blend when I went over with the water. Needless to say my colours didn't come out quite how I imagined them to. There is some sparkle in the flower heads but that doesn't show in the photo. I wiped the ink from 3 of the lines so that I could get the greeting in at the bottom of the image and just added black flat backed mini pearls to cover the tiny bits that still showed up.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black

Card: white, black, dusky pink pearlised card
Stamps: Stamps Happen Magnolia floral by Julia Hawkins, Stampin up Cheers and wishes
Other: Black flat backed mini pearls, glitter pen, black pen, watercolour pencils, Prisma pencils with Sansador

Faux cross-stitch card

2011-05-28T09:31:00.001+01:00

For Harry's mum.

Have you seen the June 2011 issue of Craft stamper magazine? As always there are some great ideas and projects but the cross-stitch sampler by Gail Milburn caught my eye and I thought Harry's mum would love something like that and it is her birthday quite soon. I have used a lot of Gail's ideas but added a few of my own too. We couldn't find a photo of his mum to use so I used the same image as Gail had from Vintage images Art-E-Zine.
The greeting and two small hearts are printer generated using a font 'Home Sweet Home' by Larabie (who also does a similar one called 'Heart Sweet Heart').

Inks: Distress inks Antique Linen and Spun sugar, Versafine Vintage sepia, Big and juicy Waterfall (Teal area). Memento Rhubarb stalk
Card: white card
Stamps: Marianne design Eline's Huis Cross-stitch,
Other: Sepia pen, calico frayed and edged in spun sugar, Teal nailheads, Aqua stickles, red wire for antenae, buttons, pink lace darkened with spun sugar, ribbon

Birthday card

2011-05-24T20:17:00.000+01:00

Have a great birthday Cameron!

I do struggle to keep coming up with cycle racing card ideas (for both Stuart and Cameron) so I have used another of Anita's die cuts but gave it a slightly different look to the card I made for Stuart. Cameron loves all kinds of cycle racing and he has recently joined the CNP Orbea MTB team - GO Cameron!

Inks: Versamark with gold embossing powder
Card: white, black, and white sprayed with Aqua lagoon mist
Stamp: Bring out the star in you (unknown)
Other: yellow star brad, black brads, piece of mica, Anita's die cuts Cyclist

Art journal week 17 Celebration

2011-05-21T21:19:00.000+01:00

Had a nice play today with some paint and crayons for this art journal page for ukstampers weekly challenge. The prompt for week 17 is celebration, to include:

one special event that you have celebrated
the letters R.S.V.P on your page
use some sparkle somewhere on your page

I didn't include one special event, I mean how does one choose from so many?
Celebrations are so much better when they are shared and my doodles around the border read; sharing, music, friends, good food, family and drink. For the sparkle I added glitter glue and there is mica in the spray mist.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black
Card: watercolour paper
Stamps: Stampin up Cheer & wishes and the word celebrate, Inkadinkado Hello hummingbird, Delish Lush treats
Other: Stickles lime and yellow, bleach to remove some colour, white wax crayon, watercolour crayons, copic pens, black pen, Cosmic shimmer mist Aqua lagoon.

First of all I stamped the word celebrate and then doodled the other words around the border. I then stamped the central words and hand wrote some too. Then I scribbled the white crayon over the black writing and doodles (to act as a resist). Using the watercolour crayons I coloured the border and used an aqua brush to blend the colours together. I then stamped the humming bird and other elements in. I sprayed it lightly with water first then with the mica mist while masking the border roughly. Using a piece of parchment I ironed the page so the wax would melt and the pale paper would show up. Well that didn't work out quite as well as it could have so I used a yellow copic pen to brighten a few of these parts up. I then lifted some of the colur from the stamped images (which would have been much easier if I hadn't ironed it first). Once lightened I could then colour them in and I used copic pens for this. I highlighted some areas with the stickles. In real life the colour of the blue area is more aqua and the yellows are brighter.

Art journal week 16 - television

2011-05-16T17:06:00.000+01:00

I haven't exactly done these in order so this is week 16 and I will get around to week 15 at some point.
Week 16 in the ukstampers weekly challenge is all about television. Things to include:

do you own a TV, more than one? What is your first memory of television?
what's your favourite programme?
use a TV listing page as part of your background

My first memories of TV were black and white images and the testcard that was showing when there were there were no programmes on. I think we only has 2 stations back then. I remember when the teastcard F came on in colour with Carole Hersee with her clown doll called Bubbles. My gran used to keep the TV in a roll-top cabinet which I can just about remember but it is just a vague memory now, it also had side doors. 'Watch with mother' was one of my early favourites with 'Pogles wood'. I do remember always having to fiddle with the indoor aerial and every now and then give the TV a sharp thump to get rid of the snowy interference. When there was a good film on or good comedy show on the whole family would watch it together and pass round a bag of sweets. My gran had a wee dog called Scottie who would always sit in front of the telly (not the roll-top one) waiting for 'Crossroads' to come on. I can't say I have a favourite programme these days but I do like a wide variety - a bit like my music taste really.

