Thank you card

for Caroline & Chris, our neighbours.

They were very helpful & supportive, during a difficult time.

Inside stenciled imagery

(Tim Holtz - Roses stencil & Speckled Egg D/Oxide)

I saw this card by Aida Haron on the Sizzix US blog

& I used part of the front with a little adaption.

Materials;

Heidi Swapp stamp - Script

Kaisercraft stamp - PS. I love you ( clock/ butterfly)

Tim Holtz Thinlits - mixed media set 5

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Speckled Egg

Altenew Inks; Vanilla Cream / Almond Butter

Concord & 9th die - Bitty Thank You

Summer Banner!

Finally completed & hanging, pride of place,

over my fireplace.

It took a fair bit of work, but I'm happy with the results.

I now have a banner for all the four seasons.

Materials;

Dylusions paints - Cocktail Colours

Joggles Stencil

Darkroom Door Stencil

Docraft Mini paper doilies

Imagery, all stamped, coloured

& cut out.

Creative Stamping Magazine issues;

43 / 46 / 54 /59 / 82

Strawberry stamp free with Craft Stamper

Alphas - die cut Alice Xcut.

Changed by what we see...

art journal entry.

I saw an advert on ITV about

more than television.

Sir Trevor McDonald's

words at the end are powerful

& I knew they would work

perfectly with the Visible Image stamps.

Materials;

Prima/Finnabair Stencil - Tapestry

Golden Light Molding Paste

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink;

Mermaid Lagoon / Peacock Feathers

Blueprint Sketch / Chipped Sapphire

Accent colour - Rusty Hinge

Stamps added on tissue paper, 

eyes coloured with posca paint pen

Stamp set - Visible Image - Face It!

Face coloured with more D/Oxides;

Tattered Rose / Worn Lipstick

plus a t/rose, r/hinge mix,

to create a skin tone.

Inks applied using acetate for the background,

drying between each colour.

Face was coloured using a waterbrush.

Dina Wakley Media Gratitude Challenge

Challenge Month 11

Grateful for Colour

First side of the tag book.

Imagery taken from the first Collage Collective

by Dina Wakley.

On the reverse of the tags, 

I added photos of flowers in my garden.

Materials;

Mini circle gel plate

DWM paint - Blackberry / Turquoise

DWM Collage Collective

Invisible Sellotape

Black Embroidery Thread DMC

Georgie's Birthday

Georgie is a resident in our street.

We are like a small family down here

& a card was needed, quickly.

My card making is just not great this year!

Very simple design.

Die cut frame - Xcut

Embossing Folder - Secret Garden - Papermania

Anita 3D butterflies

Happy Birthday to Tracy

Today it's my sister's birthday & we can't see each other,

due to her having damaged ribs.

I sent her some gorgeous Neom Tranquility,

direct from Neom & made her this card.

Materials;

Mini circle gel plate

Gel press petites set.

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Speckled Egg

Brusho Crystal Colours - Purple / Turquoise

Altenew Stamps - leaves

Gold embossed word Sister

Mini gold sequins

A New Baby Card

Jake Leonard arrived a little earlier than expected,

on 3rd July 2020. Mum, Kate was 36 weeks.

I think he is gorgeous & he's doing really well.

Can't wait for the day it will be safe to meet him.

Here is the card

Materials; 

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Speckled Egg

Hero Arts Stamp - Starry Background

( I think that's it's name)

Sizzix Dies - Baby Elephant with Balloon

Copic Markers

Kim's Birthday Card

This card didn't come together well.

In the end I was happy enough to send it out.

Inside

Materials;

Gel print for the background

( So glad I made them )

Die cut frame - I forget the manufacturer

Dogs - stamps from Creative Stamping

Magazine issue 68

Greeting same magazine

I thought this was cute.

Father's Day Card

Father's Day was slightly different due to Covid-19,

but Dad still had some treats.

I made him this card as well.

Materials;

Background started as one of my gel prints.

Tree, Owl, Moon stamps Creative Stamping

Magazine issue 83

Owl re stamped & coloured with copies.

Dina Wakley Media Gratitude Challenge

Challenge Month 10

Grateful for Second Chances

This shows the girl opened

to see the journaling.

It represents a second chance.

Materials;

DWM / TCW mask - Carly / Sally

DWM paint - Marine / Ruby / Lime

Gel print I made

Stencil from Essential Silhouettes

MD249524 stamp set DWM

Dina Wakley Media Gratitude Challenge

Challenge Month 9

Grateful for Stillness

Materials;

DWM Stencil Branches

Gesso

DWM paint - lemon / turquoise

blackberry

DWM Collage Paper - Backgrounds

Dymo label maker - stillness

Tim Holtz - fill my soul

Two Birthdays

Claire & Rod.

