Back to happy bright colours with a tag

This is much more back in my happy colour zone. My current favourite spiced marmalade and worn lipstick created the background with a water spritzed swirl. I used the fabulous Dependable Dolly Stamp from Dylusions whichI stamped onto the tag and another version onto dictionary pages which I cut out and coloured with distress inks. I then added crackle accents to the hat, tie,wings and legs and pieced them onto the tag. I painted the coat with a mix of distress ink and white acrylic paint and dabbed the face with some white acrylic paint. I found the heart in my bits and bobs box. Don't you just love that bird under her hat? I think this tag will end up on a journal page or on a card but at the moment she is hanging on my inspiration board.

Another experimental Journal

As I was creating the black and white page for the stampotique challenge I was also working on a page for the UK Stampers challenge all about Risk which asked you to use colours or techniques you would not normally use. I painted the page with Black dylusions and stamped a Dylusions circle text stamp. I then went a little bit mad with white paint and my hair dye comb tool. I stamped Olivia and Eric from Stampotique onto a dictionary page using Red Stazon and then using a baby wipe dabbed on the ink pad to add softer details around the page. 

I tore a piece of Lost and Found paper and added ink to the edges. I then stamped a variety of Dylusions hearts and an umbrella, plus a Lost and Found Typewriter, a hat and a TH crown. I journalled around the smaller stamps and then printed out other text onto photopaper using white on black. 

I like this page but I don't think I will be getting the black paint out in such large amounts again as it is a little uncolourful for me. 

A productive crafting day at the crop

Yesterday I went to EK Craft and Crop hosted by Suzy and Audrey. Despite their being a slight crisis with the heating (not working) and a flooding toilet which meant we had to find the stop cock (which we did) it was a great day. The room soon heated up with all the hot air floating from numerous crafters happily swapping ideas, stories and laughs. I managed another double layout in my Paris album. I can't remember why I decided to make it such an odd size but the plan is to bind it all together in a book form so I think that's why I went with the American page size. although as I do not measure accurately don't hold me to that. 

I also managed to make a card for mum with a great deal of encouragement from the girls as I muttered about not liking making cards as it required neatness and precision. Thank you Audrey for keeping me on track and mum did like it and I did almost get the house tidied and clean before she arrived for her birthday dinner... It helped that I had made the tag earlier in the week using TH Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick distress inks for the background and stamps from Lost and Found and Paper artsy. Suzy suggested the contrasting turquoise and I found a piece of ribbon that finished off and sewed some buttons on. Due to wonky stamping I had to stamp the sentiment again on turquoise.

SDC38 Black white and hint of yellow colour journal page

This challenge has taken me way out of my colour comfort zone. Kaz at Stampotique set the challenge "I'm setting you another colour challenge as you all did such a good job of the last one. This time it's to use black and white and add just a hint of another colour." I used my new journal for this and swiped black dylusions over the page with a baby wipe as I had been mopping up paint from another page (still in progress). I then used a mix of bottle lids to stamp circles with white and yellow acrylic on both pages. I then stamped Eric and Olivia onto the page and embossed them with TH Black distress powder. I used a Ranger medium pen to write my thoughts and embossed that too (I took a chance on you, worth the risk). I think my head must be full of Abba songs and advertisements as there are two well known catch phrases in there.

My stamped figures were blending into the background so I drew white lines behind them which helps bring them out and then I went a little doodly with the white pen. The facing page also has a Lost and Found Gramophone stamp on it. It is disguised within the white doodles. I used the last of the Tattered Floral pieces from the TH die to create a flower and leaves and added a paper ruler stem. Another part of the flower gave me the love heart balloon.

I'm off to the monthly EK Craft and Crop tomorrow so hopefully will have lots of times to play or finish stuff. I have about five different projects littering my desk at the moment and none are quite finished yet. Thank you for dropping by and I love reading any comments people make.

Just For Fun Challenge - Words

Von set the challenge at Just For Fun to take inspiration from Words. As I had been making a bookmark for the Stampotique challenge I thought I would create another bookmark for Just For Fun. I used Eric, distress inks, and dictionary pages. On one side I stamped Eric directly onto a dictionary page coloured with distress inks and then stuck that to a piece of green tissue paper. I coloured him with aqua pro markers andpaper pieced some books for him. On the other side I highlighted the words "who said boys do not read books" from the dictionary definitions and stamped Eric over the definitions onto a piece of Lost and Found paper with Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick distress inks. I also created another  quick book using Smushasha from Stampotique. I am trying out a new Accelerated Reading Programme with my first year class (year 7/8) and am busy making bookmarks to encourage them to read. I've laminated them all to protect them.

Art Journal

Just caught up again with the prompts on UK Stampers. The prompt was family sayings and the phrase "Willy Nilly" came from my eldest son as a small child and it has stuck around in family lore. Sayings are odd and can be misunderstood by small children. Many years ago Lens Guy was giving eldest daughter a lecture and warned her to "pull her socks up". She burst into tears wailing, "but I'm not wearing any socks". Eldest son, many years ago, was looking fore something to eat and had been told he could not have anything as dinner was going to be soon, he persisted and Lens Guy told him "You're on to Plums" Yup you guessed it, he retorted "But there aren't any." I uses Dylusions inks and my new Dylusions stamp Dependable Dotty with a different head and tried masking the skulls to create a bunch at the bottom. They don't have anything to do with plums, socks or... but I like them. The stripey effect came from the comb applicator for my hair dye - new it could be useful.