Inks: Stampin up Soft suede
Card: ivory card, copy paper, page from local paper TV page
Stamps: Tim Holtz (stamper anonymous)Mini muse, LLB Venaissance, Tardis (unknown), Studio G alphabet and small flower bracket
Other: photo of Scottie in front of the telly printed onto copy paper, coloured pens, emulsion paint pink, blue, cream, pale green, drawn aerial and doodles

Cyclist card

2011-05-11T15:59:00.000+01:00

Happy birthday Stuart

It will soon be Stuart's birthday so I have gone for the cycling theme again as he lives and breathes racing although it does get rather difficult to keep coming up with ideas for cards with the same theme.

Inks: Stampin up Taken with teal, Distress inks Black soot, Pine needles and Crushed olive
Card: white card, teal pearlised card
Stamps: Tim Holtz (Stampers anonymous) Urban tapestry and Mini muse
Other: black linen thread, Anita's Do craft cyclist topper

Faith's 50's inspired card

2011-05-06T20:00:00.001+01:00

Faith's party is going to be 50's inspired so I have used a font that was inspired from 50's cartoons along with a guitar with cartoony style strings. I know she loves black and red so I hope this fits the bill. Have a fab party Faith!

Inks: Memento tuxedo black, Stazob black, Distress ink Fired brick, Adirondack Red pepper
Card: White, black card
Stamps: Inkadinkado Rock star
Other: White pen, Silver pilot pen, acetate for guitar body overlay

A Scottish selection

2011-05-06T10:30:00.000+01:00

Here is a selection of some of the Scottish cards and bookmarks I have made for Pauline for her daughters school fair.

Inks: Memento tuxedo black, various Distress inks
Card: white card, red and black paper, tartan paper (Paper Time bits'n'pieces and the crafthouse), black and white fluffy paper for the Scottie dogs
Stamps: Just a note Clarity stamps, Celtic border and Mackintosh stamps from Heritage rubber stamp Company,
Other: gold krylon pen and peel-offs, eyelets, ribbon, laminator for the bookmarks, gems

Art journal week 14 Music

2011-05-04T16:44:00.001+01:00

Today I decided to play first and do the housework afterwards to make sure I could catch up on my art journal pages for the ukstampers weekly challenge. This page is for week 14 and the prompt was music - to include:

what was the first record you bought
what would be in your top 5
use sheet music or stamp in your background

As I recall my first single I bought was Wizzard "Are you ready to rock" but it was the B side I liked the best and I would bop around the house to it. I have still got that single but have lost the sleeve as I liked to keep my records safe in these cardboard sleeves.
My music taste is varied and it depends entirely on my mood to what I will like to listen to.
While making this journal page I was listening to the soundtrack to Amelie.
For my top 5 this week would be : Clannad, Pink floyd, KT Tunstall, Peatbog Faeries, Yann Tierson but I couldn't leave out the Scorpions, Neil Young, Capercaillie, Bob Dylan........too many to mention.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Adirondack Red pepper
Card: ivory textured card, sheet music from an old book
Stamps: Tim Holtz Chronicles alphabet, Inkadinkado Rock star
Other: acrylic paint various, white pen, black pen, red pen

Royal wedding brunch

2011-05-03T14:32:00.000+01:00

smoked salmon and pink champagne

lime drizzle cake, scones with extra thick Jersey cream and strawberry jam

not amused!

As I haven't had much time for crafting I thought I would share our Royal wedding brunch with you. Our great pals John and Lizzie came over and we watched the Royal wedding while enjoying a few nibbles. Lizzie made some lamb and mint sausage rolls too (no photo). While we were all glued to the telly Chiquo could not see what all the fuss was about.

Floral thank you card

2011-04-25T08:30:00.000+01:00

I really like the fabric I used for this thank you card (Tea time C cakes large floral) and it goes so well with the stamps.

Inks: Pens were used here straight onto the stamps: Tombo 703 and 098, Whispers sugarloaf Basic blue
Card: white, Old olive textured
Stamps: Stampin up Just believe, Technique Tuesday Borderline Bijou borders
Other: fabric: Tea time C cakes large floral

Cars birthday card

2011-04-24T16:30:00.000+01:00

Have a lovely birthday Callum

I found a fabby font called Oil crisis from Larabie which is actually a dingbat font of 1970's cars that I thought would look good on a card. I flipped the bottom rows to look like they are going in the opposite direction.

