Pats Blog

LADIES WHO LUNCH PLAY DAY

2012-02-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our monthly get together and we had a fabulous day, we all made a canvas using paints, sprays, stencils and rub-ons. They were all so different as we used different colour schemes etc. My grand-daughter Elena has taken mine to hang in her room but it doesn't matter as I can't wait to make another one and of course I will have to make one for Isabel my other grand-daughter.

FEBRUARY 365/366 CHALLENGE

2012-02-01T04:11:00.000-08:00

The beginning of February already, I think this year is going to go as quick as last year if not quicker.Well here is my page for Kate's 365 challenge although this year it is 366 as we have a leap year and I did remember to give February an extra journal square.

JANUARY 2012

2012-01-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, well that's January nearly over so time to show the completed January page of the Art Calendar Challenge that the very talented Kate Crane invited us to join. There are soooooooooo many "crafty" people joining this year that it's almost impossible to get round them all. Well here's mine completed and tomorrow I will show you the February page which is all set and ready to go.

METAL MIRROR

2012-01-27T05:36:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow it is my Grand-daughter Elena's 16th birthday and as part of her birthday present I have decorated an Ikea mirror for her. She particularly likes black and has black shiny furniture in her bedroom, (it would give me nightmares) the mirror will go well in her room. I used Ten Seconds Studio silver metal, embossed with Cuttle Bug folders put through the Vagabond, then painted with Dylusions black acrylic paint. I sanded the metal to allow the silver to show through and then attached all the squares with Hummungo Tape, it was finished off with the strips of silver metal tape. I am quite pleased with it so will probably make another one as I have 3 Ikea mirrors in my cupboard.

GINGERSNAP CREATIONS CHALLENGE

2012-01-26T14:06:00.000-08:00

Stampotique Design Team are sponsoring Gingersnap Creations this month and the challenge is to use Green. I already had a page in my journal which I completed at the end of December and thought it was appropriate for this particular challenge, my page is "Green with Envy". The image is Karin from Stampotique, I used Dylusion paints (the old ones no longer available) for the background.

NOT ALL LITTLE GIRLS ARE ANGELS

2012-01-24T04:27:00.000-08:00

Good morning from a very wet and cold north of England. The weather is lousy and my husband is away so I have taken advantage of this by working in my various art journals. This journal is my mini 3"x5", I love working in small journals. The background on this page was created using my gorgeous Pan Pastels which I bought recently from Dyan at AFTH, they are so easy to blend and when it was finished I sprayed with Ranger Perfect Pearl Mist which gives a gorgeous shine to a page. The images are all from Stampotique including the "happy happy happy" border at the top. Spider girl I thought suited the computer generated statement I have made. The borders which are perfect for mini journals are from Paper & Gluestix. Ok must get on as I have an idea for another page never mind cleaning the bathroom that can wait as I am having fun.

SMILE ART JOURNAL PAGE

2012-01-22T05:43:00.000-08:00

Another art journal page in my A5 Moleskine only one more page to go now and that journal is complete. Here I used Dylusion sprays and paints, Crafters Workshop stencils, I love the herring bone one it always works so well.The bottom border is a Dylusion "Further Round The Edge". The image is Dylusion's "Doolally Doris" The heart and key are from Invoke Arts. Even after all these years of Art Journalling I am still reluctant to write personal stuff and prefer to use quotes. I quite like the finished effect of this page, I hope you do too.

AN ART JOURNAL PAGE

2012-01-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a page I did in my A5 Moleskine journal. I began this journal in September 09, I am trying to finish the journal completely, only 3 more pages to go. The backgrounds for these pages were finished ages ago so it's just a question of deciding how I am going to use them. This page I felt would look good with black and white so the first addition to the page was the Dina Wakley silhouette script which I stamped on to an old book page and added the red heart. The bird and Moon girl are both from Jo Capper-Sandon's Stampotique range. The borders are from Teesha Moore digi sheets. The background I created using Dylusion sprays and Crafters Workshop stencils. I might add to this page later but for the moment this is how it is.

ART CALENDAR CHALLENGE 2012

2012-01-01T06:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all, I hope 2012 brings lots of good health and happiness for everyone.

This is my 3rd year taking part in Kate's 365 Art Calendar challenge. This year I have had to get a new book as my last one was full, only a few pages left after using it for 2 years. I thought I was going to really like this book as it is a 12"x12" but when I started putting the page together I realised there's not much space to add images etc so for future months I might use 2 pages and then end up with too much space LOL. I really enjoyed making the background using Dylusion Paints and sprays together with Crafters Workshop stencils, I liked the finish result so much that I didn't want to cover it with journal squares etc but of course I had to or start again, no time! Any way here it is I hope you like it I'm not too happy with it but I never am.

Christmas Art Journalling

2011-12-26T05:40:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and are now ready to get down to some good arty crafty work.

I went to AFTH last Sunday the 18th, it was Art Journalling for the regulars with Dyan and we had another fabby day. We all followed the same theme "Christmas" with a few individual touches here and there. Dyan did a step by step class , first of all we had to journal our thoughts on a sheet of card which we then cut into long narrow triangles, we did the same with the AFTH Christmas papers which Dy gave us, these we glued on to an A4 card and cut into triangle Christmas trees of different sizes. In between we did the background for our pages using Dylusion paints and sprays. The border is from Dylusions "Further round the edge".All the faces,boots and hats etc are from Dylusion stamps. It was a really enjoyable day with good company and here is my version of what we produced. You can find Dyan,s web site by clicking on any of the highlighted words.

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

2011-12-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

I have a few friends with birthdays in December, this is the card I have made for them. The background is from a Jo Capper-Sandon project which was featured in Novembers Craft Stamper magazine, it's quite a fun way of making a background. The ink pads I used are Jenni Bowlin and can be bought at Happy Daze, they are gorgeous colours. The image I love and is a Paper Bag Studio stamp, I stamped it on to a piece of card I had coloured,cut it out and attached with foam pads. The butterflies are a Wendy Vechi stamp which again were stamped and cut out to attach to the card. I love this card I think it is so feminine. Ann if you are looking this is not your card.

Out goes November in with December

2011-12-01T04:58:00.000-08:00

Well that's another year nearly gone and I have kept up once more with Kate's challenge. Looking at my blog it seems that I don't do anything except the Art Calendar challenge, I do really I just never get around to Blogging my efforts. December's background was created using all Dylusion Sprays and paints, the baubles for jounalling I cut using the Cricut. Christmas trees are from Blonde Moments Christmas papers and the images are of course Stampotique. There is quite a lot of Christmasy gold on the background but you probably can't see it on the photo.

365 CALENDAR CHALLENGE

2011-10-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

October isn't quite finished but I have just filled my last journal square so might as well post it on my blog along with November's pages already and raring to go. I haven't done much in the way of crafting recently but have managed to keep up my enthusiasm for the art calendar challenge organised by the wonderful and very, very talented Kate.

