Themed Journal...Lyrics..

Hey,

Happy Monday..

I recently started a new art journal. It's smaller and landscape, as you can see.

I love my original journal, but I wanted this one to be more structured. Don't get me wrong, I still want to apply paint / ink / stuff randomly, but I thought an overall theme would be nice.

The background to this first spread inspired me to add the lyrics from a cartoon called Sealab (truly odd), Hubby and I love the theme tune and weirdly sing it all the time!

So I thought, why not make this a lyrics journal?

Here are a few more of my spreads..

I Know You, I Live You by Chaka Khan

Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

Fashion! by David Bowie

They are so easy to produce, I can't stop! There are actually a few more than these ones! I love interpreting the lyrics in different ways and it is fun thinking about what lyrics I should play with..

Way too many supplies to list here, if you are curious about anything leave me a comment and I'll reply.

Cx

300th Post 2016...

Hey,

Earlier this year I hit 1,000 posts on my blog overall.

This is my 300th post this year and it means so much to me.

In a year of seriously hard work and some difficult health issues (I'm fine honest) I am proud that I have managed to focus on my blog.

It means I have managed to carve out time for me, that I have been able to focus on what I love to do.

My image today is from my art journal earlier this month and it seemed appropriate for today.

Having finally achieved 300 posts in one year - I have been trying for 2 years to achieve this goal - I honestly don't know what is next!

This year things that I already knew to be true, have been even more apparent:

- Family is a fun thing
- Friends can save your life
- My Husband is a rockstar and is seriously the best thing to ever happen to me
- Making stuff makes me smile, even when the chips are down
- Walking everyday even just for 5 mins makes my world a better place
- Celebrate everything no matter how small, because if it makes you happy then it counts

I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my blog and leave me a comment, but as my Hubby says it's good to have an outlet for my randomness.

Cx

Experimenting...

Hey,

Is anyone else glad that the week is nearly over?!

I realised I hadn't shared what I have been up to in my art journal in a while..

This week, I am experimenting with stamping and mixing watercolours and acrylics.

Normally, I paint the background for my spread in acrylic paint before I do anything else..

This week I have been stamping first, essentially creating a scene of sorts and then watercolouring the stamped images.

Once this is dry, I have added acrylic paint around 'the scene'.

I am very pleased with the results.

Here is last night's one -

All the stamps are by - Unity Stamp Co, 7Gypsies, Dear Lizzy, Clearly Besotted and Art Foamies..

Fun times!

I am enjoying this experiment a lot.

Cx

Papercrafters Corner..Magazine Challenge #152...

Hey,

Recently whilst I was bumbling around blogs I stumbled across Papercrafters Corner - a great resource and they have an awesome challenge.

They give you a magazine cover as inspiration, you can pull out any of the elements for your project.

Here is the magazine cover for the current challenge #152 -

I love it and immediately thought it would make an awesome art journal spread.

So many of the elements inspired my spread..some are obvious, vintage lady, car, birds, map. I also used the colours from the background and the car to inspire my colour backdrop.

The grid in the car inspired me to stencil a grid here and there.

The map was the basis for my 16 scalloped rectangles, which if you look closely are the US states ;)

Just below the lady in the inspiration image there is a small piece of text, so I added some random text to my spread, you can also see subtle references to 1921 throughout my spread.

Finally I used the signpost as the main inspiration for my spread, I used the New York reference throughout and interpreted the signpost as arrows - all over.

This was such a fun spread to create, I can't wait for next week's inspiration cover.

Cx

Playing in my Art Journal..

Hey,

So my Ma arrived last night - yay!!

I suspect that tonight she will want to break out her new art journal and have a play..so I thought I would show you some things that have been going on in mine lately.

The main photo is a spread I created based around a photo of a painting from a book I found in my $1 bin bookstore dive.. The book is called America in Print. I chose to use this painting by William Russell Birch because a) it is the view from Long Island across the East River looking at Manhattan and it's possibly, roughly where I live now on Manhattan and b) William Birch was English..

I used a Dina Wakely elephant paint for my background and used lime paint for my central highlight. I wanted to make the spread be an extension of the painting and I wanted to get the artists name it. I am really pleased with it and it is a fun mix of stamps and stencils.

One of the best things about art journaling is stretching my stamps and stencils and making them work a bit harder for me. 

The next spread was born out of my desire to create a pink spread LOL, seriously..I felt my pink paints have been a bit neglected recently.

Before the paint dried, I quickly used two stencils and removed some of the paint through them using baby wipes..love this technique and you get such awesome results.

Obviously I opted for Flamingoes, they are pink after all. I die-cut them using glossy paper and dripped alcohol ink onto them to create the fun colours on the right ones. The left ones I inked through the negative die-cuts.

I anchored the Flamingoes using tissue paper and washi tape. For a final touch I added some glitter paste through a stencil here and there..

This spread makes me so happy, so soothing..I think it's the pinks..

