Eeek

I've used not one but two pieces of my precious strokeable paper this weekend!

Art Prompts Galore black & gold....

Journal 52: inhale / exhale 

And yes, those 2 pieces of paper that I remember I bought at the student supplies shop at Galashiels college a good number of years ago, are side by side:-)

Colour me positive: community- help

DLP : exploring pointillism- I laughed when I saw that as I thought I'd pretty much covered it last week!

So I did another portrait!

Who? What? Why? How? Every inchie is all about the question this week....that's a lot to ask so I've done punctuation....

We have our list of challenges for next year and I'm pleased to say that I can cover most weeks without too much difficulty:-)

Art prompts galore are having a postcard swap which I'm excited about too, we have the list for that and I've got some stitched pieces which I will be able to use that I've had for ages and I've started to get the cards prepared....

I seem to have achieved a lot this weekend as I've even made a start on writing my Christmas cards...and discovered that I have not been as prolific as I thought....need to make more!

Thanks for looking, and indeed commenting.....

Journal 52

It took me a long time to decide how to deal with this one.....community art - include the words:

We stand with you - indigenous people, Muslims, LGBTQ, Immigrants, Alter-Abled, Women, The Disenfranchised, Refugees, All People Of Colour, Veterans, Survivors, And anyone feeling alone and scared

It was not until I was having a good clear out of a cupboard that was home to some old magazines (Stitch with the Embroiderers Guild) that I came across a pile of textile images and one in particular called out to me!

A fabric that had been coloured with Markal oil bars & machine stitches.....

A black tag & some assorted fonts later I had my page....

Then today I was cutting my way through some of the other pictures I'd kept and this wacky doll seem ideal for the opposite page!

So here is the spread....the only problem is 2 directions! She just didn't work the other way though :-(

So I'm going to live with it 

I .....for Iris

It's time I shared my latest dictionary page (I can't remember when the deadline is!).... I wanted to do Igloo, mainly because it is so cold here in the North East of Scotland at the moment, but it's not in my dictionary:-( so given the colours of my last post (umbrella) I was drawn to use purple....& gold for the very regal iris (from Chocolate Baroque but in its previous incarnation of Elusive Images) so I'm linking to the challenge http://thecraftbarnblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/alphadictionary-challenge-2016.html why don't you come & see what others have been sharing too.

Hard to photograph this one... The purple paper is shiny, it's dark outside and the light is bouncing off the gold!

Journaling & art from the weekend

Art prompts galore.....

Orange // 3 stars oops I did more than 3!, pan pastel applied through a stencil ( round shapes 1)  cream card circle with a quote & bling in green & orange (circle 2) flower with an orange eyelet (circle 3), a small animal (2 kittens) in a kids book illustration, another star that is more bling!some more small dents made in my use it or lose it stash

Colour me positive: enthusiasm 

Some images from magazines, stencilled background, stamping, random border....

Its all about living life to the MAX!

DLP from last week was a PAC /start with a picture. Well I did not know where to start as there was too much choice! In the end it didn't do an awful lot for me :-(

This week was just use ink...I went for a little assistance from a stencil for the face, used Pitt / Staedler for the hair & promarker dots for the flesh....

Our inchie theme this week is lighting....so I'm thinking electric, gaslight, torchlight, candlelight, firelight, sunlight, moonlight .....decided I was in the mood for starlight! Out came a peg stamp, dark navy ing, gold ink & EP.....a few splashes later I had an inchie

Suitably messy! And this morning we also found out what next years inchies will be based on....animals which should ensure more fun :-)

Still here

....been catching up with the latest mixed media morsel: Autumn mish mash....

I've used number 17: paper napkin/ 31: stamped tissue paper/ 26: use a stencil...in this case just to create a border.

I also got the rest of the cards from my "use it or lose it " pile assembled....So here are some from yesterday & today.....

Must see what I need in the way of Christmas cards...but I might be ok on that score!

Later...

I've been cursing my laptop....again! After updates were done it will now no longer talk to my iPad when it comes to the PhotoTransfer app so I'm having to email photos from 1 machine to the other:-(

Bill returned from his golfing trip  in the sun & today he went walking....and got caught in the snow! I was at home waiting for the painter to turn up to give me a quote for doing some work (lounge, dining, kitchen, utility, hall, bedroom, en-suite and workroom! That's going to be fun!!!! I will definitely have to take the opportunity to get to grips with the "stuff stash", not sure when the job will happen but it needs to be done! After he left I managed to finish off a mixed media morsel that I started yesterday 

Underpaper for the background, borders that have been cut with fancy scissors using advertising for sweaters from the John Lewis Christmas gift catalogue, I mirrored the edges with a white gel pen and then got on with the technique for this particular morsel....stamping on tissue paper which I adhered with Matt medium.

Need to watch the video for morsel 32 before I can get on with that one, finish making some cards - I did 9 yesterday and forgot to take pictures, 3 are already in sealed envelopes:-( and I've still not decided what I want to use for my DLP PAC image wise.....

See you soon!

Passion,

Time for the weekly journal pages...

Colour me positive : PASSION

 Printing with a kind of plastic "polystyrene" strip, stencilling (mini stones divided + shaded lilac & mini cell theory + silver acrylic) assorted images from my stash, all giving clues to taste, sight, sound, smell that I love and then a very loose scrawl across a lot of the page.

Journal 52 : Leonard Cohen

I would never describe myself as a fan but I do like some of his songs- it was a toss up as to whether to go with Suzanne or Bird on a wire! However, as I prefer the Rita Coolidge version of the latter....I made this for the challenge 

Meanwhile my furry friend was having a very hard time...

Life is tough but someone has to do it!

We heard this week that there will be no more DLP for 2017 which is rather sad but not entirely surprising- I've yet to do this week's challenge.

We did hear that Journal 52, colour me positive & art prompts galore will all be continued so I shall still have fun with my art journals!

Our inchie this week had me a little perplexed....wormhole! Well, I decided that the only wormholes I have any experience of are woodworm ones....in a camel saddle stool that we reclaimed from my grans house when she passed away and here is my interpretation of said wormholes!

So as it's been a miserable day here, and Bill is watching golf after his safe return from Tenerife....

I did my Art Prompts Galore page 

46. purple and gray //SCAVENGER:something red and black, tape, a tag, an image of something to do with Remembrance (veterans) day., three words from a dictionary or other source, a peace sign, paint splatters, gesso or white paint,ink

The tag is a term I've used loosely: dates for the 2 world wars

Poppies

I've been trying to tidy up / have a sort out / have a clear out in my workroom and today I came across a birthday card that I've hung onto for 20 years! It's a card from friends of silk painted poppies and as there is currently a poppies challenge over at http://thecraftbarnblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/two-weekly-challenge.html so I thought I'd make a page...in a new album no less that I picked up cheap in Hobbycraft recently.

I did a little stamping of poppy flowers (Hero Arts)  & seed heads (Chocolate Baroque) added some colour and that was that....

Well, back to more sorting....

Puppies again...

We had to take a dog walk in the snow this morning....not much but enough to make us damp!

Went up to Ballater with a girlfriend...the shop she wanted to go to....closed exceptionally today!

At least we got a decent cuppa and dropped off the bike suspension unit that her boyfriend was not happy with :-(

Back home and I needed to get to my desk to make a couple of birthday cards- because of posting they have to be done today.....

74 actually! No longer a dog owner but mine loves him to bits.....

And 44!

One is never too old for dogs in your life and this one has 3 at the moment 

Dexter (black lab/pointer), Coco (choc lab) & goofy Lucy the pit at the back!

Today ....

Woke up to very mixed weather.....

Sun, cloud, rain & a double rainbow!

Did some tidying up of my desk....this led to 4 happy mail envelopes up for grabs....

Sorry girls, they've all been spoken for!

And then I had some more play time...

My quote by Maya Angelou about attitude for colour me positive- the background is bubble wrap printing using metallic blue, pearlescent yellow & pewter. They are all paints that I had given to me a few years ago and are currently being revisited! I discovered a scrap of lime octagonal print paper that I had tossed in a drawer & it looked like a good lift for the edges...a little cutting, glueing and I'd got 2 edges & 2 "flower" motifs!

