Day of The Dead

or Dia De Los Muertos...

A Mexican Celebration of the dead.

31st October -2nd November. 

Not to be confused with Halloween.

This is a time when they honour all the 

loved ones that have passed away.

As I created Enid's Tombstone,

I decided on a Day of the Dead journal page.

I had such fun with this page.

First I stamped on the background,

using chicken wire & gothic text.

Then I stamped my skull - Sheena Douglass

I began adding Scribble Sticks 

in Lime & Tangerine.

Once dry. I added Lime & Orange Dylusions paint

to get drips. Then Black Marble Dylusions

to get dramatic drips.

To colour my skull I began with

Septh Apter/PaperArtsy Buff

chalk paint, then decided it needed

to be just a tad whiter.

I stamped the eyes & flowers on 

my handmade washi & paint paper.

I die cut a hat twice, once in grey, once

in black using an XCut die.

Added detail with Black & White Posca pens,

before the final detail of white splashes &

Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Label die letters. 

I'm really happy with this page.

 

Get Well Card

A neighbour recently had a nasty

accident, when he was knocked off

his bicycle, leaving him with a broken shoulder,

broken rib & a lot of pain.

I made this card to let him know

we were thinking of him 

& wishing him a speedy recovery.

Front is made using Tim Holtz Distress Marker,

smooshed with acetate in Salty Ocean,

then the same using a gold & turquoise Woody.

I love how the blues blended in the middle

& how the sky looks so natural.

I bet I couldn't do that again!

Stamps are Stampin' Up Wetlands

(previously loved set) & the sentiment 

was from a free set.

I continued the design over to the inside,

stamping the Canada Goose. The grasses 

are actually a brush stroke stamp by

Marianne Design called Eline's Brush.

The sentiment again was free. 

 

Tombstone of Enid Trot

Warning!

Photo heavy post!!

Enid Trot spent her adult life, cultivating herbs,

creating lotions & potions, to heal people.

Her Grandmother taught her which plants

to select from the woods & how to help

with childbirth in the small village, where she lived.

One day, the local vicar heard about Enid,

scared it was magic & witchcraft, he alerted the

witch-finder Matthew Hopkins, to her crimes. 

On discovering this, the villagers told Enid. 

So petrified of being taken, was Enid, that she died 

that very night of fright.

Villagers now, visit her grave & place roses down.

They turn black & the stories say, it is Enid's anger,

because she had no time to teach 

all her ways to a new apprentice. 

Here is Enid's Tombstone.

 Words made using Tim Holtz Alphanumerical

dies "Label". I did online searches

of graves to see most writing is engraved.

So added words on top would look wrong.

I also noticed no matter how old the grave,

they were never totally overgrown.

So I have kept this quite clear & focused more

on creating realistic crumbling stonework.

Tim Holtz Garden Greens Ivy,

coloured with paints & Copic markers.

 Mulberry paper roses (purple) painted black,

using black gesso. Sprayed with Dylusions

Slate Grey in hard to reach spots.

Pot was made with Air Drying Clay (Aldi)

I was pleased with how it turned out!!

Papermania Charm (Madam Payraud) 

Image from a selection by Prima/Finnabair

Ranger Crackle Accents

Broomstick made from Jute & skewer,

YouTube video by Maive Ferrando.

This is how it began.

A That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF Upright Arch 

(5 in a pk £10.99)

I added brown paper first, wrinkled to give

some texture. (Jack's bag for bakery goods)

Then I added a first layer of Golden Pumice Gel.

This shows the first lot of colour.

Paint by PaperArtsy in Koala / Truffle

Steel Grey / Taupe / Stone /  Zucchini

plus Winter Green 

Wedding Anniversary Card

for my sister, Tracy & hubby, Martin.

Another clean & simple design.

Frame is Altenew Geo Frames,

embossed with WOW Fine Detail Gold 

Flower is Altenew Floral Art,

stamped in Moon Rock,

Rose Quartz & Purple Wine Altenew Crisp Inks. 

"For You" free with Creative Stamping 74,

embossed in the same gold powder.

Interesting Spider!

Now you never thought you'd hear me say that!!

Yes! A Spider!

I am not entirely sure, but having done some digging,

I believe this to be a Male 4 Spot Orb Weaver. 

It states they are hard to idenitify! 

This funky little dude was sat on a wall

over at my Dad's house & to be honest

I thought it was a pebble.

Then it moved. So we popped him on the windowsill

so I could get some piccies!!

I think he's kinda cute!

for a spider 😲😲

Those markings are amazing.

I think it is male because they reportedly have

a sort of leaf shape on their abdomen.

Seriously, I thought that was their back!!! 

He thinks he is a crab & is very good at throwing himself

off walls & playing dead!

Again, another funk dude I have never seen

in my life, nor heard of!

 

Dina Wakley - Show Us Your Media Gratitude.

