Monday, 28 January 2013

Art Journal

Me again

I have been having a play with my first ever Art Journal.  Inspired by Donna Downey's "Inspiration Wednesday" videos I have made my version of her with art paper and a canvas cover.  This is my first entry and I saw this quote on Pinterest and thought it would make a great start to my journal. 

The whole purpose of the journal is to explore ideas and different medium.  The thing is to keep going until you feel it is finished.  There are no mistakes as you just keep adding layers until you are happy with how it looks.

The colours I have used here are Pthalo Turquoise, Anthraquinone Blue and Diarylide Yellow with splashes of black Indian Ink.  I have inked the edges of the page using a black stamp pad.


Thanks Donna - you are an amazing artist and you inspire me every day.

Now, before I go, I just wanted to pass on my congratulations to Anna & Michael - they are expecting the arrival a wee bubs into their family in early August.  How exciting for Nana Jan (I have to admit that I am excited too). 

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Mini Album with Box

Hi

I have been working on another project just recently which I'd like to share with you.  I have started becoming a little bit more adventurous with my paper crafting skills and decided I would make a mini album and a box to put it in.  I am hoping that this might become a class at some stage. 

On the left is the box - using the base from a box given me by a friend I gave it a cover, making it look more like a little book.  When the cover is opened the box contains a mini album of old family photos and appropriate quotes. The inside of the box is lined with the same paper as the front and back covers of the album.  This particular album has two inserts cut from a sheet of cardstock giving 8 pages this could easily have been doubled.  As you will see below I have added eyelets, ribbon and small beads to add some interest.  The flowers on the box were handmade from matching cardstock and I have embossed the spine to give it more strength.  The flouish has been crackled - it actually started life a lot bigger than it is shown here but one of our darling kitties decided it was a great chew toy.  Never mind, a quick snip and a flick of sandpaper and it fits neatly against the top edge of the box.

This little album is ideal for all those little black and white snaps from days gone by.  The images are not dwarfed by the size of the page and the bright colour of the paper enhances the monochrome pictures.  For this particular album I printed the photos out in a sepia tone to complement the tonings of the paper.  Take a look and see what you think.  It is the first time I have attempted anything like this so I hope you like it..
Ciao for now, take care.

Saturday, 12 January 2013

Lovely day out

Hi everyone

Have had a lovely day out today - a spot of lunch and some shopping in Tirau, a photo op at Lake Karapiro and then home.  Got some lovely pics -


and my pic of the day for all you scrapbookers out there - I found a Little Yellow Bicycle ...


Tuesday, 25 December 2012

Happy Christmas

A very happy Christmas from my family to yours.  May you have a wonderful day with your family and safe travels for those of you who will be 'on the road'.

My first ATC
created for the "Roo and You ATC" swap group I have recently joined.

Monday, 24 December 2012

Altered Brushes

Hi all it's me again.  It is now Christmas Eve here in Hamilton New Zealand.  The sky is overcast but it is extremely sticky and has been raining off and on all day.  We have all the doors and windows open trying to catch any slight breeze that may pass through.  With no work today, Jan and I have started catching up on all the jobs we haven't had time to do since we got sick a few weeks ago.

We have had a busy time of late making all our Christmas presents, catching up with friends for coffee and we still haven't got through them all - just as well we have a couple of weeks off. 

We had a fantastic day in Auckland recently at the Scrapfest by the Sea Christmas party.  There were only a few of us but we had lots of fun and laughter and got lots of scrapbooking done.  It is going to be an exciting time and we are so looking forward to going to Nelson in August for this amazing event.

Jan and I have been inspired bythe Altered Brush Project being run by Donna Downey.  This is one seriously talented lady and you really should check out her stuff.  Anyhow, Jan and I thought we would have a go ourselves and trotted off to Bunnings for some 'el cheapo' brushes ($1.96 each).  This is what we made...
Oh what fun we have had.  I don't know about Jan but I am hooked and have already been out and bought more brushes. Thanks Donna,you are such an amazing artist and I am so inspired by you.

Well, that's it from me for now.  Hope you and yours have a truly relaxing Christmas and be safe.

 





Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Scrapbook Quotes Tag Album

Well, as promised, I took a couple of photos of the tag album today.  Each page has a quote about scrapbooking and the book ring means I can keep adding to it.



Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Geez, it's been a while

So where have you been ... and well you might ask.  I don't know where the last few weeks have gone.  I have been getting involved in trying different things with my scrapbooking so that accounts for some of the time.  Check this out - it started life as a can of chick peas.  The chick peas got roasted by the way ...


It had a tear tab top so it was really easy to keep the top edge neat and tidy and less likely to cut someone. After cleaning and drying the tin, the first thing I did was to cover the tin with a piece of paper and then add a strip of contrasting paper around the centre. 

The doilies were next followed by the butterfly ribbon along the top and bottom edges of the centrepiece.

The rosette was added next.  This was made from a strip of paper that was straight-cut down one edge and torn down the other so when it was folded it gave more of an elipse than a circle.  A circle cut from cardstock and covered in glitter was added to the centre of the rosette.


The butterfly was cut from matching paper and the wings curled around a pencil to make them stand up.  A piece of wire was bent to form the antenna and fixed under the body with three different sized pearl beads stuck on to form the body itself.

Last, but not least, small flowers and leaves were added along both sides of the rosette and ribbons inserted to add a bit more dimension.  These can all be placed to cover any little flaws in your base like covering edges and so on. 

To complete the tin I placed a small round of plastic foam in the base so that when pens or pencils are dropped into it there isn't a loud clatter.

This is the first time I have tried anything like this before and I wondered whether it was even going to be worth keeping as I was making it but now that it is complete it looks quite pretty.

I've made a couple of tag albums as well.  One is for my Mum for Christmas (no telling) so no pictures of that until after Christmas.  The other is a collection of sayings around scrapbooking that I found on the scrapbook.com website.  Photos of that once I have completed it - it's nearly there.

Jan & I have also been asked to join an ATC swap.  We didn't even know what one was until then but have decided to give it a go.  ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards.  They are small cards lovingly crafted and traded with other artists. Our first swap has a Christmas theme and there are twelve participants so we have been busy making twelve identical cards each.  They went in the post today and now we wait.  The swap closes on December 1st and then we will get a parcel back with one of our cards plus one each from the other eleven members of the group.  If it as exciting as the Scrapfest Tag Swap we did recently then it is going to be lots of fun.  We are already hooked and have been out and bought albums to store the cards in.  Photos of the cards later too.

Lots of other stuff going on in our lives at the moment but more about that in a later post.  Night everyone, stay safe and well.  See ya!