Inks: Black (computer)
Card: white card and black paper
Other: rub-on arrows (unknown), Larabie Oil crisis font

Golf card

2011-04-15T16:41:00.001+01:00

Hope you had a great 'special' birthday Robin!

I managed to find a fab pattern for photoshop here for the Argyle backing paper on this card (I must make some time to have a good browse through arsgrafik as they have some really nice patterns).

Inks: Memento tuxedo black (I think?), watercolour pencils to colour

Card: blue, white, dark brown card, printed paper

Stamps: Creative expressions Golfer guy (I only had this one image as it was one of the stamped image swaps on craftsbycarolyn ages ago)

Other: Cosmo cricket photo corners, gold golf tee, silver glitter pen

Steampunk card

2011-04-13T18:29:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday Harry

A bit of a wee joke for Harry. He managed to still get lost the other day while we were on holiday the other day even though he had an android phone, a Garmin (sat nav type thingy), and maps in the car! Maybe just a map and a compass would have been all he needed so there is a compass inside the big brad and the pin has the word ideas on it.

Inks: Memeneto Tuxedo black, Distress inks Frayed burlap and Victorian velvet, Adirodack espresso, embossing ink with clear embossing powder and brass detail powder
Card: antique gold card, pale greeny biege card, Como Cricket card, 7 Gypsies patterned paper
Stamps: Oxford impressions Steampunk and Steampunk works
Other: Tim Holtz brads and pin, Papermania brad making refill kit, Moonshadow ink Burnished brass (to colour the cogs)
The clear embossing power is used here in a faux batik style and the brass powder is on the compass.

Art journal week 13 Superstitions

2011-04-11T19:08:00.001+01:00

Well now I am catching up slowly but surely on the ukstampers weekly art journal page challenges. Week 13 is about superstitions and this sparked off a great debate at home with hubby Harry and my mum. Are we or are we not superstitious? No we don't think that anything bad will happen to you if you break most of the superstitious rules except perhaps the logical ones like not walking under a ladder. Even though I have a lucky number it has never actually been lucky, it is just a number that I like. Harry always says 'morning my lord' when he sees a magpie but that is just something he has done since childhood. We all say 'touch wood' as we are trying to avoid tempting fate.
Harry was born on a Friday 13th. I broke my back on a Friday 13th (unlucky I had an accident but very lucky as it could have been a whole lot worse!).
So are we superstitious? Can you be mildly superstitious?

We had to include in our page:

are you superstitious and why/why not?
do you have any particular rituals
include a charm

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white
Stamps: Cute Companions Patchwork numbers, Le chat noir free with craft stamper mag, Inkadinkado Chinese coin, Hero Arts Tiny Chinese wishes
Other: black pen, ladybird charm, lots of doodles

Art journal week 12 Home

2011-04-09T10:25:00.000+01:00

Week 12's challenge for the ukstampers art journal page challenges prompt is Home:

what does home mean to you?
use a picture of a house on your page
use a heart stamp on your page

For me my home means independence. There really is no place like home when it comes to being independent. It is the only place I can do what I want when I want by myself. I don't feel disabled at home. It isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination.
I really am a home-bird because of this and it is only when you are away from when you realise just how wonderful your own home is and how much you miss it and all it's little imperfections.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black
Card: Old patterned paper painted over.
Stamps: Hero arts A friend forever (hearts only), Flower soft The gate (little birds), alphabet (unknown)
Others: white gesso, acrylic paints: Spa blue, Turquoise, Sap green and Crimson red, Cosmic shimmer mist Aqua lagoon, white, black, red and green pens to doodle and copics to colour the sparrows, lime crayon, Bird house picture from arbor castle birdhouses

Art journal week 11 Scary

2011-04-07T12:44:00.001+01:00

I am lagging behind with my journal pages as I have been busy with other things but I will hopefully catch up soon. This is for week 11 Scary, to include:

what makes you scared - list your top 5
use a scary colour on your background
use paint to stamp with

In real life this actually looks quite bright yet dark IYKWIM but this photo makes it appear rather washed out (is it because I have used a black backdrop?)
What is the difference between being worried about things and being scared? I worry about many things including the health and well being of my nearest and dearest, my own health, getting old and what the future has in store for me. Loads of things make me anxious and nervous like going to the dentist, being trapped in a confined space, flying, public speaking but these I can confront or avoid where possible. But I think the things that are most scary are the ones we have less control over: nuclear war, biological war, destruction of our planet, and more personally - crime, and being buried alive. Superbugs/resistant bugs are pretty scary too but the list will get longer and longer if I don't stop there. I drew the Scream (original byEdvard Munch).