I love this art journal thing, I like the lack of rules, playing with paint, collaging things in, just the general random nature of it all.

Cx

WOYWW #370..Momma arrives..

Hey,

Happy WOYWW!

Time for the weekly global desk nosy, currently hosted by the lovely Lunch Lady Jan at her blog. Whilst our leader Julia recovers from her op.

I'm all wiggly with excitement today as my Momma arrives for 2 weeks tonight - yay.

My desk photo was taken just as I was finishing work yesterday, so my work keyboard, mouse and desktop (on the computer) are visible. I was getting stuff ready for colouring for Kathy Rac's 30 day colouring challenge and I got out some stamps for the art journal spread I'm working on.

Here is the finished card from yesterdays 30 day colouring..

I love this stamp, it is by Stamping Bella and it reminds me a bit of me lounging in the sun LOL.

Some of you asked me to show you last week's art journal spread in progress finished, so here it is, along with a close-up shot -

I am not 100% certain that it is finished, but it's done for now..

Have a great day, I will be checking out desks after Yoga before Ma arrives.

Cx

Happy 4th of July..

Hey,

Happy Independence Day everyone!

I had a play in my journal in honour of today.

I am really enjoying this art journal thing..its weird and fun.

Today's spread was easy to make.

I started by stenciling the words onto the pages, that helped me figure out how to build out the rest of the flag.

As I applied the paint and the tissue paper for the stripes, I covered over the words slightly, but they were visible enough for me to position the cut-out letters / numbers.

The stars were punched out of a dictionary page, that I found in last weekends $1 bin bookstore rummage. These were actually very fiddly to apply to the page..I like to use a regular glue stick to stick things to the page (easy to remove if I change my mind) and then go over them with a Matte Medium Gel (I use Liquitex).

I'm really pleased with how it came out and it was fun, because I hadn't planned on tissue paper for the stripes, I was going to use white paint, but it was a bit flat and I realised I had all these strips of tissue paper that were exactly the right size for stripes!

Here is a close-up, so you can see the stars and the tissue paper -

The tissue paper was from my fave random bookstore chain in London and was a totally random buy that I seem to be using everywhere!

Have a great day..back to work tomorrow kittens - boo..

Cx

WOYWW #369...Getting ready for a holiday weekend...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW to you.

We are still hanging out with the lovely Lunch Lady Jan, at her blog, whilst Julia takes the time she needs to recover.

WOYWW is that awesome time of the week, where we nosy at desks from around the globe..

My desk photo was taken before I started working on my art journal page.. So it's quite tidy, you can see my hand wiping towel, some oval stitched dies, a halloween stamp (for a DT make), my Lawn Fawn stamp shammy (get one they are awesome), my mouse and a scrap of fabric..it's a piece of an old shirt of Hubby's, when they get discarded, I wash them, cut them up and use them for craft cleaning..best thing ever.

I've been absent for a couple of weeks..I was in London and then the last week and a half back at home has been crazy! Looking forward to the long weekend (4th of July) that we are about to have :)

Whilst I was away the lovely Lynne sent me this -

Isn't it gorgeous!! She also sent me some items to use in my art journal. I plan to make a spread around this lovely piece from Lynne, so watch this space.

And final pic for today is off my art journal in progress last night, complete with a view of my toes..not sure why I still had my sandals on...

Have a great day, see you all for a desk nosy later.

Cx

Simon Says..Summer Garden..

Hey,

Happy Friday to you..

I am leaving on a jetplane for London later on today, but first I wanted to join in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Summer Garden.

I liked the theme and thought it would make for a good play in my art journal.

The phrase 'Summer Garden' makes me think of my Ma's garden.

I love my Ma's garden it's a peaceful happy space and is full of flowers, shrubs, birds, animals (Squirrels, Foxes, Hedgehogs, our Cats), butterflies and is basically a reflection of my Ma's happy generous personality.

I miss Ma's garden a lot. My Dad is not a garden person and is baffled by the amount of time we spend out there!

I started my spread with five colours, yellow, peach, orange, lime green and pale blue. I layered them onto my journal and kept layering and blending until I had something I was happy with.

I used my new fave trick of a baby wipe through a stencil to add some interest to the pages.

I recently bought a Hollyhock die by Impression Obsession, because it reminded me of Ma's garden, so seemed appropriate to use here. I collaged them in, along with the big blue birdie (Ma gets lots of birds in her garden - Swifts, Sparrows, Robins, Starlings, Magpies, etc) and stamped a few flowers here and there.

I used a fave Clear Scraps stencil to create a 'sun'. I also used a Tim Holtz tracks stencil in random places on the pages.

Finally I added 'Summer is best in my Momma's Garden' because it is and I'll be in it tomorrow, drinking tea, eating cake and gossiping.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

WOYWW #366..Learning and Laughing...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW to you!!

It is that time of the week when we pop over to join our leader Julia at her blog Stamping Ground for the global desk nosy.

She is still recovering from her op, so Lunch Lady Jan is still hosting us and doing a marvelous job.

