More Positivity !!

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.

I have been quite busy in my Craft Space lately  and I can actually post two days in a row.  Wow!!!  I even amaze myself sometimes.

So, I am back this time to show you the first double page in my Positivity Journal!!

If you haven't come across this before and would like to know more, check out Astrid Maclean's post HERE.

First of all I'd like to show the inside cover of my Journal.

 Not a lot going on here but I found the quote on the left hand side on the net and felt it was very appropriate for this project.  I simply wrote it on some scraps of paper and glued them in with a few leaves and small flowers.
The journaling on the right simply explains what this journal is all about.  I printed that from my computer and glued it to the page along with the die cut leaves.
I am not actually writing in this book every day but I am recording special days such as Scrapbooking with my Granddaughter.  When I look back at the end of the year I will be able to recall those special days more readily.  Not that I will forget about spending time with my Granddaughter but now I will actually know which day it was.  LOL

Here is my first double page spread. 

The stenciling was done using sequin waste and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.  When dry it was randomly sprayed with watered down Broken China D.I. and flicked with Faded Jeans D.I.   

The cursive writing, the clocks and the 'Cherish' stamps are from KC and were done in Coffee Archival Ink.  The music stamp is from Prima and was done in Faded Jeans D.I.  For the circles I simply pressed some different sized lids onto the Coffee Archival Ink Pad and then onto the page.  I also gave the 'Cherish' stamp a little extra colour with some watercolour pencils.

The two tags at the back are a Prima tag and I think it's from their 'Engraver' Collection.  I simply cut it in half so it would fit into the pocket.  The tag at the front is one I made myself.  I am using these tags to record my 'Positive' days. 

The butterfly was cut from a separate sheet of paper and then coloured with Mustard Seed and Shabby Shutters DI.  It was then stamped on the left with a KC floral stamp and on the right with the Prima Bold Print stamp.  The floral stamp was coloured with Reeves Watercolour crayons.  I have to say I am really happy with how this butterfly turned out.

Once it was coloured I glued the butterfly to the page and then drew the trail and the antennae with a Sharpie.  I also went around the outside of it with watercolour pencils to blur the edges a little.

When I wrote the quote on this page my pen was running out so I had to go over it all again with another pen so it's a bit messier than I would have liked but I am still happy with it. 

I will leave you with the same words - 

LIVE every moment.  LAUGH every day.  LOVE beyond words.

Thank you so much for visiting.

Take care good people and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Art Journal - 'Bubbles'

Hi everyone and a very warm welcome to my blog!!

I have been procrastinating over this post all day, trying to make up my mind as to what to share with you.  I have a few projects on the go at the moment and couldn't decide as to which one to do first but, finally, the decision has been made. 

I would like to share another Art Journal page.

 I've called it 'Bubbles' for obvious reasons but haven't yet found a quote to put on it.  Not even sure if I want one for this page.  I just enjoyed the process and am not really fussed about any words for it but, you never know, I may come across something someday that will fit.

 The background was created by putting  different Distress Inks on my non-stick mat and then just placing the page on the top.  This seems to be the best process for me.  I have tried so many times coating the page with gesso and then using sprays for the colour but it just never works, so I think Distress Inks are going to be my 'thing' as far as my Journal pages are concerned anyway.  The colours I used are Fired Brick, Mustard Seed and Walnut Stain.

 The large circles or 'bubbles' were stamped with BoBunny's Stained Texture stamps on a separate piece of paper the smaller ones were hand drawn.  They were then cut out and coloured and then glued onto the page and edged with a black and a white pen.  The smaller ones were also stamped with another BoBunny Texture Stamp.  I also place some washi tape in two of the corners.

 Used TCW's 'Mini Grandma's Doily' template in opposite corners and went around some of the edges of the design with a white gel pen.  Did some stamping with Kaisercraft's Crackle stamp and used TCW's Mini Circle Explosion template as well.  The floral stamp around the edge is also from Kaisercraft but I don't know the name of it. 

