Another month already .....

Minky Girl by Daniel Torrente for Stampotique

Scroll, butterfly and script by Tim Holtz

Inks and paints by Dylusions

Wow, how did it get to be may already?! One of the things about doing a calendar like this, is that it makes you realise how quickly time goes by. April went by in a haze of school holidays and bank holidays, and now I'm longing for a bit of routine again! 

For my May pages I pushed myself out of my comfort zone - not a lot, just a little. You may not think I've done anything different but I did, I used purple (although, to be fair it does look a lot like pink in this photo!) and as a rule I don't do purple. Not sure why, it's just a colour that doesn't sit comfortably with me. Here's how it looked before I added the squares and details:

And here's a closer look at Minky girl, scowling as she does LOL! I found this wonderful quote (by Shakespeare of course) to accompany Minky. Just in case you can't read the small print, its the one that begins .... Shall I compare thee to a summer's day.......

Don't forget to link up using the linky gadget below as this is proving to be a really easy way of visiting other challengers. Well done to all of you who are still in! We have completed 1/3 of the year, only 2/3 to go! I have really enjoyed visiting all of you and seeing the wonderfully different creations every month.

Yesterday I taught a 'Journal Inspirations' class to a lovely group at Art from the Heart. We had a lovely time getting inky and painty. Have a look at Ann's blog here to see her fab journal pages, and what she had to say about the class.

Here they all are hard at work:

And here's a page I started in class yesterday as an example of finger painting! I completed the journaling later when I got home. The image I added to my page looks rather prim, so I used the 'Queens English' for the quote (which is not how I usually speak at all! Know what I mean, like, innit?!) The journaling on this page page refers to my discomfort at using purple on my calendar page.

Image by Tumblefish Studio

Byee for now.

A few sneak peeks

Paints, inks and stamps by Dylusions

Tomorrow I am teaching a 'Journal Inspirations' class at Art from the Heart in Harrogate so here's a few sneak peeks at some of the backgrounds we'll be working on. All of the backgrounds will be created with fingers (! Ha! I LOVE a bit of finger painting!) and an old credit card.

We'll be playing with acrylic paints, ink sprays, rubber stamps, oil pastels, stencils, images, washi tape and anything else we can get our mitts on! 

Image by Tumblefish Studio

Moth by Dyans Downloads

This class sold out pretty quickly but I think I still have  a few places left on this class here if you missed out on this one but want to get inky and painty with me :-)

I'll be seeing some of you tomorrow! Bye for now ......

Stampotique Designers Challenge Time!

Olive Rose by Olivia Thomas

Carol's flower by Janet Klein

French Text by Jo Capper Sandon

All by Stampotique Originals

It's the Stampotique Designers Challenge time again! This time Kim has challenged us all to follow a sketch for our creations. Now, I don't follow sketches very often at all .... infact hardly ever, so this was a real challenge for me. Would you believe that this is attempt 4?! The first two went in the bin, and the third is a journal page that moved too far away from the sketch (I'll share that one when it is finished).

I used a combination of distress inks and Dylusions pearl ink sprays to create the background, and then stamped Olivia Rose onto vintage text. I couldn't resist giving her a stripy hat and some pink cheeks :-)

I then added some wonky stitching and torn strips of sheet music:

Click here to see the sketch and join the challenge. It's the second challenge of the month so only Stampotique stamps for this one. There's a $30 Stampotique gift certificate up for grabs for one lucky winner. Visit the rest of the design team here for more inspiration.

Byeeee for now.

I'm baaaack!

Head by Rian Designs

Body by Tumblefish Studios

Inks and paints by Dylusions

Wow, was I really only away for a week?! It seems like absolutely ages ...... Oooh but I've had a lovely time, and for once, I really chilled out :-) I love going away for a short break but you seem to come home to chaos - no food in the house, an overgrown garden and approximately 57 loads of washing (ok, ok, I exaggerate .... it was only 56 loads of washing hahaha!)

I managed to complete a page in my leather bound journal while I was away. Here's the background before I journaled on it:

And here's a close-up of the doll's head (Rian designs) on a vintage body (Tumblefish Studios). I just love spooky dolls :-)

Now, can I share a few of my holiday pics with you? Can I?!

I just love stumbling across random, weathered bits of metal jutting out of stone on the beach:

And who doesn't love shells? My Mum was with us on this holiday and she still collects shells ..... her coat rattled when I picked it up hmmmmmm....

 I loved this impossibly green tree in the middle of trees with no leaves still. (Did you know that spring travels north at approx 50 miles a day? I only found that out recently).

One day we went on a sculpture trail and I was very excited to find this - it's a collection of found items (from the beach).  It was a random collection of toys, shells, animal skulls and general junk. Fabulous!

Seals, relaxing. Ahhh!

So, do you want to know where I was? Here's a big clue:

All together now ...

'What's the story in Balamory,

wouldn't you like to know?

What's the story in Balamory,

wouldn't you like to go?'

(Note for my overseas visitors: Balamory is a UK children's TV programme filmed in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull in North West Scotland, so it's very familiar to UK parents!)



Hope you all had a great Easter weekend.  Be round to visit you all soon! Byeeeeeeeeeeeee

Taking a few days off ...

Well, it's time for me to take a few days break and spend some quality time with my family  :-) I'll be back soon, and in the meantime I hope you'll all be enjoying the extended Easter break. Byeeeeeeeeee for now.