Art Journaling: Bargello Masterboard

Posted on 7th April 2025 by Neil

Regular readers of this ‘ere blog know that I am a quilter. This month at the art journal session, we combined mixed media with a quilting technique (which I have yet to try in fabric). We made a watercolour masterboard and then with a lot of slicing and pasting created a bargello-style background in our journals. With some basic stitched panels as a focal point we ended up with this:

Art journal layout using a watercolour masterboard cut and pasted to create a bargello-style background

Rooted in the historical tradition of the Bargello Palace in Florence, Italy, the Bargello quilt pattern is characterized by its use of long, narrow strips of fabric meticulously sewn together. This technique creates an illusion of dynamic movement and depth within the quilt.

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Card making: Online Card Classes – Extraordinary Embossing Folders Day 5

Posted on 10th July 2024 by Neil

I’m finishing my makes guided by the week-long course from Online Card Classes: Extraordinary Embossing Folders. For the final day, we looked at bonus tips for using embossing folders which incorporate previous techniques with different ways of applying media.

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Card making: Online Card Classes – Extraordinary Embossing Folders Day 4

Posted on 9th July 2024 by Neil

I’m on a roll – more cards inspired by Online Card Classes: Extraordinary Embossing Folders. Day 4 explored layered embossing, building texture and using different substrates to dry emboss.

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Card making: Online Card Classes – Extraordinary Embossing Folders Day 3

Posted on 8th July 2024 by Neil

Various things have got in the way of finishing the Online Card Class: Extraordinary Embossing Folders. Eventually, I got annoyed moving the kit from one end of the studio to the other and decided to get on with the course again, if only to be able to put everything away! Day 3 combines dry embossing with dies. Again, I’ve made use of what I have to emulate the course makes and have benefitted from the loan of kit from one of my valued Studio guests.

dry embossed with dies floral wreath shaker card

Dry embossed with dies butterfly card with polka dot embossed background

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Card making: Online Card Classes – Extraordinary Embossing Folders Day 1

Posted on 26th May 2024 by Neil

In the first of a series of posts, I am going to update you on what I have been doing during my blog’s radio silence… Several groups have been postponed for various reasons, so I have not posted about them, and I have spent the time on a number of projects. This week has been a new Online Card Class; Extraordinary Embossing Folders. For five days there were two videos per day with techniques to expand your use of embossing folders. It’s been a while since I did any card making, so it was good to do some today based on the first day of class:

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Art Journaling: Heat mouldable foam stamps

Posted on 4th March 2024 by Neil

As I post, we’re having fun with thermoplastic memory foam here at The Studio. I have some heat mouldable foam blocks that once warmed with a heat tool and then pressed onto a textured surface will retain the texture once cool until they’re reheated. Using water-based inks, you can use the stamps to print a background in your art journal before a quick wipe clean and repeat the process with a new texture. I’ve got out all my pre-printed die-cut ephemera for a bit of decoration and came up with this sample layout to inspire attendees at the monthly art journal session:

Art journal page with background images stamped with heat mouldable foam.

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AAA Cards DT: Sketch and cold

Posted on 10th December 2023 by Neil

The last theme of the year has been set out over at AAA Cards’ clean and simple card challenge blog. It has a wintery feel with ‘sketch and cold’ being the design features to include. If you need a reminder, the sketch is there as inspiration and doesn’t need to be literally followed (though a couple of the DT cards have done so). The colour palette does need to be from the cold side though.

Sadly, this card will also be my last design team card for AAA Cards. I’ve made a card every fortnight for them over the last two years and it’s time to move on to do something new/different. There are plans to take the challenges into next year, so do keep joining in the fun 🙂

Here’s my take on the challenge:

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LIM DT: Hexagons

Posted on 18th September 2021 by Neil

It’s a shape challenge at Less is More this week, with the theme being ‘hexagons’. I chose to use a honeycomb die for my shapes and used both the positive and negative elements to make two cards. I had a master sheet that I had coloured with inks and paints during the Creative Jumpstart course at the beginning of the year which I used to cut the shapes from.

Here are the cards:

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LIM DT Card: White & Cream

Posted on 9th May 2020 by Neil

It’s a fortnight since the last Less Is More Challenge, which means there’s a new theme. This time it’s ‘white and cream’ colour challenge. Again, I’ve done two cards… I thought the first I made was too simple and not at all ‘exciting’. I think the second has a little more interest and this is the one I chose for the DT post:

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