Saying Thanks at Fashionable Stamping

It's time for our first challenge starting in 2016 over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges - thanks for all the lovely make your own background entries. It was my turn to choose this theme and as we go into the New Year I thought it appropriate to say Thank You - either for gifts received or just to be grateful for what we have. I've made a Journal Page - 

 I started with a Gelli plate print to which I added bead gel and texture paste (through a stencil). I then added some background stamping before stamping and cutting flowers and circles from Gelli print scraps.

I've written something I'm grateful for in each flower/circle and finished off with a die cut title.As always my fellow FSC teamies have created some beautiful works of art so please head over and check them out. I hope you feel inspired to join our challenge - Don't forget we are a stamping challenge and stamping needs to be the focal point on your project. NO Digi stamps please. Our sponsor is Flonzcraft and the winner chosen at random will receive a voucher for $20 - we also give special mention to our top 3.

Journal playtime (Warning LOOOTS of photos)

I've done some experimenting this weekend - firstly the week 9 Journal 52 prompt was 'Restraint', the challenge to use just one shape and colour (with black and white). Well the colour was easy - purple everytime and I chose circles because I love the Tim Holtz stamp I've used. 

I created the background by simply painting layers of circles through a stencil in several shades and sizes, finishing with a coating of watered down gesso which I allowed to run down the page. I stamped the circles in black archival and applied crackle paste through a stencil in the corner.  

I'm sharing this page over at  - 

Pan Pastels - Stencil it, 

Mixed Media World - Anything Goes 

Country View Challenges - Anything Goes

The other journal group I'm in currently is Journal Journey 2015 and this month we're focusing on Dye inks. I have several bottles of dye ink mainly Dylusions and Adirondack but have never really explored how they work with other mediums, so I've had a bit of play. Apologies now for the number of photos but I thought I'd share my results. I've used a turquoise Dylusions spray and purple Adirondack over different mediums and I sprayed each sample with water too. Some mediums take on the colour of the ink and others resist in different degrees -  

1. Gesso

 2. Gel Medium (Pebeo)

 3. Bead Gel (Golden)

 4. Left - Ranger Glue N Seal / Right - Microglaze (wiped off once ink dry)

 5. Golden Molding Paste

 6. PaperArtsy - Grunge paste

 7. Wendy Vechi Crackle Paste

 8. Ranger Crackle paint - Clear Rock Candy

9. White Acrylic paint

My favourite effect I think is over the crackle paste.

I'm also going to try adding this to the Link over at Brenda's fab blog Bumblebees and Butterflies where she's hosting a blog party to share visual journal inspiration (this is my first attempt at such a thing so hope it works).

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Crafting...Esther xx

Love...

I'm so enjoying experimenting with mixed media while following the Journal 52 prompts...and am actually keeping up.  The prompt for week 6 is Windows - I'm trying to use a quote for each week and found one including 'Windows' and  'Love' and so created this page with some of the many Love themed challenges that are about currently in mind 

I forgot to take photos as I created the layers of this background - I started with Gesso, went over this with some pale green acrylic paint, stuck down some printed tissue paper, and then added some stenciling through a Clarity stamps swirly stencil with peeled paint distress ink. Next I stamped a Hero arts swirly/foliage stamp also in peeled paint DI. I cut some pink roses from patterned paper, and arranged in the corners before washing over with watered down gesso to bring down the colours a bit before stamping with an Artistic Stamper script stamp.

 Over the roses I stencilled some hearts with grunge paste (PaperArtsy) that I coloured with Distress re-inker in Spun Sugar. Once dry I blinged this up with stickles because I felt they needed to stand out more and splattered some White Dylusions ink spray.  

Through the open window is a couple on a romantic walk, one of my favourite, but oldest stamps - I've coloured this with inktense pencils and added some stamped foliage. 

 The quote is written on tissue paper first and then glued in place (I wan't confident enough about my lettering to do it straight onto the page). The crosses (or kisses) are a PaperArtsy stamp in white paint.

I'm sharing this here -
Mixed Media Monthly - Think Pink (pink roses/hearts)
Artist Trading Post - Love is in the air
Allsorts - Love is all around
The Artistic Stamper - Love

Happy Crafting...Esther xx

Coffee Time

I'm still playing catch up with last years Journal 52 prompts and so when inspired by other challenges I see if I can combine them and today this resulted in a page for WK 19 'Photography' about my love of coffee inspired by the Faber Castell 'Take the Challenge' which this month is 'your favourite beverage'.  The girls at work laugh because I never say no to a cup of coffee - they often don't even bother asking, just make me one anyway. At home I have a set of gorgeous (well I think so) large chunky mugs and I love them - so I have used photographs of these on my journal page

The background for my page is Gelatos in colours to match my mugs  (red cherry, green tea, blueberry, guava) applied in random blocks and blended into each other with coconut and chocolate which I've also run around the edges.   