CAUGHT UP AT LAST

2011-10-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

I did the background ages ago for my art calendar but then other stuff took over so I have only just finished it today. I actually made a mess of my journal squares by starting the 1st on a Thursday instead of Saturday so I then had 2 squares spare at the beginning hence the owls and flowers. I am not happy with the page I was in too much of a rush but at least it is finished.
Background paints and sprays by Dylusions

Images are all by Stampotique

SEPTEMBER FINISHED BUT WHERE IS OCTOBER

2011-10-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

I am way behind this month but I do have an excuse as I organised a "Macmillan Cancer Support Coffee Morning" at my house, this took place last Friday and what a beautiful, hot, sunny day it couldn't have been better for this occasion. I spent days baking cakes of all descriptions so no October calendar pages and I am going to Prague on Thursday with my friend L'pool Lou I will just have to abandon house work tomorrow woop,woop and create my October pages but inbetween times here are Septembers for you to look at.

ANOTHER JOURNAL PAGE

2011-09-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

This page is dedicated to the fact that all I ever want to do each day is go into my craft room and PLAY. Who wants to do domestic stuff when you can get all inky, messy and have fun. The back ground paints are Fresco Acrylics. The stamps are Basic Backgrounds by Dylusions. Borders are all from Crowabout Studio and of course the image is a Stampotique by Janet Klein which I stamped, cut out and coloured using my Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Drawing Inks. I did spray through stencils quite a lot using Dylusion sprays but Fresco paints didn't take the sprays very well as anyone else had this problem?

ROC'S SEPTEMBER JOURNAL PROMPT

2011-09-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

A busy page for Roc's September journal prompt. For this one we had to use a "quote that moves you in your everyday life" Since I had the big C a few years ago I have tried to live everyday my way because it is my life and provided it doesn't hurt anyone that's how I live most of the time, so this quote is very appropriate. The images etc are all from Dyan's digi sheets and the background is made up of Dylusion paints and sprays. I have stenciled, stamped and splattered I also machine stitched the music sheets for the images to stand on. Hope you like it.

OCTOPODE QUOTE CHALLENGE

2011-09-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a journal page that I am entering in this weeks Ocopode Factory Challenge. The requirement was to use a quote, I have used one of Dyans quirky quotes, I love these as you can use them with any image. The images are from the Octopode Factory, I coloured them with Copic markers. The shiny pattern background is done using a stencil and texture paste, here it has picked up the background colours. I finished it off by sewing a piece of music sheet, this is one of the fabulously talented Kate's ideas.

A WONDERFUL DAY OUT

2011-09-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I went with two friends Anne (L'pool Lou) and Margaret to the Needlework and Quilt Show at the Great Yorkshire Show Ground in Harrogate, we had a wonderful day. I am in to papercrafts not needlework crafts but when my friend Ann (Flutterby Crafter) asked me what I had bought I said I don't do sewing and material crafts but I have managed to spend a fortune and promised I would put it all on my blog for her to see. I don't know what I am going to do with it all. It was well worth going to see for the Quilts if nothing else, they are fantastic. At lunch time I found 3 seats at a table where there were already two ladies sitting, of course I began chatting to them and what an incredible coincidence one of the ladies was called Patricia Fernandes and my name is Patricia Fernandez, note the different endings, she is married to a Portuguese so Fernandes ends in S and I am married to a Spaniard and so my name ends with a Z. Ok I will show you what I bought, I had to take 2 photos as I couldn't fit it all on one.

AUGUST FINISHED SEPTEMBER BEGUN

2011-09-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

I am not as in advance this month as I was with August pages but at last here is September ready to go. I chose an Autumn theme for this month with lots of leaves here and there. I punched small leaves from an old book page, that the lovely Kate gave me, for the days of the week. Kate of course is the organiser of the Art Calendar, you can see what it is all about over on her blog the Kathryn Wheel. I painted the background using Paper Artsy Fresco acrylic paints, the journal squares are from Basic Gray an Autumn selection of papers. The leaves are from Dylusions "Around the Edge" The little trees and the September are rub-ons. Finally I stamped the mushrooms and Gog Lin which can be bought from Happy Daze.

AUGUST ATC SWAP

2011-08-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

This is an ATC I made for a monthly swap. The stamp, which is a Stampotique, is very appropriate as this is for 2 friends of mine. For the background I used Paper Artsy Fresco Acrylics which are lovely chalky paints, very good for stamping on to. The background stamp is a Dylusions Basic Background which are really useful for all kinds of art work and I stamped this with a DI in Wild Honey. Using a credit card and a gold dabber I added some small circles and lines, edged the whole with a Krylon gold pen and that is it finished.

MINI JOURNALLING AT AFTH

2011-08-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

I went to AFTH yesterday for a mini journalling class with the lovely Kate Crane. I met up with old friends and new and had a wonderful day. We got very inky and messy, it takes me ages to get my hands and nails clean after a journal workshop in fact I always take gloves to wear and inevitably forget to put them on.

We used Dylusion paints and sprays on the background, gessoed through stencils, made marks with credit cards and bottle tops pen tops etc. The image is from Stampotique which we cut out and put the acetate bee wings behind. The bee stamp is one of Jo Capper-Sandons . All the embellishments were very kindly provided by Kate, she even gave us Rub-Ons to use on our pages. The quote on my "green" page is from Dyan's new stamps Dylusions Quintessential Quotes. My pink page has an image which I stamped on to an old book page, the stamp is from Cats life but I don't have a link for that. The large exclamation mark is a stamp which Kate has. The ink splat is another Jo Capper-Sandon stamp but on the green page I have used diluted black paint and a fine paint brush to splatter the paint. I had a wonderful productive day learning lots of new journalling techniques, thank you Kate.

ROC'S AUGUST CHALLENGE

2011-08-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Roc has a journalling challenge each month, this is my entry for this August. The challenge was to journal three words to describe self, I had difficulty with this part so had to ask a few friends to think of words to describe me. The background is done with Dylusion paints and new background stamps. The large borders and circles are from Dyans digi sheets. The image and ticket are from Tumble Fish Studio. The borders top and bottom I doodled myself.

THE BOOK MARK CHALLENGE SDC 37

2011-08-26T06:06:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for the Stampotique Designer Challenge . The challenge this week was set by the lovely Kate of the Kathryn Wheel fame, she chose a book mark. Take a look at all the lovely book marks made by the DTs over at Stampotique. As it is the 2nd challenge of the month Stampotiques own stamps must be used that is easy for me as I have so many of them. So I decided on Weasel as he has a sign where I was able to write the word Books. I coloured him with Cosmic Acrylic Drawing Inks. The background is water colour paper sprayed with Dylusion inks through stencils and I stamped the word READ around the edge as a border, I used Stampotique Alphabities to stamp the words using black Archival. I hope you like my book mark.

