More plant play

Hello

I've been experimenting again with some new and old stencils designed by Giovanna Zara.

I started by tracing the shapes with a black Stabilo All pencil which is water soluble.

I used liquid watercolour to build up the layers.

With a few Posca paint spatters to finish.

I really love how this turned out and will be experimenting with different compositions. I'd love to hear what you think.

Thank you for taking the time to visit. Have a lovely day xx

Faith in humanity

Hello
Hope you are all bearing up wherever you are in the world in these very strange times. I'm sure like everyone, I've had my ups and downs, but crafting really is a great distraction.

I've been continuing to try new things as the novelty, and the extra concentration it takes, really make time pass quickly. I tried Dina Wakley's faces tutorial but I'm not ready to share those just yet!

So here is this week's attempt at journalling with a quotation from Mahatma Gandhi.

 You must not lose faith in humanity. 

Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty

the ocean does not become dirty.

Mahatma Gandhi

Deciding I needed a few tips I've ordered myself a magazine on lettering and some pens.

I'm off now to reconnect with some blogs that I had lost touch with. Take care and thank you for stopping by xxx

Nature's masterpiece

Hello
Like many I am having to work from home at present which has given me flexibility and bonus time when I am not commuting. I'm trying to use this positively...which mostly means crafting...and also trying to do something I wouldn't have been doing otherwise.

A friend and I got together and started off some backgrounds in a journal at the start of the year, well I reckon now is the time to do something with it. I am challenging myself to try lettering and doodling to get a little out of my comfort zone. I'm also going to use my precious laser cuts from Giogiocraft, that I have been saving for something special. To keep on track my friend and I are video calling each week to share what we've been up to.

First up...

'The family is one of nature's masterpieces'

 - George Santayana

Sending lots of love to you all. Stay resilient and stay well xxx

Gecko

Hello
I've been away quite a lot and also had visitors to stay so the craft room had to resort back to a guest room for a while. Finally it's been lovely to spend some time getting inky fingers again!

The gecko was stencilled first, then masked off and the leaves stencilled afterwards. With hindsight I think I would do things a little differently (not centre the gecko so it appears static for a start) so you may see another of these sometime in the future. I also used a lot of different materials in a bit of trial and error approach. More selective next time I think!

I'd really welcome your feedback and constructive comments. As they say practise makes perfect!

Materials used:

Inkylicious: gecko

GiogioCraft: jungle fever, gerbera daisy

Distress Oxide ink

Inktense ink

Stabilo All pencil

paint pens

gel pens

C is for Chameleon

A bit ahead of myself for once with The Craft Barn dictionary challenge. This fortnight the letter is C and as I have been having fun with my paints recently I decided to attempt a chameleon. I found lots of photos of the extremely colourful panther chameleon to inspire me.

First I gessoed the page and then masked off the panel for the main image, before swirling various shades of green to create a background. I stamped the circle patterns in paint and the leaves in blue ink with paint highlights. Next to paint the chameleon which was not as difficult as I thought because the dots could be overlaid until I got the effect I wanted. To tie it all together at the end I did a scribble frame, with a little shadow shading to make it stand out, and a few splatters to tie the focal image to the rest of the page.
 

 I understand chameleons change colour with mood. I'm guessing this is his grumpy outfit!

Materials used:

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints

gesso

Ranger Archival Ink : cobalt

Inkadinkado: roulette

PaperArtsy: EDY18

Stabilo All pencil

gel pen

 

L is for letter

Just in the nick of time, my entry for The Craft Barn dictionary challenge.  This fortnight the letter is L.  A very quick one done this morning before getting ready to go out for a Mother's Day outing.  Very far from perfect but I didn't want to miss a letter out so early on in the year. 

 

 Materials used:

Stampendous: timeless memoirs

Stampers Anonymous: classics3, art from the heart, solar system

PaperArtsy: EDY10

Impression Obsession: C-A-C flourishes, 

script stencil

 PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paint: inky pool, mermaid, London bus, snowflake, chalk, buff, chocolate pudding

DecoArt: glorious gold

Stabilo All pencil: black, blue

gold gel pen

F is for Friendship

Time for another letter on The Craft Barn alphabet challenge.  This time the letter is F with the added twist that a heart has to be included.  Friend immediately sprung to mind.  As I haven't used my Gelatos for while this was a good opportunity to  get them out.  The background is created with Gelatos, blended with a baby wipe and then gesso on top.

Materials used:

Craft Individuals: CI284

PaperArtsy: EDY10

IndigoBlu: BFF

Fancy Pants: bella brush

Gelatos: blood orange, tangerine, mango, banana, spearmint, 

lime, cotton candy, blueberry, boysenberry

Stabilo All pencil: blue

Archival Ink: jet black

white gel pen

multi matte medium

Every Pawn is a Potential Queen

A quick one for The Craft Barn dictionary challenge.  I've had this stamp set quite a while and this was the perfect opportunity to use it...even if queen is somewhat predictable.

Do pop over to The Craft Barn blog to see what everyone else has come up with too.

Materials used:

Chocolate Baroque: the art of chess

Tando stencil: letters, distorted harlequin

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paint: snowflake, chalk, Irish cream, mud splat, elephant

multi medium matte

Archival Ink: jet black

Distress Ink: vintage photo, walnut stain

Gelatos: iced chai, chocolate

Stabilo All pencil

Montana paint marker

Grey Owl

With the first little sprinkle of sleety snow this morning I felt inspired to tackle the Craft Barn's November calendar challenge.  This month the theme is grey and owls which initially I thought would work well with a Kate Crane style Journal Soup approach.  Having got started though I decided to keep it a bit simpler and more muted.

First a generous layer of white with layers of shades of grey (not quite 50).  Then more grey and white through a stencil, with some dry brushing on top to create the feel of a blizzard.

Next edging with Gelatos and Stabilo All pencil, and a little shading to ground the owl.

The owl was cut out of a piece of card painted with darker shades of grey and some stencilling was added.  Wings and feet were added separately and his face drawn on.  'Snow' was added with a piece of crunched up tissue dipped in paint.

Actually I quite like him like that, but that wouldn't really work for a calendar challenge!  I won't stick the calendar on yet and maybe some lucky owl lover might get him as a Christmas card next year!

Wishing you all a warm and cosy weekend xxx

Materials used:

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paint: snowflake, elephant, taupe, little black dress

The Crafters Workshop: mini circle explosion

PaperArtsy: PS002

Faber-Castell Gelatos: squid ink, chocolate

Ranger Multi Medium: matte

Stabilo All pencil: black

fine line pen

Gelli plate soup

Hi
On the very last day of my long summer holiday I finally had time to revisit the fabulous Journal Soup 2 tutorials by Kate Crane.   I had an enormous amount of fun getting messy with the Gelli plate and returned to work with paint encrusted fingers and nails.

People who know me will no doubt agree that I can't follow instructions without making my own changes and this was no different!  I chose the option of stamping on tissue paper, not to avoid mistakes, but because it allowed me to paint colour on to the back.  The result is that my creations are probably not as bold as Kate's.  I blended some Stabilo All pencil with water around the images to create a faint shadow.  I also used Fresco Finish Chalk Paint which dries quite quickly and so the background colours are not as blended.  Overall I was fairly pleased with the results and would definitely use the techniques again.

Materials used:

Gelli Plate

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish chalk paints

The Crafters Workshop stencil: mini circle explosion

Stampers Anonymous: stuff to say

PaperArtsy: EDY05

Pam Carriker stamp: Ophelia

Katzelkraft: KTZ118, Chatool KTZ63

Kaisercraft Clear Stamps: edges, film edges

black and white gel pen, Stabilo All pencil

Turquoise beach huts

This month's calendar challenge at The Craft Barn is turquoise and beach huts.  Unfortunately I haven't a beach hut stamp which would have made things easier.  Inspired by photos on Pinterest I opted for watercolour using Gelatos.  I've tried to create the idea of a very hot day with a deep blue sky and dark shadows.

I'm afraid I found this difficult to photograph in focus and the paper was bending so it looks like I stuck the calendar on wonky...it is straight really!

I'm signed up for a watercolour course in September so watch this space!

Thanks for taking the time to look. xxx

Materials used:

watercolour paper

Faber-Castell Gelatos: bubblegum, watermelon, lemon, butterscotch, 

snow cone, cotton candy, blueberry

Stabilo All pencil 

white gel pen