Both backgrounds created on the gel plate,

using PaperArtsy fresco paints.

Technique by Kate Crane from the 

Gel Press YouTube channel.

Giraffe for Claire, Bird for Rod.

Dina Wakley Media - Show Us Your Media Gratitude

Challenge month 8

Grateful for Community

This was created on 6th April, but I forgot

to add it to the blog!

Background colours DWM Ocean & Fuchsia

paint. Pebbled Heart stencilled over top.

DWM collage tissue applied on top.

I drew a group of figures to represent

my community on tissue, added Cheddar paint

behind them & stuck where a heart

showed through from the stenciling.

She holds a house, cut from Collage Collective.

Quintessentially British

I wanted soft, feminine and reminiscent

of my love for Afternoon Tea.

I used soft colours of PaperArtsy paint,

then muted them further with 

heavy gesso through the doily

stencil by Tim Holtz. 

Home is the best place

for us all.

Created 17/04/2020

Full details are on my Instagram.

I really love how this turned out.

Stay Home!

It's not forever.

Created 11/04/2020

Full details on my Instagram.

Creative Play

With the world in lockdown due to this frightening virus

Covid-19, deadly Coronavirus,

lots of people in my arty world have taken

to creating more to pass time.

Many of the big names in the world

of products are releasing daily videos

using their products, demos on techniques,

Ideas & much more!

There is so many ideas floating around in my head,

that I felt overwhelmed. So, I decided to

just play with something I bought before I

was made redundant & until now,

have never used. My Gel Press Plate.

Here's what I made.

I began by making a blank, one page book,

as shown recently by Dina Wakley on her 

daily demo. I used a large sheet of mixed media paper.

Then I dug out my Dylusions paints,

Mike Deakin Art stencils & created

pretty backgrounds to print onto each of

the pages. Making a few sticker sheets &

a few backgrounds on copy paper.

I am thrilled with my first attempt. 😊

Wild & Free.

This page was created as a direct

result of the last page I shared.

I had scraped left over gesso onto the

kraft page & sponged off the paint

in Peony Blush.

So I felt this needed to be another

nature page.

I began by stamping Craft Consortium

Wildlife Meadow hares onto the page 

& also onto watercolour paper.

The watercolour paper ones were sprayed with

Dylusions Melted Chocolate & Slate Grey inks

& set aside to dry.

Using the Imagination Crafts Ivy stencil,

I sponged Dylusions Lime & Cut Grass.

Drawing veins with a Posca pen.

I cut out the watercolour hares & added them

directly over the stamped ones.

I find this the best way to get a good

clear focal point & maintain any whiskers.

Using Memory Box Delphiniums stencil,

I added Dylusions paint,

Pure Sunshine & Cherry Pie.

Once dry I added dotted details with posca pens.

I wanted this less busy than the previous page so,

after creating my own Wild & Free quote with the

dymo label maker & adding the Tim Holtz

phrase, I just added my journaling.

 

Spring is in the air.

For this page, I wanted beautiful bright colour,

but it needed to be muted down because,

spring is naturally not as vivid as summer. 

So, I scraped a layer of gesso over the page,

then set to work with stencils to create the background.

I used Dylusions paint in;

Peony Blush, Pure Sunshine, Postbox Red

& Cut Grass through TCW stencil,

Mini Patterns.

 Next I added Peony Blush

through the small flowers, on the Dylusions 

Dyalog Stencil Doodle It

 To tone this down further, I added

white gesso through the large flowers

on the same stencil.

While wet, I added touches of gold foil.

At this stage it looked a hot mess! 

I wanted a little more colour back in so,

I brayered Pure Sunshine onto a large

flower stamp. (Can't remember the brand!!)

I then stamp again over the top,

brayering Cherry Pie paint.

My focal point is large & matches all the colours

in my spread. It was on the back cover

of an issue of Daphne's Diary.

All that was needed for this was a bit of journaling

& the Tim Holtz Quote.

 

Waves....

Kraft cardstock, painted with black gesso.

For this page, I wanted something simple,

but also dramatic. I saw this stencil - Surfer

by Funky Fossil Design & had to have it!! 

To create my "ocean", I added Peacock Feathers,

Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire & Picket Fence

Distress paints to a mini craft mat,

spritzed with water & smushed onto my page.