I also managed to put some ink/paint on 5 spreads in anticipation of the future....using up what was on my brushes & blending foams but you'll have to wait for another day to see those!

Stay warm :-)

Flying by....

No, I've put my broomstick away for the moment and I'm not going anywhere for the next wee while....rather it's the weeks in the year, there are not that many left in the year!

I was looking at a friends blog the other day & she was commenting on the difficulty of working in a thick journal, well out of curiosity I decided to measure the thickest of my current ones which is DLP & it's in its second year....

7,5cm thick! It will see out the year and then we shall see what comes  as I've not enjoyed the format so much this year, it's no longer free and as a non American it was harder to get hands on some of the stuff that they were recommending we use, I dipped out of doing the planner too! Anyway this week's challenge for the PAC was to use something that you found in the bottom of your handbag! If you know me you would know that I don't have a whole bunch of stuff in it. For some obscure reason I had taken a car park ticket into the house in my bag to throw in the bin and....it was still there 2 days later so I had the perfect destination...

Art prompts galore: fortune or scavenger: red, something square, quote, piece of fabric or lace, ink but not black, loathing tag,item from stash, sticker (or more), ticket or stub, magazine image.

I used 3 shades of distress ink with a stencil for the background!

Journal 52: you are an artist 

Artist I am not but I had an idea that I decided to pursue....curtesy of Google again lol....

And as I am currently on my own, Bill is away golfing in Tenerife for the week, I could even go into the kitchen to make a mess doing some shaving foam marbling as there is plenty of work surface in there!

The brighter ones at the back I did using Deka Silk paints, I know, not what they are meant for but I'm in repurposing mode with some of my art stuff at the moment. And all this was for a Mixed Media Morsel 

I think I'm now only 1 MMM behind!

Colour me positive has yet to be done for this week but my inchie is made....

Clouds

Stamping on watercolour paper and distress ink.

Time to put some warm clothes on now & take the hound out for his walk....it's been crazy showers all weekend! Could be worse though, there has been snow on the hills :-O

Inspired....

I poo poo'd Positiv Journal recently but then inspiration struck by pure chance!

I did another page that loosely fitted the shaman theme in so far as it reminded me of icons - this was largely due to some colours on my desk and a portion of an image that was about to get tossed out!

It think she was part of a Gustav Klimt colouring page, the blue (phthalo turquoise) was left over from a morsel and the the gold on bubble wrap just seemed right! All I had to do was add a halo.

The November theme is based on the book the Toltec art of life & death by don Miguel Ruiz, I'm not familiar with the man or the book but I do quite like Amerindian art & even have some stamps....Google can also provide some images I'm sure lol! Anyhow I threw a couple of pages together to warm up....

I didn't go with the recommendation to use watercolour/ transparency though !!!! Might try doing something with velum next time....watch this space.....

Umbellifer

No shaving foam to do any marbling today which was what I planned to be doing- the can was so old it longer worked!

So I set about using the diecuts that just happened to jump out of an envelope that fell onto my desk....umbellifers :-). I just need to link these to the dictionary challenge!

Some subtle stencilled triangles...some images from a flower book...

Detail of top page

Detail of bottom page...

Think I might end up putting a little ink around the page edges though!

Morsels

Hummmmmmm! Crackle done with acrylics & white glue - morsel number 27 

Purple Senelier/ pva/ orange Senelier acrylic, white & black border, Spellbinder Halloween diecuts.

Ochre Senelier/PVA/ Daler Rowney phthalo turquoise, yellow posca pen, sizzlits 

Morsel 29 is sponge background and the one sponge I did want to use was wet....the one that Bill uses for cleaning the car! Full of lovely texture but....I also have a small natural one that I think my mum used to use to even out her foundation (back in the days when she wore such a thing!)

I've used some skeleton leaf stamps with saffron, copper & gold inks/EP.

I've more to do to be caught up but....I'm getting there!