Colour Exploration Page 8

It's been a while I know!

I got all excited about creating my junk journal

& this page was proving difficult to create

as I originally visualised it!

In the end, I did have to scrap it & start again.

It had turned to mud, despite everything

& just was not worth saving.

I am however, glad I had a second chance

to create what I imagined.

My background colour is created with 

Dina Wakley Media Scribble Sticks.

Lemon & Blackberry with a bit of Magenta

accidentally thrown in!

I also added gelatos through stencils for

extra texture in the background.

I created the circles using a mylar

home made stencil - basic circles.

Finally I wanted to add my favourite burnt lemon juice

to age it but only had lime in the fridge!

Lime doesn't not turn as golden as lemon.

Note to self - Jif lemon on the shopping list.

I used molding paste then gesso over the top.

 That looked too stark so added colour

with the scribble sticks.

Stamping is Vintage Circles - Woodware

Words - Tim Holtz

"it's always the small pieces

that make the big picture".

Junk Journal Insert

I have been delighted by the wild bees

visiting & using my two Bee Houses. 

Four have slept in one of the houses

during all the wet weather this week.

Here are pictures of the houses.

 Here is a little guy moving in.

Now as the bees have been in the forefront of my mind,

it seemed fitting I add them into my art.

I knew I had page 3 (the first insert) to decorate,

so I decided to decorate both sides with

a bee theme, so they carry on from each other.

side 1 - page 3.

 Beehives /bee stamps

Ribbon & papers

Tell the Bees Collection - Craft Consortium.

Seriously, if you have never been to the store,

be prepared to be blown away by all the

gorgeous paper & stamps, not to mention

matching sequins, ribbon & much more.

Also be prepared to spend a lot!

Other products used;

Memory Box Stencil,

Dylusions sprays in Tangerine Dream & Lemon Zest,

both as sprays & mixed in with the gesso.

For the honey, I used the ever so gorgeous

Dina Wakley Media Cheddar Heavy Body Paint.

The words are computer generated & are a quote

by Elizabeth Lawrence (1904 - 1985)

"The hum of bees, is the voice of the garden"

side 2 - page 4.

 This was created with the same medium,

just no cheddar on this page. I also did

negative stenciling on this side. 

The Sunflower is a Memory Box Die

I cut two so I could introduce depth.

The quote, also computer generated,

is by Mark Nepo.

"The flower doesn't dream of the bee.

It blossoms & the bee comes."

 

Page 1 - Fragile Beauty

So, after a tiny tweak,

here is page 1.

I outlined the computer words

with an Inktense pencil & it completed it.

As you can see, the page from Daphne's diary

had faded Hydrangea blooms,

so I mixed the paint to match the colours.

I then used a stencil free with the same

magazine as the stamp, used for page 2.

I used texture paste. 

Once dry, I over painted with some of the

mixed paint & rubbed gold paint over some of

the raised blooms for highlights.

Birthday Wishes for Claire & for Rod

Today is the birthday's of both my ex.train

buddies, Claire & Rod.

Here is what I made for them.

This first card was made back on 10th April!

I knew she liked giraffe's, so when I saw this

stamp by Pink Ink Designs, I knew it was perfect.

I toyed with adding the glasses, but they

wouldn't cut out right & there are no dies.

I coloured all the leaves & flowers with Copics,

in very vivid colours, to resemble

summer in a jungle.

I love how the Copic shading worked on the giraffe.

Those eye lashes are so gorgeous, to make sure that 

I kept those & all the swirls, I stamped in black

directly on the card base & stuck my coloured,

cut out image on top.

 

Next up is Rod's card.

Donna, (his lovely wife) advised he liked feeding the birds.

I vaguely remember him mentioning it during

the train journey, but once Donna confirmed,

I was able to create this for him.

 I can't take complete credit for the design 

as it is something I saw Sandy Allnock do in a video,

but I adapted it to suit my stamps & idea. 

Front depicts decoupage Robin on nest box.

Papermania Home to Nest.

Inside shows the full card.

The panel on the left, blank for my message.

On the right, my bird scene.

The card began as a piece of 320gms cardstock,

that measured 14cms x 30cms.

I rarely use cms, but it was called for to design this

exactly how I wanted it.  

I then scored the piece at the right end to allow 

1/2 cm & the rest folded back onto itself.

