AAA Cards DT: Sketch for a teen card

Another sketch challenge has been set at AAA Cards this week. Use the design to guide your creation of a clean and simple card suitable for a teen. I struggled to find something to fit the theme and eventually raided a different stash for inspiration. With the popularity of proms, I thought this ‘couture’ stamp would be suitable. The guide sketch is below.

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Art Journaling: Spring quote

Spring quote by Robin WilliamsIt’s a while since I posted anything art journally, partly as I was doing the Wanderlust course last year. That is still waiting for me to finish! I have still been holding monthly art journal sessions in The Studio and some of the themes have been taken from what I have learnt over the year. This month’s theme was ‘start with the same quote’ and I chose a spring quote from Robin Williams (the quintessential American comedian).

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LIM DT: Colour Challenge

It’s a new theme over at Less is More Challenge blog – this time it’s a colour challenge. We’re looking for clean and simple cards with Fuchsia, Yellow and Grey as the colour combo. There’re plenty of cards from the design team to give you inspiration, and there’s a prize drawn from all the entries at the end of the challenge. I’ve done three cards this time – I hope you like them!

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Art Journal Page: Dylusions and Chrome

I’ve done two art journal pages today… but I’m only going to share this one! I’ve not played in my Dylusions journal for a while and thought I’d get out my Dylusions paints and have a play. The shiny silver bits are not foiled, rather where I used Molotow’s Liquid Chrome pens to trace over elements from the stencil. I’m still stunned by the shininess the pens create. It’s nice enough as it is, but I’m not sure it’s finished.

Side note: I had to resurrect one of my paint colours – a quick tip is to use a couple of drops of ammonia in your water when trying to thin a gloopy semi-dried paint. I really must use up paint before it dries up!

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Art Journal Page: #PASC0219

It’s time to share my submission to the February Pick-A-Stick Challenge #PASC0219. I’m working in my very first art journal started in 2011. There are lots of spreads where I was playing with backgrounds and which had never been ‘finished’.

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That’s Crafty! Show Samples: Christmas

Following on from yesterday’s post, here are the Christmas demo samples I made for the live Hochanda shows. Unfortunately, we seemed to enter a time warp for the final hour, and there was not much time to go through all the demos I had lined up.

Merry Christmas Wreath

That’s Crafty! Surfaces MDF Wreaths and Baubles Set
That’s Crafty! Surfaces Bits & Pieces Greyboard: Christmas Sentiments 2
That’s Crafty! Surfaces Bits & Pieces Greyboard: Holly & Mistletoe
That’s Crafty! Surfaces Bits & Pieces Greyboard: Christmas Florals 2
That’s Crafty! Multi Surface Paint: Christmas Red / Green / Purple / White
That’s Crafty! Multi Surface Paint: Antique Gold / Gold / Silver
That’s Crafty! Multi Purpose Craft Adhesive Pen

Try mixing different colours to make shades of green – red for a warm brown, purple for a rich evergreen. Use Craft Adhesive for a doming glaze over the berries, and a glaze for the leaves.

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Art Journal Page: Experiment

I recently took delivery of a new Dylusions art journal – the 8×5″ landscape format – and last night I took the opportunity to experiment with a 3×5″ Gelli plate and some DecoArt fluid acrylics. Bubble wrap of two sizes and a mosaic stencil added a bit of pattern, and then rubber stamping with acrylic paint added the highlights. Finally, some cut letters as masks and a sponged layer of acrylic paint finished off the page nicely.

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Art Journal Page: ATC Art Gallery

It’s my monthly Art Journal Session on Monday evening, and for this month’s theme we’re tackling ‘ATC art’. I’m not one for making artist trending cards most of the time – for the uninitiated, ATCs are 3½” x 2½” pieces of artwork that are designed to be swapped between crafters – and I thought it was time to revisit the format. I’ve sneaked them into  my art journal timetable, and here’s the sample page. BTW – the frames are one of my first forays into the world of 3D design and printed here in The Studio.

ATC gallery art journal page

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Altered Art: Create in 3D

create

As a follow up art piece to my ‘Dream’, I thought I would add another 3D word to my studio – this time, Create. The letters are again paper mâché, all undercoated with two layers of gesso and then decorated. I wanted this assemblage to reflect all the creative pursuits that take place in various forms in The Studio, both by me and my studio guests. Sculpture didn’t quite make it, but then I can always say the whole thing is sculpture 😉

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Art Journal Page: Illuminated Letters [Part II]

IMG_7282

I’m continuing my journey into illuminated letters with this layout. The  background has languished, completed, in my second ever journal for possibly years, and I’ve been wondering what to do with it. The stencilled motif reminded me of the mediaeval screens, so all I needed to do was find the appropriate phrase to follow my illuminated letter. I can’t quite recall how I got to it, but seem to remember I wanted Latin phrases. This one is associated with, I think, the Catholic tradition and properly means ‘happy fault’. But I’m a crafter, and think it better translates to ‘happy accident’. Which got me thinking, and for the rest of the day I was designing myself a coat of arms. Where do my days go? On flights of fancy!

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