I dried this thoroughly, then added more

Salty Ocean & Peacock Feathers in the same way,

dried again & added a little more Picket Fence.

Once totally dry, I used the stencil with black gesso.

Dried this off, then used the mask that comes

with the stencil, to add white gesso, to

crisp up the man & give a foam look.

I used Posca pen to add marks & dots.

When it was fully dry, I added a little extra 

colour with my Woody 3-in1 pencils.

I added my journaling all around the page in black.

It reads;

"When times are rough, hold on tight & go with the flow"

"Things always get worse, before they get better, hold on"

"Have the courage to face each day, secure in the

knowledge, you are ok"

"Life is a wild ride, but it is also beautiful."

I then printed my quote about waves, 

using the dymo label maker. 

Stay safe everyone!

 

 

Colour (my world with a rainbow)

is the title of this page in my Colour Exploration Journal.

In fact, I went for a Rainbow!

I made this page using the Inspired to Create

issue 59 - Indigoblu Magazine Kit.

Alll stamped images & the stencil were

in the kit.

 I drew a rough circle so that I could make

my DWM Scribble Stick rainbow.

I have two sets & I selected the colours I wanted to use

before marking the circle out.

Once the scribble sticks were dry, I added versamark ink

through the stencil & applied some 

gold/brown perfect pearls & gold foil.

Once dry, I added texture paste through the stencil 

right on top of them so the pearls gave a shadow look

& added some WOW fine gold embossing powder

heat setting, so I could move on.

Here is a close up of the gold foil & the texture.

 I added stamping directly onto the page

& stamped onto watercolour paper.

I coloured my elements using Woody 3 in 1

pencils, the cut them out & layered them into

a small cluster. I added the three paintbrushes

first then stuck some left over tissue from the 

DWM Adventure challenge page to

"ground" my layered paint tubes.

My quote comes from CS issue 38 &

some Tim Holtz stickers.

I didn't need to add journaling,

the quote & the imagery said it all for me.

Laura's Birthday

Today it is my birthday.

It is also Laura's & this is what I made for her.

I began by making my background on watercolour card.

I used brushos in Lemon, Lime Green, Rose Red

& a little Yellow Ochre. I spritzed & dripped

until happy with the look the dried thoroughly.

I then positioned my piece in my WRMK stamp press

& using Versafine Onyx Black, I stamped the girl (Juliet)

three times to get a crisp image.

I added the daisy to two corners using the same ink.

stamps were free with SC&P issue 123

& are a selection manufactured by Indigoblu.

The sentiment is made up of two words from

CS issue 74. 

I used a little water on a Q-tip to "bleach" the

colour from the daisy petals.

I mounted it onto gold card & then onto the card front.

Never Judge

As soon as I obtained my copy of

Creative Stamping issue 82, I knew

straight away, what I wanted to create

in my art journal!

I wanted a busy, but also subdued background

to emulate chaos behind the calm.

I had watched a YouTube video by

Shawn Petite, on her process of

sandwiches in stenciled backgrounds &

really wanted to give it a try.

You can watch the video here. 

To create the background I used,

Dylusions Paint:- Vibrant Turquoise, 

London Blue, Cut Grass, Pure Sunshine,

Cherry Pie, Peony Blush & Black Marble.

Stencils;

Tando creative - Distressed Sequins,

TCW - Well Rounded, Harlequin, Mini Patterns

& Art Is

Natalie Kalbach - Dots.

Stamps;

Numbers - Indigoblu

Shoes, Signpost, Footprints - CS82

(These were designed by Hunkydory crafts

for creative Stamping) 

The words added to the signpost are done

in gel pen to make them stand out.

Quote created on my dymo label maker.

 I particularly like how the parts of the Art Is stencil

that show through are the words "surface"

"experiences" & "what might"

very apt for my journaling.

It is about never knowing what another person is

going through on a daily basis. Never knowing

the burden they carry, the demons they are fighting.

Dina Wakley Media Show Us Your Media Gratitude

Challenge Month 7

Grateful for Adventure

To create my page, I began by making my own

patterned tissue, using the girls head free with SC&P 

& some very old Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque)

Stamps & one from Paperbag Studios.

This was then left to dry while I created my page.

I added colour using DWM Scribble Sticks;

Sky, Magenta, Mineral, Aloe & Night then did the ghost

technique with the free Dylusions stencil from the same SC&P.

While this was drying I turned my attention to the focal

point, which I decided was to be a tag.

I added some of the tissue down the side & the

same stamping. I added the dictionary definition

& after stamping the girl's head,

I created a rough body with Black Scribble Stick.