I also created a tiny 1/2cm spine in the centre

of the remaining card stock, for this card.

I created another piece measuring 14cms x 15cms,

& made a 1/2cm spine, allowing the rest to fold under.

This was the stamped piece.I built up my shaker element, 

so that it was concealed once spine was attached

in front fold & top was folded onto the 1cm flap on 

right edge. I die cut fun foam to cover the whole back,

cutting the bird feeder from within.

Sounds complicated but it wasn't.

 

This final close up shows the "bird seed" shaken down.

I used 3 colours of seed beads for this.

Stamps & papers are all Home to Nest.

Page Two of Mini Junk Journal

Here is page two!

I know, I can hear you saying now,

"Why not page 1?"

Answer is simples,

I'm not sure if I want to do something 

else to it just now! 

I am not 100% happy with the computer

generated words, they seem stark.

So here is one I am happy with. 😃

I had mixed some paint for page 1, using

Anita's Acrylic - 11044 Coffee

DecoArt Americana - DA179 Alizarin Crimson

this way to make a dusky brown/pink.

The page had faded Hydrangea blooms on it & I

wanted my page to reflect the colours.

I had a bit left, so as I hate waste, I used

it on several pages including this one.

I used ColourCraft Gold Metallic paint

& the stamped image (free with Simply Cards & Papercraft 160)

was coloured with my trusted Derwent Inktense Pencils.

 

 Plus, here is a sneaky peak of page 3!

One side of the Bo Bunny packaging insert

coloured with the excess paint,

stencilled (Tim Holtz Texture Fade) 

& texture paste through the,

Memory Box Honeycomb stencil.

Mini Junk Journal

I have been missing a while, I know!

I am still busy finishing up some birthday

card for June & a small album, 

using Hunkydory crafts arched dies.

I am still working on the Exploring Colour Album,

but I decided to have a clean out!

The entire craft room was sorted (AGAIN)

Anyway, I have been seeing many people making mini junk journals

to art journal in. Mixed Media Jenn, Jennifer Engle, one of my fav

on YouTube, likes to work on small scale

& I used to love making mini books years ago.

So I made a junk journal from my old Daphne's Diary

Magazine Collection 😊

here are a few piccies!

Front Cover 

I stitched the Dior ribbon (from a gift) into the spine.

Disclaimer here, I stitched the pages in upside down.😬

After about an hour of cursing, I cut the binding 

& re stitched it the right way up!

Back Cover

Made the same as the front cover.

Two torn pages from my Dpahne's Diary,

glued down to card stock

using matt medium. Sealed & scored.

 

Inserts (Bo Bunny Stamp Packaging)

Daphne's Diary magazine page insert 

 

Other side of the Bo Bunny insert with left over paint.

The other page with stenciling is a business envelope.

 

I have already made two pages 

& will be sharing VERY soon!😊

Blurred Image Issues on Social Media

I have noticed over the past two to three months,

that the quality of uploaded images are okay when added to the blog,

but once uploaded to Pinterest, Instagram & Facebook,

they become blurred & horrible.

I know these sites want to cut down the resolution of these images

to get more on & prevent the sites loading too slow,

but as I recently agreed to showcase products for

Hunkydory crafts UK, I need my artwork to be seen.

So I spent a lot of yesterday asking questions

& trawling the net trying to find answers to my problem. 

I think I might have found one.

Some of the photo editing apps I looked at were great,

until it came to using the images. They upload great

to Pinterest, BUT they do not link back to me!!

What is the point of adding content if people can't link back to your blog??

Well today I am trying a test post with a image I have resized

especially for Pinterest. 

I am adding it here & then uploading to Pinterest from here. 

I will be interested to see if the image quality is affected. 

If this is a success I will share my source.

No good raving about something if it doesn't work, right?

 

More Easter Cards

Here are the rest of the Easter cards.

This first one is for my sister, Tracy.

She is a clean & simple lover & so I added vellum,

 to create movement & give light.

  This was actually the first one I made but had to wait to share.

Instead of using both pieces of the die set, 

I used just the inner piece & cut it straight from the card blank.

Free die from Die Cutting Essentials issue 40.

I die cut the card blank using the Moonstone Arched Window die 1 by

Hunkydory crafts.

 I used the same Hunkydory die to cut the vellum.

