Category Archives: art journal

Art journal week 44: Inspiration

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Week 44 of the ukstampers challenge prompt is: Inspiration

  • what or who inspires you?
  • are there certain times or places that give you inspiration?
  • include some inspirational words on your page.

Inspiration comes from many sources such as the web, magazines, bloggers, forums, other art or craft forms, the patterns in nature, geometry, colour, texture and many more.  I  have Kate Cranes DVD, have taken an online course of Traci Bautista’s and follow a few crafty blogs and I am always looking at what people do on you tube.  I think the colours and textures of nature inspires me most.

Paint:  periwinkle, mustard, orange, black and white acrylics
Card:  watercolour paper
Stamp:  Dylusions Beyond the edge
Other:  orange oil pastel, white and black pens, cool shadow copic pen, computer generated words, letters cut from a magazine

Art journal week 43: Sociable

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Week 43 of the ukstampers challenge prompt is: Sociable

  • Are you a sociable person?  Do you like the company of lots of people or prefer small gatherings?  Can you do small talk?
  • Can you amuse yourself, do you like your own company?
  • include some kind of invite on your page.

I do spend a lot of time by myself and manage to fill my day – I don’t understand these people who say they have nothing to do as there is always something to do and there is never enough time to do it all (which is why I am behind in these weekly journal pages).  Being in the seated position all of the time I find social gatherings where people are all standing around conversing 2 feet above me very tiresome.  Not only do I have to strain my neck looking up all of the time but I strain my ears trying to hear what they are saying.  This usually leads to me just nodding and smiling graciously and wondering what on earth they were talking about then going off to the kitchen, if I am not hemmed in, to find some food.  I am reasonably au fait at small talk but don’t ask me to do any public speaking or I will run a mile – so to speak.

Paint:  I did the background ages ago but I think I used white and rust acrylic paint
Card:  white card
Stamps:  Stampin up Cheer and wishes, home made foam stamps Squares
Other:  grey and rust oil pastels, mesh

Art journal week 41: Films

art journal, films
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Week 41 is all about films:

  • what is the first film you saw at the cinema?
  • what is your favourite film and why?
  • include some film memorabilia on your page

Ok I don’t remember the first film I saw at the cinema but more than likely it was a Walt Disney film.  I particularly like films that have great music.  I don’t go to the cinema very often any more as my local cinema has been flattened and I don’t like going to the big cinemas as I have to sit at the very front or very back as I stay in my wheelchair rather than transfer into the cinema chairs.

Inks:  Stazon black, acrylic paints: white, black, lime and yellow
Card:  watercolour paper, white card
Stamps:  Hero arts Upper-case alphabet
Other:  Tim Holtz film strip, tiny silver brad

Art journal week 40: Birthdays

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I hope you all had a lovely time over the Christmas holidays.  It was a quiet Christmas day in our house but a very busy boxing day and I have spent most of my time cleaning, cooking, eating, cleaning, cooking, eating etc……. so I am hoping that I now have some spare time to finish the ukstampers weekly challenge.  I am only up to week 41 and I would like to get all 52 done and dusted by 2012 so these last few will be rather rushed.
Week 40 is about birthdays:

  • do you make a big thing of birthdays – do you remember birthdays?
  • what is your most memorable birthday story?
  • include some candles on your page

I do remember birthdays and I love sharing the celebrations with my family and friends with a good meal (much better than parties).  This year my brother Chris and his family cooked one of my all time favourite meals; slow roasted lamb over here and they did all the cooking and clearing up so I didn’t have to do anything thing.  Mum and dad came over too and we had a lovely relaxing day.   The most memorable story however would be at Harry’s 40th birthday BBQ in our back garden.  He managed to break his ankle just by picking up a CD from the floor and turning round awkwardly.  He ended up at A&E the following day and needed his ankle pinned and in a stookie for 6 weeks.

Inks:  Distress inks More mustard and Stormy sky, Memento London fog
Card:  white card
Stamps:  Tim Holtz Urban tapestry and Fairytail frenzy
Other:  Intense pencils and copic pens to colour

Art journal week39: Extravagant

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Week 39 of the ukstampers weekly challenges is all about Extravagance:

  • would you say you were extravagant?
  • what is your biggest expense?
  • use something extravagant on your page

I would say that I am not extravagant although I am drawn to pretty things and would love to enhance my home with beautiful furnishings, I think I am just a bit too practical and most items have to be useful.  My biggest expenses have been the house and furniture but having said that we have had the same furniture now for 20 years and most of it will last another 20 years so it has been money well spent.
I made the whole page extravagant but the most extravagant thing on it has to be the Paua (abalone?) shell inlay.