AN ALTERED BOOK PAGE

2011-08-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

This is a page in my A5 Moleskine, it didn't start off life like this. It was a scraped page using a credit card to paint with and the colours were red, yellow and orange, you may be able to see some of the colours still showing through. I have altered the page by using Dylusion paints turquoise, purple and blue. I have gessoed through a stencil and sequin waste. The background stamps are from the new Dylusion stamps called Basic Backgrounds. To make a border I have used 2 of Jo Capper-Sandon stamps which she designed for Stampotique and of course my 2 cute images are from Stampotique. I don't remember where I found the quote.

I am entering this page in the Stampotique challenge 36 an Altered Book Page.

OH I DO LOVE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE

2011-08-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

This isn't exactly beside the sea-side it's more in the sea but either way I do love to be beside the sea and always want to live there. I am entering this in the Happy Daze Challenge for August which is as the title to this post suggests. All the images are Stampotique and the fish are from Lisa's Altered Art. You still have time to enter this challenge as it does not end until 31st August.

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE MONTH

2011-07-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

July is very nearly over and done with and it's not been a bad month in this part of the UK. Weather has been good and I have done all sorts of good things. I am ahead of myself too as I have August already to go. For those of you who don't know this is the Art Calendar challenge set up by the lovely Kate of the Kathryn Wheel, so just nip over there and have a look at all the gorgeous calendar pages. August represents for me Sea and Sand hence the colours I have chosen and those gorgeous Stampotique mermaids and octopus.

KATE'S WORKSHOP

2011-07-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I went to AFTH to a workshop taught by the fabulous talented Kate Crane. It was a fantastic relaxed day spent with some lovely like-minded people. There was some fabulous art work produced and here are the 2 pages that I completed I hope you like them.

The Three Wishes

2011-07-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for Roc's July Journal Prompt which is "If you could have 3 wishes what would they be?". My friend Anne thinks I am being very altruistic because of my wishes being about others and not me. I really enjoyed doing this page apart from the writing as I don't like my hand writing. This was another page which I had done previously and didn't like the colours so I gessoed over it there were some hearts on the original and you may still be able to see them. I used Dylusion sprays, the borders are from Tumble Fish Studios and the flower faces and girl are from Octopode. I hope you like it.

A JOURNAL PAGE

2011-07-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

A journal page at last, I am always moaning that I never get time to journal due to demands put on me from various corners but this weekend I was determined and I actually completed 2 double page spreads. This one didn't start life like it is now, the colours were a horrible, garish blue and purple with quite a lot of texture, I gessoed over the top, closed the book while wet quickly opened it again, et voila a lot more texture this is the result which I love. I did intend to journal on this page but it was impossible because of the raised effect of the texture. All the borders and image are from Tumble Fish Studio.

ANOTHER CREATION

2011-07-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

I went with a friend to a Play Day at Anne's (L'pool Lou) house recently. Anne is extremely good at Fabric crafts, she taught us how to make a "Slash Bag". I decided to make a large bag------big mistake as when you come to the slashing process it takes ages and you have to be very, very careful not to slash through all the layers. The bag is made with 4 layers of material sewn together diagonally and then very carefully slashed to show the underneath layers and it gives the appearance of chenille. I am going to use my bag to carry my journalling stuff when I go to Art Journal days at AFTH.

THE TORSO

2011-07-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago the "Ladies who lunch" had a play day and we chose to decorate a Torso. Ann (flutterby crafter) put a photo of them on her blog, at the time mine was unfinished but now it is. I haven't been able to blog it before now as my grand-daughter Isabel liked it so much she took it home before I had time to take a photo. This week she brought it back for me to photograph so here it is. Not a very good photo.

JULY

2011-07-02T01:22:00.000-07:00

Blogger is playing tricks again and wouldn't allow me to post both photos at the same time so here is July in a seperate post.

Out with June in with July

2011-07-02T01:19:00.000-07:00

The saying goes June is bursting out all over and some days it did and July has started well, nice warm, sunny days.My June pages are complete and are here for you to see and I did manage to prep my July pages on time but haven't had a moment to blog them till now. So here they are.

ATC SWAP

2011-06-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

I posted an ATC a while ago which is very similar to this one but then I deleted it from my blog for various reasons. This particular ATC I made for my friend Ann Flutterby Crafter we do a monthly swap.This one was made using Tim's glossy card and alcohol inks. I quite enjoyed making this as I haven't used alcohol inks for a long time Here is a link to Ann's blog where you will find some wonderful art work.http://flutterbycrafter.blogspot.com/

SDC32 CLEAN AND SIMPLE

2011-06-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry for the Stampotique Designers Challenge "Clean and Simple" chosen by the very talented Joanne Wardle. For my card I have used Stazon Timber Brown to stamp the images and quote. I stamped on to cream card and mounted it on to Kraft card. All the stamps used are by Stampotique.

A NEW METHOD OF ART JOURNALING

2011-06-13T01:02:00.000-07:00

I spent a lovely relaxing day at AFTH yesterday, it was our regulars Art Journaling with Dyan. There were only a few of us, just how I like it. Dyan as usual set us a challenge which was a new way of journaling ( I never know if "journaling" needs 2 lls or just one) on a tag, it was brilliant as it makes it very difficult to read. We used Distress Stains but I only used them on my tag not on the actual pages. The pages were done in our usual way with lots of layers using Dylusions paints and sprays. The image I used is a new one from Paper and Gluestix.

MONOCHROME BIRTHDAY

2011-06-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

I made this card for my son's partner it is her birthday today, well actually I made 3 the same as it is a blogger friends birthday today and another friends on Sunday. I got the idea from Jo Capper-Sandon's blog she made a couple of mono cards and posted them on her blog when I saw them I really liked them.

I used a Crafters workshop stencil with stormy sky DI, the balloon stamp I used are from Paper Bag Studios as is the image of the little girl, I just love this stamp. The floral stamp is a Stampotique by Daniel Torrente

Out with May in with June

2011-06-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

It is a lovely warm sunny day here in West Yorkshire and it is the first day of June, lets hope the rest of June is going to be like this.

May's art calendar pages are complete and June is already to go. Where does time go we are already into our 6th month of Kate's Art Calendar challenge, I would link this to the Kathryn Wheel but I am useless at that kind of thing but I am sure you all know about Kate's challenge by now.

MINI JOURNAL DAY

2011-05-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

I spent another wonderful day at AFTH yesterday. I went with my friend Ann (Flutterby Crafter) and we met up with another journalling friend Christine, we were there for one of Kate Crane's workshops on Mini Journalling. We had a fab time learning Kate's techniques for backgrounds in our tiny journals. We used Dyan's Dylusions paints and sprays, images and stamps which Kate brought for us to use and we got very inky and messy. We didn't know the other crafters on the workshop but they were a very friendly lot and everyone had a good time.