I added the vellum directly behind the birds & left the other piece loose.

Next one, card blank again cut using Moonstone Arches,

Free die cut from Crafter's Companion Centura Pearl Metallic cardstock in Rose Gold 

I love how the sun plays on this card making it look two different colours. 

It's like the arched dies were made for these card blanks, you wouldn't think I did it, you would think they were bought like it. The dies cut so cleanly. 

I used both pieces of the die & attached to the card front.

 

The final design was made in the same way as the card above,

but it was cut from Soft Seafoam cardstock - Stampin' Up.

I bought this & matching ink. It is one of my favourite shades.

 

Easter Cards using Hunkdory Crafts

 My first design, for Dad, features a card blank cut using the

Moonstone Straight Edged Nesting Dies - Arched Windows by Hunkydory Craft.

Product code:MSTONE051 £14.99  Pack of 10 dies.

I used die 1 to cut through both thicknesses of the card blank & then I cut this 2-piece Scenic Swallow die (free with Die Cutting Essentials issue 40)

in several shades of coloured card & pieced them together.

The inside is just two birds from another free die.

 This die is birds of a Feather (free with Tattered Lace issue 54)

I also paper pieced this one & used the spare birds to decorate the inside of my Dad's card. 

The card blank was cut using the Moonstone Arched Windows dies - die 1.

Check back for more Easter cards tomorrow!

Products from Hunkdory Crafts

Recently I was approached by the wonderful UK craft company, Hunkydory Crafts, who asked if I would be happy to use & then honestly review some of their products. I was more than happy to do so as I've purchased their products in the past & had excellent results with them.
Previous projects using their products include a garden shed birthday card for my dad last year,  this was using one of the Hunkydory kits. A nail polish birthday card for a nail technician & I used the kit again to make my Father's day card with the moving Lawnmower.

Below are photos of the products I chose to play with, 

including links to the website so that you can buy them yourself.

First I picked these Moonstone dies - £14.99

Product Code: MSTONE051. 10 dies in the pack. 

The measurements of the dies are;

Straight Edged Arch 1 – W 153mm x 102mm
Straight Edged Arch 2 - W 143mm x 92mm
Straight Edged Arch 3 - W 133mm x 82mm
Straight Edged Arch 4 - W 124mm x 73mm
Straight Edged Arch 5 - W 115mm x 63mm
Straight Edged Arch 6 – W 110mm x 54mm
Straight Edged Arch 7 - W 95mm x 44mm
Straight Edged Arch 8 - W 86mm x 35mm
Straight Edged Arch 9 - W 76mm x 25mm
Straight Edged Arch 10 - W 66mm x 16mm

These are excellent quality dies. All dies have a tendency to bend when they are thin frames, but these dies were very easily molded back into shape after use. They apparently fit with a lot of the Hunkdory Toppers, however i used mine on 240gsm folded card stock to cut arch shaped cards.

I used my Ellison 2005 Big Shot, tab 1, a metal adapter plate & 1 cutting plate. It took only two passes to cut the card blanks. The second pass I tipped upside down to reshape the die.

 My second choice were these Prism Markers - £9.99

Set 10. Product Code: PCM10. 6 pens in a pack.

The pens are extremely high quality & with 6 in a pack, excellent value for money at just £9.99. I collect Copic markers, but since redundancy, money is tight & I can't add to my collection. 

I have non Blue-~Green markers so thought this Turquoise set would fit in perfectly. 

The colours in the pack are;

455 – Glacier
454 – Cyan
458 – Ocean
445 – Spearmint
448 – Emerald
450 – Racing Green

These alcohol markers have a bullet nib at one end, a chisel at the other. They are highly pigmented, smooth to use & are chosen in families to ensure blending is effortless. While they are not refilable,

they are good value & certainly a good first choice for people to try out alcohol markers.

They are versatile markers are permanent and can therefore also be used on acetate, glass, ceramics, wood and metal.

 

Here are my first two projects using these products.

There are more to come over the next two days &

more planned in my head (including a birthday card for 21 May)

This will be used either for a card or a notebook cover.

To make it, I placed die 2 & 3 from the moonstone nesting set onto my watercolour paper 

(Bockingford 140lb hot press) to create an arched frame & embossed them with my embossing mat.

I then used die number 2, to cut  out the arch from a piece of grey board.

