Just because.....

Hello all, it has been a very long time since I created anything just because....... Sometimes life is so hectic, the 'must do' and 'have to' gets in the way of the 'want to' and you forget why you got into this hobby in the first place!

After a long break I have returned to Scrapbooking in a 12x12 format and I thought I would share these two layouts which weren't made as workshop projects or for display, but simply because I had the photos and the germ of an idea.

I found these photos languishing on my phone but when I went to print them the photo paper slipped in the printer and they printed over two sheets. I decided to use them anyway, just as they were chopped in strange places, but I felt they actually added to the chaotic feel of the layout. The papers I used are a mix of Prima's Garden Menagerie and Lost and Found from 7Dots Studios with a bit of washi tape and some Kaisercraft stamps. The whole thing came together really quickly and I am pleased with the finished page.

 

The second layout started with these striking photos of the Water of Leith Walkway in Edinburgh, a city very close to my heart. I was born in Edinburgh, was a student at Edinburgh University and the Headmaster and I started our married life in the city some 36 years ago. Like all cities where underneath their public persona there often lurks a darker side, Edinburgh had it's share of less attractive areas which have been redeveloped and transformed over recent years. Each time we return we find ourselves amazed at the changes, sometimes so significant we find ourselves lost without familiar landmarks, but thrilled at the vitality emerging from the desolate.

I decided to go with the reflections theme with this layout using my last remaining sheets of my all time favourite Dreamer collection from 7Dots Studios. The base paper was a little darker than I wanted so I gave it a light wash of gesso to knock it back a bit, the dies are from Hero Arts Stamp and Cut Planner range by Kelly Purky, the stamps from Kaisercraft, finished off with the title from the reverse of the base paper, reversed. I was really pleased with how this one turned out, exactly as I envisioned - a rare occurrence for me lol!

Thank you for joining me, I won't stay away so long again as I have resolved to make time for more projects 'just because'.

 

Val x

 

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Art Journaling Sunday

Hello everyone, thanks for dropping by especially since I have been absent for far too long.

Mostly I have been busy with workshop projects and just can't seem to find the time to craft just for my own pleasure. I do plan to be around in blog land much more regularly in future, with lots more step by steps and videos too.

Meantime....on the first Sunday of each month there is an Art Journaling session in Snazzys Studio between 11am and 3pm. There is no need to book your space, just drop in and join us. All you need is to want to have a go, bring your own journal if you have one, but if not we can provide everything you need for just £5 for the session, and that includes your tea/coffee and biscuits.

Being December, and with Christmas fast approaching, this month I wanted to create a rich page with a touch of metallic. I have been admiring the beautiful backgrounds using Brushos being shared in blog land, but with a studio full to bursting I really can't justify investing in them. So, having applied a layer of gesso to the blank page with Cut and Dry foam, I thought I would experiment by adding a few sprinkles of Polished Pigments/Primary Elements from Luminarte, whilst the gesso was still damp. I then immediately lightly spritzed the powders with water until they were wet enough to blend together, tilting my journal to get them to run a bit.

I was really pleased with the effect and the photo certainly doesn't do justice to the richness of the colours or the shimmer!

As often happens, I then got so carried away with some of my favourite Hero Arts stamps, Ranger Embossing Powders in Copper and Gold and Versafine inks in Crimson Red and Olympia Green, I forgot to take photos of all the steps but I think it is pretty self explanatory.

The only downside I found using the Luminarte powders in this way was they acted a little too effectively as an anti static powder and so made it quite tricky to get the inks to stamp cleanly and the embossing powders to stick evenly. I didn't really mind as the Hero Arts stamps were a little too modern for the vintage effect I was looking for, so I think the problems I had actually helped me get the look I wanted. Serendipity in action again lol!

This was the last AJ session for 2014 but the first of the new year will be on Sunday 4 January when I am looking forward to starting a brand new journal using an old book as my base. Many thanks to all of you who have dropped in to journal in 2014, new journal or old, beginner or regular, journal or old book, I do hope to see you in the studio in 2015.

Have a very Happy Christmas and good fortune to you and yours in 2015 xx

 

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A little coffee....

Hello there, long time no post but I thought I'd stop by and share a couple of projects I have been working on.

I started with these.......

the wood block stamps are from Inkadinkado, and the Polymer stamps are all Hero Arts from the latest 2014 release. I added these.....

 

stamping the images with Coffee Archival ink onto white tissue, chopping some leftover Bazzill Classic papers in Patina into strips. I used peacock Feathers and Frayed Burlap Distress inks for the focal pieces and the canvas board was randomly painted, using Cut & Dry Foam, with Bark, White and Ocean acrylic paints from Eco Green Crafts, then softened with a damp baby wipe.

This was the end result...

 

which I was very pleased with.

 

Although this project started as a home decor piece for myself I have been asked to run it as a workshop at Snazzys and you will find details over at the workshops page of Snazzys main website.

 

I also used one of the new Hero Arts polymer plates, CL758 A Little..., for some cards for my regular cardmaking workshop at Snazzys so checkout that on the workshops page too, but here's a peek at one of them...

 

 

... a good Mother's Day card I think.

 

Thanks for stopping by xx

 

 

 

Tweet, tweet!

Well this post has certainly been a long time coming, mainly down to no time to create anything that isn't for a workshop, a make & take or a display board. Finally, last week as I was chopping up cardboard boxes for the compactor I had a smidge of an idea for a project using JOFY15 stamps.

 

I peeled some of the layers of the cardboard flap to reveal all the ridgy bits and covered the whole surface in gesso - this gave me a bit of a key and kept the colours true when I swiped a random assortment of Distress Paints onto the surface working it into the ridges witha baby wipe - what did we ever do without those!

 

I stamped out the birdhouses and birdies onto some scraps of white card, coloured them with a water brush and Distress Markers and cut them out. I then stamped Hero Arts S5601 Newspaper Backround onto more scrap card and over stamped it with the leaves from the JOFY plate. I coloured these in as before, cut them out and shaped them a bit too.

 

Then it was simply stamping the branches from the same plate onto my base, again coloured with Distress Markers and arranging all the bits I had cut out. I had a couple of empy spaces so I stamped and inked the 'tweet,tweet from the stamp set and filled the gaps. Some googly eyes, garden twine and a bit of spare black mountboard late and I was done.

 

I was surprised how much I enjoyed myself and how quickly this little project came together from scraps. Very satisfying to my mean Scottish blood!

 

Will try not to leave it so long next time xx