Be Grateful for Obstacles

This is the second prompt of a year long challenge.

You have to use at least one item of

Dina Wakley Media art supplies.

I don't have masses, but I will need to get creative!

Here is my entry.

Look at all the scrummy colour!!!

I began by putting down some patterned tissue

by Papermania, which features images from

the Madame Payraud collection.

It is mostly hidden except the bird, which I drew 

to make it look a little different.

I scrapped Dylusions paint over some white

gesso using a spatula in the colours;

 Postbox Red, Squeezed Orange

& Lemon Zest. I used a free Dina Wakley stencil

that came in SCP Magazine issue186.

It was fabulous as it came with four mini sets of

stamps & stencils from Dylusions / Letter It,

Wendy Vecchi & Dina Wakley.

I used the Dina Wakley Stencil & Mask

set by TCW Sally & Carly.

for my focal point, positioning her over the bird.

I added white scribble stick to soften the colour

inside the silhouette & Stabilo All in black

to outline her.

I die cut some Tim Holtz Garden Greenery & used

them as stencils to add Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise

to the silhouette & around my page.

I then added one of the die cuts on the page.

Using my black & white posca pens,

I highlighted the block stenciling as they represent obstacles.

Words, a mix of Tim Holtz & my brother label maker.

 

My theory behind this page is,

while I lost my job through redundancy,

it gave me chance to slow down the pace of life & appreciate

just what I do have.

I got time to enjoy the garden, see the wildlife,

spend time with my neighbour, who has now passed away

& plan for the future. So while this has been a massive

obstacle, I have found gratitude in dealing with the fall out!

 

 

I've got a new journal!

I hand made this from Watercolour, Bristol & Kraft

cardstock folded into single signatures & then

coptic bound them together.

Here is my second entry, pages 2 & 3.

(The first is an Art Angel, page 4, from the 

creativity & wellness summit, which is not yet complete)

To kick off this journal in style,

I went bold!

 I wanted white space, bold colour & bold imagery.

I got all I wanted.

Materials;

Dylusions paint;-

Squeezed Orange / Postbox Red

Lemon Zest / Fresh Lime / Black Marble

Dina Wakley Media - Weird is Good 

Book text & gauze.

My background is stenicled using

Dylusions Dyalog Stencil It!

Posca paint pen highlights.

The images were stamped on old

encyclopedia pages & coloured with paint.

I added dots to the backgrounds & hats

for that additional quirky feel.

Finished it up with splats from the posca pens

& words from the stamp set.

In the rear of my dad's car, i found 

a first aid kit from 2005!

The gauze was painted with Black Marble 

& stuck behind each image.

This was so much fun!!

The final entry

in my mini junk journal!

(not the last page, this is page 27)

my title for this one is Just be how you feel.

Again, I had fun with colour, except this time

I did not cover it up!

I had no idea where this was going beyond

the colours, stenciling & words.

Materials;

Dylusions paint:

Bubblegum Pink/ Lemon Zest

Postbox Red / fresh Lime 

Tim Holtz - Paper Doll

Crafty Individuals tree stamp

Tim Holtz Chit Chat

Stenicl - Dylusions Dyalog - Doodle It 

Memory Box Flower die & Butterfly.

To start I added paint, wipe some away

the applied more paint directly over where I had removed.

I stamped Donna Downey word stamps several times.

Then I hit my "bits box".

A box full of die cut pieces from other projects.

I found some torn map, text, a small frame,

the butterfly which I painted & the flowers

which were already die cut & coloured.

I also found the paper lock from the TH Bigz die.

I like how you can see "be" in the keyhole.

My thoughts for this were, simply, be

what you feel. People are good at telling you to 

"be brave", "be strong", be this, be that.

Yes you should try to be all these things, but sometimes,

just sometimes, allow yourself to be what you want.

If you feel sad, be sad! If you feel vulnerable, be it.

Only by embracing how we feel, can we accept it,

work through it & move on. 

The summit taught me a lot!

 

Home

Another entry in my near full, junk journal.

I was feeling the need for bold colour

& having looked through Pinterest,

I found Andrea Ockey Parr's video on

creating Washi tape & Paint paper.

This looked fun & if nothing came 

of a journal page, at least I would

have something pretty.

Having been watching the Willowing Arts

Creativity & wellness summit, I took

time out to just play. Having paint all over my fingers

was therapeutic & I took 

pleasure in the process. 

 

However, I chickened out!

I thought my colours were too bright

& brayered gesso over the top!!

Once I had cut up some of my paper

into a house & fence, I thought I would use

Dylusions Spray to give some oomph.

That also backfired.

So I brought out the big guns..

my oil pastels & posca paint pens in

black & white.

I am far happier with the results.

In view of all the sadness surrounding

the street & my 1st anniversary of being

made redundant,

I had great fun with this colour.

So much so that I decided I needed more brightness!

