All posts by Jackie

Art journal week 12 Home

09/04/2011art journal, ukstampers weekly challenge No. 12Jackie

Week 12’s challenge for the ukstampers art journal page challenges prompt is Home:

what does home mean to you?
use a picture of a house on your page
use a heart stamp on your page

For me my home means independence. There really is no place like home when it comes to being independent. It is the only place I can do what I want when I want by myself. I don’t feel disabled at home. It isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination.
I really am a home-bird because of this and it is only when you are away from when you realise just how wonderful your own home is and how much you miss it and all it’s little imperfections.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black
Card: Old patterned paper painted over.
Stamps: Hero arts A friend forever (hearts only), Flower soft The gate (little birds), alphabet (unknown)
Others: white gesso, acrylic paints: Spa blue, Turquoise, Sap green and Crimson red, Cosmic shimmer mist Aqua lagoon, white, black, red and green pens to doodle and copics to colour the sparrows, lime crayon, Bird house picture from arbor castle birdhouses

Art journal week 11 Scary

07/04/2011art journal, scary, ukstampers weekly challenge No. 11Jackie

I am lagging behind with my journal pages as I have been busy with other things but I will hopefully catch up soon. This is for week 11 Scary, to include:

what makes you scared – list your top 5
use a scary colour on your background
use paint to stamp with

In real life this actually looks quite bright yet dark IYKWIM but this photo makes it appear rather washed out (is it because I have used a black backdrop?)
What is the difference between being worried about things and being scared? I worry about many things including the health and well being of my nearest and dearest, my own health, getting old and what the future has in store for me. Loads of things make me anxious and nervous like going to the dentist, being trapped in a confined space, flying, public speaking but these I can confront or avoid where possible. But I think the things that are most scary are the ones we have less control over: nuclear war, biological war, destruction of our planet, and more personally – crime, and being buried alive. Superbugs/resistant bugs are pretty scary too but the list will get longer and longer if I don’t stop there. I drew the Scream (original by Edvard Munch).

Inks: Distress inks Black soot, Pumice stone, Barn door, Rusty hinge, Faded jeans and Frayed burlap, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: ivory card
Stamps: tree silhouette (unknown), Non sequitur Grave tidings, Tim Holtz Urban tapestry
Other: Black and Vermilion acrylic paint (for the tree), black pen, white pen and grey copic pen

Anniversary cards

05/04/2011anniversary card, cardJackie

As you can see by the poor photography I was in rather a rush to take the photos and get these to get these in the post in time.
I was asked to make the 2 silver wedding anniversary cards for a pal (proceeds go to Spinal Injuries Scotland) and the Oriental one is for my wee brother Chris and his wife Grace. I haven’t made an Oriental style card for ages and I had forgotten what fabby Chiyogami papers I still have in my stash.

Silver hearts
Inks: Versamark with silver embossing powder
Card: white, silver miri, silver swirly vellum
Stamps: Hearts (possibly Elusive images), greeting Stamping up Cheers and wishes
Other: gems, white ribbon with silver edging, white flower, gem brad, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Silver anniversary
Inks: versamark with silver embossing powder
Card: white, silver miri, silver angel hair, Silver anniversary vellum,
Stamps: glasses chinking free with Craft stamper mag.
Other: silver heart charm, silver ribbon, silver nail heads, glitter pen to colour

Entwined hummingbirds
Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Distress ink Barn door, Adirondack Sunshine yellow
Card: silk matt coated white, white, black, embossed gold, Chiyogami patterned paper
Stamps: Clarity stamps Entiwined hummingbirds, Hero arts tiny Chinese wishes (love)

Mother’s day easel card

03/04/2011card, easel card, mothers day cardJackie

I love the colours of the Magenta paper I used on my mum’s card for mothering Sunday. It is pretty and bright without being sickly sweet. In fact I liked it so much that I made H’s mum the same card.

Inks: Distress inks Peeled paint used for some of the edges
Card: White card, Magenta Printemps passion collection Peacock blue (double sided), white flock vellum
Other: Delish mini pearl brads, Stampin up Hardware, Prima flower Calcutta dogwood Bright white, Punched frond leaves, punched butterflies, pearls,

Born to ride birthday card

28/03/2011biker card, born to ride, cardJackie

I really like this image from Karen’s Doodles and it is just right for birthday cards for a few of my male buddies. I also used it for a father’s day card and you can really change the look just by colouring it differently and using different back ground papers.

Inks: Distress ink Black soot
Card: white, textured silvery/grey
Digital stamp: Born to ride Karen’s Doodles
Other: Square silvery/grey brads, copics and Prisma pencils to colour, Diamond glaze

Get well card

25/03/2011card, get well soon cardJackie

Poor Ceara having to get her tonsils out! Hope all goes well and you are back to 100% soon.

Inks: Stampin up Old olive, Tombo pens 856 and 098
Card: white card, Stampin up patterned paper
Stamps: Stampin up Hopeful thoughts
Other: mini red rik rak ribbon

The never ending card

23/03/2011birthday card, card, Connell, never ending cardJackie

So what is a never ending card I hear you ask – well it is a card that once you open it you can keep on opening it because of the way it folds. They are very easy to make and you can find quite a few video tutorials on how to do this on you tube.

Now I know you are not supposed to mix up centimetres and inches when measuring but for this card I found it easier to measure the back ground card in inches and the panels in centimetres.
The whole card is 6″ x 6″
I cut 4 strips of the double sided back ground paper 3″ x 6″
Scored at 1 1/2″ from each narrow end
My square panels to stick on are 7cm x 7cm.
(If you search for never ending card on you tube you will see just how to stick the card together).