Inks: Distress inks Black soot, Pumice stone, Barn door, Rusty hinge, Faded jeans and Frayed burlap, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: ivory card
Stamps: tree silhouette (unknown), Non sequitur Grave tidings, Tim Holtz Urban tapestry
Other: Black and Vermilion acrylic paint (for the tree), black pen, white pen and grey copic pen

Anniversary cards

2011-04-05T12:23:00.000+01:00

Entwined hummingbirds

Silver hearts anniversary

Silver anniversary

As you can see by the poor photography I was in rather a rush to take the photos and get these to get these in the post in time.
I was asked to make the 2 silver wedding anniversary cards for a pal (proceeds go to Spinal Injuries Scotland) and the Oriental one is for my wee brother Chris and his wife Grace. I haven't made an Oriental style card for ages and I had forgotten what fabby Chiyogami papers I still have in my stash.

Silver hearts
Inks: Versamark with silver embossing powder
Card: white, silver miri, silver swirly vellum
Stamps: Hearts (possibly Elusive images), greeting Stamping up Cheers and wishes
Other: gems, white ribbon with silver edging, white flower, gem brad, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Silver anniversary
Inks: versamark with silver embossing powder
Card: white, silver miri, silver angel hair, Silver anniversary vellum,
Stamps: glasses chinking free with Craft stamper mag.
Other: silver heart charm, silver ribbon, silver nail heads, glitter pen to colour

Entwined hummingbirds
Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Distress ink Barn door, Adirondack Sunshine yellow
Card: silk matt coated white, white, black, embossed gold, Chiyogami patterned paper
Stamps: Clarity stamps Entiwined hummingbirds, Hero arts tiny Chinese wishes (love)

Mother's day card

2011-04-03T16:30:00.000+01:00

Happy mum's day mum!

I love the colours of the Magenta paper I used on my mum's card for mothering Sunday. It is pretty and bright without being sickly sweet. In fact I liked it so much that I made H's mum the same card.

Inks: Distress inks Peeled paint used for some of the edges
Card: White card, Magenta Printemps passion collection Peacock blue (double sided), white flock vellum
Other: Delish mini pearl brads, Stampin up Hardware, Prima flower Calcutta dogwood Bright white, Punched frond leaves, punched butterflies, pearls,

Born to ride birthday card

2011-03-28T18:00:00.001+01:00

Happy Birthday Alan

I really like this image from Karen's Doodles and it is just right for birthday cards for a few of my male buddies. I also used it for a father's day card and you can really change the look just by colouring it differently and using different back ground papers.

Inks: Distress ink Black soot
Card: white, textured silvery/grey
Digital stamp: Born to ride Karen's Doodles
Other: Square silvery/grey brads, copics and Prisma pencils to colour, Diamond glaze

Get well card

2011-03-25T09:59:00.000Z


Get well soon Ceara!

Poor Ceara having to get her tonsils out! Hope all goes well and you are back to 100% soon.

Inks: Stampin up Old olive, Tombo pens 856 and 098
Card: white card, Stampin up patterned paper
Stamps: Stampin up Hopeful thoughts
Other: mini red rik rak ribbon

The never ending card

2011-03-23T08:55:00.002Z

So what is a never ending card I hear you ask - well it is a card that once you open it you can keep on opening it because of the way it folds. They are very easy to make and you can find quite a few video tutorials on how to do this on you tube.

open the front

unfold again

unfold again to the front page

Now I know you are not supposed to mix up centimetres and inches when measuring but for this card I found it easier to measure the back ground card in inches and the panels in centimetres.
The whole card is 6" x 6"
I cut 4 strips of the double sided back ground paper 3" x 6"
Scored at 1 1/2" from each narrow end
My square panels to stick on are 7cm x 7cm.
(If you search for never ending card on you tube you will see just how to stick the card together).

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Distress ink Peeled paint
Card: White card, BoBunny Beautiful life dots double sided card
Stamps: JudiKins small tennis ball (tiny cube of balls), Happy birthday from a Cute companions set
Other: black magic mesh, white gross grain ribbon, tennis racket embellishments, yellow and lime crayons, clip art tennis player, white pen, rub-on letters

Art journal week 10 - week

2011-03-14T15:13:00.002Z

Week 10's prompt for the ukstampers weekly challenge is: week
for week 10 you had to include:

list 7 things you did last week
provide evidence for at least two of them
use an old calendar as your background

For most of week I was mending the dogs toys (sewing them up after he had ripped the stuffing out of them), darning my favourite jumper (that is the wool stitched over the tear in the page), spring cleaning, numerous phone calls and arguments with a company who delivered the wrong item. I dined out with previous work colleges, had dinner with our wonderful friends and neighbours (John & Lizzie) then on Saturday night went to see Yes Prime Minister! The journalling did contain all 7 things but I cut it down to 6 just so it would fit better and still be legible. The calender part is a perpetual calendar I made using a template (Inka stamps 2007) it can be as old or new as you want.

