Still cold

Another week into 2018 and we are still wrapped in winter here in the north east of Scotland! We did manage a few mild days complete with sunshine but spring is not here yet unfortunately.

Art journal journey 

Image: fairies. Word: whimsy. Prompt: I've always wondered... Technique: use brush or other tool to splatter paint on page. Quote: every day may not be good but there is something good in every day

Art prompts galore 

Mar 5-11: Birds of a feather// scavenger: silver or grey, vivid blue, diamond shapes, something sparkly, ink or paint sprayed or splattered, something from your stash, Half an image, a quote, black ink.

Silver acrylic background vivid blue birds (one is half an image) diamond shapes in black ink, blue paint splatters, bird on a branch from my stash as are the blue partial flowers around the edges, glitter on the birds & flower centres, a hand written quote that just happens to reflect the other part of the theme " birds of a feather "

Colour me positive 

Week 10: green frame, wheat field at sunrise. Quote: you cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with Wayne Dyer

a pre-existing background where I've added a couple of flowers that blend and a piece of artwork from a friend that felt like it was meant for this week's spread, I've hand written the quote using a metallic mauve rollerball pen/ tim holtz distress marker in worn lipstick, as a final touch & in an effort to reduce the stash mountain I added an assortment of flat sequins in similar colours

Every inchie Monday 

Another week and another country which this time is....

Samoa .....a big mystery to me! I know it's a very long journey to get there from my little corner of the world and that they play rugby there but that really is the limit of my knowledge before I checked it out in an encyclopaedia lol so I'm sharing its remote location well east of Australia, national flag & coat of arms and the 2 main islands of the group.

Life documented 

Week 10

Prompt: Explore the art of Elizabeth Murray and her use of the elements and principles of art to create meaning in her aesthetics.

Technique: Explore creating in the style of Murray while using media you are comfortable with.

Quote: “Art is an epiphany in a coffee cup.” Elizabeth Murray

Not an artist I knew so I checked out Google images....but I discovered that her art didn't float my boat so I had a little rummage on my desk as the quote had reminded me of something I printed off a few days ago....I think it was something that I saw on Pinterest 

The print came out a slightly different colour but I didn't mind, cut the elements apart and arranged to my satisfaction then stamped an overhead view of a coffee cup/mug and wrote the quote in the "drink"

Ending up with this....

Bailey continues to keep his appetite and take interest in the female four legged friends we meet in the woods so I don't think he's ready to go just yet, the steroids he is on are making him drink a lot which means that I am up 2 or 3 times a night to let him out....Bill sleeps through it all, Bailey then goes straight back to sleep & Im left to toss & turn! Which if I have a journal spread to plan can be an advantage!

Have a good week all & see you all again soon.

March

Art journal journey 

Image: chocolate, candy. Word: indulge. Prompt:  write about your favourite treat or "me time" activity. Technique: use premade journal cards or stickers on your page. Quote: indulge.... Life is sweet!

Art prompts galore 

FEB 26- MAR 4: Spring// Scavenger: three soft or pastel colours of your choice, ink stamped or sprayed, image of your choice, paint through a stencil, scraps from your stash, a piece of postal ephemera, punch outs of your choice, a quote

Colour me positive 

Salmon pink frame. Image: Paper boats. Quote: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication Leonardo da Vinci

Life documented 

March Theme:  Art - Exploring styles

9. Prompt:  To explore who inspires me. Technique:  To take our old envelopes and make some pockets that we could then tip into our journals. Quote:  'It's always the small pieces that makes the big picture' unknown
10. 

My prepared background already had a Dylusions border so....out with a Dylusions colouring book image & some doodled lines for the quote!

Every inchie Monday 

Australia ......a faraway continent when one is in NE Scotland! I have friends on the Gold Coast & family in Tasmania that I have never met - my dad's cousin & his offspring. I shall probably never get there as I hate long haul flying these days but I often think that it would have been nice to see Uluru, the barrier reef & the Sydney opera house.....mostly though I would love to check out the opals !!! I've got a map, flag and a kookaburra for this week's prompt. I wonder how many kangaroos will hop in this week, or maybe even Crocodile Dundee lol.

877

The Art journal journey 

Image: blanket. Word: comfort. Prompt: what scares you? What do you do when scared? How do you react? Quote: the comfort zone is the great enemy to creativity, moving beyond it necessitates intuition, which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears. Dan Stevens

Art prompts galore 

Weird wacky and wonderful //Scavenger something metallic, green, blue, fibers, something from your stash, image of your choice, stamp with Random household object, book page pieces, security envelope pieces , random numbers

Colour me positive 

Life documented 

Prompt: paint large flowers on a paper sack. Technique: use a palette knife. Quote: the earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Every inchie Monday 

This week we go to a country that I have visited! Turkey 

The splendours of topkapi palace and its harem in Istanbul as well as the Galata bridge, hajia sofia, blue mosque & immense covered bazaar were visited back in '77 when we drove out to the Middle East- fabulous! Also cappadocia and it's early Christian rock churches & underground cities, the crusader castles and indeed the wonderful Kilim woven carpets....it's a fascinating place full of weird & wonderful that I had the pleasure of seeing before it became a trendy place to go.... pamukale hot springs was the only place I didn't get to see.

My first image is the rock chimneys of cappadocia then the flag & map.

Valentines week

Art journal journey 

Image: hearts. word: love. Prompt: war and peace, write about a conflict or argument you had with someone and how you solved it. Technique: read a book and circle some words on a page, use those words to craft a poem. Quote: Real love is when a relationship never ends through positive and negative times.

Art prompts galore 

FEB. 12-18: HEARTS AND FLOWERS//SCAVENGER: Orange, Pink, Tape (any type except washi), Cut out heart shapes, but not of hearts,Something from your stash,

A quote, Image from a magazine, Something that starts with the first letter of your name, Black ink, Paint sprayed or splattered

Every inchie Monday 

Cuba ........& its Havana cigars supposedly hand rolled on a fair maidens thigh, its old American cars from the fifties, the Cuban missile crisis, Fidel Castro & his endless rants...Cuba Libre cocktails and the country I am currently playing a game in (Gummy Drop if you want to know). I've never been although I have Swedish friends that have so my share for this week is Fidel, flag & map.

Colour me positive 

Here is our prompt 

I managed to get this done despite having my stepson & granddaughter here for the weekend!

I knew I had an image to use so a prepared background definitely paid off!

And as Bill, stepson Simon & granddaughter Mandy took themselves off for a walk I was able to sneak a little experiment in for life documented where the prompt is Week 7 Theme:  Hearts and Flowers - exploring paints and mediums. Prompt:  Watercolor. Technique: Painting loose flowers   Quote: Hearts are wild creatures, that's why our ribs are cages-Elalusz

which resulted in this spread....

My visitors have now left, so let's hope it's not another 32 months before we see them again!

The dog goes back for more biopsy samples on Wednesday....fingers crossed we will find out just what treatment is available, if any, for his cancer. The latest test will be sent to a lab in Cambridge- 1 of only 2 in the country that can do this particular test!

My fingers are crossed.....

February

And Art journal journey 

Image: Moon, sun, stars. Word glow. Prompt: imagine you are someone's shadow for a day, write about your experience. Technique:scratch into wet paint. Quote: exist by the Sun and love by the moon for you must live in the night to embrace the shadows perfectly casts. Becca Lee

Art prompts galore 

FEB. 5-11 is: Red and Pink //SCAVENGER: Cream, Deep brown, Book page, Stamping with paint, Something received in the mail, Words cut from a magazine or similar, 2 pieces of scrap paper from your scrap bin, A tag of some sort, A ticket or ticket stub, 

An image of your choice

Paint & a mask for the background, a ticket, atag & a scrap on the left. A tag received in the mail + book page scraps, a scrap & an image on the right.

Life documented 

Theme: Hearts and flowers – exploring paints and mediums

Technique: use gel printed papers, stencils, and stamps to create a multi layered background

Prompt: Exploring texture and marks

Quote: Put your heart mind and soul into even your smallest acts.  Swami Sivananda

The bottom border was a free download from Dover Publications, the partial flowers are colouring book scraps. Both were added to a ready prepped background so all I needed to do was add the stamped quote & add some colour to it!

Colour me positive 

Blue frame. Bird on a flower. Quote: Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it. Andy Warhol

I found this gnome in amongst some magazines that I was clearing out late last year....I think this was meant to be his forever home lol.

Every inchie Monday 

And this week sees us visit Romania ..... land of Count Dracula & Vlad the impaler!

Not a country that I have visited although I have been nearby a long time ago.

Annoyed

Blogger is really annoying me!

I kept getting an error 403 message on the app, would not upload pictures, amendments....

So here is colour me positive 

Yellow frame. Red VW beetle. Quote: If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done. Bruce Lee

And across at every inchie Monday we are dealing with Zimbabwe which was also Southern Rhodesia in the last century is a country that has figured in many books that I have read but I've never been or known anyone that has visited the country. Thanks to recent political events the people  may be able to look forward to experiencing life in a less corrupt country now that Mugabe is out.

Again I've gone with flag & map.

And.....still no app so on the main site....and guess what - I can't remember how to load pictures!

Well, actually, having been to the pub for a couple of drinks with friends...I decided to switch my iPad off & restart....the app is playing ball again!

Better

Better

Art journal journey 

Image: spices or salt and pepper. Word: Season. Prompt: write about the most inspiring person you know and why. technique: use only black and white or use spices to add colour to the page. Quote: it's a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love. Molière.

Chillis from a chilli festival in Devon + quote stamped in colours related to the ripeness of the chillies 

B

Art prompts galore 

JAN 29-FEB 4: MUSIC//Scavenger: dark pink (Maroon), pale yellow, , washi tape, circles, critter, paint through a stencil, stars, stripes, ticket or ticket stub, something from the kitchen.

Maroon ink through star sequin waste, die cut stars (the plain are textured & the print ones have circles), stripes of star paper, "stitched" stars in marron felt pen......keeping it simple this week!

Life documented 

Week 5 with Julie Leggett

Theme for February:  Hearts and flowers - exploring paints and mediums

Technique: Using soft gel medium, acrylics, charcoal, stencils and layering.

Prompt:  To create depth and texture. 

Quote:  'Get over your hill and see what you find there - with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair' Anonymous

Colour me positive