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, Distress ink Peeled paint
Card: White card, BoBunny Beautiful life dots double sided card
Stamps: JudiKins small tennis ball (tiny cube of balls), Happy birthday from a Cute companions set
Other: black magic mesh, white gross grain ribbon, tennis racket embellishments, yellow and lime crayons, clip art tennis player, white pen, rub-on letters

Art journal week 10 – week

14/03/2011art journal, ukstampers weekly challenge No. 10Jackie

Week 10’s prompt for the ukstampers weekly challenge is: week
for week 10 you had to include:

list 7 things you did last week
provide evidence for at least two of them
use an old calendar as your background

For most of week I was mending the dogs toys (sewing them up after he had ripped the stuffing out of them), darning my favourite jumper (that is the wool stitched over the tear in the page), spring cleaning, numerous phone calls and arguments with a company who delivered the wrong item. I dined out with previous work colleges, had dinner with our wonderful friends and neighbours (John & Lizzie) then on Saturday night went to see Yes Prime Minister! The journalling did contain all 7 things but I cut it down to 6 just so it would fit better and still be legible. The calender part is a perpetual calendar I made using a template (Inka stamps 2007) it can be as old or new as you want.

Inks: Distress inks: Brushed corduroy, Forest moss, Spiced marmalade and Old paper, Memento Tuxedo black
Card: white card, white paper
Stamps: date stamp, Crafty individuals CI-255
Other: theatre ticket, darning wool, Tim Holtz spinner, brad and pin, gold pen

Art journal week 9 Fashion

02/03/2011art journal, week 9Jackie

Week 9 for the ukstampers weekly challenge theme is Fashion. You have to include:

what was/is your fashion disaster and what was/is your favourite piece
use some fabric on your page
use a picture from a magazine

For someone who is most comfortable in a jumper and trousers and not at all fashionable this was a little tricky. I do love Helena Bonham Carter’s style which is quirky, a bit goth, a bit steampunk, a bit hippy but at all times very feminine. I am rather boring and practical in my dress sense and I go for comfort and warmth instead of fashion or style. My worst fashion disaster was when I was in my twenties and had no money and had an invite (via my mum) to the Queen’s garden party. I had nothing that would do so I went to the sales and picked up an outfit that I could afford. It was a kind of pale green and off-white skirt and blouse affair along with a white hat, sling-backs and a handbag. A granny would have looked very smart in it. The hat was weird – not quite a bowler and had a dent in it like a cowboy hat. My favourite piece in my good old Belstaff jacket that has seen better days. These jackets get better with wear and get nice and comfortable and mine has a certain smell that invokes lots of memories of my biker days. Sadly it now lives in the loft (I won’t throw it out). The lace I used for this is the same as that on my wedding dress but I painted it with black acrylic paint then highlighted areas with gold wax on some of the embroidered bits. I don’t buy fashion mags so the picture of Helena Bonham Carter is from the Radio Times.

Inks: Tuxedo memento black
Card: Handmade cotton rag paper
Stamps: Stampotique Gooseneck (Daniel Torrente)
Other: lace, black and vermilion acrylic paint, dark red emulsion, gold pen, black netting, lime stickles, gold wax, picture of Helena Bonham Carter

Art journal week 8 Books

27/02/2011art journal, books, ukstampers weekly challenge week 8Jackie

What a difficult challenge this one has been. The ukstampers week 8 challenge prompt was Books and you had to include:

list your top 5 books, what and why
use a quote from one of them on your page
use an old book page as your background

So here is my page: although I did not use a quote from one of my chosen books I added an old Chinese proverb instead.

Inks: Memento Tuxedo black, versamark with clear embossing powder, Distress inks Black soot, Fired brick, frayed burlap, old paper, Forest moss
Card: Old page from torn from My altered book project (a PD James one I think), white card, parchment type thick paper
Stamps: Non sequitur Grave tidings, Graphicus bookmarks
Other: Adirondack color wash Pesto, Chroma jewels Slate and Forest, Walnut ink, Metallic rub-on gold

As a child I enjoyed reading books, as a teenager my reading fell by the wayside as I had far more sporty and outdoor things to do. It wasn’t until I had an enforced and rather long stay in hospital that rekindled my affection for reading. Buying new books is such a pleasure but I don’t have room for any more so I have made a rule that if I buy a new book then I must give one of my old ones away. These 5 books have made it to the section of books never to be given away (amongst quite a few others).

Around 1986 I found The Way of Wyrd, Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer by Brian Bates. A Christian scribe is given a mission to learn about Pagan beliefs and to accomplish this he becomes a Shaman’s apprentice. This is a fascinating account of some of the beliefs around that time.

Aztec by Gary Jennings is an epic adventure story of an Aztec man. It took me ages to get through it and in places I found it rather difficult but it is a fascinating account of the way Aztecs lived. There is a bit of everything in it.

Then comes Post Mortem by Patricia Cornwell. Kay Scarpetta uses forensic science to track down killers. I was studying Biological science at the time I found this book and very nearly chose forensic science as one of my subjects. This was the first of many crime thrillers I have now read.

Ship of magic: The Liveship traders by Robin Hobb. What can I say – each and every one of her books (written as Robin Hobb) is magical and transports me away to another world of magic, mystery, dragons, serpents, Rain Wild River…..

Mort By Terry Pratchett. Need I say more… the Discworld series is amazing and I read this one first where DEATH takes a vacation and he takes on Mort as his apprentice. This is so funny and makes you want to read all the rest of the Discworld books in any order.

I wanted to add Delia Smith’s Complete Illustrated Cookery Course too as it is my most used, most dog-eared cook book. The trouble is I have many more ‘favourite’ books that I couldn’t give away too numerous to mention. I enjoy reading cookery books and gardening books just as much as I do novels.

Cardesque

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