More art journaling fun ........

Happy weekend .......

How are you?  I hope you've had a good week.  

I've spent most of mine in the craft room since everything that was in the diary has been cancelled due to our lockdown!  We just need the weather to brighten up a little now then we can get out and spend time in the garden.

It has given me chance to catch up, and finish off a few online workshops though.  I'm really enjoying playing in my art journal at the moment, thanks to the  inspiration and amazing tuition from the lovely Tracy Scott.

I've been trying a little bit of Pattern Play using one of her latest stamp sets ........ which I then turned into a double page by adding a technique from Tracy's Index Card Art workshop  

Speaking of Index Card Art, this might just be my new addiction .......

All these were made on a 5 day workshop with Tracy back at the beginning of February.  Little pieces of artwork done on index cards ..... they are so much fun to do, and like I said, quite addictive! (Can you see the one where the idea for the journal page came from? ...... top of the picture in the centre)

Here are a few more I've done since ......

  

The top one on this photo was inspired by another Tracy Scott workshop, and the bottom one is Eileen Godwin inspired .... from another fabulous workshop I did, back in January I think.

If you like the idea of these little pieces of artwork then lookout for Tracy's Index Card Art II  ...... another 5 day workshop coming up in April.  

If you love paints and inks, stamps and stencils, and enjoy working with colour and lots of different techniques then it will be right up your street.  You can find all the details on Tracy's Creative Cafe Facebook page.

I've also been putting the finishing touches to these today ....... Lace Cut Pages

How cool are these ..... and all the cut out work is done for you, you just need to decorate them.  

They come as a plain white booklet ....... this one is #3, and it's a beautiful mandala.  You get one solid, double page sheet, and one that is cut out ..... just add paint, use stamps and stencils and lots of doodling.  I love them.

This is the solid page behind .........

This is the same booklet, just decorated differently .......

So many possibilities!

I still have one workshop piece to share with you, but I'll save that for another day.

Thanks for popping by ...... have a lovely weekend,  and to all you fabulous Mum's out there, Happy Mother's Day.  I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow.

Cheerio until next time .......

The CAS Christmas Card challenge ......

Happy Tuesday ......

How are you?  I hope you're enjoying your week.

I'm going all festive again and playing along with this month's CAS Christmas Card Challenge ........ three month's in a row, not bad eh!  It's also their third birthday, so it would have been rude not to join in the celebrations.

Loll is the host this month, and the theme is ....... Kraft, Red and White  (I love this combination!)

I think this fits the bill ......

This was so quick and easy to do, the cute little die does all the work. 

It was simply cut from the centre of a piece of Kraft cardstock, layered onto a piece of red card and then attached onto the front of a white card base ........ I did cut the centre out from the red layer so that the white would show through and I didn't need to add another layer behind the reindeer.

I also added a touch of colour to the reindeer with a brown Distress Ink, and gave him a little red nose ...

and then finished off with a bit of sparkle onto his antlers and some white splatters to the background ..... he's soooo cute!!

For the sentiment I kept things small and simple but I did gold heat emboss.

Speaking of birthdays ......... Thank You to everyone for your birthday wishes, cards and gifts, you all make me feel very special.  I do appreciate it ......... mwah!

I had a lovely day/weekend even though we went into lockdown, again, just two days before (yes I spoke too soon!)  But, we celebrated anyway.  

Lauren had the whole evening planned ........ starting with pre dinner drinks at Oscars ........ otherwise known as our lounge.  

Then it was off to Wine Down for a meal (dining room) ......... with actual takeaway from the restaurant.

After that it was off to The British (aka the kitchen) for a sneaky G&T (sparkling appletiser for the little man of course!)  ....... you get the idea.

I won't bore you with all the pictures but, each room was a different venue.  

We went to 1886 (hubby's office) so we could catch the football.  The Saddle (the hallway) where Lauren had arranged for the King of Karaoke on the island ...... Mr Ray Sloane ..... to join us on video!!!!!  

And we finished the evening dancing the night away at The Courthouse, not a place I usually visit (or back in the lounge with YouTube music videos) .... what a night!  It was definitely a birthday to remember ....... thank you Lauren, it was amazing.

So, as I've said, we're back in lockdown for the third time, almost 12 months since it all started, with positive case numbers rising fast.  But, we've done this before so I'm sure we can do it again. We just need to stay at home!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time  ......... 

Products used:

Stamps: Christmas Cheer (Simon Says Stamp)

Dies: Ho Ho Deer Circle Die (Simon Says Stamp)

Inks: Distress Ink - Brushed Corduroy; Versamark;

Others: Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); Distress Glitter - Vintage Platinum; Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint - Snowflake (PaperArtsy) for the splatters

Happy Birthday CAS Mix Up! ........

Happy Monday ........

February didn't last long did it ........ welcome to March!

I do like March ......... spring officially starts, the days get longer and the weather gets nicer. It's been lovely here for the last few days, we were even sat out in the garden yesterday!

Mothers Day is in March too, well here in the IOM/UK it is, and .......... it's my birthday this month (yeah!!!)  Not sure I'll be shouting about it next year when it's a really BIG one!!!

Not only is it my birthday this month, we're also celebrating at CAS Mix Up ....... our little Blog Challenge is 5 years old this month ..... whoo hoo!!!

Of course we're celebrating with this month's Blog Challenge.  

Our host for birthday month is Bonnie and she's got a fabulous technique for us.  

This month it's the turn of the Watercolour challenge so, the main element on your design must be some form of water colouring, and you must follow the theme which is  ............ Print Making with Die Cuts

Now this is something I haven't really done before.   If I have ever printed with die cuts, it's probably by accident!!!