 And that's about it!!  A fairly simple page although it did take a while to do, mainly because I'm never sure which direction these pages of mine are going to go.  As I said at the beginning, I procrastinate, in all manner of ways (sigh).  

Thank you so much for visiting.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

... and More Art Journalling!!

Hello everyone.  Hope the weather where you are is as lovely as the weather we've got at the moment.  After days of wild winds and stormy conditions we have got the most glorious sunshine  out there at the moment.  I had every intention of getting into the garden and putting in some new plants but  fate conspired against me because someone lost my garden gloves!!  Cannot find them anywhere and I cannot work in the garden without them. 

So here I am to show you my latest effort at Art Journalling.  I made a double page spread this time.  I had intended this to be quite minimallist but got carried away a bit I think. 

 I used watercolour paper as my base this time.  For both sides I just glued on some random strips of paper and a piece of burlap to start off with, gessoed over the top of that and then coloured where I wanted with Distress Inks.  Colours used are Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Walnut Stain.  I splattered a bit of the Walnut Stain randomly and let it drip.  Unfortunately it did bleed a bit but I'm just telling myself that it adds to the 'Arty-ness' of it. LOL!

The chipboard clock is from Imaginarium and was coloured with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and randomly brushed with a bit of gesso.  The chipboard stickers are from Cheap as Chips were also lightly brushed with gesso.  The bulb is a small typo bulb from Prima.

Stamping was done with Versafine  Vintage Sepia and the stamps used are one of the Stained Texture stamps from BoBunny but I have no idea where the diamond shape stamp is from.

The printed clock is a free image from the net and the wording was simply written on plain paper, glued to some pasteboard and inked with Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade.

The page below is basically the same but of course with different elements.

The ruler is from Prima's Engraver Collection and I believe the postcards are from Prima as well but I'm not 1oo% sure.  The flourish is from Little Birdie, the small chipboard clock is Imaginarium and the printed clock is another free image from the net.  The flourish and the little clock were both coloured with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and lightly brushed with gesso.

The wording was done in the same way as the previous page and the chipboard stickers are also from Cheap as Chips.

  I thoroughly enjoyed working on these pages.  Got into a heck of a mess but loved every minute of it but now I really need to get back to making my cards and have to leave the Art Journal alone for a while.  
Thank you so much to all the lovely people who share their gorgeous works out there so that people like me can be inspired.  Love you all!!!!
I also want to thank all the lovely people who leave me such heart warming comments.  I love to know what you think and you have all been very generous.  Thank you so much!!
Please take care my friends.  God Bless!!
oxox Marg

 

My Art Journal

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.

I have an Art Journal page to share with you today.  Actually, this is my very first Art Journal page so  I must admit it's fairly simple but hopefully, as I get a bit more experienced at it, they will get better.

The background was created by just pressing a Distress Ink Pad in Faded Jeans onto my non-stick craft mat and then spraying with water and pressing the page onto that.

 

 I didn't realize at the time that there was also some Walnut Stain left on the mat so, of course, that also ended up on the page.  I really loved how it looked so I knew I had to do something with it.  Well, it sat on the edge of my craft desk for weeks because I had no idea how I was going to decorate it.  Until one day, I was looking through the few rolls of Washi Tape that I have and came across the birds and the music.  So a couple of strips of each went onto the page ...

 and then it sat for another week at least.  

The next step was the texture which was done with TCW's Mini Grandma's Doily in the bottom left corner and along the right side.

 Then came the sprays ... Sugar Plum Fairy Glimmer Mist and two I made up myself from some Distress Ink mixed with water.  One was Walnut Stain and the other was Mustard Seed.  It turned out a bit dark so I dry brushed over it with a bit of Gesso.   

