Finished Journal Cover!

This page was originally going to be a bonus page for my 2017 journal, based on the weekly prompts by Nina Ribena on Art Journal Prompts.  However, once it was complete, I felt it made the perfect cover instead!

Fairytale Tag Swap

These tags were made in response to the December tag swap on Junk Journal Junkies and Mindful Art.  The theme was Fairy Tales and I decided to use some of my Sheena Douglass stamps (and a matching die) to create a pair of tags which go together.

As the year draws to a close!

I decided to start thinking ahead as this year draws to a close.  I created a tag which reflects how I am feeling about 2018 at the moment.

Parchment Birthday Card

This card was made for my mother for her birthday yesterday.  It was the first time that I had tried internal picot edging rather than just going round the outside of a piece.  I was quite pleased with the result and have come to the conclusion that getting the pricking right is the key to a neat picot edge.

WOYWW 447: Happy New Year

Sorry folks, but there is no picture of my work desk in the shed today.  I have been spending Christmas at my parents' home.  Eva is also away at the moment, so no chance of a shot of the other side of the desk.  Instead, here's a photo of the dining room table at my parents' with the card that I made for my mother's birthday today.  I will share full details tomorrow if you want to pop back. 

For now I will wish everyone a Happy New Year in this last WOYWW post of 2017.  Don't forget to visit Julia; the gatekeeper of all things desk.

The birthday girl and I

Kitty Key Holder!

This was made for my sister for Christmas and can now be shared as she has received and opened her gift.  She has three black and white cats, although the ones on the key holder are far more svelte than the fluffy creatures which rule the roost in her home.  I just hope they don't go crazy at the sight of these interlopers!

Masculine Birthday Card

As my husband's birthday is so close to Christmas (it was yesterday) , I try to avoid Christmas colours and images when creating his birthday card.  This year, I decided to keep it clean and simple in navy blue and white.

Fourth Festive Journal Page

This is the fourth 'Festive' journal page created for week 52 of Art Journal Prompts.  As it is Christmas Eve, I felt it appropriate to create a nativity scene.  Merry Christmas to all my followers and friends around the world.

ATC Swap: V is for...

These were made for the monthly Junk Journal Junkies and Mindful Art ATC Swap.  The prompt for December was V and my swap partner has kindly given me permission to share.  As usual for my ATCs, all the stamps used are by Claritystamp.

If Life hands you Lemons...

I decided to get away from winter themes and create something a little brighter; after all it is the time for office parties!  I ended up creating two similar tags.  (I know that it is a Margarita glass, but it was the closest I could find LOL.)

Babes in the Wood Tag

I had little idea where I was going with this tag when I started; it evolved as it went along.  I am really pleased with the finished piece; it has a very vintage feel about it!

WOYWW 446: I'll Never Be Ready

Last WOYWW before Christmas and I have the feeling that I'll never be ready.  My desk is empty as all the projects that I'm working on at present are either swaps or gifts so I have nothing to show!  Yesterday was the last full craft day that I am allowing myself before Christmas, although I still have Hubby's birthday card (Christmas Eve) and my Mum's birthday card (27th) to finish as well as a couple of other projects to tie up. 

Tis the Season Tag

This tag was created for the 'Tis' the Season' challenge on the That's Crafty challenge blog.

Third Festive Art Journal Page

This is my third 'Festive' art journal page for the December prompts over on Art Journal Prompts.  Having had a 'snow day' last week, I decided to create a snow scene.

Ice Tag

This tag was created in response to the prompt 'Ice': the mini mission for December with the Mission Inspiration group.

Non Traditional Quick Christmas Cards

I had to batch make some Christmas cards as I was running low on my stocks.  I wanted to create some cards in non traditional colours and also that were each unique.  I therefore used Brushos and Pixie Powders (Cosmic Shimmer) to create some backgrounds.

Second Festive Art Journal Page

This is the second of my four 'Festive' pages for Art Journal Prompts for the month of December (week 50).  I only have two more pages to work on before I complete my first ever art journal, based on a weekly prompt for a whole year!

Tag: Christmas Memories

The challenge on Tag Tuesday for the rest of 2017 is Christmas Memories.  I can vividly remember Boxing Day walks on Cannock Chase with the family every year as a child, so my tag reflects this.

WOYWW 445: Snow Day!

Alas, I have only my side of the desk to show you today.  Eva and I had an extra day to craft on Monday as both the schools we work at were shut.  However the amount of snow and ice also means that she cannot get her car out of her street at the moment and therefore we couldn't take advantage of crafting together, nor could she visit me yesterday.  I hope she is able to get to work today!  I'm also hoping things will be a lot safer by tomorrow when I have to be back at work.

I am working on some projects with my Royal-Talens art supplies, including my Ecoline pens, in between other projects.  I can't say more at the moment, but all will be revealed early in the new year.  I'll keep things short and sweet so you can visit the rest of the desk links via Julia: the Gatekeeper of Desks.  Hope everyone stays safe and warm!  Wow! Only one more WOYWW to Christmas.

Masterboard Journal Page

Usually when I create a master board it is then cut into smaller pieces and used for different projects.  This master board was created for the 4th Explore Your Creativity Challenge with Junk Journal Junkies and Mindful Art and was used instead to create an art journal page.  The technique to use was create a master board, the product was paint and the colour, yellow.

