March Art Swap

Hello All,

Apologies for not posting for a while, it has been the Easter hols and have been busy busy busy with the kids at home.

I did manage to get quite a bit of creating done over the holiday and this included the March art swap. I was partnered with the lovely Lyndsay from Truro and the challenge was to create mixed media bookmarks based on our favorite books. Here is what I made:

The first is one of my favorite quotes from Dr Seuss, the second is Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier and the third is Pride and Prejudice. It was difficult to choose my favorites as I do love books but these are ones I have read several times and always come back to when I want a nice read. Lyndsay received them the other day and was very pleased with them.

Here is what she sent me:

Lyndsay chose Pride and Prejudice as well and the other is based on fairy tales. I also got a lovely little bundle of goodies. I really love these, they are full of colour and texture and I especially like the paper beads.

The swap is always good fun, I love getting a surprise parcel each month and trying to create something special for someone else! I look forward to what this month will bring.

Bye for now xxxx

 

Art Swap

Hello All,

The other day I received my art swap for this month from the lovely Tanja in the Netherlands. It was as if Christmas had come early! The theme this time was 'embellishments'. We were tasked with making (or buying) a bundle of goodies for our partners. I really really enjoyed this one, with the time of year it felt like I was sending off a treat for Christmas. Here is what I sent to Tanja:

The bundle included handmade tags, a mini journal, beads and origami butterflys plus some bought mini tags and little hessian jars.

I was truly overwhelmed with what Tanja sent to me:

Her bundle included Christmas glasses for me and my children, handmade beads, beautiful stencils and tags galore. Stickers, confetti, sequins, felt flowers and a box each for my girls with the components to make their own xmas decorations. 

The postman delivered the box of gorgeous goodies as we were decorating our tree so it really was like Christmas!

It is absolutley fab doing the art swaps each month. I love chatting to people from all over the world, finding out about them and trying to make something that I hope they'll love! Plus, lets face it, who doesn't love getting post! 

Bye for now! xxx

Christmas Stall

Hello All,

This weekend my sister and I got together and ran a stall at my local village Christmas fair. I was selling my journals and labels and Fliss was selling her gorgeous jewellery:

Our stall looked lovely and Christmassy and it was great fun running it with my sister. The fair was lovely and busy and a great success, and it all helped to raise money for our local school.

Hopefully it is the first of many for Fliss and I.

Bye for now!  xx

Art Swap

Hello All,

I seem to be having a bit of a slump the last week or so. Not been inspired to do much and not had much time either! My little girl just turned 4 so its been all about that this last week anyway! I have however received Octobers Art Swap from Audrey in Canada. We had to create a journal page about where we are from. I loved this idea as I enjoy learning about other places and how others live their lives on the other side of the world. This is what Audrey sent me:

It is really beautiful and I got a lovely letter explaining all the different aspects of it. She also included the little double sided tag (above) which I love! 

I found my piece really difficult, I don't know if its just lately and I have lost my mojo a little and feeling bit meh but I couldn't get into it. Anyway this is the piece I created:

I tried to keep it looking quite industrial to reflect Sheffield, the city I live in which is famous for its steel industry, in particular cutlery. I also wanted to include a bit about the countryside as living on the edge of the national peak district has always meant a lot to me. So I added sheep and a millstone with all the lovely purple heather. Not my best I must admit but I really hope Audrey likes it!.

Lets hope I get back into the zone soon!

Bye for now x x 

Weekend Work

Hello All,

This weekend I had loads of time to work on my various projects. I am doing a another stall next month, a local Christmas fair. I have plenty of journals and labels left over from the last stall but I wanted to add something a bit more christmassy so I set about making packs of christmas labels:

I made these using my Gelli plate and some Christmas washi tapes.