I AM BACK

2011-05-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

I am back having spent a fabulous week in NYC and thank you to all my blogger friends who wished me a good holiday and it certainly was. I haven't done much in the way of crafting since I came home as I was suffering from terrible Jet Lag for about 4 days, no concentration and I couldn't stay awake. I am back to normal now (if I could ever be described as normal) so here is an ATC I have made for a swap I do with a friend I gave it to her today so I am allowed to put it on my blog. The paints I have used are the new Paper Artsy Fresco Finish chalk acrylics, they are wonderful to stamp and write on and gorgeous colours. The cute image is from Paper & Gluestix by Amy Nieman. I think I am going to find lots of uses for this dolly image in my art work.

A TSUNAMI BUTTERFLY DOLL

2011-05-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

On Friday I spent a lovely day with five crafting friends making a Tsunami Butterfly Doll. This was definitely out of my comfort zone but we were very well instructed by my friend Anne (L'pool Lou), she was leading the project and believe you me she needed all her patience as we were all complete novices and were continually making mistakes. We had a great time chatting, laughing, eating and drinking coffee. Anne made her gorgeous Tiffin, I made the soup, Flutterby crafter made scones and Jill made the most gorgeous lemon flan, is it any wonder we are all putting on weight. After these Play Day sessions I go home and take my dogs on a 10mile hike to walk off the calories consummed during the day. Here is my finished doll, I made her wings out of Fabric Paper which I made a few weeks ago again under the guidance of Anne (L'pool L). Anne is a very talented lady and we have learnt such a lot from her.

AT LAST

2011-05-05T01:15:00.000-07:00

Hi, well at last I have finished my May Art Calendar pages, I was up until after midnight last night trying to get it ready to blog, it was worth it as I am quite pleased with it. Hope you like it too.

NEARLY THERE

2011-05-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Well just to prove that I am actually doing something here is the prepared May page of my art calendar.It is all done using Dylusions sprays and paints. I will show you the finished page hopefully tomorrow.

APRIL FINISHED

2011-05-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I have not blogged for a while in fact haven't had much to blog I seem to be inundated with other stuff to do but at least I have finished my April pages for the Art Calendar although dare I say this I have not started my May pages.

Where I would like to live.

2011-04-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year Roc over on http://www.whatsuproc.blogspot.com/ set up a monthly journal challenge, I managed to do the first on in January and not done one since until today. April's challenge is to do a journal page about where you would like to live if you didn't live where you live now and write a postcard to someone from that place. Well I have always wanted to live near the sea, I can only put that down to being born under the star sign Pisces. So here is my page completed. I have used all Dylusions paints and sprays I sprayed through some net and a pebble stencil as these are related to the sea. The fishes, bubbles, banner border and the fossil border are all from Paper & Gluestix. The small curly border is a Stampotique stamp and my large image is from the Octopode Factory.

My friend Anne spent ages last Friday showing me how to Link, I have all the instructions written down and fixed to my PC but I still have not mastered copying the URL, IT IS SO FRUSTRATING.

Here comes April

2011-04-03T03:17:00.000-07:00

A few days late but better late than never. I am really happy with the background colours on this page although now I have put the journal squares on it covers most of it. I used Dylusions paint Mustard and Pink, sprayed with Sky Blue Pearl mica spray from Art From The Heart. I also sprayed in white which is a Crafty Notions spray. I painted with a gold dabber through a couple of stencils, did lots of circles in orange and white. My images are from Octopode Factory coloured with Copic Markers. The rain drops are from a Claudine Helmuth stamp. The days of the week I wrote on old music sheet and April is stamped on an old book page. I had better get on with May now seeing as time is flying by.

ANOTHER MONTH GONE

2011-04-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast this year is going, I know they say as you get older time flies but this is ridiculous April already. So here is March completed for the Art Calendar Challenge that Kate of the Kathryn Wheel set us all. Now I must go and complete the prep of my April page, last month I was well in advance this month I am way behind.

A LOVELY DAY WAS SPENT

2011-03-31T03:28:00.000-07:00

Yes I was at AFTH yesterday for a workshop run by the lovely Kate of the Kathryn Wheel fame. It really was a wonderful relaxing day expertly taught by Kate. We made Kate's Tag Book which you can see on her blog and also on Dyan's web site. We made a couple of colour wheels to start with which is a brilliant idea to teach you which colours go with each other, then we spent the morning playing, experimenting with colour using the sprays, punching out mini shapes to use on the tags and then putting everything together using the sewing machineThe afternoon session was devoted to making a book with 8 tags cut from Tim's tag die and using the techniques we had learnt during the morning session. So we actually made 2 tag books, yipee! I am showing you one I have finished and the other is yet to be put together which I intend to do today after all the usual chores. Hey! I have more time now for crafting as I have given up my teaching job, handed in my notice this week and informed all the powers that be. Well you have to give up sometime or I could see myself still working at 80, NO WAY!

A JOURNAL PAGE

2011-03-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Another journal page created at AFTH on the day I should not have been there. Art Journaling is this Sunday at AFTH I hope I remember to go LOL. The background on this page was created using the new Distress Stains and they are gorgeous and so easy to use, the colours here are Bundled Sage and Wild Honey. The borders, hand with pointing finger and spots are all from Dyan's downloads and the doors are a Stampotique stamp. Quotes are computer generated, I very rarely write on my pages and don't feel the need to write personal stuff although sometimes there can be a hidden meaning.

SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE

2011-03-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I haven't blogged for a while it's not that I haven't done any crafting I have been making ATCs but can't blog them yet as they are for a swap this month and the people who I swap with haven't got them yet.

Today I dashed off to AFTH very early this morning for the Art Journal workshop. I spent ages last night packing all my stash to take with me and loading it in the car and guess what when I walked into the studio Kate (Ben's partner) and Dyan both had hysterics, I had gone on the wrong day, this weekend was the "Altered Book" weekend. Sometimes I wonder where my brain is 'cos I know full well that there is exactly a month between Art Journal days, however, I had a good day and enjoyed myself sitting in the middle of all the ladies making fantastic altered books. Dyan very kindly said I couldn't go home and made a place for me. There were quite a few there who know me as they are fellow art journalers and so we had a good laugh at my goof. I actually achieved a lot more than I would have done if I had been at home and here is one of my completed pages done today using Dyan's downloads, Deviant Scrap and Tumble Fish Studios.