Inks: Distress inks: Brushed corduroy, Forest moss, Spiced marmalade and Old paper, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white card, white paper
Stamps: date stamp, Crafty individuals CI-255
Other: theatre ticket, darning wool, Tim Holtz spinner, brad and pin, gold pen

Art journal week 9 Fashion

2011-03-02T16:17:00.000Z

Week 9 for the ukstampers weekly challenge theme is Fashion. You have to include:

what was/is your fashion disaster and what was/is your favourite piece
use some fabric on your page
use a picture from a magazine

For someone who is most comfortable in a jumper and trousers and not at all fashionable this was a little tricky. I do love Helena Bonham Carter's style which is quirky, a bit goth, a bit steampunk, a bit hippy but at all times very feminine. I am rather boring and practical in my dress sense and I go for comfort and warmth instead of fashion or style. My worst fashion disaster was when I was in my twenties and had no money and had an invite (via my mum) to the Queen's garden party. I had nothing that would do so I went to the sales and picked up an outfit that I could afford. It was a kind of pale green and off-white skirt and blouse affair along with a white hat, sling-backs and a handbag. A granny would have looked very smart in it. The hat was weird - not quite a bowler and had a dent in it like a cowboy hat. My favourite piece in my good old Belstaff jacket that has seen better days. These jackets get better with wear and get nice and comfortable and mine has a certain smell that invokes lots of memories of my biker days. Sadly it now lives in the loft (I won't throw it out). The lace I used for this is the same as that on my wedding dress but I painted it with black acrylic paint then highlighted areas with gold wax on some of the embroidered bits. I don't buy fashion mags so the picture of Helena Bonham Carter is from the Radio Times.

Inks: Tuxedo memento black
Card: Handmade cotton rag paper
Stamps: Stampotique Gooseneck (Daniel Torrente)
Other: lace, black and vermilion acrylic paint, dark red emulsion, gold pen, black netting, lime stickles, gold wax, picture of Helena Bonham Carter

Art journal week 8 Books

2011-02-27T10:58:00.002Z

What a difficult challenge this one has been. The ukstampers week 8 challenge prompt was Books and you had to include:

list your top 5 books, what and why
use a quote from one of them on your page
use an old book page as your background

So here is my page: although I did not use a quote from one of my chosen books I added an old Chinese proverb instead.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, versamark with clear embossing powder, Distress inks Black soot, Fired brick, frayed burlap, old paper, Forest moss
Card: Old page from torn from My altered book project (a PD James one I think), white card, parchment type thick paper
Stamps: Non sequitur Grave tidings, Graphicus bookmarks
Other: Adirondack color wash Pesto, Chroma jewels Slate and Forest, Walnut ink, Metallic rub-on gold

As a child I enjoyed reading books, as a teenager my reading fell by the wayside as I had far more sporty and outdoor things to do. It wasn't until I had an enforced and rather long stay in hospital that rekindled my affection for reading. Buying new books is such a pleasure but I don't have room for any more so I have made a rule that if I buy a new book then I must give one of my old ones away. These 5 books have made it to the section of books never to be given away (amongst quite a few others).

Around 1986 I found The Way of Wyrd, Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer by Brian Bates. A Christian scribe is given a mission to learn about Pagan beliefs and to accomplish this he becomes a Shaman's apprentice. This is a fascinating account of some of the beliefs around that time.

Aztec by Gary Jennings is an epic adventure story of an Aztec man. It took me ages to get through it and in places I found it rather difficult but it is a fascinating account of the way Aztecs lived. There is a bit of everything in it.

Then comes Post Mortem by Patricia Cornwell. Kay Scarpetta uses forensic science to track down killers. I was studying Biological science at the time I found this book and very nearly chose forensic science as one of my subjects. This was the first of many crime thrillers I have now read.

Ship of magic: The Liveship traders by Robin Hobb. What can I say - each and every one of her books (written as Robin Hobb) is magical and transports me away to another world of magic, mystery, dragons, serpents, Rain Wild River.....

Mort By Terry Pratchett. Nead I say more... the Discworld series is amazing and I read this one first where DEATH takes a vacation and he takes on Mort as his apprentice. This is so funny and makes you want to read all the rest of the Discworld books in any order.

I wanted to add Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course too as it is my most used, most dog-eared cook book. The trouble is I have many more 'favourite' books that I couldn't give away too numerous to mention. I enjoy reading cookery books and gardening books just as much as I do novels.