Stamped the tea cup ring using a BoBunny texture stamp and found some Kaisercraft labels which were placed down the right hand side ...

and then the quote.  This is one I've used before but I thought it was fitting because I'm sort of spreading my wings out into the world of Art Journalling!!  I think??  Anyway, printed the quote onto some plain paper, cut out the strips and inked the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink.

The bottom left corner looked a bit empty so I filled it with a couple of white Prima flowers.   Used Tea Dye Distress Ink on the flowers and around the edge of the page as well.

So, there it is ... my first Art Journal page but, hopefully, not my last.  Hope you like it.

Thank you so much for visiting I really do appreciate you stopping by. 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I would be so pleased if you left me a little comment.  Thank you.

Take care and God bless.

oxox Marg

 

Off the page

Hello everyone and a warm welcome to my blog.  I hope the weather is better wherever you are because Adelaide is miserable at the moment.  Lots of rain and very cold, well, cold for here anyway.

I have a tidy box I'd like to share with you.  It has taken me a few weeks to make this because I started from scratch.  The box is made from pasteboard and I've used my little joining strips to put it together.  My own design and everything!!  Yeah, I know, you're saying to yourself  'Sooooo? Big deal!'  Well for me it is a bit of a big deal,  I've never made anything this big before and, luckily, I'm quite pleased with the result.

 My reason for making this box is to hold remote controls and the bits and pieces my hubby and I have sitting beside us when we're watching TV.  We had a little basket before and it was kinda overflowing.

 

 Having never done this before, I made quite a few mistakes and had to fudge a few things but, hopefully, they don't show.

 The papers I've used to cover this are from G45's Communique Collection.  I love these papers, they are totally gorgeous and I wish I could get more but they've been discontinued for a while now  and it's getting quite hard to lay my hands on them.  I did use TCW's reversed chicken wire template and a Versa Magic  stamp pad in Midnight Black just to add a little more interest.

 The drawer pulls are from Kaisercraft.
The most time consuming bit on this box was the punched border strips I used to edge it with.  They took quite a while to make and there were so many of them!!!!!  But I must admit I love how they look.

The chippies and wooden flourishes were coloured with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and Cyan Versa Color and then I covered them with Glossy Accents.  I saw a similar colour combination on a layout made by Heather Jacob.    She is an amazing artist and you can find her blog HERE.  I loved the colour combo so decided to try it out.  She actually used a turquoise Distress Ink (I think) instead of the Versa  Color but I didn't have that and she also used a clear crackle on hers but I decided to just use the glossy coating instead.  I love how it looks!!

The blue colour doesn't show up as well on the wooden flourishes but I still like them too.  I'm not sure where the above chippy is from but the two wooden flourishes are from Kaisercraft.  I've used the Ornate Plate and the Fancy Door Knocker.

 I've placed some vintage brads on both these flourishes.  Another idea I got from Heather.   I actually had the great pleasure of going craft shopping with her and she recommended a few things to me that I might never have bought but which I absolutely love!!  Thank you Heather, love you girl!!

 

I didn't want anything too 3 dimensional on the sides so I used some G45 and Kaisercraft tags and labels and arranged them in and around some chipboard frames.  These little frames are Little Birdie chippies and I got them from 'Cheap as Chips'.

 

This chippie is a Mini Scroll from Dusty Attic.  There is one on each side of the box coloured in the same way.

 The flowers are a mix of Kaisercraft, Prima and Magnolia Ink and I made them into a vine so that they could more easily be spread across the front.  

 I used Matisse Gel Medium to glue all the papers down and the edges were inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink ... and here is the box on the coffee table  and in use.  Puzzle books, remote controls, pens, pencils and all sorts of other bits and pieces all neat and tidy and there's room for more!! 

 I hope you like my coffee table tidy box.  It took a while to do but I really enjoyed making it, although, if I ever have to make another, I'll have a better idea of how to go about it because of all the mistakes I made with this one.  hehe!!

Thank you so much for visiting.  I do hope you enjoy the remainder of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg