Wednesday 8 June 2011

A challenge, some journaling and a whippet!

Nether by Daniel Torrente
Crown and heart cube by Jo Capper-Sandon
Bella by Josie Cirincione

Hmmmmm, the challenge set for us this time over on the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog was set by Joanne. Joanne is the queen of all things clean and simple so of course her challenge to us all this time is to make something clean and simple. YIKES! As I usually have about 17 layers of messy, inky, grungy stuff on my creations this one took me right out of my comfort zone. Still, that's the point of a challenge, right?

I used the gorgeously gruesome Nether as my main feature stamp and I couldn't resist adding the word Bella right underneath her! If you fancy playing along with this challenge have a look here where you will find all the details and plenty of inspiration. As it is the first challenge of the month you can use any stamps although it's great if you choose to use Stampotique of course, and don't forget there's a $30 gift certificate up for grabs for one lucky winner.

Here's a couple of close-ups of the stitching with a bit of added text, I added to my CAS creation:



OK, back to the grungy stuff! A little while ago I taught a class on art journaling on a mini scale at Art from the Heart, to a full and wonderful class. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me as it is still being repaired ....grrrrr ..... however you can see some of the fantastic work created if you have a look here:


For some people on the class, art journaling was a first, infact some hadn't really used paints before so getting their hands messy was a bit of a shock! But they all did a brilliant job :-)

This is what I made during the day:

Paints and inks by Dylusions

And here's a grungy background which I didn't quite get round to finishing on the day:

Paints and inks by Dylusions
Stamp by 7gypsies

But here are the pages, finished, side-by-side:


Thanks for all your lovely comments about Bailey, our re-homed whippet. She has settled in extremely well and has made herself at home. Here she is after a particularly exhausting run after a tennis ball :-)


And finally .... sorry if I haven't left you a comment recently but BAD BLOGGER is still not allowing me to leave comments on blogs. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. Today it is repeatedly asking for my password so I cant get any further than that *sigh* I'll be round just as soon as I can.

Byeeeeeeee for now

32 comments:

  1. Greta work. I like grunge and chaos better than CAS, but your challenge entry is great! Glad your doggy is settling in, give her a hug from me! Valerie

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  2. Love your CAS card, very effective and still done in your style. Love love your journal pages. Great to see your little friend has settled in too. Tracy x

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  3. Love your CAS card and your pages. Perfect art work, Kate!

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  4. Whoa!!! Kate, I love your C&S, it sure doesn't look like it was hard work :) I love the stitching wih bits of text :)

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  5. Hi Kate

    Love your pages, especially as I saw them develop from a blank page.

    I've also been having problems with Blogger and comments, but have found that if I log out every time I leave Blogger (and make sure the remember me box is unticked) then I've been able to comment and it hasn't not recognised me. It's a pain having to login every time, but it has worked. Hope this helps.

    Liz

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  6. great cards, love the sewing around your bella card.

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  7. I have found away past the password problem! Below the box where you comment alot of blogs give you the option to use Name/Url. Select that and a box will come up for you to type your name and the url to your blog. Now you really only have to type your name as it says url is optional. Then click post comment and see it that will work for you. I've had good luck with that. Still frustrating though.

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  8. Lots and lots of gorgeousness in this post Kate! You did a fab job on the CAS card - I must stitch some text to card it looks great.
    Glad to hear Bailey is now settled in x

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  9. I *love* those tiny snippets of trapped text! I expect I'll be trying that out soon.

    re: Blogger - the same thing's been happening to me for a fortnight but I get round it by using Firefox rather than Internet Explorer [I've had to do it to write this in fact]. Hope that helps.

    Julie :-)

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  10. i love those tiny pieces of stitched text too. really makes it Kate. she's a lovely dog

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  11. Ha! Bad blogger only lets me comment on blogger blogs with pop up boxes these days, so I use the name & URL all the time now even though I have to type it in every time.

    Anyway, fab pages. I haven't done "proper" painting or art journalling for so long now, but the delicious colours in your pages always makes me want to reach for the paints. They're fab my dear!

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  12. Great card Kate and even if it is CAS it is still your style. Love the finished Mini journal pages it's good to have seen them from start to finish.
    I am so happy Bailey has settled in so well as a big dog lover it's wonderful to see her so happy, or should I say "small person big dog lover"LOL xx

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  13. Oh Kate, such inspiration, this card is fantastic, brilliant use of the text. Of course I adore your journal pages, and thanks for the shout. Sandy Poppins has found a way round blogger, this is what she sent me
    Under the comment box, it asks you to select a profile - before the problems I was always signed in under google account - so thats what I kept selecting - but it kept taking me to the sign in page, which I did but it still wouldn't let me post the comment, so I decided to sign in with my name and blog address as the URL and it works.

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  14. if I could get a background like that one with all the drips and circles, I would have been happy to frame it as is!!! you do awesome work.

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  15. Great pages - chock full of inspiration and eye candy, Kate! Your Bella is "bella"!!! And I'm so happy to hear that Bailey is settling in. A tired dog is a good dog!!! Hugs, Terri xoxo

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  16. OMG. I think you aced the challenge. It rocks. and I am so pleased Bailey has settled in. Looks like he found the right home to hang is paws. As always, your blog kick starts my creative juices to over flowing!!!!!!

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  17. All so delightful! :]
    Love it all, thank you for sharing.
    What a great visit today on your blog... HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

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  18. Hi Kate! Fabulous journal pages and your dog Bailey is super cute! My boys want a bigger dog but they are stuck with our small little fluff ball Mila who does not play fetch very well!
    Hugs and blessings

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  19. all the pieces are gorgeous!@!! i love the first one best. i love a mix of drawing and sewing with mixed media.

    your whippet is lovely! I've had retired racing greyhounds and they are fun dogs!!!

    and i've also had the same posting problem lately. in fact, i'.. be surprized if it lets me post here LOL

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  20. Gorgeous journal pages Kate and do love your challenge page too... Bailey is absolutely too cute...

    Jenny x

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  21. I too would struggle with the clean and simple challenge, as I tend to add layers of messiness into my creations. Your CAS project turned out lovely - thank goodness for challenges that help to stretch our creativity! Great job!

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  22. Fab simple piece Kate, your backgrounds that follow are fab too !!

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  23. Aha! Here I am at last - I'm suffering the blogger problems too :(
    This is a wonderful 'clean and simple' piece from you Kate - but you've still given it your magic touch :D I too am enamoured of the use of book text :)x

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  24. love your artwork kate. LOVE that pooch! too cute for words!

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  25. OHMYOHMYOHMY... the machinestitching with the little papers.... Love, love, LOVE IT!!!

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  26. Love Bailey and love you Stampotique challenge entry Kate! The stitching with the paperpieces is wonderful!

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  27. Love the CAS Stampotique card-it's fabulous!The art journal pages are stunning too!

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  28. I adore your CAS. it's definitely CAS but it's still so you! brilliant!

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  29. I would so love to take one of your art journaling courses...I just started this past fall, and am starving for new techniques and the kinds of textured, layered backgrounds you describe and show here today! Thanks for sharing your examples and links!

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  30. I would love to take one of your courses, I attempted to do some art journaling last night, the idea was great in my head, but it just didn't really happen, I am too embarresed to share it!! I think one of your courses, its a shame I live so many miles away!

    love your C&S Love the framje yoy created with the stitching and text detail! so creative!!

    Hugs Juls

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  31. fabulous card!!! love that bit of text paper peeking out of the stitching! Good luck with Bailey! She is a cutie!

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  32. Hey! Great pages. If you are still having problems commenting with blogger (I did) try using a different browser. My problem only occurred in Firefox. I was able to go to Safari and comment away. Only problem is all of my bookmarks, etc are on my Firefox. :-(

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