Art journal week 7 Colour

2011-02-24T16:09:00.001Z

And here is my week 7 art journal page for the ukstampers weekly challenge.
Week 7's prompt was Colour:

what is your favourite colour and why
use this as your main background for your page
add a doodled border to your page

Ok if you haven't already guessed my favourite colour has to be green. I have to have a plant in every room so that I have some greenery to look at. If I don't have a plant then I have a picture of a plant (is that sad). My favourite room in the house is the conservatory which used to be pretty full but I am trying to cut down on the number of plants now and most of them are ferns. Although I love flowers I like foliage even more for the fantastic array of shades of green.

As I was making this I learned the hard way that if you use masking fluid on cotton rag handmade paper it just rips the surface off when you try to remove it (I should have known that really, just wasn't thinking). Still I just carried on and the ripped surface just adds more texture.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Brilliance Pearlescent ivy, Adirondack Lettuce, Distress ink Peeled paint
Card: Cotton rag handmade paper
Stamps: R.S. Tapestry clear Fern
Other: Acrylc paint Sap green and Pistachio, spray inks Adirondack color wash Pesto and Ecoline Charteuse, Distress stickles Peeled paint, Thistle stencil (leaves), red pen, white pen, black pen, Tim Holtz mask Flourish, masking fluid

Printers drawer project (ongoing)

2011-02-23T11:48:00.000Z

Remember this printers drawer from Last year? Well it now looks like this below.
In my first post about this project I said that I would keep the look of the wood, just clean it up a bit and not paint it. Ha ha as you see I have changed my mind slightly (master of understatement!). First of all I cleaned it, sanded it then painted it all over with a mix of Deep sung cream and Dark truffle. Not one single piece of wood is actually straight and each section is a different size. I did try to take out individual pieces of wood in order to increase some of the sections but this just broke the wood as they are all nailed in (at an angle). Once it was all painted I added Tim Holtz tissue tapes, bits of stamped tissue paper and old adverts over the sides and edges. I still didn't quite like the result so changed my mind and went down the route of shabby chic. The sections are quite small so I will be using the drawer to display some of my miniature mice and other such little items.

I painted it all white then pale blue and did a bit of sanding again so that some of the wood, tissue tape and adverts would still show through in places. I have added some patterned paper to some sections and left some blank.

Here is a wee close up of one section which I will display a tiny pewter bird in nest pill box.

It is all taking rather a long time to do as I have found it rather difficult to position the tray in such a way to paint it without getting sore shoulders in the process.
Once it is all finished and on the wall I will take a few more photos.

Engagement card

2011-02-17T12:14:00.000Z

Here is a quick engagement card I was asked to make the other day. The engagement congratulations are on the insert rather than on the front of the card so I could put the love quote on the front instead. The delicate leaves and flowers signify the growing and blossoming love.

Inks: Stampin up Old olive, Distress ink Peeled paint, red pen for flower
Card: white card, Magenta Printempspassion Robin's nest paper
Stamps: Stampin up Hopeful thoughts, sentiment (unknown)
Other: ribbon, tiny piece of gauze, tiny flat backed pearls, pearl heart

Circuit board Birthday card

2011-02-14T10:49:00.003Z

Happy Birthday John!

I was given a few pieces of circuit board by John ages ago so that I could take the components from it to use in my card making. I have used the odd bit but I thought I would take a photo and use that instead for this card. I will take a few arty photos in future from different angles and maybe close ups to see if I can get a more interesting effect than just overhead. I have matted the photo with coppery coloured card and tape to compliment the copper circuitry.

Card: photo card, black, white, speciality two tone copper/green card

Other: copper spiral paperclips, copper tape, circuit board

Birthday card

2011-02-14T10:31:00.000Z

Happy Birthday Stuart!

So Stuart - when are you doing the West Highland Way?
This is not the card I intended to do but I just couldn't get my other ideas to work but I do like this photo - they both look so happy in it. They do a lot of walking together including hill walking, mountain rescue and geo-caching.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white aperture card, photo card, white card
Stamps: Aspects of Design 25 - Rambling 1
Other: map showing the West highland Way, bottle cap, diamond glaze, watercolour pencils

Valentine card

2011-02-14T10:16:00.000Z

Happy Valentines Day Harry


you can see the colour better here

We are not that big on Valentines day in our house but we do always do the card thing. Ukstampers are having a Valentine competition going on so I entered this card in.

[Doh!! I have just realized I haven't actually used any stamping on this card!]

