Thursday 29 September 2016

Sugar Skull Birthday

This card was a commission, but as the recipient's birthday was yesterday it seemed safe to share.  I was given the brief of purple as a main colour and sugar skulls as a theme.  I recently bought some of the stamps, dies and embossing folders from the Day of the Dead collection by Sheena Douglass and Crafter's Companion, so these seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
The photo looks blue, but was definitely purple!

Wednesday 28 September 2016

WOYWW #382 More Brusho Backgrounds

Hi and welcome to What's On Your Workbench Wednesday as hosted on Julia's Stamping Ground.  This is my desk as it looked late yesterday after a day's crafting with my friend.  She was batch making toppers for Christmas cards using Brushos and Pixie Powders as a background.  I loved the look of what she was doing and had a go myself.  The result: one complete card, a topper and an amazing background sheet.

Tuesday 27 September 2016

Patchwork Background

This card was made for my son's birthday several years ago; I recently came across it when going through a box of old cards.  The laptop definitely fits the bill, but the can is a Diet Coke as he doesn't drink.

Thursday 22 September 2016

Pick A Stick Challenge September 2016

I must admit that I put off this challenge for a while, as I couldn't picture what I was going to do with the steps as listed in this month's challenge.  I also had to find some wrapping paper, as I don't have any printed tissue paper.  I had already looked out some waffle paper and had it sitting on my desk.  However, once I made the effort to fetch some wrapping paper from the house and discovered the printed words and phrase in the Sunday Supplement, the ideas just seemed to flow.  I suppose that the moral is to just get started!  I'm actually rather pleased with the finished page and will be sharing it with #PASC916.

Wednesday 21 September 2016

WOYWW #381 - Back in the Saddle

List of prompts and journal at the ready
The new school term is back in full swing and even though I don't work on Wednesdays, my desk is used less for crafting and more for marking and preparing.  I didn't even make last week's WOYWW hosted by Julia's Stamping Ground.  I can show you my desk yesterday afternoon, as I started work on an art journal layout, following a series of prompts.  I was busy getting everything together; a colour that I don't usually use, waffle paper, a non tool, cut out words and phrases from a printed source and elements cut from wrapping paper.

Light pink paint and wrapping paper elements.

Words and a phrase cut from a Sunday supplement.

Tuesday 20 September 2016

Zentangle Tiles

I was recently looking through a pile of cards that I had made for members of the family and saved; I came across this card which was one of my first attempts at zentangling.  As I wasn't very confident with this technique at the time, I used small tiles to practise each pattern and later added them to the card.

Saturday 17 September 2016

Crazy Dog Birthday

This card was made for a crafty friend's birthday yesterday.  As she has just adopted a new dog, this seemed the perfect opportunity to break out the Crazy Dog stamps and dies by Tim Holtz.

Tuesday 13 September 2016

Bleached Background

I've been wanting to try this bleach technique since seeing Barbara Gray demonstrate it on Hochanda. In fact, I bought the Shapes 1 stamp set by Claritystamp especially to make a card using bleach to remove colour rather than adding one colour over another.  I wasn't sure when I started, where the card would be going after that - other than wanting to use autumnal colours - but I am delighted with the finished piece. 

Sunday 11 September 2016

Happy Belated Father's Day Australia!

I actually made this card for my own father in June, but as it was Father's Day in Australia last Sunday, I felt it was appropriate to share it today.  I kept it really clean and simple as I was really busy writing school reports at the time.


Thursday 8 September 2016

Wednesday 7 September 2016

WOYWW #379 - Crafting on my own again

Well the holidays are over, but thanks to a change in days I now work on Mondays instead of Wednesdays so will be able to participate more often with WOYWW hosted by the lovely Julia!  This now makes it four weeks in a row.  We'll just have to see how long I can keep it up (planning, preparation and marking permitting).  The down side of school starting again is that my crafty friend works Wednesdays so I no longer have her company.  We have decided to try and get together each Tuesday instead. 
My picture today was taken very early.  I have been getting what I need together to complete the September challenge for Mission Inspiration.  Following a set of steps together with a freedom to choose images, stamps, colours, stencils etc. has been the one thing that has finally got me started with art journaling.  You can see my list of steps, the blank journal, faces cut out of magazines, Tim Holtz layering stencils, washi tape and the beginning of my focal image; the glass jar of brushes, pen and pencil from the Follow Your Art stamp set by Woodware.  I have stamped and heat embossed the image and will be using a mixture of my Chameleon pens and Spectrum Aqua pens to colour it in.  I then intend to add Versamark ink to the glass jar and heat emboss using clear powder; two layers should be sufficient to create the effect of glass.  The embossing folders have nothing to do with the art journal page - they arrived today so will be on my list of things to play with soon!  In the background you can see my new storage unit for all my Distress and Cosmic Shimmer sprays; I was sick of having to go into a cupboard to find them, so wanted them readily available on my desk.  As you can see from the postcard of Tim Holtz on the wall, I am a big fan of all things Tim.
My friend's piece.
Although my friend is not crafting with me today, I wanted to share what she was up to last week.  She is really getting interested in the process of mixed media; she is also considering starting an art journal.  I also share the second canvas that I was working on last week.  It still isn't finished, but I did at least get as far as adding some colour.
My piece (not yet finished)
Watch this space for the finished art journal page!

 

Saturday 3 September 2016

Working on a Black Background

This is my first attempt at creating a larger mixed media canvas, building up colour from a black background.  I made it for my brother, who is very musical, for his birthday (4th September); my parents have taken it with them over to Canada, where he lives.  I hope that it has survived the journey and that he likes it.  Happy Birthday!  Unfortunately, although I took lots of close ups of the finished piece, I forgot to take a picture of the whole finished canvas; this photo is of the piece before I toned down some of the coloured areas with black gilding wax.