HELLO MARCH

2011-03-01T12:50:00.000-08:00

Well today felt like Spring in this part of the world, reasonably warm and sunny, it was nice not to have to wear hat, scarf and gloves while walking the dogs. My pages for March are coincidentaly very spring like. It is also the Marie Curie month so I have included daffodils which are there emblem. My little daff figure is another Stampotique and my squares are from Dyan's papers "Spring Fling"

BYE TO FEBRUARY

2011-03-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

Here are my February finished pages for the Art Calendar challenge. I always intend to add to each day to illustrate what I have been doing but I never actually get around to doing that, when I look at other peoples with lots of little drawings and I feel inspired but then it disappears where it goes I don't know. Well that's enough rambling for one day so here is the photo.

MARCH NOT QUITE

2011-02-26T05:25:00.000-08:00

I am well in advance this month for the Art Calendar, Idon't know why as I have had a very busy month. I prepared these pages last week of course they are not finished but I thought I would show you the basic background. I used all of Dylusions new paints and sprays I just love the colours. For these pages I sprayed, splodged and splashed using mustard, yellow, sienna, white and grass green ink spray.

Now I must go and add to my pages and make sure I stay ahead of myself.

BUZZING BEEZWAX

2011-02-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

This is another project that myself and 3 friends have been working on over the last 2 Fridays. These Play Days are certainly fun with lots of chat, laughter,drinking (coffee I might add) and eating although the eating has been getting a bit out of hand and we have had to tone it down.
Hels Sheridan has a Beezwax canvas in this months Craft Stamper,it is fab so we "girls" decided to have a go. Some of us are not very experienced using Beezwax but it worked out quite well especially when you look at the size of the canvas (14"x18") We used Claudine's Trad Tan as a base and Kaiser colour paints here and there mine is blue. Stamped on tissue paper with Stazon Timber Brown and the stamps are a combo of Paper Artsy, Crafty Individuals and Tim's. Ann had a sack full of old watch parts which Lynne's DH very kindly cleaned for us, they are scattered here and there and glued with Bostick as are the mini canvases. All the edges are finished with Inka Gold, fab stuff.

It's real fun crafting with friends as there is no pressure or stress to finish 'cos we know we can come back and finish another day as these Play Days are on going.

A MONTHLY SWAP

2011-02-20T07:12:00.000-08:00

I made this ATC for a friend, for two friends actually. We do a monthly swap and I have made the same ATC for both friends. I used Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet on the background, stamped the Stampotique hearts in Archival Crimson and then filled them in with Glossy Accents to give some 3D and a shiny effect. The image is a Stampotique called Joy although he looks far from joyful, I gave him a little diamante at the tip of his hat, coloured him in Copics,stuck the red heart on his chest and outlined him in black. The sentiment is from a Beatles song "Love Me Do" he looks like he could do with some loving. They are holding a Heart/Love challenge over on the Stampotique challenge blog so I may enter him in that.

THE EYES AGAIN

2011-02-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

I seem to have a thing about eyes at the moment and I appear to be in a negative phase. This actually is 2 seperate journal pages but I have done them side by side. The painted background is with Dyan's range Dylusions. I have used gel medium through a flower stencil, painted a piece of bubble wrap with white paint and stamped on the page, splattered here and there with black paint and used an old credit card to make some splodges here and there. The border is a mixture of downloads from various people and the images are from Tumble Fish Studios apart from the head and hat of the man which are from Dyan's downloads. Even though the sentiments are negative I was quite pleased with the look of the background on these pages which again is in my A5 Moleskine. Now I must fly as I am working today byeeeeee.

THE EYES HAVE IT

2011-02-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

This is a page in my A5 Moleskine journal, I didn't know if I should post it on my blog as I maybe taken to court over it, I just hope she doesn't read peoples blogs LOL. I have had the picture for ages and it was the eyes which drew me to it. The background is a variety of colours with pink tones and sprayed with Tim's Perfect Copper. The border is a mixture of Downloads some from Dyan at AFTH and others are Crowabout as are the eyes and other images. I think on reflection it is a very busy page I have probably put too much on there.

CRAFTING MONDAY

2011-02-05T14:50:00.000-08:00

Last Monday was spent crafting with 3 friends, heaven. We decided to make a picture using a canvas and corrugated cardboard each one was so different as we put our own mark on the project.I painted my canvas using Claudine's Trad Tan and then stamped in Olive Archival using Dyan's "Around the Edge" stamp from her Dylusions range. I edged the canvas using a copper Krylon pen, put a piece of copper wire through 2 copper eyelets to hang the finished canvas although I don't think you can see this in my photo. I tore around the corrugated card to give a grungy feel and then decorated using grunge paper butterflies and bird a few of Tims idea-ology here and there . The trees were cut from copper mounted on card using Tim's Sizzix Die. The fence is a Sizzix Die painted in Claudine's Sable Brown and using the Vaseline resist technique to give a peeled paint effect. My 3 houses I cut from a Crafty Individuals template and covered in the latest (can't remember what it is called) Paper Artsy papers. I am now going to give this to a friend I hope she likes it.

ISABEL

2011-02-03T03:45:00.000-08:00

Quite a few of you already know my 13year old grand-daughter Isabel, she rang me yesterday with some brilliant news. She has been offered a place on an Art Course at Leeds Art College, this is an after school course lasting 7 weeks as obviously she can't go full time as she is still at school. She is very arty and comes with me to Dyan's at AFTH for journaling and other workshops so some credit must go to Dyan for teaching Isabel various techniques which she uses in her art at school. Last year she won a place in La Boheme singing and touring with Opera North and now this. We are very proud of her as you would be wouldn't you as grandparents.

HERE COMES FEBRUARY

2011-02-01T01:49:00.000-08:00

These are my February pages forKate's Art Calendar challenge 2011, pop over to the Kathryn Wheel to see what it is all about if you are not already a "member" it's not too late to join. For my page background I have used Dyan's paints and sprays from her Dylusion range. The snowdrops are a stamp I have had for years Personal Impressions and all the images are from Octopode Factory.

JANUARY FINISHED

2011-01-31T14:45:00.000-08:00

Here are my pages for the January Art Calendar challenge. If you are not yet familiar with this challenge go over to Kates blog (The Kathryn Wheel) to see what it is all about. I can't believe we are already one whole month into 2011, it's a cliche but time does fly. I have my February pages already to post but I will do that tomorrow.

The Ladies Who Lunch Club

2011-01-19T05:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the monthly get together of the "Ladies Who Lunch Club" at the lovely Ann's. A fantastic day was had by all, there were 8 of us this time as two more of our "crafty friends" joined us. We had lots of fun and laughs while decorating Tim's new "Configuration Boxes", this took a lot longer than originally thought so it is now an "ongoing project"as we need to fill all the little boxes. Some of us chose a family theme, another a childhood theme and mine is a "Vintage mini sewing" theme. So if any one out there has any old sewing tools they would like to dispose of I would be very grateful and then happy to show you the finished project.

