Hawaiin Sunshine

This page began with a base layer of gesso in yellow, orange and red blended into the paper using a baby wipe.

I then went over the relevant areas with Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Mustard Seed (over the yellow gelato), Spiced Marmelade (over the orange gelato) and Barn Door (over the red gelato) using a stencil.

I then used my Colour Bloom Spray in gold

through a Donna Downey Stencil to create the hawain feel to the floral background.

Finally I stamped the Prima Stamp onto Stamping paper and coloured it using my inktense pencils and a water brush.

Once I was happy with the colours I cut it out and adhered it to the spread using Gel Medium.

To root the head into the background I used a Faber Castell Pitt Pen in Brown (M) around the outside and blended it using my finger whilst it was still wet.

To add a little further dimension I then went round in stagged lines using my Amsterdam white acrylic paint pen.

I hope you like this page, please feel free to leave a comment and remember to create your own crafty moment. 

Never Give Up

Sometimes it is difficult to find that inspiration that will spur you on to make a journal page you like.  

This happens to all creative types at some time or other and can be referred to as a block.

This page was created a few weeks back when I wanted to create but wasn't sure where to start.

I had recently purchased some adhesive canvas paper and decided to start there.

Using some Wendy Vecchi stamps from my stash which I hadn't really utilised in a spread I stamped them using Potting Soil (brown) for the floral border and Orange Blossom (orange) for the staggered lines.

I then used some of my Luminarte Primary Elements to create a yellow, orange and red molding paste which I put through a butterfly stencil mixing them organically at the same time and placing it between the two pages. 

Please remember if you do this that the level of molding paste is thin on the seam (as I learnt by my error) as now my book is stiff to fold shut doh!

The quote Never Give Up from Unity Stamps is to remind me that no matter what life throws at me I should always endeavour to create something.  It may not be my best page or full of technique but it is something.

So remember if you ever get stuck - Never Give Up and create your own crafty moment.

Enjoy the Little Things

This page was inspired by the quote by Robert Brautt which matches my mood perfectly after spending a wonderful day on the Norfolk Broads with my family this bank holiday weekend.  The quote is handwritten in Black and Red Faber Castell Pitt Pen and I then tinted the outside edge using a yellow Neocolor II and a baby wipe.

The birds, flowers and little girl come from the Santoro Mirabelle Pursuit of Happiness stamp set and were coloured using Daniel Smith Watercolours.

I am not usually one to be fond of my own handwriting but was happy with the way it turned out on this occasion that I will definitely do it again.

I hope you like this page, enjoy your own crafty moment.

Emma xx

Which direction am I going?

Have you ever asked yourself where your going with your journalling?

I often ask myself this question, it is closely associated with my inner critic constantly questioning whether something is right or looks good or generally just life's uncertainties pushing on your perspective.

I have recently changed my job and found that over the last 8 months or so I have found it difficult to be creative about anything due to the level of uncertainty in my career.

I have recently started a new job and feel like finally the block has been lifted and I am able not only to create but be open to what is produced and be kinder to myself and therefore my process.

This page was inspired by our recent travel plans for Venice and Cuba.

I had ripped this page and it also had some old collage stuck on it already so I decided to add the vintage Stampers Anonymous images of the Suitcase and man stamped and water tinted in Walnut stain.  I then drew on my ephemera recently purchased at Liberty and also from the Tim Holtz Epedition and created the page background.  To dirty it up I used distress ink in walnut stain, vintage photo and mahogony swiped across to hit onto the raised edges of the elements and sprayed some ink splatters using Colour Bloom Worn Leather for a bit of a twinkle.

As a finishing touch I used my Stabilo All in brown to highlight the word where and some random writings using my Amsterdam Black acrylic pen.

I know this page isn't heavy with technique however something about it makes me happy and optomistic.

Go ahead create your own crafty moment.

Love the small pieces of yourself

After a gorgeous sunny day and further to a recent open day at my local craft store Stamp Addicts I was inspired to get out my watercolours.

One of the demonstrators was using watercolours to create beautiful cards using their Patchwork stamp set.

As I rarely get time to spend in my craft room I have been more focused of late on my art journalling.

With this in mind I was determined with their's and some of the amazing YouTube videos out there to make this page using some stamps I had in my stash but never used.

The background was initially created with lime green and turquoise blue Neocolour II's to create a random background pattern by spattering it on to the page with a paintbrush and turning the paper to create drippages.

The stamp is from Stamp It Up an Australian brand I got through Crafters Companion here in the UK. I stamped this using a grey stayzon ink pad as I didn't want it to pop too much from the page.

I then completed the painting of the stamped image using my Daniel Smith Watercolour paints to add a bit more variety of colours and depth to the image.

To complete this journal I added a Unity Stamp border and sentiment along with my personal journalling down the left hand side in pale grey Graphix pen.

Keep crafting x

12x12 Stencil Divider Part V - Vibrant Women Divider

Using 12 x 12 cardboard packaging and Ideology Kraft Resist card as a starting point I then colour tinted the page in blocks of Distress Stain in wild honey, spiced marmelade and barn door.  I added some drippage using Distress re-inker in festive berries.

I then separated the sections using Black soot distress ink and sequin waste before placing the image from my Graphic 45 Typography papers.

I then colour tinted some flowers in Distress Stain in broken china, shabby shutter and barn door adhering them to the page using a glue gun.

Using a store card and regular gel matte I placed down some Finnabair Glass Glitter in Copper.  To finalise the page I stamped in white paint using my pritt stick lid and my pencil eraser which took on some of the stains beneath for  a pastel effect.

I hope you love this spread as much as I do its one of my favourites, please feel free to leave a comment.

12x12 Stencil Folder Covers Part IV - Front & Back Covers

The picture below shows an example of the front and back page of my new 12x12 stencil storage.

These were made using the cardboard packaging from the page protectors to prevent wastage and because they were a reasonable thickness if a little grey!

I decided to try and create a faux leather look using Distress Ink in Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo and Tea Dye and the spritzed it with Color Bloom by Prima in Worn Leather to get the base effects.

I have done this for both the front and back pages however, I think I will finish it off by spraying an example of each of the stencils on to tissue paper and adhering it with gel medium to the front with a Font Title and also to the back, that way I will know what stencils are in this book and also can adhere additional stencils when I receive them with ease in a kind of catalogue.

I hope your having a crafty weekend.

Please feel free to leave any comments.

12x12 Stencil Folder Divider Part III - Geisha Girl Divider

This is created using another of the Ideology Kraft Resist papers, this time tinted using Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and victorian velvet distress stain.

To tie this in with the bird spread on the reverse (see Part II), I used black soot distress ink through sequin waste and Cryla Quintochronide Magenta on bubble wrap.

To reintroduce the white this time I used Dylusions Picket Fence spray to make splatters.  I wanted to add some kind of image and was drawn to the Geisha in my Graphic 45 Bird Song papers and cut her out and adhered her to the page Golden Regular Matt Gel.

To make the Geisha pop from the page I bordered her using Blueberry gelato and also added patches of this colour into the background.

To tie the image in I also added Raspberry gelato to the background to bring the image forward.

I hope you like this page as much as I do, please feel free to leave any comments of questions you may have.