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 ...

Playing with paint

I don't often use paint on my scrapbook pages, and when I do it's normally quite restrained, but this time I tried something a little different.  Inspired by some recent challenges to use paints and inks on layouts, and needing a little something to go behind the photos on this patterned paper, I got out my paints and just started mixing (a cream/buff colour and a green) and simply splodged it on to the paper.  I added a few stamps and simple embellishments, and it was done ...

    

Junk journalling again

I'm loving the concept of a junk journal and I've made it my own, an excuse to try out new ideas, revisit old ideas, use new products and rediscover old products.  This page I made the other day is a mixture of all of these things ...

I bought some new goodies on a recent trip to Art From The Heart (some new (to me - they are second-hand but only lightly used) stamps and some cute little self-adhesive washi-tape shapes and strips) and I wanted to try them all out.  I also had some rice paper that I'd used as a mop-up sheet from a previous crafting session; it was covered in such beautiful colours that it was just crying out to be used.  So, I had a rummage through my stash and found some old rub-ons I forgot I had, an ephemera pack that hadn't been opened since I bought it, plus some lovely bits of text paper.  I added a bit of coloured texture paste (texture paste is one of my new obsessions!), and voila - an eclectic mix of old and new.