A NEW CHALLENGE FOR 2011

2011-01-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

I found this new journal challenge through a link on my friend Ann's blog (Flutterby Crafter). ROC is suggesting a journal theme each month this year. The first challenge is a journal page in your favourite colour and mine is blue. For the background I used the fantastic Dylusion Acrylic Paints from Dyan at AFTH. I sprayed through a circle stencil with Dylusions Mica Sprays in various shades of blue. I used Dylusions white paint through sequin waste and for the circles. I used a white Shaker Sharpie pen to outline the Octopode image, wording and border along the top. The border down the side is from Collage Anonymous.

LOVE

2011-01-07T15:27:00.000-08:00

Another journal page in my small Moleskine and once again using Octopode Factory Images. These images are drawn by Lily Chivers and I just love them in the same way as I love all things Stampotique, they are so quirky Some people see me as a and I quote "sweet, quiet, mild mannered person"and are amazed that I like quirky grungey stuff but I do. The background is painted using "Amsterdam" acrylic paints which were recommended by Dina Wakley. I sprayed the background with Crafty Notions silver spray. The black and white border is computer generated, just a row of x. The sentiment is one of Dyan's Downloads from AFTH, she is so good at coming up with these brilliant sayings. All the other bits and pieces are from Octopode.

THE FAMILY

2011-01-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a journal page I did, in my Watercolour Paper Moleskine. This is a small journal measuring 13cms x 20cms, I am very much into small these days. The background was done using Crafty Notions paints, these are fabulous paints with a fantastic sheen to them, I then sprayed through a Crafters Workshop "Mini Flower Frenzy" stensil using a Crafty Notions gold spray, The people images are from the Octopode Factory, the borders,birds and toadstools are from Paper/Gluestix and the wording is one of Dyan's downloads from Art From The Heart. Hope you like it, the photo isn't very good I really need to improve my photography skills or lack of.

THE CHALLENGE CONTINUES WITH JANUARY 2011

2011-01-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe this it is my 3rd post today, I have a lot of catching up to do. I am joining Jill and Kate again this year in their Art Calendar Challenge so here is January 2011

12 WHOLE MONTHS

2011-01-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

The Last one

2011-01-02T05:24:00.000-08:00

Here are my December pages for the 2010 Art Calendar Challenge organised and run by the very talented Kate. Go and take a look on her blog "The Kathryn Wheel" if you feel like joining us for the 2011 Challenge. Later today I will blog all my 2010 pages, hopefully.

MY BEAUTIFUL STAMPOTIQUE DOLL

2011-01-01T13:41:00.000-08:00

I have been away all Christmas and so I haven't done any crafting recently but this is a present I just had to show you all. I didn't open my presents until Wednesday 29th Dec when my 2 Grand-daughters came and we had a present opening day. This little doll made in the image of a Stampotique girl was made for me by my friend Anne, who knows how much I love Stampotique. She wrapped it up and put it inside an enormous Christmas Cracker she had made (I should have photographed it before unwrapping my prezzie-doh) which was also very impressive. Anne is so talented with a leaning towards material crafts rather than paper crafts. In the photo you can see behind the doll part of a beautiful felt, hanging collage she made for me recently.

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends, I am looking forward to seeing everyone's art work in 2011.

CHRISTMAS CARDS

2010-12-18T15:54:00.000-08:00

Once again I have been absent from blog land I have been so busy. I know we are all busy at this time of year but this year seems to have been manic plus we lost a whole week due to the snow and now it's come back again.

I didn't make all my Christmas cards this year, I only made for crafty friends and here are just two samples.

DECEMBER WHAT A START

2010-12-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well what a start to this month. I haven't had my car out of the garage since last Friday, my husband is stuck in France supposed to fly into Gatwick then get a flight to Manchester where is car is parked and we all know Gatwick is closed! The good thing is I have had the time to do some crafting and have finished my December art calendar pages. The bad thing is I missed a page after November so had to go back and start again or I would have had a big gap and I like continuity! Then today I realised I had done my pages upside down ROFL! So now I hope that's everything bad out of the way.

I painted my pages with various shades of blue with splodges of white and sprayed Crafty Notions Silver all over the pages to give it the wintery feel. My journal squares are from Basic Gray Blitzen Jack Frost which I thought was very appropriate and my images are from the Octopode Factory. I maybe disqualified from the 365 Challenge because horror of horrors I have used peel offs for my days and date numbers LOL.

NOVEMBER DAYS

2010-12-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

November days completed for the 365 day challenge. I started my December pages but then discovered I had left a gap of a double page spread after November so what I prepared is going to have to be for my January pages (aren't I in advance doh) and now I have to go back and start again for December. So those of us who took up the challenge we are nearly there, not that we want to wish our lives away LOL. Those of you who want to join us in January 2011 go and take a look at Kate's "The Kathryn Wheel" blog to see what it is all about.

2010-12-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

MAKE ART

2010-11-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

Hi fellow bloggers, it's quite a while since I blogged anything in fact I haven't produced any art work. The deputy head at school (a friend) is retiring at Christmas and I have been asked to make an album which will contain photos of everyone who attends her retirement do and a small signed card from everyone. Well I couldn't say no could I so my life has been taken over by that but I have managed to do this page in my tiny 7Gypsies journal. I love this journal because it is so small that once I have an idea it's really quick to do and finish. I did this page because like many of you out there I spend too much time on my PC going from blog to blog and not actually making art. The image is from the Octopode Factory I love these quirky little figures. The PC is an Apple Mac cut from the Argos catalogue, the eye and borders are from Paper and Gluestix.

October ends

2010-11-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hi people, I am not the most competent of people when it comes to PCs etc but at the moment blogger is driving me crazy. It has taken me nearly 2 hours to be able to upload the previous photo and then it wouldn't let me upload the October Art Calendar pages on the same post so here it comes at last but in the wrong place and wrong order. I suppose I could have cancelled the previous post and changed them around but quite honestly after all this I could not be "bovvered".

OCTOBER ENDS AND NOVEMBER BEGINS

2010-11-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I have finished my October pages for the 365day challenge and I have my November pages ready on time. November is very colourful representing the 5th November and fireworks. I still need to add a few more embellies but I am thinking about it and I might go around the orange squares with a white shakey pen.

A CRAFTING PLAY DAY

2010-10-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I went to a crafting play day to my friend Ann's(Flutterby Crafter) along with 4 other crafting friends. We had a really wonderful day with lots of chatting, laughing,eating and crafting. It was all in aid of improving our metal work skills and the result is a lovely canvas painted and stamped before attaching the metal which was embossed using the Cuttle Bug folders and TSS molds. It as taken a while for me to blog my finished canvas as i have had problems with my PC, so anyway here's mine. This photo looks pink and actually it is green this is due to me and my lack of techno brain!!!!