Inks: Alcohol inks: stream, stonewashed and sailboat blue
Card: white card, blue handmade background paper (see Fishes card a few posts ago for details), silver miri card (through the diamond Cuttlebug embossing folder)
Other: mesh, small square embellishment (middle replaced with a blue heart button), silver bradletz, silver embossing powder, printed greeting

Easel card for Tegan

2011-02-13T09:00:00.004Z


Happy Birthday Tegan

I wanted to make a card that would hold a gift certificate and remembered Linda Elbourne's article in the Craft stamper mag (Feb 2010). I made up a square one and used patterned paper for most of it with a little stamping on the front of the pocket. I wrapped the certificate with ribbon so it is easy to pull out.

Inks: Adirondack Woodlands, Distress inks Tattered rose and Frayed burlap
Card: white, brown, brown corrugated, double sided patterned card Prima Flights of fancy 'tiptop'
Stamps: fee stamp (from craft stamper mag.)
Other: Prima Camelot rose, tiny gold brad, flower brads, vellum butterfly coloured from the back, diamond glaze (on the clock face), ribbon, Stampin up book-plate

I coloured the certificate with more stamping and edged with the same Distress inks to match the card. Now Tegan, I have it on good authority that you will use the gift to put towards a clock!

Art journal week Friends

2011-02-12T16:42:00.000Z


art journal week 6 Friends

As you have guessed the prompt for week 6 on the ukstampers weekly challenge is Friends.
Your page has to include:

Who, when, where
what is your most memorable friends story
use some kind of stencilling

The story behind the page.
I met Mairi while working at Debenhams restaurant and on the night of 10/03/85 we went out to a night club. This night is memorable for the fact that I lost my memory due to a head injury!
We didn't have much money - enough for 1 drink and a taxi home. We left our drinks at the table, went up to dance and the next thing I remember was waking up in hospital.
Apparently: 'I walked into the hospital alone and told the nurse that I didn't know what happened or where I had been. There was bruising to the left side of my mouth, swollen lip and graze on my forehead and left hand.' How I walked into that hospital I don't know because I didn't know it even existed. I didn't know who I was or anything. When my memory did start to come back the first memory was pink and purple stripes. Mairi had been wearing stripy trousers! The next memory confused me for a while as I remember having a duvet but I knew that I didn't actually own one. Mary (another workmate) had just given me one of her spare duvets after learning how cold I got at night. Eventually more memories came back but none of the actual night out.
What happened - I wasn't drunk as I only had 1 drink (I think)
Theories:

drink may have been drugged (Rohypnol)
fell whilst hailing a cab
face clipped by a wing mirror of taxi/ambulance/bus

Mairi told me later that we had had a good night out and I had gone for a taxi and she went home. We haven't seen each other for years now as she works abroad but we do intend to meet up again as soon as she is back over here.

The grey background with white webbing spray portrays my little grey cells and the cogs are me trying to remember.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Adirondack Currant, Encore silver with clear embossing powder, Distress inks Tattered rose, Black soot and Pumice stone
Card: White card, white paper
Stamps: Stampin up Sense of time and Wonderful words, Oxford Impressions Steampunk (little cogs), Technique Tuesday Hanging by a thread, Girls just want to have fun - unknown
Other: acrylic paint, white webbing spray, Tim Holtz stencils, mica (coloured pink using copic pen), white pen

Art journal week 5 Perfect day

2011-02-10T16:53:00.003Z

At last I have made up my mind what to do for my perfect day page....I chose a perfect day in spring.
This is for the ukstampers weekly challenge and as you may have gathered I am a bit behind. The prompt for week 5 was - Perfect day and the page had to include:

what is/would be your perfect day
use some stamping
include an image

My image is a photo of cherry blossom on our patio which I used as the background for the page. In photoshop I added the text and a grungy mask (there is actually a pale pink background behind the mask but that doesn't show up well here). The stamped images are the flowers in the top corner, 3 little frogs on the right and small leaves on the left.
The text reads: 'the sweet scent of blossom drifting in the light breeze...soft fluffy clouds...little birds chirping all around...croaking frogs splashing in the pond...the fresh green of newly opening leaves...time to do nothing but simply enjoy...the perfect spring day!'

Inks: Memento New sprout, Stampin up Regal rose (stamped off)
Card: white card, white vellum (small flowers)
Stamps: from the Rubber stamp tapestry range
Other: Diamond glaze, tiny amount of flower soft on some stamens, photo of my cherry tree blossom, grungy mask from Jessica Prague, Prima pebble, dots of gold glitter, fabric butterflies

Fishes birthday card

2011-02-06T10:00:00.001Z

Happy birthday Henry and Pat!!

It is Henry and Pat's birthdays today so this card is for Henry and the Vintage shabby chic card is for Pat (see a few posts ago for the shabby chic card).

