Good Memories - Mixed media tag

I've been thinking a lot about white space.  I've noticed that the pictures and images which appeal to me most have a lot of white space.  This tag is actually two tags with the one underneath being white. The bubble effect die is by Tim Holtz and matches nicely with the rest of the circles in the design.  The stamp is another by Carabelle and I used the very small numbers from the stamp to embellish around the clock face and added some glossy accents to make them stand out.  

The sentiment is from the stamp as well and means something like "Good memories are eternal".

If you want to see how the backgrounds were made and the tag put together - here's the video...

Smile

I am having fun using the Carabelle stamps I'm so fond of and hand drawing.  I'm seeing a lot of cartoon style female faces cropping up in mixed media work and have looked at some of the stamps used.  Sometimes you think "I need to get that stamp" and other times you think "I could draw that and make it exactly how I want it."  For this project, I acted on the second thought and drew my moody girl.  The colours are also a bit of a departure and that is purely down to the beautiful colours of the Paperartsy fresco paints.  And no, I'm not affiliated to either company mentioned in any way.  I just love their products.  :)

The video shows you where I (once again!) decided to make a change and how I managed it!

Washed Out

This is an appropriate title as the UK contemplates the fallout of the Brexit vote.  Waking up to the reality of our own massive own goal each morning is the equivalent to waking up and finding we've lost the World Cup, the Olympics and Eurovision on the same day that some evil mastermind has stolen all the nutella.  I've been disturbed to hear legitimate EU immigrants say they feel less welcome here now and I'm ashamed that the reputation of our tolerant, diverse society has been hi-jacked by the self serving interests of a few politicians.  I'm cross, therefore I craft.

 And here's a short video showing the project being made from start to finish...

Summer of Music

Back in the 1970's, so the story goes, hippies heading home after celebrating the summer Solstice at Stonehenge, stopped off at Worthy Farm near Pilton in Somerset lured by a rumour of live music and free milk.  And thus the Glastonbury Festival began.  I'm sure there's more to it than that but the festival is indeed held most years just after the summer Solstice.   There are other festivals but Glastonbury is the biggie which launches the main summer music festivals up and down the UK.

Over the years the festivals have expanded beyond live music to focus on food, cars, trucks...you name it!  We went to our first festival last summer.  Three days of camping in a cramped field but we loved it and the music and the whole atmosphere.  This page was inspired by all the live music to come and the tabs list some of the bigger events.  There are many, many to choose from.  Its always interesting to see how you feel about projects once they're completed.  Some really grow on you, others are a bit meh.  With this, I can see how I could improve it and make it less cluttered but it was a spur of the moment page, made while listening to a mix of Groove Armada, Sting and re-runs of Hancock's Half Hour.  Eclectic, no?  And so for all it's faults, I have posted it here and already it's beginning to grow on me....

Queen for A Day

At the time of writing, we have just finished celebrating the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.  There have been special church services, TV documentaries and street parties.  All of this makes you wonder how cool it would be to be the Queen.  I think it might be nice for one day but I don't think it would be much fun much longer.  You'd have to be polite to people all the time.

And here's the video.  The face and crown I drew to suit the layout.

Ballot Box Sunday

At the time of writing, we are only a few days from the UK referendum vote to remain in or leave the European Union.  This Sunday morning, like all the other officials up and down over the UK, we went to collect the ballot boxes and polling booth in readiness.  

It's not me but Himself who has the early start this Thursday to get the polling station open and ready for the early bird voters at 7am.  Once the polls close at 10pm, he will seal the ballot box and deliver it to be counted.  He'll probably come home very late and fall asleep on the sofa.  Me, I've taken the  next day off on holiday because I think this will be the biggest, most important vote of my generation and I don't want to miss the results coming in overnight.

Because Himself has no opportunity to leave his station to cast his vote and because I can never be certain any voting days won't coincide with meetings abroad, we both use a postal vote.  We sent our papers back last week so for us the job is done.  

I have no doubt the UK would survive an exit but I work for a European company who employ over 6,000 people UK and I travel to the Continent several times a year both for work and for pleasure.  I like testing out my wonky French and German and have always found the native speakers to be sympathetic and supportive of my efforts.  So yes, you can get along ok on your own but it's much better to have friends.

Doodles - Art Journal Page

I have a stamp of a a very small but (I think) very charming little character.  His posture and expression could be saying anything but he's sooooo small he disappears on all but the tiniest projects.  So for this page, I let his thoughts dominate the page and put him at the end.  He's the equivalent of a creative exclamation mark.

Here's the video showing how to get from blank page to completed project.

Lost Property - Art Journal

The Lost Property of the title could refer to a lost love, a lost memory or a lost handbag which has scattered the precious momentoes it held across the page.  The colours are deliberately muted to signify faded memories and the title of the page itself is almost lost.

Here's how it came about...

Butterfly Greetings Card

I wanted to showcase a beautiful butterfly die cut I bought recently.  To make it really stand out I needed a simple design.  I used my favourite colours of blue and green to make this greetings card and added some extra sparkle on the butterfly using a clear wink of Stella glitter pen.

In the video, I show how to use die cuts to cut your shape just where you want!

Greek Art Mould Tag

I've had a bunch of art moulds hidden away in my stash for years.  They make the occasional appearance but only when the item you are making can accommodate the thickness of the finished piece.  This cool torso mould rises 2cm above the tag.  Of course it inspired a Greek theme which in turn meant the colours were self selecting, blue, white and gold.

Wonderful Stuff - Mixed Media Tag

I like a bit of odd and found some stamps from French company Carabelle which tickle my quirky zone :)

I have so many ideas for how to use these stamps you can expect to see them popping up over the coming summer of sport.  Euro 2016 is great for me, it means the boys will be so distracted by Le Footé (as it's being jokingly called in the UK) they won't notice how much time I'm spending in L' Attic!

Here's how I used the stamp above....

Heartfelt - Art Journal

I really like these stamps from Stampotique.  I also like stepping out of my comfort zone and mashing up colours I wouldn't usually be drawn to.  My default setting is muted shades which all match and I spend ages pulling out various bits of card or ribbons to check they compliment each other.  This has been an enjoyable departure from my self imposed rules and I hope you like the result as I do.

For this page, I stamped the heart from her dress several times and cut them out to make the line of hearts blowing in the wind.  Then I covered the hearts with Glossy Accents to give them an extra dimension and sheen.

Easy Peasy Lacey Flowers Tutorial

I've been making and using a lot of flowery things in my recent projects and thought I'd share my easy way to make some.  You can use glue but if you use a modelling paste, it will help hold the petals at a slight angle giving them extra dimension and interest.  No one wants flat flowers :)  Finish them off by sticky a bead or button in the centre.  Easy!

Ma Normandie - Art Journal Page

At school we learned a song called "Ma Normandie".  I still remember it and still like it.  It's actually the semi official anthem of Jersey but I think of it as a love song to an area we've visited many times from the beautiful beaches of the northern shores to Bayeaux with its fabulous church, crypt, tapestry and patisserie to further inland to Falaise and the birthplace of William the Conquerer.  The colours of the apple orchards and half timbered buildings are soft and muted and are echoed in the soft tones of this art journal page.

In English the words are:

Under the beautiful sky of our France, 

When the the sun returns gentler, 

When nature has turned green again, 

When the swallow has returned, 

I like to see once more my Normandy.

The textures on the page are built up with a mixture of ribbon, canvas, burlap and embossed cardstock.