OMG 40 YEARS

2010-10-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday this week my other half and I celebrated 40 years of marriage. I believe that this is a Ruby wedding anniversary and so I have done a journal page related to this in my large A4 book. I was only going to do a single page but it has developed into a double page spread. I have used various shades of red for the backgroud. I sprayed through a Crafters Workshop stencil "Dot Burst" with one of Dyan's Altered Originals sprays "Velvet". The side borders and all the images are from Dyan's new fabby stamps "Dylusions" and the girl image is actually called Ruby, very appropriate, I coloured her with Copic Markers. All the outlines and other bits of white were done with a Sakura white gel pen and I have used a "Golden" Acrylic paint Interference Red which gives a lovely shine when rubbed over a painted background. The top and bottom borders are downloads from Crowabout Studio. I have even managed to do some journaling this time which I don't normally do. Hope you like the pages.

IN A DARK DARK CELLAR

2010-10-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

A month ago at AFTH Dyan gave us the challenge of using these little Munsters in our art journals. I chose a theme from a childrens book which we were using at that time in the reception class at the school were I work. There are lots of skeletons in this book which was appropriate as we also had Tims Mini Halloween stamps to use. I have used the wording from the book and substituted Munsters for skeletons. On these pages I have used Dyan's new paints and sprays from her fantastic Dylusions line. You may be able to see a white splodge above the Munsters that is the light reflecting on gold paint as I took the photo late at night.

ANOTHER MINI PAGE

2010-10-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here's another double page spread in my Mini Art Journal book. This time I have used all of Dyan's sprays and mica sprays. All the images and banner border are from Dyan's Downloads which I have greatly reduced in size, they are so cute. I hope this photo turns out ok as my friend Ann (Flutterby Crafter) gave me a lesson in photography this week and pointed out where I am going wrong, so fingers crossed.

FUN WITH ATC'S

2010-10-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

Over on FUN WITH ATCs the 19th challenge is Witches and Wizzards. I have used a piece of water colour paper which I sprayed with some of Dyan's Altered Original Sprays and then gave it a nice sheen by spraying with Dylusions Burnt Orange Pearl Mica Spray. The stamps are from Tim's Mini Halloween and the images are from Lisa's Altered Art. I used Glossy Accents on the witches hat and wings and the cat wizzard's eyes and hat.

A MINI ART JOURNAL

2010-10-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

I bought this little book from Dyan at AFTH, they come in pairs and are a 7Gypsies product, they are very mini and measure 8.5cms x 13.5cms. After I bought them I wondered what I was going to do with them apart from hoard them ROFL which I am prone to do. I then saw Kate's (The Kathryn Wheel) mini journal and that gave me inspiration. I love small things as you can complete a page in no time, another reason I like ATCs. I have finished my title page using Dyans letter downloads which I reduced in size. The borders are from Crowabout Studios and the images are from Marsha at Tumble Fish Studios. I have gessoed, painted, splattered, sprayed using Dyan's fab Dylusions Mica Sprays, they give a fantastic sheen to your pages. I have sprayed through stencils and made a couple of borders using Sakura gel pens.

OCTOBER BEGINS

2010-10-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

I am a little late with my October pages but I needed the time to think about my background and colours. I used the scrape method to paint my pages (old credit card) not a brush. When they were finished I thought they were too bright so covered them with a layer of gesso which I like as it gives a cloudy eerie effect perfect for the Halloween month. I love all the Halloween stamps and images but I am not a fan of Halloween itself. All the stamps I have used are from Tim's Mini Halloween and the wording from 7Gypsies Disclaimer. All the paints I have used are from Dyan's Dylusions range, beautiful colours and finish. I decided to use purple journaling squares and white Sakura gel pen to write with as it shows up better than the black. Oh nearly for got the lovely spider is from my favourite Stampotique range.

Another month gone

2010-10-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

September went with a last day of sunshine and warmth in this part of Yorkshire and here are my September pages to go with it, they are quite bright sunny and warm. It has been quite a busy month so busy that all my good intentions of having my October pages ready in time just didn't happen so now I had better get on with them.

SKULLS

2010-09-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Over on "Fun with ATC's" the challenge is to use skulls or a skull on your ATC. I used watercolour paper this time, coloured it with Dyan's new acrylic paints DYLUSIONS in orange and purple. I stamped a background of skulls in black , used some white gesso for the circles. The skull is from Tim's plain elements grunge shapes, I coloured it with a white dabber acrylic paint and when dry covered it with another dabber "Pearl" attached him with Glossy Accents and put a red crystal in each eye socket. For the finish I mounted it on to black card.

A DAY WITH DYAN

2010-09-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the monthly art journal class at ART FROM THE HEART. I think we all really look forward to these days with Dyan and yesterday I took my 13yr old grand-daughter Isabel, she just loves to go there. Dyan presented us with a challenge as usual, she had some wrapping paper with strange little images I think they are called "Munsters." We had to cut them out and journal with them also using Tim's new Halloween stamps. Our pages didn't necessarily have to be about Halloween but the stamps went perfectly with the "Munsters". Isabel did 2 double page spreads one being "Munsters in the Attic" and the other isn't quite finished but it is about Aliens, I think she just has the wording to do. I haven't finished mine I will blog it at a later date when I have done the wording.

CRUSADE NUMBER 44

2010-09-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Michelle over at GPP Street Team has a new challenge this month ~ Scrape. The idea is to paint journal pages with several different colours using a credit card or splodger, brushes are not allowed. I cut a heart stencil from grey board, well 3 actually and then scraped paint through those too. I did my left had page first but didn't like the red I had used, too brown so I did it again using a bright red acrylic paint. It is still darker than the right hand page but it's ok. I think we will be adding to these pages later, if not I will journal about how my heart loves art! I used my A4 Moleskine for this double page spread and then did another double page,same technique in my smaller A5 Moleskine but this time I scraped white Gesso through sequin waste (punchinella) and a plastic spaghetti measure from Asda!

FOR A CHANGE

2010-09-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 cards I made this week at the Craft Box Elsecar (near Sheffield). For the first card we used DIs Shabby Shutters, Broken China and Vintage Photo. The image is one of Tim's stamps which we embossed using one of Ranger Distress Powders. The grassy flowery stamp at the bottom edge was stamped and then Perfect Pearls brushed over to give a sheen. The second card again we used Vintage Photo DI. The 2 side panels are stamped with a script and ribbon attached, the right hand side panel should have a bow attached but I didn't want one so later I may attach one of Tim's idea-ology pieces or a flower. My favourite of the two is the bird one.

