Hmmm..not sure about this one...

Sometimes when I create something it comes together really quickly and it feels spontaneous and I'm happy with the result but sometimes I spend hours on it and I'm still not happy with it. I thought I would share it the results of my labours with you anyway - I shall share my successes, my failures and my 'not quite sures'! I think I don't like it because it's not in my usual bright colours. Even my 6 year old son passed comment that it looked dreary (everyone's an art critic in this house). Anyway, here are some of the stages of the process. I started with a piece of card collaged with some old text and painted it in traditional tan and painterly pink, with some touches of darker brown and pink. Note my very professional paint palette LOL!
I then sprayed a mixture of water, walnut distress ink re-inker and Blonde Moments pearl lustre powder. This gives a lovely shimmery finish. I edged with a sponge and brown stazon.

I then masked some of the ATC with a scrap of paper (I'm never very accurate in how I do these things) and added some text with a Crafty Individuals stamp.

This gave me text in just some areas of the ATC:

I used a Crafty Individuals image and made a transfer on contact paper. I only had patterned contact paper - you can just about see some squares on this photo. I deliberately scratched some of the image off the reverse to give it a distressed look. (Thanks to the wonderful Shelly of papermischief.blogspot for the advice on how to do this). It took me a while to work out what contact paper was. Isn't it just sticky back plastic reminiscent of Blue Peter?!!

Finally I pieced it all together, adding an irregular piece of mica over the image, some stitching (I always like to add stitching) and some Prima flowers. I found a bit of real lute tablature in an old music encyclopedia which I put under the mica. Maybe it will grow on me, we'll see.

Now, with reference to my last post about the crow on my journal page. My husband came home from work and said 'I looked at your blog. It's not a crow, it's a rook'. So, now you know - it's not a crow after all, it's a rook. I stand corrected. (Still looks like a crow to me).

Thanks for visiting and leaving me some comments. I get giddy with excitement when I see have comments on my blog. At least I know I am not alone out there in cyber space................

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

2009 here we come

Well, it's at least 2 weeks since I had my paints out and I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms LOL. Last night I managed to get the kids to bed at a reasonable time (all routines seem to go pear shaped at Christmas...) and then I snuck into my craft room and got messy. This is the result - a page for my art journal. As you can see nothing too deep and meaningful here, just a few smaller things that I will try and do in '09. I'm not making up any grand new year's resolutions because I know full-well I won't keep them. Not sure if I can keep some of these smaller ones........ drink less??...........eat less chocolate??.........get out of bed earlier ha ha ha! Anyone who knows me well will know that I will find that one particularly difficult. I added 3 boxes after every statement so that I can return to this page next December and see how many I managed. The boxes are for yes/no/sort of.

I used my Claudine Hellmuth acrylics and LOOK I did it in BLUE although I did sneak a tiny bit of pink in the corners. I got a new Faber Castell Pitt pen which works great for journalling, even on these semi gloss paints. I doodled round the edge in black and white, and added an image of a crow (don't tell me it's not a crow, it looks like one) and gave him a black and white hat. A little touch of zetti. A couple of rub-ons and ta-da! Finished. I shall report back in 12 months on this one to share whether I have been successful or a dismal failure!

Thanks Cindy!

Ooh look! I got this 'One lovely blog award' off Cindy. Thanks so much Cindy - you make me :-)) I really do appreciate blog awards and I'm honoured to be chosen for this one. A virtual pat on the back does wonders for one's self confidence! You can see Cindy's blog here (one of them - she has two you know!) http://mywvworld.blogspot.com/

I'm going to pass this on to 7 other bloggers that I visit regularly. They may not know that I visit their blog so often as I am sometimes a lazy blogger and don't often leave a comment (however one of my new year's resolutions will be to become a better blogger) Rest assured I visit these often and take great inspiration. I know you don't all like to accept these blog awards but that doesn't stop me offering! Please accept it if you wish :-) and if you do please pass on to 7 others.

Dyan in England http://www.dyan-reaveley.blogspot.com/

Diana in Australia http://docobhthaigh.blogspot.com/

Sheila in the UK http://manicstamper.blogspot.com/

Anita in America http://maketimetoplay.blogspot.com/

Valerie in America http://thesumofallcrafts.blogspot.com/

Tanya in Belgium http://tanyawatts.blogspot.com/

Sue in Spain http://desiretoinspire-suec.blogspot.com/

So, Christmas came and Christmas went. It seemed to be as busy as ever and I have spent the time cooking. eating, entertaining, drinking and playing on the new wii. I don't usually do computer games but the children need help to get started so hey! what can you do? Santa brought wii fit and I'm delighted to tell you that my Wii fit age is...............wait for it.............36!! Yes, that's 5 years younger than I really am. All this crafting must do wonders for your fitness levels. I must confess it's a whole lot better than my Nintendo brain training age which (after 2 glasses of wine was ..............er ............not so good............81!!! Ah well, can't win them all.

