The grass is always greener…

IMG_5516_wAnother art journal page, completed as my homework for the art journaling sessions I run in The Studio on the first Monday evening of the month.

This month we learnt the technique of image transfer, and I set the homework of using image transfer in a layout. For this piece, I took a background image of the grass, printed it twice at full sheet A4 size on a laser printer and then used matte multi-medium to transfer each sheet to one side of a double spread previously covered in green/turquoise acrylic paint. The acrylic background is helpful in case (as here) the image transfer doesn’t take across the whole page, as well as not moving about with the multi-medium gel.

Once I’d done the transfer, I printed the text using matte white acrylic paint on rubber and foam stamps, and outlined them with a white Signo broad pen once they were dry. Finally, I went round some of the letters with a green coloured pencil to help darken the lighter grass colours to improve the contrast of the letters against the background. Oh, and the pink hue on some of the letters comes from previous inks used on the foam stamps staining the white paint!

 

Cheap vinyl lettering for mixed media?

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I’ve been playing with an idea I had a while ago, but only just had chance to try. I was struck by how sticky some of the low tack tapes can be, and then happened to use some electrical insulation tape and realised that it was that perfect stickiness for peeling off things. And it was waterproof. And relatively cheap. And just the right width to fit a line of text in suitable for art journaling. Combining these thoughts with a Silhouette Cameo PixScan sheet led to the following experiment…

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Art Journal Prompt – Colour Schemes

I snuck in an extra art journaling lesson this afternoon, and got on with my ‘homework’ from this month’s official session. I wanted to encourage the group (and myself) to use colours together that we wouldn’t necessarily choose ourselves, so set the task of using a palette from the design-seeds.com website:

TomatoSpectrumAllowing for colour reproduction errors, I used the Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks from Ranger  and one ‘standard’ one – top to bottom: Pale Ochre, Leaf Green, Fern Green, Cornflower, Orange Blossom, Dandelion. I applied colour with a piece of Cut’n’Dry foam or TH Tattered Leaves stamps, and the letters were cut from 160gsm card covered with the blue ink. I then edged the letters with black and white pens to create the embossed look.

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It might seem quiet…

It might seem quiet, since I have neglected to post on this ‘ere blog in a little while. For regular readers, you know this is probably due to me being silly busy and not finding a moment to update! Well, you’re not wrong…

I’ve been prepping and delivering staff training at Coleman’s Craft Warehouse on Viva Decor products (yesterday) and I’ll be there demo’ing there again for their Big Demo Day on Saturday between 10-4. There’s also two workshops (bookable via their website) on 25th October, when you’ll be able to get your hands all inky with the same products.

I’ve also launched an Art Journaling Session here at the Studio, meeting on the first Monday of the month – and it’s already full! The homework this month was to choose and journal a favourite quote… here’s mine:

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Simple background to emphasise the extravagance of the colour in the word, and a bit of sparkle added with Stickles. Oh, and I didn’t hand draw the text in case you were wondering. I designed it on the computer, printed and then traced it out.

I’ve also been designing this year’s Christmas cards… Spoiler alert – if you don’t want to see what you might get through the door in a couple of months’ time, look away now 😉

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Stamp is an oldie from Stampendous, embossed with WOW! Metallic Bronze onto watercolour paper. The dove is masked, the paper spritzed with water and then Purple Brusho sprinkled, teased and dried to get the nebular appearance. Oh, it didn’t quite look right in blue.

I also had the fastest sample turnaround ever yesterday afternoon – I got back in from teaching at 2:15pm, opened a package from Craftwork Cards that had arrived not an hour before, and was crafting by 2:30pm. Five samples in 90 minutes, labelled and packed and to the post office by 4:45pm for 9am special delivery (how much!?!?) for today’s Create & Craft TV shows with the lovely Julie Hickey. Phew!

And talking of Craftwork Cards, I’ve been helping out with graphics and the inaugural Project of the Month over at the official Craftwork Cards Fan Page over on Facebook. For details of how to make this ‘Christmas Kisses’ card, pop over to the page, ask to join if you haven’t already and look for the POTM header 🙂

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Art Journaling – a vivid quote

20140905_wI took some time out from the TV last night – mainly to stay awake – and worked on a page in my art journal. Inspired by this month’s art journal session, the text is outlined with Black Sakura Gelly Roll pen, painted in with Dr Ph Martin’s Bombay ink, and edged with blended and stencilled Distress Ink. And the blue streaks? Wayward Brusho crystals following a spillage last week – those darn crystals can travel!

I think I’d like the fill-in colour wash to be lighter so that the black text stands out more – the ink was already diluted 50-50 with water. The colour choice was based on a {design seeds} image – a fabulous site for when inspiration isn’t coming quite as quickly as you’d like:
ZinniaBrights

 

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New Art Journaling Session Announced @The Studio

FB-ArtJournalI’m starting to plan more sessions and workshops in The Studio, and will be trialling a monthly Art Journaling Session from 7:30pm to 10pm on the first Monday evening of each month. It’s a time set aside for you to work on a visual journal, which might be a record of your day, or your experiments in artwork or sketching, a means to express yourself in a private way, or something to show off and share.

I have a number of Stampington Art Journal magazines and art journal reference books for inspiration, as well as a few of my own journals. As a taster, the first session in August will be free (but please still book so I know you’re coming) so that you can chat more about what art journaling is about and what might happen during the session. After that, each session will be £5 to attend, and will include use of some materials as well as refreshments.

Please book via the Workshops page (tab at the top, or click here). And do email or comment below if you have any queries.

 

Play time with PanPastels

I’ve done a bit of housekeeping on the blog, so that it should now be easier to find things using a more obvious menu system. I’ave also added a ‘reviews’ page under the Workshops tag so that you can read what others have given as feedback about my classes.

And I’ve allowed myself a play day day to experiment with techniques. First on the list was to build on my PanPastel Art Journal that I started a while back with some backgrounds. I’ve recently bought new stamps from Designs by Ryn and Catslife Press that have sat in the drawer unloved and unused – and they are perfect for art journaling. I was also delighted to expand my PanPastel collection with a set of metallics for Christmas (thanks Kathryn & David!). Here’s what I came up with this morning:IMG_4358_wHere’s a time lapse showing the layers building up:

If you’d like more information on how to art journal with PanPastels, come along to my art journaling workshop on 3rd May! Here are a few more pages done this afternoon – unfortunately the metallics don’t show up very well on these scans:

 

Another Travel Journal (for Jones Crafts)

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Another travel journal using the fabulous Now Boarding Collection from Kaisercraft. This journal makes use of the fantastic Zutter Bind-it-All, also available from Jones Crafts, which allows you to punch and bind your own wire-bound items with one machine. Using larger wire diameter than necessary allows this album to have all sorts of things added without straining the spine, as well as giving somewhere for the tags to be tied. I’ve laminated the covers just to give them more strength and longevity, as well as protecting the contents as well.

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Handbound Travel Journal (for Jones Crafts)

This handmade book features Kaisercrafts’ fabulous February release of the Now Boarding Collection, and includes more than enough space for your journaling, photos and ephemera. Why not make one before you go on your next holiday and fill it in while you’re there?

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Christmas Art Journal Workshop

Some how, in between packing boxes in the studio, completing Day 1 of CC102 and catching up with various admin jobs, I’ve managed to snatch some moments to work on December’s workshop project – a hand made Christmas Art Journal. For more details and to book your place, go to my Workshops Page.