WINGS ATC

2010-09-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

Over on "FUN WITH ATCs" the challenge is WINGS. I used Tims Vintage Shabby paper covered with Rock Candy crackle paint. The image with wings is a Sugar Nellie stamp coloured with Copic markers and the wings painted with a gold dabber acrylic paint. The bird attached to the ribbon is from Tims ideaology and I used a few pearl beads for extra decoration along with the white ribbons and pink embroidery silk.

TYPOGRAPHY

2010-09-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

Typography what does it mean, words and phrases. The background to these 2 journal pages are made from words and phrases cut from magazines, they are all black and white, glued to the pages using Claudines "extra time slow-dry medium". You may still be able to see some of the words but I covered them with watered down gesso. Using 2 of my large "Crafters Workshops"stencils I sprayed with Ranger Color Wash in Cranberry and Stream. Before spraying I stamped in black some of Tims "Spills and Splatters" and "Slight Alterations" also the wording "embrace imperfections" I have journaled on one of the pages in the swirls but it may be difficult for you to see on the photo. I also have a positive and negative effect on the pages as when I sprayed through the stencils I then turned them over on to the next page to use up all the ink. If you like my pages be sure to leave me a comment they are well appreciated.

HERE COMES SEPTEMBER

2010-09-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Finished at last quite a few of us have been running against the clock this time it seems even Kate (the Kathryn Wheel) who organised this challenge That awful splodge on my August page actually is a lovely shiny "Golden" (make of paint) Iridescent paint which in real life does not look like a splodge, it must be the light when I took the photo. So back to this month I used Jo Sonja's paints, with a few runny drips here and there. The border at the top of the pages is Graphic 45 Botanicabella, the squares and the 3 pears are from the same papers. The large Pear and Apple are a couple of stamps I bought when Sue Roddis had her sale earlier in the year. The September word I cut from a magazine, it actually was pale grey so I changed it using a black marker pen and edged in white as are the squares and fruit and banner.

WAY BEHIND

2010-09-03T03:08:00.000-07:00

A little late but better late than never, I have just finished my August pages in my art calendar challenge organised by the lovely Kate. Well I say finished they could do with a few more embellishments but maybe I will have time to do that later.

CATS

2010-08-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

Over on "Fun with ATCs" they have a challenge, to use CATS on your ATC so what to do. I used the Graphic 45 Alice in Wonderland script paper as a background, cut out the Cheshire Cat from one of the other papers, used German Scrap down one edge. The pretty cat I stamped twice coloured with Copic Markers and spread Ranger Stickles "rock candy"all over the images. The head of one is behind one of Tim's Fragments which represents a mirror and then the sentiment I did on the PC. In case you can't read the wording it says "Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the nicest cat of all"

A CELEBRATION

2010-08-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

I spent a wonderful evening at AFTH yesterday. It was a celebration crafting party, what were we 12 ladies celebrating? Sandy Poppins (Sandra Hall) is going to reach the ripe old age of, wait for it, 50 next week. Like I told her 50 is the new 30 so there's no need to worry. Anyway we had a great time with lots of nibbles, wine and cake of course the only black spot was that Dyan wasn't there but poor Ben who had to put up with all us ladies on his own, did tell us that Dyan had been discharged from hospital that same evening, so hopefully she is on the mend. We did do some crafting amongst all the festivities, the lovely Katie took charge and guided us through making a "Canvas Graffiti Purse". Believe it or not the purses are made from place mats which we decorated using different layers of paint, sprays, stencils, and doodles. There was quite a bit of sewing to do both by hand and on the machine. A good time was had by all and here is my purse.

ALICE IN A JOURNAL PAGE

2010-08-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today I have been to Art From The Heart for an Art Journal class. It was a sad day in one respect in that Dyan was not there to teach us, guide us, and inspire us as she is ill in hospital. All the regulars were there and we each made a tag to send to Dy to cheer her up and wish her well. I also did a page about Starbucks as I always call there on my way to AFTH for my usual Cappuccino with 2 extra shots. I haven't finished this page so I will post it at a later date but here is one I did earlier in my large A4 Moleskine. The inspiration for this page was taken from Dyan as at the time she was creating a few similar pages in her own journal. We used the Graphic 45 papers which are gorgeous and lots of Dyan's new spray inks "Altered Originals". If you haven't yet got any of these sprays you ought to buy some as they are fantastic and all who use them rave about them. So here is my page courtesy of Dyan.

A FANTASTIC WEEKEND

2010-08-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone I am back after a fantastic weekend spent at my favourite place in Harrogate, AFTH with the fab Dyan and Dina. Dina as you know if you have seen other peeps blogs is the most fantastic art journaler and tutor. We had a great time with lots of lovely food prepared by my fave teacher and her team, we didn't seem to stop eating and laughing of course. Here are a few pics of what we did with no explanation as to how we did the pages as you need to go on Dina's workshop to find that out.

These pics should be ok as I have sorted the problem of wrong orientation of my photos, it was my camera which was set on Auto Rotate, not bloggers fault.

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS CHALLENGE 12

2010-08-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Over on Stampotique Designers the challenge is a sketch using Stampotique stamps. I have used "Carrot" and "Framed", I stamped them in black on to white card and coloured them with my Copic markers. I gave all 3 shiny faces using Glossy Accents and black bling eyes. The wording is from a Stampotique stamp which I don't have boo hoo. All the papers I have used are from Tim's Lost and Found which I have grunged up and distressed, they really lend themselves to being grunged. I attached my images to the background using Tim's Tiny Attacher. The curly bits are a requirement of the sketch I used a MS punch for these and Maya Road black ric rac ribbon. The whole is mounted on to black card.
If when I publish this post I may have to apologise because my computer insists on turning my photo the wrong way and I don't know how to rotate on my PC. This is about the 5th time I have tried to publish this post hoping the photo is the correct way.

FUN WITH ATC'S CHALLENGE 12

2010-08-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

Over on "Fun with ATC's the challenge is to make an ATC related to Asia, mine is China. I sprayed my background with Crafty Notions Poppy Red followed by gold I edged with a gold Krylon pen. I stamped the images and embossed with black embossing powder. The same image was stamped on to a piece of shrink plastic I coloured red and cut in the shape of a tag, made a hole and threaded a fine gold thread through the hole and shrunk it with the heat gun. I then layered it on to a piece of black atc card.

HERE AT LAST AUGUST

2010-08-02T04:08:00.000-07:00

No I am not wishing time away even though yesterday I did mention that when this months Art Calendar is finished it will be only 4 months to.............. I did manage to finish this yesterday but didn't have the time to put it on my blog but never mind it is only the 2nd today so two days late but better late than never. I will carry on with this Art Calendar challenge to the end as I really enjoy making the pages and keeping a record of what I do each day even if it is only a snippet of my day. For August I chose the warm red orange colours as August represents sun and heat for me although at the moment I do think I am living in the wrong country for this. Looking at yesterday and today my pages should be grey.