More quirky scrapping

Sometimes scrapping can be a challenge for me as I am trying to make a record for the future, for us and children and (potential) grandchildren to look at, so often I’m trying to use photos that I wouldn’t choose if I were just doing it for the aesthetic appeal.

Today’s page is a case in point. I really wanted to do a page about the big family party we had, but I had very few photos and those I had weren’t terribly exciting. I liked the colours on these photos and had lots of suitable papers etc in a recent Quirky Kit (see previous blog post), but because of the size and shape of the photos, I struggled to find an arrangement that was pleasing to the eye.

Once I’d found a basic layout that worked, I added a few embellishments. At first it looked quite plain and simple,  jut then I found the little stitched stars. I liked the area of white space in the top right, but it looked too stark compared to the busy papers, so I added a bit of stamping (the bunting is from a set by Aall and Create, the stitched lines are from a Tim Holtz set).  Finally, I’d found my compromise between creativity and preserving the memory ...

As before, the papers and most embellishments are from this month’s Quirky Kit and everything else (except for the stamps) are from previous kits. 

Some Quirky scrapping

I subscribe to a bi-monthly scrapbooking kit from Crafty Templates, and I love it when the pizza box containing my Quirky Kit arrives at my door. The kits always contain new and exciting products that are all colour-coordinated and, although they are often slightly outside of my comfort  definitely get my creative juices flowing.

Sometimes I just let myself create whatever takes my fancy that day, but I also have an ongoing project, creating a book per year of my favourite photos from that year. At the moment I am a little behind with that project (I’m still working on 2016’s photos!) so thought I ought to do another page when my new kit arrived today ...

I started off using a lovely paper from this month’s kit, then added some suitable embellishments, but I wanted to use a larger variety of embellishments so I raided some previous kits (including a stencil and texture paste from one previous kit) which had had similar colour themes. 

I think that this layout expresses the life and energy and joy-of-life that these two young people show.  And it was nice to do something a little different after all the mixed media experimentation I’ve been doing recently. 

Thanks for reading.

Waste not, want not

I’ve been following the lead of Leonie Pujol, as well as being sensible and not wasting paint and ink, and using rice paper and card to use up “left-over” paint and ink from my work surfaces, stamps and brushes (rather than just cleaning up with wipes and cloths and throwing them in the bin). Some of the resulting scraps are really pretty and I’m starting to make use of them.

The other day I was playing with a pretty new stamp (from an IndigoBlu grab bag I bought from Hochanda), trying out different ways of colouring it in. I stamped and coloured a few flowers, then cut them up. I was wondering what to do with them, when my husband asked me for a get well card to send to somebody. So I picked out one of my “scraps”, cut out a portion of it, and used it to make a card ...

The scrap in question was a piece of card I’d used to clean off my brayer, to practice stamp an image, to clean off my stamp (by stamping again and again until no ink remained), and to clean off a stencil. So it was ink and paint that would otherwise have been wasted. And now it’s been matted on to a piece of black card and used us as the base for a pretty card that will hopefully cheer somebody up. All it needed was three of the cut-out flowers and a simple sentiment stamped onto another scrap of spare card that would otherwise have gone in the bin. 

A card made out of leftovers - that’s crafty recycling. 

More mixed media

Having finally got my creative mojo back, I decided to get back to the mixed media experimentation I had begun before.  It took me a while to find the flow, but once I'd overcome my initial nervousness, I had fun creating an art journal page based on the new stamp I used on the cards in my previous blog entry  ...

  
I've been trying to get into the habit of mopping up unused ink and paint with rice paper, and this time I was really pleased with the result.  I used some of my "mopping up" paper to stamp the main image on to and then ripped it out and stuck it to the left-hand page as a focal point.  I even plucked up the courage to do a little freehand doodling with my white pen, something that usually scares me a little. 

My mojo is back!

No blog posts for a while here because my crafting mojo went AWOL. I simply lost motivation to do any crafting, partly due to family events and holidays. But I’m happy to say that it’s back and I’m creating again, so I’m ready to start sharing again.

To ease myself in gradually, I started by making a couple of cards using my favourite distress inks and sprays to make backgrounds, then adding some random stamps in grey ink to add a little more texture.  Then I used a gorgeous new Indigo Blu stamp that I bought ages ago and have never got round to using; on the first card I simply stamped the image using a black versafine ink pad, on the second card, I stamped then embossed using black embossing powder, then added a touch of copper gilding wax.  Both were then matted onto black card stock.

I’m hoping that some of my crafting friends will enjoy receiving these ...

Trying out art journalling

Although I've been experimenting with mixed media and have started a junk journal, I've not really explored art journalling properly ... until last weekend ...

I went to an art journalling class at Art From The Heart with the amazingly talented Kate Crane, and with her help, created my first two art journal pages (following her original design and her advice on techniques and colours) 

You probably can't read most of my journalling (part of that is deliberate, part of the creative process), but the bit at the bottom of the second page reads "there are no mistakes in art, only learning opportunities", and that really reflects my experience that day!

So, armed with renewed confidence and some new paints, I had a creative session the other day.  It's not very original, but I really enjoyed creating this and it has encouraged me to keep trying new things and to carry on with my creative journey ...

Journal cover

I've been adding to my junk journal for a while.  I made an introductory page early on (see this post  ) but have been too scared to work on the actual cover.  But the other day I plucked up the courage to change this plain (but pretty) pink cover into something more interesting 

 

So I gathered together some items I thought would work together and arranged them on the cover ...

Like this, they looked interesting but too varied in colour, so I covered everything with gesso then two layers of paint (first pyrrole red, then a wash of dioxazine purple.  I followed this with a liberal spray of distress mica spray in antique bronze.  When dry, I glued on a bookplate holder and added a tassel and a hanging key.  I'm really pleased with how this one turned out.

 I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but holidays and other real life activities have kept me busy.  But I'm busily creating again now so will be blogging again soon ...