The other thing I worked on was my commission which is coming on nicely but still has a way to go, here it is so far:

I also had a friend over who has been going through a rough time and has started coming to my art journaling sessions as a form of therapy to try and help her make sense of things and vent her emotions. It is brilliant for this and I myself use it in this way a lot! She was stuck though, she had started a page and just didn't know where to go next with it. We got out loads of materials and I helped make suggestions and point her in the right direction. She managed to finish her page and was happy with the result:

Susan's page

I really love that about teaching art journaling. It is really relaxing just to sit and play with all the different mediums and at the same time it really helps to get things sorted in your head and process how you are feeling about something. To see that working for the people I teach is wonderful. :)

Bye for now! xx

Dovefest Stall

Hello All!

This weekend saw the long awaited Dovefest craft stall. The day started early, setting up at 9am but the gates didn't open till 12.

It was a slow start but picked up at about 3pm. It went alright but perhaps not as well as I had hoped and I still have lots of journals and labels left. I think I may start to put some up on my etsy shop instead and perhaps look for a Christmas stall later on, Regardless it was a fun day and I really enjoyed it :)

Bye for now! xx

Dovefest Stall

Hello All,

In a few weeks times I will be selling my wares at a craft stall at Dovefest (free family music festival in Doveridge) I have been very busy trying to get all the stock ready and I feel I am finally getting there!

Another four journals and more tags to go! Fingers crossed I manage to sell some of it!

Also bought my canvasses in preparation for my commissions so looking forward to making a start on them, hopefully within the next few days! eeek.

Bye for now! x

New Video

Hello All,

As promised my new video! This shows me making one of the mixed media tags that I made for July's art swap. In it I use a variety of techniques and mediums. I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to leave a comment :)

Bye for now! xx

July Art Swap

Hello all,

I just received my art swap for this month from Fran in Essex. we had to make three tags, one bright, one pastel and one tonal. I always really enjoys making tags so this was right up my street! Speaking to Fran I knew she was not a fan of pastels and didn't like pink but liked steampunk and rust colours. She also told her favorite colour is blue so I tried to make tags that I thought she would like and get use out of. Here is what I made her.

Pastel Tag

Bright Tag

Tonal Tag

Fran emailed to say she received them and really liked them. I have made a video of me making the bright tag but it still needs a bit of work so I will hopefully post it up soon.

Now here is what I received from Fran:

I really like them, the colours are great and there is loads of texture on them too! It was a pleasure swapping with Fran! Can't wait for August's swap!

I am in Wales all next week but taking some art stuff with me, so I hope to get some journaling done!

Bye for now x x x

Tags

Hello All,

I have been busy the last few days working on my July art swap. This month I have to create three tags, one in pastels, one in bright colours and one tonal. I have really enjoyed working on this, but I won't post piccies up until I have confirmation that my partner has received them. But piccies and a new video coming soon!

Whilst making the tags I decided that I am going to make sets of three tags to sell at my Dovefest craft stall in August to go alongside all the journals I have been making for it. I had a practice run for these and this is what I made:

I gelli printed the background and added the butterflies on top. I am going to do these in all colours and all different but going to try and keep them all quite simple.

In other news I have my last of four workshops this Saturday so looking forward to that and really enjoying working in my altered book but will post piccies of this when I have done a bit more. Once my workshops have finished my summer project is to get started on my portrait commissions!

Bye for now! x x

Workshop Session 28th March 2015

My Sample Page

This week I asked the group to choose a quote that they found inspirational. We created a background using masking tape to create texture and adding colour using soft pastels with a wash. I also showed the group how to use the soft pastels to flick colour on to the page. We then made labels out of cereal boxes and decorated these with paint, stamps, stencils, ribbon etc and added our quotes to these.

It has been a fantastic four weeks and I have really enjoyed seeing all the lovely pages from the different sessions. It is great to see how each person puts their own style into the various techniques that I demonstrate.

My quote was taken from Dr Seuss

Completed Inspiration Zine

A while ago I started the Inspiration Station project run by Jellibellie on her community site and I have just finished it....

I really enjoyed this project and love the result. The idea is that whenever I have a creative low I can use this little zine, full of inspirational quotes to inspire me and get my creative juices flowing again!