What a fun technique to try though ........ the big decision was, which die cut to go for!  In the end I went for an old favourite from Penny Black (I do love this flower)

Because I knew I would be adding a lot of water onto the die cut, I cut three of the flowers from white cardstock and layered them together to give it a bit more strength.  

I then used my ZIG markers to add the colour, spritzed it with water and used the die cut to print a background onto a piece of watercolour cardstock, which I'd also spritzed with a little water. 

I love the effect.  

Because my watercolour card was damp,  I managed to get two or three prints from one colouring of the die cut ..... a bit like second and third generation stamping ...... giving a pretty softness to the background.

Once the background was done, I added a touch more colour to the die cut, spritzed with water again and left it to dry.

For the sentiment I layered together two of the die cut 'happy' just for dimension.  I added a touch of Distress Ink to the bottom edge, and then spritzed with water and let the ink move over the die cut

Once everything was dry I attached the flower onto the printed card, and added the die cut part of my sentiment over the top and stamped the rest underneath.

  

I then inked around the edge of the card with Distress Ink, and finished off by adding a few splatters onto the background ........  I do love a good splatter!

Happy Birthday CAS Mix Up!

Why not come join the party and help us celebrate!  

The challenge is open until March 24th, and if you need a little more inspiration then check out the CAS Mix Up Blog, the Design Team have been busy creating and we also have a lovely Guest Designer this month ...... Ros (Mikey's Mom) is joining in the fun so please stop by and say Hello.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

I've got a busy week coming up and it's my birthday on Friday ...... fingers crossed we're not in lockdown by then!  I say fingers crossed because it's back ...... Covid that is!  

We've got cases where they can't trace where it's come from so, we were told to stay at home on Saturday, no mixed gatherings, travel only when necessary  ..... here we go again!  Good thing we didn't go out in the van!

Anyway, yesterday we were told carry on as normal (whatever that is!) but be vigilant!  We're not in lockdown yet and there's no restrictions but, that could all change at anytime depending on what happens this week.  At least the sun is shining!

Cheerio until next time ........

Products used:

Dies: Bashful (Flower die - Penny Black); Happy Die (Winnie & Walter)

Stamps: Fun Birthday Sentiments (Happy Little Stampers)

Inks: Distress Ink - Kitsch Flamingo (I love this new colour!!!); Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers

One of Eileen's online workshops ........

Happy Thursday .......

How are you today?  

It's lovely here on the island, the weather has finally noticed that Spring is on its way I think ..... I hope so anyway.  It's nice to see some sunshine.

I've been catching up with some online workshops lately ..... these have been keeping me sane over the last few months!  

My crafty mojo hasn't been up to scratch, I've taken a little time off from some of my DT commitments and I've been spending some days in my craft room just doing things for me, and learning a whole load of stuff too!

Workshops with the very talented Eileen Godwin have been loads of fun.  The link will take you to her Facebook page ......... check it out if you haven't already, she's amazing!

These are my projects from last month's workshop (I haven't done February's yet ..... it's on the list for next week!)

This was right up my street.  Great layering techniques using designer papers, paints, stencils, stamps, inks ..... whatever you've got.  I loved it!!!

If lots of layers aren't your thing,  we created CAS designs too ......

I even managed to save one that I wasn't happy with.  You know how it goes ...... ink where it shouldn't be, colours that weren't blending as I wanted them to.  

You all know I don't like throwing things away so, I went back to it a couple of days later.  Carefully added a touch more ink to get a better blend,  managed to get most of the ink off where I didn't want it (I love my Distress inks!), used a large sentiment stamp over the top, and a few strategically placed gem stones and  ...... voila!!

I Love it!!  There's always a way to fix things!

As the weather seems to be changing for the better ..... fingers crossed ...... it's time to get the van ready again so we can enjoy exploring our little island (and hopefully further afield later in the year!)

Our little motorhome is almost a year old and poor Remi has been sat patiently on the drive all winter.

We have been checking him regularly, we just need to restock the cupboards, top up the gas, give him a wash and polish and then we can get out and about again ........ let the adventures begin!

Thanks for popping by ....... have a lovely day.

Cheerio until next time .....

CAS Christmas Card Challenge ........

Happy Friday! .......

I know .... can you believe it's Friday again!  This week has whooshed by .... mind you it has been half term here on the island so the little man has been at home this week, which always keeps me busy!

I've been playing catch up in the craft room this week.  Finishing off workshop projects from weeks ago, sorting through all the stuff that's lying around and ....... I'm joining in with the CAS Christmas Card Challenge for the second time this month!  Yes .... another card for the festive box.

The theme this month is ........ Dogs and/or Cats

I have a few Christmas kitty cats but, apparently not that many festive pooches!  I did find this little guy though, on a Penny Black stamp set ........

I cut a mask from copier paper to create the shape of the hillside, and with this in place over the bottom half of my card, I stamped the Christmas tree

I then stamped the dog off to the side, and coloured him using ZIG brush markers ..... he looks so cute all bundled up in his hat and scarf!

I added a touch of glitter to his hat and some onto the tree, and stamped a sentiment underneath

To finish I sprinkled on a little Chunky White Embossing Powder and heated from underneath to give a snowy look, and also added a small, gold embossed, die cut star to the top of the tree

So far so good with the festive card making ...... fingers crossed I can keep it up!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio until next time ......

Products:

Stamps: Winter Tree, Christmas Critters (Penny Black); Scribbly Christmas (Tim Holtz) for the sentiment 

Inks: Versafine Clair - Rain Forest, Nocturne; Delicata Pigment Ink - Golden Glitz; Versamark ink

Other: Zig Clean Color Brush Markers; Quickie Glue Pen, Fine Crystal Glitter; Sparkly Gold embossing powder (WOW!); Chunky White Embossing Powder (Stampendous)