My desk is a teeny bit dull after the excitement of the last 2 weeks.. Just my computer, my sippy cup, glasses, die pokey tool and a little pile of paper, cards and dies at the front of my desk. This little pile is something I am working on for a swap with Scrapbook Lynne...a fellow desker..

On Sunday I went to a great class taught by the one and only Dina Wakely (swoon), she is my new crush, she is awesome, hilarious and a great teacher.

Class was fun, as I sat with Cheiron, Jamey and Lisette (an unexpected surprise). I love these ladies, they make me laugh (out loud and a lot!), make me a bit braver in class and are just all round fun..needless to say margaritas and Mexican food followed...

Below is a little collage of my pages from class (and a pic of Moi and Dina)...

Here are a couple of pics of my finished pages, so you can see them in their entirety. We cut windows, so you could see each spread and Dina taught us a whole load of techniques, some of which were new to me..Like rubbing off paint using a baby wipe through a stencil - and my mind was blown!!

Warm spread, using 3 warm paint colours (pinks, oranges, purples)

Cold spread, using 3 cold paint colours (blues, greens, greys)

I'm off to London on Friday for a week, so no WOYWW for me next week - I schedule my posts when I am in London, it's easier that way.

See you all later for a nosy.

Cx

WOYWW #365.. So many reasons to be happy...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW..

As you know our fabulous leader Julia is in hospital recovering from her op, so the also fabulous Lunch Lady Jan has stepped in again so that What's On Your Workstation Weds can continue..

I had great fun catching up with many people during the Seventh anniversary last week. I didn't make ATC's, but several very sweet people sent me ones anyway..I will be send you something else in the post ladies and thank you - WOYWW spirit just making me smile as always.

So what's on my desk? Well it looks pretty similar to last week right? My art journal front and centre, waterpot (full of dirty water), tea towel for cleaning brushes and various partly made items strewn around my desk..

My journal was actually supposed to be two individual pages and not a spread..but actually turned out looking like a spread, I think it's because of the colours..

As per the title of my post today, I have a lot of things to be happy about - I just spent a really nice weekend with Hubby, chilling out in the Sun together, holding hands, drinking, eating, giving up smoking and hanging out with old friends. 

My Dad is actually coming to visit us ON HIS OWN in NYC in Sept (he has not been on a foreign vacay for 30 years!!). These things all make me happy and realise how lucky I am. If you get a chance today just smile at yourself..it makes everything better :)

A few people wanted to see the Pocket Letter I had made for Nikki C. Now that I know she has it, it can be revealed!

I used a co-ordinating paper stack to cut the inserts and all the little icons are wooden and hand painted by me! I chose symbols for my two Cities - London and NYC and wrote a little story about what each one means to me on the back of the insert. There are also little tiny gifts behind the inserts too :)

I'm swapping things with a few other people, so just message me if you are up for a swap :)

Have a great day.

Cx

WOYWW #364..Seventh Anniversary...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW, it is the Seventh Anniversary of WOYWW today and ATC swap day.

Our illustrious leader Julia is away this week and so Lunch Lady Jan or LLJ is the hostess with the mostess, over at her blog Lunch lady Jan's Fabric Frenzy.

I am not joining in the ATC swap this year, I just didn't have the time this year with my large project at work.

I think Cara will be happy with my desk this week, she's always telling me it's too tidy.. I signed up for a Dina Wakely art journal class run by The Inkpad NYC and so I wanted to have a little play before the class. On my desk you can see my art journal front and centre, my paint pallet, waterpots and brushes, my coffee from the local deli, a piece of scrap grid paper for stamping on and various other bits and bobs.

Because I work from home from my craft desk, my enthusiasm for staying at my desk to make cards is not there. I felt I needed something more unstructured, but I am SO linear that it can't be too random..

So I thought painting would be good and then I was turned onto the idea of Art Journaling by Cheiron.

I am loving what I am creating and it's such a fun, messy way to spend 30 mins immediately after work, then my mojo returns and I spend another hour or so playing at my desk before Hubby comes home.

Here's the spread you can see on my desk..not sure if it's finished or not, but that's the fun part of art journals, you can come back to a page if you want to.

Because I like structure in some shape or form, I traced around oval dies to create the egg like shapes. I then die cut tissue paper in the two sizes and stamped over it. Before collaging the stamped ovals onto the page, I broke out the water colours and painted around the egg shapes. 

The stamped tissue pieces got applied using Liquitex Multi Matt Medium, as did the butterflies.

I then used a Faber Castell Pitt Big brush pen in black and white to draw around all the shapes and add some interest to the blue watercoloured eggs..

I love bling..so...

Here's a close up, so you can see the details.

Fun times right? Best bit is..because of all the different techniques I love to try, I have only had to buy a journal..I have everything else in my craft room.

Happy Seventh Anniversary everyone, especially big shout out to Julia, you are awesome and WOYWW gives me so much every week, even if I don't join in.

Cx