This month’s theme for the last art journal session of the year is ‘Christmas NBU’. A long while ago, I suggested the tag #nbu for ‘never been used’. I’m not sure it caught on… So this wintery layout uses items that have not been used yet alongside other bits and bobs that came to hand:
This evening we are playing with all sorts of watersolubles for our Art Journal Session. I’ve raided my stash for media that we don’t use often in the sessions, with pencils, paints, crayons and gelatos on the menu. The session is all about experimentation and the different ways the water interacts with the pigments on the page. We’re adding some stamping and hand-drawn embellishments to adorn the page:
I unpacked a box of ancient washi tape rolls for this evening’s art journaling session and eventually got them all to unpeel without tearing. We used them to build background collages in black and white and colour, and layered them for maximum contrast in this finished layout:
Today’s Art Journaling Session at the Studio revisited working on aluminium foil. Last time, we used thinned acrylic paints to cover the foil with multilayer colour. This time, we played with alcohol inks. The inks are designed to stick to shiny surfaces and really pop against the reflective metallic background. There are various ways to add depth and texture, take ink off and add other inks on to make a very shiny and interesting collaged background for a suitable saying. I’ve included making notes below, along with a video of the techniques.
I don’t know how much of this art shrine sample was shown on TV last week… I certainly didn’t have enough time to demonstrate how I put it together, so here comes a tutorial to follow if you want to make your own 🙂
I’ve just finished and published my first commissioned tutorial video, for Diamond Card Crafts. It’s evidence to me that LinkedIn is worth keeping up to date as this is where contact first started.
Back to the video: I show how to use Diamond Card Craft‘s Eazi-Box Shape Board to make shaped boxes, starting with an introduction to the board, then the basic square shaped box (equally able to do rectangular boxes btw), and then moving on to triangular, pentagonal, octagonal and short lid boxes. The board itself is a deeply moulded score board, with templates for the shapes which are so versatile and can also be used to make shaped cards and mats as well. I share tips and tricks that aren’t in the instruction sheet for perfect boxes every time.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/75whxyt6DeQ]
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This morning saw the launch of Craftwork Cards latest paper and die cut collection – The Potting Shed – on Create & Craft TV. Once again I’ve had the chance to make some samples for the show which will be featured on their blog on 26th August. In the meantime, here’s a tutorial video I did for a pop-up insert for one of my cards.
I’m still playing with the stencils/masks from That Special Touch for my card this week – it’s the 6×6″ Art Deco Elements again. I wanted to make a classic white on kraft colour combo, and after a bit of trial and error, discovered that the Perfect Medium pad isn’t soft enough to get into the finer bits of the stencil. That’s where a piece of Cut ‘n’ Dry foam came in handy. I’ve also made a video of the process – I’m a bit rusty on the commentary side of things, my apologies. I’d love to know if you find the ‘live’ demonstration helpful.
And for the British spelling purists, this is also a stencilled card.
I was wondering how to use the fabulous beach/summer themed stamps from Creative Expressions for this week’s DT card as the sky clouded over and the temperature dropped. Though it’s allegedly summer (according to the meteorologists), this card captures memories of beach-side sun far better than the grey clouds outside! Framed by a Polaroid instant photo size frame, the individual images are layered to give depth and allow easier stamping and colouring. A perfect snapshot of summer.
Also in my goodie package this month from Creative Expressions were two new Singles stamps, Ivy Corner and Botanical Spray. Each features a leafy sprig, along with a cute insect. I decided to get my Distress Markers, Vintage Mist and pearl PVA out to use with them…