Well, as I have been so busy doing the above I have nothing arty to share so bye for now.

3 sleeps to go.....

Well, I had a busy day yesterday. Managed to wrap all presents, deliver local Christmas cards (bit last minute but never mind) and then I made place settings and these little baskets to go on my Christmas dinner table.The baskets for the adults will have after dinner mints like this and the children's will have some sweeties and a little surprise :-)
I made place cards for the children like this:

Do you think this will stop them fighting over who sits next to who?!! Ha!

I used gorgeous papers from the Basic Grey Christmas collection and added a bit of stickles for some extra Christmas bling.
So, you see, as much as I like getting arty and splashing the paint around I do have a mainstream side too :-)

Bye for now..........

Hooray, it's a holi-holi-day!

Yayy! The schools finished for the Christmas break today so I get two weeks off :-)))))) and boy, do I need it! The Christmas break is always a busy one and I've got lots of visitors coming but I'm sure I'll find some time to get inky fingers :-)

So, here's the last of my Stampotique Christmas ATCs:


Hee hee I love this little guy! I thought he looked very grumpy so I added the words "stuff the turkey" ha ha!

I couldn't help but notice I've passed the first 1000 blog hits Yayy! To honour the occassion I think I'll offer a little blog candy. I'm going to make something and I have something in mind but now I just need to get round to it so watch this space...............

Byeeeeeeeeee

Got to be good for Santa.........

Got to be a good girl if you want Santa to come - that's what I was always told when I was young and now I find myself saying it to my own children! This is another fab stamp by Daniel Torrente for Stampotique. The girl on this image looks very well behaved don't you think?!!

I used my NEW Tim Holtz flourish mask on this Christmas ATC. Can you see it? There's just a tiny bit in a couple of the corners. These masks are so versatile and are a great way to add a touch of variety in your backgrounds. I used my paper Artsy Christmas Words stamp, added a couple of Primas flowers and added a bit of random stitching. I have sent this one to someone as a RAK...........

Only 3 more days to go at work till we finish for 2 weeks for Christmas. I've got loads of family coming to stay but I'm sure I'll find some time to get paint on my hands :-)))

We had our school carol service this evening. All went well except that I had my long floaty black skirt on that I save for occasions when I have to conduct choirs etc. As I got out of my VERY muddy car (one of the drawbacks of living in a rural village) my skirt swooshed along the car and I arrived looking like I had been playing rugby. I failed to see the funny side of this at the time and had to do a quick emergency wash of my skirt in a handbasin before going on stage. Did I get lots of support off the children? Of course not, they laughed their socks off!

Ah well, only 9 sleeps till Christmas. Byeeeee

Just a quickie today....... an ATC I made instead of a Christmas card using this fab stamp from Stampotique (I borrowed this stamp - thanks 'Mucky Pup') I just love Daniel Torrente's designs for Stampotique - they are a bit quirky and lots of fun. I collaged the background, leaving the edges a little raggy as I don't like things to be too neat looking, and painted over it (I know I'm still using red but it's Christmas! What can I do?!) I stamped the image and added a party hat and a couple of beads to make hair bobbles. Also some Christmas words at the bottom from Paper Artsy and then stitched round it to finish it off. I thought she looked anything but jolly so I added the words 'ho ho ho'!! LOL.

Right, off out to lunch with my Mum..................Byeeee

And here's the cover.....

Yes, here's the cover for my art journal. I can't tell you how much fun I had doing this at Dyan's workshop! - http://www.afth.co.uk/ There is such a mix of techniques on here - UTEE (coloured and clear), crackle glaze (Blonde Moments), crackle paint (Ranger), rubber stamps (Stampers Anonymous), Rub-ons (7 Gypsies) and of course lots of Claudine Hellmuth paints in my fave colours painted on old book pages. I love painting on old book pages and the Claudine paints are really good for this as they are slightly translucent and the print shows through.

Well, I have to confess I still haven't made any Christmas cards. Hmmmm. Only 13 days to go - I'm cutting it a bit fine. I really do have the best intentions but I get distracted. I have however started on a few Christmas ATCs as I thought some of my arty friends would like an ATC instead of a card and I'm happy 'cos I've got a paintbrush in my hand :-) It was the Nativity at my school last night and I went to see my own kids in their nativity tonight (ahhhhhh!) so I should really be in the mood for Christmas now.