The greyboard was attached temporarily to the top of my crafter's Companion Brick Folder

& the paper was placed inside. I embossed the brickwork & the cut out acted to protected the actual arch from getting embossed. I then stamped the swans - Craft Sensations stamps by Grafix.

I coloured the water using the Prism Markers & the swans in grey copics.

I added distress inks to the walls & sky area.

 

 I love historic houses such as Normanby Hall & Elsham Hall,

both local spots & both have walled gardens & lakes.

My second piece is for the front of a card. I like to have a few made on hand to just out together, last minute for an encouragement card or a birthday.

These stamps were free with Creative Stamping issue 43.

I used the Prism Markers to colour the mermaid's tail.

I was able to blend the colours well to get the depth & shade I was after.

The rest was coloured with Copics in greys & bright greens.

Her hair done in Copic yellows. You would not think the tail was done with a totally different set, the markers are just as good for coverage & colour as the copics.

Tomorrow I will share more projects.

I have Easter cards to share & am waiting for them to reach the recipients.

Creating Colour Wheels.

As you know, I am exploring colour

& composition in more depth this year.

I feel it will give my work more depth.

As part of my learning, I have read various

articles & books. 

What struck me most is that everyone uses different paints.

So, I got to thinking, I need to view the colour wheel from my

own view. That is, the colours I own.

It's no good looking at everyone else's if they don't use

what I have got. For example, a fabulous blogger/YouTube girl,

Mixed Media Jenn uses a lot of Dina Wakley Media 

& a lot of other brands.

So I settled down to make my own.

Here are the results.

 This first page features - top; random acrylics.

Crawford & Black / Daler Rowney

The bottom; Dylusions.

This page underneath features PaperArtsy.

I feel this needs doing again,

with a better yellow  shade.

I've left space.

This was a fun, if not messy exercise!

But, I now know what I can mix with what I have.

Have you tried it with your paints?

It's proof you don't NEED to own every colour,

especially if you are just starting out on this crazy train.

Colour Exploration Journal - Page 7

I made this a few weeks ago.

Everyone was playing with crackle texture

& neutral, vintage, grunge colours.

I wanted in on the action too.

So I created a neutral page to take a break from colour.

But these colours sing to me. I adore them!

Titan Buff, Burnt Umber, Crackle Medium.

The under layers are French Roast, Koala,

Egg Shell & Cement by PaperArtsy.

I used watered down burnt umber to get all the cracks showing up.

Adding & taking away, repeating until desired effect achieved.

I added texture paste through Rebekah Meier TCW

stencil mini Ravenscape.

The raven is traced onto an old envelope,

using a stabilo marks all black pencil.

Squares are Septh Apter, die cut from an

old background I didn't like & aged with paints.

I used a palette knife to spread bits of gold hue paint.

I journalled on the bird & added Small Talk stickers.

The final step was adding black nuvo drops.

Bare Bones: Constructing an Art Journal Page.

There are many ways to construct an art journal page.

I have decided to break down the various methods,

into Base, Middle & Final Touches.

Below are three pages in my Colour Exploration Journal,

showing these in flow chart form.

Feel free to copy any of this if it helps you.

I found that by listing my supplies in this way,

I remember what I have & use them.

Base Layer.

This base page focuses on building

the bones of the page & creating texture.

Middle Layer. 

The middle layer page is all about ways

to add colour onto the base.

Final Touches. 

This focuses on ideas for focal points, quotes,

phrases & lists things I would use such

as ephemera, photos, stamped images.

I might well have far less or even more supplies than

who ever is reading this. The idea is, take a few

minutes to draw up a list of what you have, 

get them out & play with them!

If these do spark your imagination, do let me know.

You can share them with me on Instagram.

Colour Exploration Journal - Page 6

This page is based on an Analogous plus

Complementary scheme.

Red, Red-Violet, Violet & Yellow

(Yellow being the complement of violet)

Dylusions Ink; Cherry Pie, Pomegranate Seed,

After Midnight, Lemon Zest.

The stencil is Memory Box Honeycomb

Stamps - free with Simply Cards & Papercraft 186

I absolutely love how this turned out!

I think I actually nailed a good composition & a clear visual triangle.

I used a technique I saw years ago on YouTube.