Inks:  Versamark ink with silver embossing powder
Card:  Black card, pearl and pink vellum
Stamp:  Inkadinkado Morphic bugs
Other:  Beadazzles Electric slide, TuTu and Disco ball, Cosmic shimmer Aqua lagoon, Stickles Pink, H2Os Cherry sorbet, Black orchid and Sky blue, Paua shell inlay, Diamond glaze, gems

Art journal week35: Sayings

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I am way behind again with these challenge pages but hopefully I will catch up soon.  I have been plagued with neck, shoulder and jaw pain these last few weeks so I have been trying to do very little and only making the odd card or two.  Anyhooooo here is my page about week 35 of the ukstampers challenge and the prompt is Saying:

  • do you have any sayings that are particular to you or your family?
  • did anyone have a catch phrase?
  • use a speach bubble and some text paper on your page.

The two that spring to mind immediately are; ‘just do it – then it’s done’ which is a favourite one of mine and,  ‘it’s not 100% but it will do’  is one I hear all the time from my other half who tends to fix things using cable ties.

Paint:  acrylic brown, ballet pink, antique white and pistachio
Inks:  Stazon Black, Stampin up Regal rose
Card:  patterned paper with text on it, water colour paper
Stamps:  Dylusions Around the edge, dragonfly (unknown)
Other:  inktense pencils, clear page pebbles, gems black pen, circle punches and a small balloon punch to make the petals

Art journal week38: Lucky

art journal
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The prompt for week 38 on the ukstampers weekly challenge is Lucky
  • Are you a lucky person? Materially or otherwise?
  • What is the luckiest thing that ever happened to you?
  • Use a lucky charm on your page
I guess I am, like most people, sometimes lucky and sometimes unlucky.  I have never won a big prize, but I have won a few small prizes.  My overall health is ok but ageing takes it’s toll on wheelchair users in a variety of ways.  I have a great family and a few dear friends.  It is only when you really think about it that you realise just how fortunate you really are.
The unluckiest thing that has happened to me would be that I broke my back in a road traffic accident.   The luckiest thing would be that it could have been so much worse.
Paint:  Dylusions acrylic Lagoon , Lime, Black and White, Cyan ink spray
Card:  watercolour paper
Stamps:  Dylusions Around the edge
Other: lucky horseshoe embellishment, black, white and silver pens, used some Fozz felt as a stencil to spray through

Art journal week 37 Laugh

art journal, laugh, uk stampers challenge
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Week 37 for ukstampers weekly challenge is all about Laugh:

  • When was the last time you had a good laugh?  What was it about?
  • What kind of humour do you like?  Do your friends think you are funny?
  • Include a smiley face on your page

I have no idea if my friends think I am funny or not – they may find my humour a little odd.  I can watch lots of comedy shows and not laugh at all but when I do find something funny I will laugh silently and the tears will roll down my face.  I do have a rather wicked sense of humour.  The last thing I laughed at was out conversation last night with friends over dinner, Lizzie and my attempts at learning crochet, and lots of other little things.
The image for the background is from Riandesigns which is the skull with the smile. I added the edging, scratchy lines and circles, ink blots and the journalling.

Paint:  black, red, green and white acrylic paint
Card: watercolour card
Other:  black, white and green pens, image background skull image

Art journal week 34 Dreams

art journal, dreams, uk stampers challenge
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For week 34 of the ukstampers challenge the prompt was Dreams:

  • do you dream?  Have you a recurring dream? Do you dream in colour?
  • What is the dream you remember most?
  • Paint/stamp/collage some clouds on your page

I have loads of dreams, some good, some bad, some weird and some that I can actually fathom out some kind of meaning.

Inks/paint:  blue, white, yellow and black acrylic paint, Adirondack Pitch black ink
Card:  watercolour card
Stamps:  Invoke Art tickets, Scrolls work Stamps Mesh, Stampology Silhouette blossoms
Other:  computer generated words, coloured pens

Art journal week 36 Risk

art journal, metal tape, risk, uk stampers challenge
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The prompt for week 36 of the ukstampers challenge is Risk:

  • are you a risk taker or a stay safe person?
  • which ever you are does it affect what you do now? and what is the biggest risk you have taken or should have taken?
  • use a colour or technique on your page which you wouldn’t usually

These days I am definitely a stay safe person, I have no wish to risk life or limb or anything else for that matter.  Age perhaps has a lot to do with it as in my youth I did do some motor cycle sidecar racing and the odd bit of abseiling down viaducts and such like. When you are young you tend to feel invincible – that nothing could happen to you and the risks are worth taking – that’s if you even think about the risks in the first place.

I have used Therma wrap tape (aluminium tape) over watercolour paper for my background (a method I have used before for smaller pieces but not the whole page).  Underneath the foil in some areas I have put cardboard letters, bit of sequin waste and sequin type embellishments which I rubbed over with paper stumps.  Some of the writing is just using a ballpoint pen and going over it a few time with a permanent pen, others are metal stamps stamped into the foil and highlighted with black acrylic paint.  I have used both alcohol inks and acrylic paints to colour the page and white and yellow pans to highlight.  I tried using red rub’n’buff wax over the embellishments but it didn’t come up all that well.

Inks/Paint:  alcohol inks Sunset orange, Sunshine yellow and Red pepper, acrylic paints pink and black
Card:  watercolour paper, Therma wrap tape
Stamps:  metal alphabet stamps
Other:  cardboard letters, sequin waste, sequins, coloured pens