I coloured in using Lemon & Lime Scribble Sticks.

As the page was dry, I added my tissue across the top of the

colour & added a little more stamping.

Next I wrote my journaling across the top of the tissue.

I saw that the girls head on the tissue

had landed right over the magenta area & it

looked like a floral dress so I coloured the flowers yellow.

To finish I added more journaling to the side of the

tag & then glued it onto the page.

I added my title using a mix of Tim Holtz Stickers.

 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday.

As he is keen on astronomy,

having his own telescope, I thought I would 

put some celestial stamps to use.

Here's what I made him.

 I wanted to use my Lawn Fawn Reveal Wheel Dies,

unfortunately, they are only sized for 3 - 4 images.

There are 8 Moon phases.

So, I had to cut a larger circle & fashion my own

front panel, which while it went okay,

it lacked the gorgeous faux stitching.

 I inked my panel with regular distress inks in;

Tumbled Glass / Broken China /

Chipped Sapphire & Black Soot.

I then used the In The Wild Stencil by Funky Fossils,

to add in the tree line across the bottom.

I stamped & heat embossed all the

constellations from the Upon A Star stamp

set from Lawn Fawn. I added an earth using the

die cut circle left from the window

& partial stamped it with a map stamp.

I have only shown photos of two of the

moon phases, as there are 8 & it would be 

rather too boring.

What you can't see in the photos, is that 

I spritzed the fronts with perfect pearls,

pearl & water for a shimmer.

Below is a quick photo of the inside.

The greeting comes from Creative Stamping issue 28.

While it was meant for Oscar/Red carpet,

 type birthdays, it shows how you can find sentiments

to fit any occasion.

 

Balance

This journal page formed in my head

while eating breakfast one morning!

Good thing is, it turned out

exactly as it was in my head!

I began as always with gesso on the page.

I then drew in where I wanted the

large circle to be.

Next, taking my Golden Light Molding Paste,

I applied it randomly through the

Mike Deakin Art Split Circles Stencil.

Once these were dry, I added the large

circle with the same paste using my homemade stencil.

I let these dry for a few hours, while I did some shopping.

Once back, it was time to add colour.

I went with Lindy's Gang Starburst Sprays;

Ponderosa Pine Olive /   Sea Grass Green

Whale Watch Blue & Clam Bake Beige.

I added a little more gesso around the edges &

over brushed the circles until I was happy.

Then I used a Prima/Finnabair script stamp

to add interest on the circles.

I stamped my girl (free with CS issue 66)

& coloured her with Copic Markers.

I wanted her to appear sat, balancing on the largest circle.

I then added shading with Derwent Inktense pencils. 

I used the stamp phrases (also issue 66) & printed

Balance on my Dymo Label Maker.

I shaded them with Stabilo Woody 3in1(880/570 Light Green)

Cult Pens 

 My journaling is done in paint pen & just

says how balance is essential in every aspect

of our daily lives.

Birthday card for Eve.

Eve is our street's eldest resident.

She was born on 29th February,

so she doesn't get to celebrate 

the actual day, all that often.

Frank, another resident, who sadly passed away 

in September, last year,  

was also born the same day of the same year.

What's the chances of that!!

They were no relation to each other.

Well Eve is now the oldest at 92 today!

Not only is she a resident of our street,

but a long standing family friend.

One of her brother's, was my Dad's

best friend, right through school.

I made the card using Brushos

in Rose Red & Alizarin Crimson.

I then dry embossed with this gorgeous

folder by Brenda Walton.

To highlight the design,

I rolled white gesso over with a brayer.

Stamp is a free one with CS issue 58 

 

Infinite Beauty

This page began as a direct result of the

Dina Wakley Media Gratitude Challenge.

I had mixed my own paint for it & used this page,

to use up the left over.

Paint is precious, right?!

So on the gesso pages,

I applied the Lime+Lapis (IVY)

& Lime+Sky (Cactus).

Now I needed to bring them together.

(Not easy to photograph)

I used the same Leafy stencil that came with

the "Little Birds" DWM clear stamp set to

apply Lime, Sky & white over the

colour & stencil clean ups.

I then took the same DoCraft stamp & added

the black foliage, grasses etc.

In the stamp set are flower heads,

so I also added some of those before

setting to work colouring & adding details

with my Posca Paint Pens.

My quote is by John Ruskin.

I like to work small, but every now & then,

it's fun to mix it up with a double spread.

Should have took a couple of

close up shots, but if you click on

the picture it is bigger.