You know I'm not obsessed with stats for my blog (.....well maybe just a little bit - I just like to know that there's someone out there......) but I can't help but notice I've had quite a few visitors since I started bogging last month. Thanks sooooooo much for dropping by :-))))))

And yes, my cough's a lot better now, thanks for asking. I haven't completely lost my voice which I think is a disappointment to some.

Bye for now.

Here I am!

Ooooh actually I'm feeling a bit shy about posting this but................oh what the heck....here I am. In all my pink, red and orange glory. It didn't take me long to fall back into my pink and orange rut did it?!

Well, I am at home today poorly sick...........cough cough cough........ see? Can't teach a class full of children while coughing approx once every 30 seconds and it wouldn't be fair to pass the bug on to them (although come to think of it they probably gave it to me hmmmmm). And yes, I have got a vest on, yes I am keeping warm, and yes I am watching my chest (sorry, that bit was for my Mum).

Ok, so more today about my art journal that I started in a fab workshop with Dyan at www.afth.co.uk

I started this page a while ago, you may have seen it in it's unfinished state over on flickr, and as this is the first page in my journal I decided to do it about me. I have hardly kept any of my own artwork over the years and for once I have decided to something for me so it made sense to do the first page about me. I added a few words around the image about er well me actually. I asked my husband to sum me up in a few words although I think I was giving him one of my 'be very careful what you say' stares and he probably realised he was dicing with death. He came up with 'sleepy' (he means I have to have my butt kicked out of bed every morning), 'practical' (probably right), creative (means I spend way too much time with a paintbrush in my hand), loyal (ah) and loving (double ah!). He managed to restrain himself from saying snappy, sulky, moody and bossy, bless him :-))))

I'll probably add more words as I go along but I do need a better pen, I've ordered one today on t'internet so watch this space. I read somewhere about a Faber Castell Pitt pen so that's what I've ordered. Don't tell me it's not what I need, it's too late now LOL.

.......cough cough cough............better go.

Bye for now

Sneeky peek...

Here's a sneaky peek at the next page of my art journal painted in my usual Claudine Hellmuth acrylics. I watered down the red paint and splatted it across the page with great gusto! I added a rub on (my first ever) and a bit of doodling and then I printed the text onto some old french newspaper I found at a french flea market. So, what will I never ever do? Well, that would be telling :-)))

Busy busy busy....

Well, I did say in a recent post you may need your shades (or sunnies) on for this one :-) This is one of the first finished pages for my art journal and is basically a rant about being tooooo tired and toooo busy. It's got a couple of my favourite things on it......lots of bright colour.........and lots of stitching. I actually got quite dizzy stitching round and round in a circle LOL. I'm naturally a 'neat' person so I had to force myself to stitch this in a wobbly fashion.

I spent a fab day at Dyan's studio today www.afth.co.uk playing with different techniques to make the cover for my journal. Triple embossing.....painting on old book pages.......crackle glaze.......embossing and painting on photos. It was just lovely to sit and play all day. I was there for 5 hours but I swear it went by in 5 minutes!! I think the studio may really be a tardis..... :-))

Pretty soon I'm going to have to stop messing about and make some Christmas cards. I know some of you super organised people out there had them all finished about two months ago but I've yet to make one. I go to my craft room with the very best of intentions but then I get distracted by my paints.....or my meltpot.....or my rubber stamps..........and if I start blog hopping several hours can go by LOL!

Bye for now

Snow, snow, snow!

Ha ha ha hee hee hee ha ha ha, this is what I woke up to this morning. Why am I laughing? Because all the local schools were closed so I got a day off! :-))))) If you thought that just the children were excited by the prospect of a day off school you'd be very much mistaken - the teachers are just as bad. I had a stack of papers to mark which were reading comprehensions all about the first arctic explorers. The irony of this did not escape me as I sat on my unexpected day off looking out at the snow. I still managed however, to fit in a little sledging.........

Byeeeeeee

More shrinkies!!

Another mini book, these are great fun to do. The oriental print inside was sent to me by the very talented Shelly (check out the paper mischief blog in my side bar...) but I have a horrible feeling that the print is upside down in my book! Oops. I think my pink / orange phase may be passing....probably just a temporary thing......I seem to be moving into blue.

Many thanks to Tanya for nominating me for another blog award YAYY!

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY- nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement . Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.

See it on my side bar and see Tanya's blog here: http://tanyawatts.blogspot.com/

I have been journalling in my new journal and I'm nearly ready to blog it. Hmmmm, journals are quite personal really so I may be won't blog it all but I've done a page where I couldn't really decide which colour to use so I used them ALL! You have been warned.....!! You may need your shades (or sunnies depending which continent you're viewing from LOL)

Thanks to all the vistors to my blog. Nearly 700 already - AMAZING, thanks for dropping by
:-))))