Masculine Birthday Card

This card was made for my brother-in-law who celebrated his birthday yesterday.  He is a keen sailor, so the Adjust the Sails stamp set from Claritystamp was perfect for the occasion.

Opposites: Day and Night

Having made the first of my Festive pages last week for Art Journal Prompts, I decided to go back and complete the previous prompt: Opposites.  This brings me nearly up to date.  Once I have completed the last three festive pages, I will have completed all 52 prompts for 2017.

Sparkle Tag

This tag was created for the December challenge on Tag It Tuesday: Sparkle.  It is in honour of the snow (or rather lack thereof) which kept school open yesterday!

First and Latest Tag, Canvas, Journal Page

I decided to have a look back to my first and latest pieces of art work in different categories; tags, canvasses and art journal pages.  I don't have any pictures of the very first card that I made, although I do have some of my early attempts and I have come a long way over the last twelve years.  I have only been art journaling for two years and tags are also a relatively recent obsession.  I haven't created many canvas pieces and that is one of my resolutions for 2018; to work on canvas more often.  Anyway... on with the show...

Latest tag

1st tag WIP

 My first tag eventually ended up as a topper for a card as I didn't see tags as stand alone pieces of art at the time.  Now I use them for bookmarks and I am part of a swap group and they are my 'go to' format for quick pieces of art.

First

Latest

My first canvas (of 5 only at this point) was created for a challenge on the Claritystamp page and I later used the same layout to create a card front. My latest canvas was created for the recent ITAC world challenge (Europe) and I was far more adventurous with the use of white space.
 

First Mission Inspiration

 I am a member of various art journaling groups; Mission Inspiration, JJJAMA and Art journal prompts.  This is now one of my favourite forms of crafting and I have pages I love and ones I am not so keen on, but I won't give up!

Latest MI

First JJJAMA

Latest JJJAMA

1st AJP (Week 5 2017)

Latest AJP (week 49 2017)

Just to prove that I have really made progress over the last 12 years here is a picture of one of the earliest cards that I made, followed by a more recent one (for the same person).

Challenge: Resist, Ink, Bronze

I created this tag in response to the prompts for Explore Your Creativity Challenge 3 on Junk Journal Junkies and Mindful art.  Usually I create an art journal page, but I decided to go with a tag for a change.  The prompts include a technique: resist, a product: ink and a colour: bronze.  I am also entering it into the December challenge on Country View Challenges: Christmas.

WOYWW 444: Starting to feel festive

It's finally starting to feel a little festive in the Craft Shed.  I actually started batch making some Christmas cards yesterday after going out for a Christmas lunch with Eva and some other crafty friends.  It's an annual tradition and the meal was delicious even though the service wasn't the quickest!  Eva and I did some crafting both before and after the meal and I was in the shed from just before 7am to get an art journal page finished (see HERE if interested).  My side of the desk shows the contents of the parcel which was delivered yesterday; my stash from the Claritystamp 'Gray' Sale - lots of Groovi plates and stamps as well as some Pergamano tools.

On the other side of the desk, Eva was working on the groovi toppers which she started in the shed last week.  She has been adding white work during the week and was adding colour yesterday using Spectrum Noir pencils and on the angel picture Kuretake clean colour pens and a Spectrum Noir clear Sparkle pen coloured from the front.  I have passed all the compliments onto her from the comments on last week's blog post.  Don't forget to visit Julia our head desker to see more desks.

My festive journal page

Festive Art Journal Page

This page was created for week 49 of Art Journal Prompts.  The theme for the whole of December is 'Festive' and I decided to start with a Christmas themed page, although any festival can be used.

Books Hold The Secrets And Reading Provides The Keys

This tag used up die cuts and stamped/die cut images from my bit box and was created in response to the December challenge on Mixed media Art Journey.  Six word dice are rolled and the resulting combination of instructions sets the challenge.

Blog Winner and Stairway Christmas Card

First of all, congratulations to Nicky Frowen who was the winner of the tag of her choice as part of my 500th Blog post giveaway last week.  This is the tag which she chose (for details of how it was made see HERE).

21st Birthday Invitations

I can safely share these now as I have been given permission to do so.  I was commissioned to make 30 invitations in pink and rose gold for a 21st birthday party.  My first task was to design three different invitations using dies that I already owned and which would look good, but not be too laborious to batch make.  The invitations were to be A6 in size (A5 folded in half).

The first design used the 21 and the matching verso frame from the Pop Up Sentiments Collection by Tonic Studio, die cut from rose gold, trimmed square and matted onto pale pink.  The 'You're Invited' die by Crafter's Companion was also cut from rose gold and the negative trimmed and matted onto the same colour as above.  The card base is a soft peach/pink pearlescent card.

The second design used the same colour combination, but this time using the Floral Motif panel from one of the Framed Screens sets (also Tonic Studios) as well as the numbers from the Advent Drawer Deco die set.

The final design used two of the dies from the Happy Birthday Circle die set designed by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions and the 21 (Pop Up sentiments set from Tonic studios) die cut from Rose Gold with the 21 matted onto pink (Tonic Studio circle dies) and added with pads for extra dimension. 
This is the design chosen by the birthday girl, although she opted to change the base card to a black glitter card.

The inserts were printed using a laser printer and foiled in light pink using my Heidi Swapp Minc machine.  These are not shown for obvious reasons, but gave a final, classy finishing touch to the invitations.