It was by Masha (Mell PellMell)

I used some old Papermania paper

for my base which was text.

I added stamping & stenciling.

I used some mini Prima Finnabair stamps.

I couldn't find suitable words for the page,

so I made up my own & printed them on my inkjet.

A coat of gel medium stops smudging.

A Home of Her Very Own!

Congratulations to Claire, my ex train buddy.

She's finally gone & done it, she's got her first dream home!

Below is the card I made to congratulate her.

 I started by die cutting the Baroque shape by Tim Holtz.

Then I die cut the house which came free with  

issue 175 Simply Cards & Papercraft.

I coloured the shape using Distress Oxide ink in;

Tumbled Glass / Mowed Lawn.

Coloured the house with Inktense Pencils,

then added all the stamping details with the free stamps

that came with the house die.

Inside, I generated a simple computer sentiment

using the font Consolas, on to matte paper.

I then cut it to fit inside.

Colour Exploration Journal - Page 5

This page is designed around the

Split Complimentary scheme.

I used Yellow-Green, Blue-Green & Red.

Mixing my own colours using;

PaperArtsy - Lemon Meringue / Glass Blue

Dylusions; London Blue / Lemon Zest 

The Red was my Luminarte Silks in Crimson.

Stamp - Be Crafty, Inspired by Banksy - Hope.

Everyone tends to use Let Go,

so I decided to use Don't Hold On.

I used dictionary words to add

to the balloons.

I used a balloon die rather than the Banksy heart.

 

Congratulations Kim & Robbie..

You are Grandparents!

Below is the card I made for them.

 I used Popping In stamp set by Waffle Flower

& the coordinating dies.

I love these Big Bear & Bird designs.

 I coloured them with copic markers.

The images were them adhered to an

embossed piece of card which was a gorgeous

heart framed folder, free with issue 142 of

Papercraft Essentials magazine.

Computer generated You're Grandparents.

Inside the card is stamped quite simply.

I used the Congratulations stamp from the same

Waffle Flower set & the two cute Teddy Bears

are from the MFT Snuggle Bunnies set.

 

 

Helen's Retirement Card

Helen employed me 10 years ago,

when the office was known as Smart & Cook.

We went through the Bluefin rebranding,

 the sale to Marsh & the new name of Jelf. 

She was Office Manager & over the years, 

both Operations Manager & Regional Director.

While wearing many hats, she was also

a strong woman in what used to be,

very much a man's world.

What she has achieved is both admirable

& enviable, I know I could not have done her job.

When a few of us were made redundant, she managed

the situation far better than others higher up did.

As of the end of this month,

she is retiring from the business, to spend

quality time with her spouse, Chris.

I made her this card to wish her well.

Materials used;

Carabelle Studios Background Horloges,

Distress Inks; Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry 

& Twisted Citron, ink smooshing tehnique.

Added words from a Creative Stamping set issue 54,

along with an arrow saying this way.

Added brads to the clock centres.

Sentiment from same set.

Colour Exploration - Page Four

Page Four, so I am behind.

I had planned one page a week,

back in January!

Page Four - Give Yourself Time

This is more personal.

Give myself time to play, I can't job search

24 hours a day it is distressing!

 

Discordant Colour Scheme

To create this page I had to mix up some of my own colours.

To do this I spent an afternoon working

with the colour wheel & my supplies.

I drew wheels & filled them in using my own paints.

I will get round to sharing them at some stage.

I will also share my Layer Maps at a later date.

I mixed Rose & Cerulean Blue for a Red Violet,

for the coloured stenciling, I mixed

Peeled Paint & Twisted Citron distress re-iners into

gel medium. I wish I had made it a little brighter.

For my Red-Orange colour - I used;

Altenew Ink Autumn Blaze.

Stamps;

Heidi Swapp, Crafty Individuals

My observations;

Initially I disliked this from the point of view,

the green stenciling was too pale.

Truth, I loved the purple background so much,

I felt I spoiled it adding the green.

I love the stamping peeking through

& when I did the reduction technique,

the blue from my mix had stained the gesso

underneath a very pale blue. Liked that.

I like my focal point but if I did it again I would choose

a better stencil for the silhouette

& keep it white. The clocks

had already been stamped with the

French imagery from CI, so i just coloured them.

Once I outlined everything it popped.

Still got a visual triangle & strong focal point!