I spritzed some coffee granules in a little bowl and splattered the resulting stained water with a paint brush across the page, added stamped and hand drawn details including drippy rings and a stamped sentiment - my moto for most days. 

I'm also sharing this at Country View Challenges - 'Drips and Drops' and Try it on Tuesday  - 'Add a photo' Thanks for stopping by - Happy crafting....Esther xx

Talk about Last minute !!

I was inspired today to make a Journal page using the technique shown over at PaperArtsy by Clare Lloyd and have just managed by the skin of my teeth to get it together in time to enter it into their Fragile Papers challenge. Clare used tissue paper but I don't have many colours so I used some hand made papers too. I started by gluing them over the journal page - 

The I added a wash of gesso to blend and bring the colours down a bit , followed by more gesso through a stencil and then randomly rubbed some gellatos over. 

I love that this picked up the textures in the papers. 

Then it was a matter of adding the quote and my character. Drawing faces for my art journal pages is a new art adventure for me, this being my first attempt that I've actually used and one I really need to work on but this one will have to do for now. The theme for the page was inspired by the Journal 52 Prompt for this week - Conversation Starters.  I am guilty of sometimes not knowing when to stop talking - hopefully this page will remind me when to keep something to myself.

I'm also sharing this over at Anything but a Card where the theme is 'New Beginnings' (for me this is drawing faces for my Journal pages) Thanks for stopping by....Happy Crafting...Esther xx

New technique Journal Page

I'm still very much finding my way when it comes to Art Journalling and am really enjoying learning. I've been using the prompts from Journal 52 and am no-where near done for this years, but managed to find time to complete another page today - the prompt is 'Experiment'.  I came across the challenge at PaperArtsy and was inspired by this post from Alison (butterfly). I think my journalling style is still very much developing as I try out new things, I've only ever used grunge paste with a stencil and loved the texture Alison created by sponging with the paste over cheese cloth and gesso so wanted to give it a go myself. 

I've used PaperArtsy stamps (on tissue paper) and added colour with Fresco chalk paint.  You can see the texture of the grunge past in this next picture - now it's finished I think I could have used more paste but I was worried about over doing it and making the page too heavy

I'm sharing this over on the PaperArtsy website in Decembers' challenge.

Thanks for stopping by - Esther xx

Inky Found Poetry

I've had a lovely Bank Holiday Monday playing at my desk trying to catch up with Journal 52 prompts. I'm not necessarily doing them in order and today I made a page for week 8. The prompt was Found Poetry. 

According to Poets.org, “Found poems take existing texts and refashion them, reorder them, and present them as poems. The literary equivalent of a collage.... " The background for my page started as a gelli plate print but I wasn't happy with it so I collaged some scraps of various papers over it, to which I applied a wash of gesso, distress stains and inks, some grunge paste through a stencil and finally some stamping.  My 'poem' is lines cut  from different actual poems and the fairy image is stamped (Lavinia Stamps) and clear embossed over an alcohol ink background. 

Thanks for stopping by - Esther xx

Dance along at Craft-Room

HI - goodness how time flies, it's already come round to another challenge at Craft-Room. Hazel has set us the theme of 'Dance'. I love dance and took classes for many years - and like many little girls I'm sure, dreamt of being a beautiful ballerina. I remember going to the Ballet with my mum and have the programmes still somewhere, so I loved creating this journal page. 

The main picture is Margot Fonteyn in Les Sylphide which I've stuck onto a gelli plate print on manuscript and brushed over with gesso.  To this I've added stamping, tissue tape, die cuts 

and a  ballerina (Happy Daze) stamped in white on another piece of Gelli Plate print.  I added some Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers and die cut letters for the title. This was week 7 prompt for Journal 52 - I'm quite behind but am doing the pages as and when inspiration strikes !   Our sponsor this fortnight is Tando creative. 

 

I hope you feel inspired to join in with our challenge and I look forward to visiting you...Happy Crafting Esther xx

Journal52

Hi there - goodness two posts in one day, long time since I've managed that !! I've been in somewhat of a creative slump for a while now, just about managing my DT commitments but with not much enthusiasm for anything else and was beginning to get a bit concerned that my craft supplies would be forming cobwebs. Yesterday I sat browsing some blogs and came across an Art Journal workshop/challenge that caught my eye called Journal52. Now I've dabbled with Art Journals before and enjoyed it so thought I'd give it a go. Each week a prompt is given for you to create a journal page - Week one's is 'Up, Up and Away' and here is my page

I have a bit of a personal journey to continue with through 2014 and this page goes with the idea of the butterflies flying away with the negative thoughts that could get in my way. The background is a Gelli Plate print, the images are stamped and coloured with inktense water colour pencils. Really enjoyed making this page with a renewed enthusiasm for my craft desk, and looking forward to the next quote ! 

Am also sharing this over at PanPastel challenge blog where the theme is Anything Goes. 

Thanks for looking..Esther xx