Sunday 30 September 2018

3 Colours, 8 Steps plus 5 Prompt Words = An Art Journal Page

For once I have actually completed my Mission Inspiration page before the end of the month.  This is my response to the September prompts.  The three suggested colours were Mustard, Peacock and Slate and the choice of prompt words were Feather, Leaf, Time, Home and Quilt.  As you can see,  I based my page around 'Feather'.

Saturday 29 September 2018

Steampunk Mask

This mask was made for a challenge, to create a 3D Steampunk item.  I love how layers of Amsterdam acrylic paints created the rust/patina effect on what started as a white papier mâché mask.

Friday 28 September 2018

Small Cards with a Big Impact

Small cards can be useful for sending through the post and needn't lack impact just because of their size.  I recently bought a pack of 3" x 3" cards and envelopes and decided to play around with working in a smaller format.

Thursday 27 September 2018

A Colour Combination Outside My Comfort Zone: Art Journal Page

I finally caught up with week 3 of the September prompt over on Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and More: Art Journal Frenzy; use colours outside your comfort zone.  I was waiting for a friend to come over, as I knew that she would pick colours for me that would fit the prompt and she did!  Having said that, I'm really pleased with the final page.

Wednesday 26 September 2018

WOYWW 486: An Established Routine

Welcome to the weekly desk share and the day that I join in with what must be one of the longest running weekly blog hops ever: WOYWW.  Julia has been keeping things going for over 9 years and all new comers are welcome, so if you'd like to see more desks or join in yourself, then hop over to The Stamping Ground, where you will be welcomed with open arms.  It was great seeing my sister-in-law Pat Brennan joining in last week.  It is thanks to her that I found out about WOYWW in the first place, so I hope she will be feeling up to joining in again from time to time.
My desk today shows the materials that I was planning to use for an art journal page yesterday.  The prompt was 'Colours outside your comfort zone' so I waited until Eva was over so she could choose some colours for me.  Definitely not a combination I would have chosen myself.  No greens or blues and the Aged Stucco and Lime Kiss ink pads had never been used.  I went through my papers choosing ones which were closest in colour to the ink pads (Artistry/Claritystamp) that Eva had chosen.  She was ruthless and didn't let me get away with anything lol.  Pop back tomorrow if you'd like to see the finished page as I did finish it while she was over.
The other side of the desk shows Eva still working on her parchment pieces as she has for the last few weeks that she has visited.  She intends to continue doing so when she visits.  It may have something to do with the large library of Groovi plates that I have amassed over the years, but I don't mind in the least.  It also saves bringing large bags full of stamps, inks and dies every week when she comes over.
I have now got used to the new routine of working on Wednesdays.  I prepare my WOYWW post the day before, upload it before I go to work and visit as many early birds as possible before I leave the house.  Once I get home, I start to catch up with the rest of the visits, with a last check on a Thursday morning: my new day off.  So, see you all later and have a great week.

Tuesday 25 September 2018

Forever Autumn: An Art Journal Page

The challenge over on the That's crafty Challenge Blog this month is 'Forever Autumn'.  I decided to play with layers of stamping and also wanted to see how heat embossing over Distress Oxides would look.

Monday 24 September 2018

My 2018 Art Journal: A Flip Through of the Story So Far!

This is the second year that I have created a weekly art journal page following the prompts over on Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and More.  Last year each week had a different prompt until December, when the prompt of festive was given for all five weeks (see my journal flip through for 2017 HERE).  This year the idea of a monthly prompt has been continued and as the name of the group indicates, other forms of responses have been encouraged in place of journaling from time to time.  I have enjoyed applying each prompt to an art journal page, which has encouraged me to think outside the box many times.

January's prompt was words and the first one that I chose was my intention for my art work in 2018.
I started working with new types of media (acrylic inks here).

My third page was later improved by the addition of players' autographs after an open training session at the Bet365 Stadium.
I do love this colour combination.
February's prompt was 'Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle' which allowed me to raid my bit box.
I also have a selection of die cuts, left over from previous projects.
Using paper towel mop up sheets as a background is another favourite technique of mine.
Another paper towel background.
March's prompt was 'Friends' to celebrate 5000 members in the FB group.


I enjoyed working my pages around different quotes about friends.
April was the first five Sunday month and the prompt was Spring as you can see.

I played around with Distress Oxide backgrounds for a few weeks.
 Used a stamp/punch set that has been in my stash for ages.
And finally tried an alcohol ink on Yupo paper technique to create a background.
For May, I had to start thinking outside the box.  The prompt was 'Trade It' and I had to find a way of incorporating items such as Artist Trading Coins onto a page.
Postcards were a little easier to include.
ATCs weren't too bad.
Inchies, Twinchies and Thrinchies were my biggest challenge of the month.
June's prompt was 'Repeat after me' with a sub prompt each week.  The first was circles.
The second was Mandalas.
The third 'Abstract'.
And finally 'Retiform', a technique that I had never tried before.
July's prompt was the most challenging of the year up to that point.  The overall prompt was puzzles and games, but the first week was altered dominoes.
Followed by altered puzzle pieces.
Altered playing cards was the third sub prompt.
Word and number puzzles was the fourth.
As it was another 5 Sunday month, the fifth week was a wild card within the monthly theme.  I chose to base a page on my favourite board game.
August's prompt was 'On Your Travels', but the first sub prompt was painted pebbles.  This was another one which made me have to think outside the box.


The remaining weeks I simply based around different travel/holiday themes.
And so to September, another 5 Sunday month.  This month's theme is right up my street as it is 'Art Journal Frenzy'.  Week 1's sub prompt was Galaxy and I went off at a tangent with my page.
Week 2 was 'Anything Goes'.
I haven't completed week 3 yet (Choose colours outside your comfort zone), but week 4: Collage was a most enjoyable page to complete.
I am hoping to catch up with week 3 for September tomorrow, when I will ask my friend to give me a colour combination to work with.  You can pop back on Thursday to see what she comes up with.  One further week to complete after that for September and it will be time for a new prompt.  I wonder what October will bring?

Sunday 23 September 2018

Collage Art Journal Page

I have missed out week 3 of the September prompts over on Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and More and gone onto week 4: Collage.  The monthly theme is Art Journal Frenzy and I do intend to go back and complete the previous page.  However this page came together in such a pleasing way, once I had decided on my focal point and looked through my stash to find items in similar tones.

Saturday 22 September 2018

Art Journal Page: Layering Stencils

The September prompt over on Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and More is Art Journal Frenzy.  Week 2 was 'Anything Goes' so I decided to play with inks and layers.  I was originally going to use the owl trio from the Wise Owls set by Claritystamp on the page, but having found the perfect verse about an owl in my stash, I decided the individual fellow was more appropriate. 

Friday 21 September 2018

Creating Depth through Different Generations of Stamping: A Birthday Card

The idea for the layout and techniques used on this card are from Maria Moorhouse.  I attended her latest workshop last weekend and one of the cards we made used this technique, but in different colours and using different stamps for the background.  Thanks Maria, here's my version.