The second one was Dreams. I only ever remember my bad dreams but would love to remember the good ones. When Dad and my brother died I dreamt about them all the time but now 6 and 3 years on when I would like to remember them in dreams - nothing happens. This page went through many layers as it went wrong many times. I began with gesso and writing Dreams in gesso and then beging to spray with Dylusions inks. Stamping with masks and paints - not effect I had in my head and then because I don't have what I need to mout my lovely Lady Audrey Octopode stamp it all went wrong...

Out came the white Dylusions paint and the mess became clouds and I stamped Lady Audrey onto paper and then glued to page and tried to blend her in. It sort of works now but was not what I had in mind at all.

First pages in my new journal

Although I have been completing my pages for the UKStampers journal I felt I also wanted to start a new journal. One of the reasons is that my UK Stampers journal is made up of many single pages that I am going to bind into a journal at the end of the challenge - that is if I can fit all the pages in my my binder. As I have been reading more about the process I decided it would be a little different in an actual journal so I bought an A5 sketchbook with quite thick pages and I have been using gesso on the pages before I add any layers.
These pages are very layered and I used stencils and bits and pieces that were lying around to build up layers. I also used my fingers to blend the dylusions paints which was fun and sprayed and rolled some ink layers too. I used the Dina Wakely Stamp and a selection of stamps from the Lost and Found Everything stamps.

I prefer this side as I think the colours and layers work better, but I do like the other page too.

I think I might come back to this page and change the colour of the journalling...

Stampotique Challenge Bookmark SD37

Kate Crane set the challenge here at Stampotique  time to make a bookmark. I stamped Oh Dear on Acetate and then coloured the background with Alcohol Inks. I then cut a long strip of TH resist Kraft paper, folded it in half and inked it with spiced marmalade and Worn lipstick. I cut an window in the resist paper and then mounted the acetate with some lost and found cream paper inside the window.

 On the back I stamped Olivia and then stamped her head onto two die cut flowers from TH die and mounted them onto of each other. Finally I stitched all round the edge with two colours of embroidery thread and made a little tassle.

Art Journal Pages

As you can I have used some of my new purchases. The first page was asking whether or not we are spiritual and I am not, I am much more of a free spirit summed up by the quote from Nietzche: One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. I swiped on marmalade distress stain and then added Adironack Espresso randomly. I stamped the Dina Wakely Grungy Silhoutte onto the still wet ink so it blended into the page and then scribbled with a sharpie pen. I used my white pen to write the quote and stamped with paint and ink using the free Jo Capper Sandon  stamp from craft stamper.

 I'm not sporty but I do enjoy water sports and used to sail, windsurf and water ski. Now I am content to kayak around beaches watching seals and surfing waves. The second page is a succession of layers or ink, paint, ink and more ink and paint.

 Once I had built up layers and used gesso to make shapes in the pattern I drew round some chipboard starfish and then sprayed through the waste sheet.

I stamped Smushsasha from Stampotique on the page and then on card and coloured her with aqua pro markers, cutting her out was tricky but it allowed me to place her hands round the distressed surfboard and keep some definition. I also stamped circles with the distress stains in peeled paint and broken china.

I used a glue lid to stamp white and black circles of paint and a card to add white paint lines - some of which I smudged. The title was done in aqua promarkers and sprayed with water to make it run. Finally I added the wavy journalling and a few more stamped circles over it.

Guilty Pleasures and work in progress

We all have Guilty Pleasures and I came home from another hard day at the chalk face to find two. The lastest edition of Craft Stamper and a lovely box of goodies from Art from the Heart. Some of you might argue that these are essentials and do not constitute a guilty pleasure. However, we are trying to cut down on our spending so cannot justify these. Oh wait I can. I have stopped smoking for 7 weeks and 4 days so need a treat that does not pile on the calories. Just opening the box and seeing the tissue paper, string and hearts made me smile after a pretty awful day. For those of you who don't know I am a teacher (boo hiss, too many holidays) at a High School teaching English. We have been back for a few weeks now and with cuts leading to less staff, bigger classes and less resources we are all a little frazzled. But enough of the day job... what's inside?

Smushasha and Eric from Stampotique, Lady Audrey from Octopode, Dina Wakely Grungy Silhoutte, Dependable Dotty from Dylusions, more Dylusions paints, more TH distress ink pads and three of the TH distress stains from Ranger. I had to get them out to play. I have been working on a journal page about water sports and Smushasha seemed perfect. It's too dark to photograph the finished page now but as you can she is holding a surf board.

When I showed my daughter my new purchases she just looked at me and said "You are just getting weirder!"

On the occasional comments from pupils here is a response from a pupil asked to name a  famous Scottish Inventor by one of my colleagues. "Sir, is Napier one?" (prounounced to rhyme with happier). Encouraging nod from teacher and pupil goes on "He invented Nappies!" Needless to say he struggled to make a suitable reply.