Inks: Black document ink, Stampin up Old olive

Card: aqua holographic card, black, white, water colour paper

Stamps: Oxford Impressions The deep, Lavinia stamps Seaweed

Other: Shells from Sarah Lugg collection, pencils and glitter pen to colour,

The watercolour paper background was made using Chroma jewels Slate, lime, Cosmic shimmer Aqua lagoon (thank you Heather) all sprayed onto wet watercolour paper then salt crytals sprinkled on and left to dry. When the paper is dry and the salt crystals brushed off you are left with patterns that resemble coral and a nice watery effect.

Art journal week4 Sweets

2011-02-05T10:18:00.001Z

Last weeks prompt for the ukstampers weekly challenge was Sweets from your childhood.
I definitely had a very sweet tooth and loved sweets. Floral sweets or fruity sweets would have been my first choice. Here are a few of those I remember: Aromatics, floral gums(or was ir gems?), cherry lips, refreshers, parma violets, Turkish delight, sherbet strawberries, sherbet straws - well anything with sherbet in them really, love hearts, tooty fruties, candy necklaces, Vienna fruit bon-bons, penny chews, Bazooka bubble gum (didn't these used to have skin transfers like tatoos in them?), lucky bags, lollies, liqorice all sorts .........
I can't remember individual prices but an old sixpence would get a lot of sweeties!

I used the back page of my first journal page for this and added a Prima notecard to the top. Some pink vellum for the central flower with the names of a few sweets printed on it. Prima flowers, button, sweet wrappers, a sixpence and a stamped Alice (I used to have long blonde hair when I was little).

Gardening birthday card.

2011-02-02T18:45:00.000Z

I am way too early for John's birthday but I was aiming to get it to him in Greece just a few days before his birthday but I sent it rather too early. C'est la vie! John is one of these people who can turn their hand to anything they try and gardening is no exception. He put in an irrigation system and planted a climbing Jasmine over a home made pergola, and planted some citrus and olive trees - they are all thriving! Now I think I am right in saying that his newly planted olive tree gave him 23 olives in it's first year so I drew in 23 Kalamata olives onto the tree. Well done John and here's to a very happy birthday when it comes!!

The background paper is a napkin which I peeled apart and used only the top layer. I stamped the card first with the sanded background image then applied some watered down PVA glue which the napkin was then put over and smoothed out a little. I left a little bit of texture in it then applied more thin PVA over the top. The colour from the stamped background gets gently dragged over the card in the PVA which gives a lovely soft colour. As the napkin goes almost transparent you can see the background stamp through it. I was also playing with my Stampin up air puffer to do the soft splatters over the tag. I like that soft effect so I will definitely be doing that again.

Inks: Stampin up Old olive and Always artichoke,
Card: Ivory , Old olive, black, Olive patterned napkin
Stamps: Stampin up Sanded background stamp and Hopeful thoughts (tree), Aspects of design Gardening 2
Other: black pen, green Marvy pen, Stampin up air puffer, ribbon, black linen thread, diluted PVA glue

Steampunk card

2011-01-27T11:54:00.001Z

I love the Steampunk style that can be seen in a few stamp designs now and it really lends itself to cards for men. Now I am not saying Steampunk is not for women - far from it - just that it is great for male cards which can sometimes be more difficult. I remember a few conversations about Steampunk with Donald (whose birthday it is very soon) so this card is for him.
The corner elements are made by sticking thermawrap tape onto paper lace border and using an embossing tool or paper stump carefully emboss the lace pattern. Then paint over with black acrylic paint and wipe off most of it before it dries just leaving some in the de-bossed areas.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Distress inks Barn door, Aged mahogany and Peeled paint, versamark with silver embossing powder
Card: white, black, silver miri card
Stamps: Oxford Impressions Steampunk
Other: watch parts, diamond glaze, paper lace covered in thermawrap tape, copper pen

Vintage shabby card

2011-01-20T13:00:00.000Z

This card was inspired by an article by Rachel Jackson in Craft Stamper mag. June 2010. I have kept to the same colours and roughly to the same design but used different stamps and embellishments. I don't have re-inkers to colour the tissue paper background so I just wiped the ink pads onto my craft sheet and spritzed it with water. I crumpled up the tissue paper and spread it out on the craft sheet and gently pushed it around until it took up the colour. If I do this one again I might use vintage lace instead of the ribbon and add some distress stickles to the crown.

Inks: Distress inks Tattered rose, Antique linen and Brushed corduroy, versamark with white embossing powder
Card: white card, ivory card, white tissue paper
Stamps: Anna Griffin border, Vennaisance feathers, greeting (unknown)
Other: ribbon, pearls