The next page I share will be the final piece

in this handmade junk journal.

The piece after will be in my brand new,

 coptic bound, hand made journal. 😀

 Page painted with black gesso.

White heavy gesso stenciled using

City Grid - TCW

Words - Tim Holtz

& Lisa's Altered Art.

House - my own drawing.

 

Junk Journal Page

Dedicated to my next door neighbour, Rose.

Rose sadly passed away on 22nd September,

just two days after we laid another of

our neighbour's, Frank,  to rest.

Three neighbours' gone, 

all within 10 weeks of each other.  

Although her name was Rosemary, I only

ever called her Rose.

She was a fabulous neighbour &

a good friend to me. I miss her very much.

Still doesn't feel real.

Our kitchen windows face each other across

the drive & I expect to see her

every time I go into the kitchen.

As this post goes live,

we shall be heading to her funeral.

I had to take two photos of this page,

as it was difficult to capture.

The page began life as a business

envelope & I added acetate to the window,

to protect the real dried roses inside.

 

 Neither image is great as the shine

reflecting off the window is impossible to

remove to get a picture at all.

 I simply painted the page

Dylusions Post Box Red & added Prima

stamping in Black Archival ink.

I added French script stamping.

Backed the flowers (Lakeland Limited)

using paper painted with black gesso.

Added a Tim Holtz word phrase

& Lisa's Altered Art.

To add a little more I used gold foil.

Dina Wakley Media - Show Us Your Media Gratitude

A Year of Gratitude Challenge.

Yes, I am late to the party!!

I created but forgot to photograph.

But, I am hoping I can still play for

the month of September, because while

I am late, I bring booze!!

Hahaha!

Seriously, I saw this challenge & thought

what a great chance to play monthly.

I even handmade a journal especially

for this event. It wasn't a great success,

but it was my very first blank coptic bound book

to include a cover. Normally I only bind

when the book is done.

Anyway, less chat more art!

 To create my page, I used scribble sticks directly

on the Nathalie Kalbach stamp in Blackberry & Tangerine.

I dried the images after I had stamped them off randomly

on the page. I then dripped & splattered the Lime scribble stick

onto the page, moving some of the colour with a wet brush.

Once dry, I used archival black ink to stamp the

large circle around the most coloured image.

Using theTangerine scribble stick, I stamped 

another of the texture stamps from the set.

My journaling is a mess because every pen I tried was running out!

It says how I love cuddles with cat, Kia, soft blankets, rain on my garden,

bees, butterflies & moths.

I printed some of them with my brother label maker,

then doodled. I seem compelled to doodle on my pages

recently & I am loving the effect.

I am very pleased with how this turned out.

Here is the front cover of my handstitched journal.

I used an out of date road map to cover & washed a little gesso

over. I have highlighted all the places I have been

& where my sister has lived & I plan to add

Clear Nuvo over them to permanently mark them.

Here is the back cover & I plan to do the same.

 This journal is made up of 140lb hot press

bockingford watercolour paper, bristol smooth

& Kraft cardstock.

and here it is,

 the New Baby card, for proud parents,

Yasmin & Shay.

Yasmin's parents own The Pea Bung,

on Grimsby's Freeman Street Market.

Best fish & chips ever!!

Yasmin worked the seating area &

when we knew she had delivered her daughter,

we got this card straight to them.

Photos need no explanation.

 Materials;

Die Cutting Essentials(DCE),

 issue 51 free box die

Papermania Booffles Button embossing folder

Stamps & Dies - Snuggle Bunnies MFT

Cloud Border die - Sunny Studio

Die cut clouds - free issue 25 (DCE)

Balloons & strings - Celebration Box

Honey Bee Stamps & Dies

Balloons at very back - die bought for me,

manufacturer not known.

Not a lot of Art..

going on!!

I have been working on a new baby

card & had to wait until the

baby was born 

before giving to the recipient.

It was elaborate & so I didn't create

much of anything else.

Friday 20th Sept was taken up

as I had a funeral to attend.

Sunday the 22nd Sept, I spent

most of the day in Kings Lynn.

We went to see my step nephew,

as he recently turned 21.

 

However,

I have some photos to share.

This is one of my favourite views

in my garden.

This little guy has now changed from

bright green to his adult colours.

He is a Shield Bug. 

In France they are usually red.

 He has fabulous patterning on his

back & funky stripes.

 

Now this little guy is the best of all! 

He comes by my house every evening

& eats any biscuits, left out for 

any of the neighbouring cats.

Kia can't eat biscuits & I refuse to throw them out.

Plus, if she doesn't eat her meat,

it gets saved for "heggy".

The amusing thing is, I know when he is outside

the door, because he stands on the bowl to 

reach inside & it makes 

a chinking sound on the concrete. 

He doesn't mind if I go

outside & tip them out for him.

I'm saying him, but it could just as well

be a her so in that case "hetty"

Either way, I love it!!