Finger painting therapy.

During a recent spell of anxiety due to a computer break down (I know, trivial), The only thing to do to relieve the feelings of negativity was to get out my journal.

I had great fun playing with Dylusions paints on the page, using my fingers and not a brush. It felt good and soothed away any anger I was feeling. It even prompted me to get out my Micron pen and hand write some journaling which I normally hate with a passion.

The number stencil is from Tim Holtz.

Jaine xx

Lets face it journal page

I have to face up to the facts that I need to use glasses more often these days. Text has shrunk, the computer becomes fuzzy and late night crafting is almost impossible. It happens.

Just for fun I documented this change in my journal. For my background I stamped my own face stamp which I cut previously from Softcut. You can see my original blog post here where I cut the stamp.  I layered over that the Tim Holtz stencil Eye Chart of course. The circles were cut from a piece of paper left over from my Gelli plate printing play. I like the contrast it makes on the page. I found some glasses images and letter stickers for my title and it was finished.

Jaine xx

Back to the small journal.

I'm back creating in my hand made 15 x 15cm journal for this piece. I find the size so much easier to work on sometimes plus I found my small Crafters Workshop Stencils were just the right fit on the page.

The colours I've chosen for my background are not ones I'd normally reach for but I'm trying out my Dylusions paint and loving the vibrancy of colours.

For my background here I used a brayer to cover the page with this London Blue. The blue was so bright I thought why not add some red on there and see what it looks like so I did another thing I don't normally do and  used the stencil like a stamp. I just brayered the Postbox red onto the stencil and printed it down onto the page intead. What I ended up with was not only the negative but a much more distressed and grungy finish like I'd just sanded some of it back. 

This piece of doily has been in my stash for ages now and tearing it apart seemed like the most natural thing to do with it.

To finish it off I cut the word Courage from a piece of silver Foil card stock by Ranger and added a circle of Prima's wire thread. I raised the word up on foam pads to give it more depth.

See you soon

Jaine x

A little triptych

Back in the day shall we say, I created a few triptyches (that's so difficult to say) and I'd forgotten how much fun they were.

I decided to recreate that amusement with a quirky and colourful triptych for this months challenge.

I started out with three chipboard pieces from Tando which were in my stash. I didn't have three the same size but in the end I don't think that really matters. I painted the background with Dylusions paints in Turquoise and cut grass, using a foam roller to blend the paint. I used the same paint colours to stencil through Tim Holtz layering stencils which just helped to add some depth to the background.

The adorable fishes are Dylusions stamps and I used Derwent Inktense pencils to colour them in.

To really make their little eyes pop, I added a dot of enamel accents in the centre. I loved the look of the dots so much I used the white one to add the bubbles here and there.

If you fancy joining in the challenge this month just go to the challenge page here and link up to the linky gallery.

Jaine

Back to Project Life.

No one likes a procrastinator right? Well I think I'm the biggest procrastinator of them all. Last year I boasted of keeping up to date with my Project Life pages but then real life got in the way and I just sort of let it slip. I gave myself deadlines to finish it up to the end of the year but these came and went and since January I've not looked at it.....once!

Well, this weekend I've put that right.

I feel so much better now for completing another week and hopefully it'll kick start me into getting it finished.

I turned to Basic Grey "Spice Market" papers to cut my own cards and an Echo Park Designer die called Thought Bubble and Hello . 

I also made use of some beautiful washi tape from MME  in teal and the stickers are mostly from Simple Stories Daily Grind.

Here I've used the negative from cutting the Hello on the title card.  I'd also completely forgotten I'd got Enamel Accents by Ranger which I used to create my own little dots on some of the cards.

I'm so happy I've got back into this project and I really hope I can keep going now to finish it off.

Jaine x

Gelli print mini

I had a fun afternoon printing pretty papers from my Gelli plate, using leaves from the garden as masks but at the end of it I had a stack of papers with no home to go to. This is turning out to be a common thing as I generally get carried away taking prints and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

By folding as simple accordion spine I could glue the pages into the folds until I ended up with a small journal.

An easy construction but now I've got a mini journal or Instagram album.

I added some pink duct tape around the spine to hold it all together and used some of the left over pieces of gelli print papers to die cut shapes. The sentiment on the front is from the Echo Park Capture Life kit.

 What will you make with your Gelli prints?



Jaine x

Going Dotty

I love creating circles and dots and they do feature in a lot of my journal pages. For me there's something very comforting about circle shapes. My journal page this time is inspired by a trip I'm on as you read this to trek across part of the Tyrolean mountains with my best friend. If you don't hear from me again then I'm lost!!

After adding gesso to my pages the background was simply sprayed which gave the page some immediate colour and a touch of grunge. I sprayed through a home made stencil to add my circle shapes. Once they'd dried I drew in the circles again with a black pen but very loosely, more like a scribble.

I love Magda Polakow's stamps with Stampotique and this one called Romek is so cute. A few pen lines up to some of the circles gives the impression he's flying with bubbles and a small shine line on each one helps to give that feeling.

The stenciling around the edge is created with Graphite texture paste by Finnabair which I think is my favourite at the moment. It has a slightly grainy texture when applied which dries with a beautiful sparkle.  It dries as hard as granite so you need to put your stencils in a bowl of water as soon as possible if you don't want to ruin them. The stencils I used are Tim Holtz layering stencil Dot Fade, Prima and Dylusions Number Jumble.

See you next time (hopefully) ;)

Jaine x

Sketch book project

 

At the end of May I'm lucky enough (or crazy enough, not sure which) to be going to Austria with my best friend on a week long hike of the Tyrolean mountains. Despite having to carry our stuff in our back packs (real hiking) there's just no way I'll be able to last the whole seven days without journaling it.

I decided the easiest and lightest way was just to purchase a small A6 size sketch book but it was just far too plain and crying out for a bit of a tart up.

An earlier Gelli Plate session had given me some great background fodder so I chose this piece which had an amazing retro feel to it. Just created with two Distress paint colours Peeled Paint and Salty Ocean and a Dina Wakley stencil from Ranger called Mod.

I had originally planned to do lots to this one but on seeing it peeled from the Gelli Plate I fell in love instantly and was reluctant to add anything at all to it.

So it became my starting point to cover my book. To add some detail and interest to my cover I used the Echo Park kit Capture Life which has some brilliant stickers and great papers to layer and also has it's own retro feel.

I think this and a couple of pens will be sufficient and should take up no space at all in my back pack even if I have to throw out something else like a pair of socks!

Jaine x

The Butterfly

My latest journal page was inspired by a crafty session in the garden, with the weather being so wonderful I really couldn't stay in the basement to craft. I grabbed my journal and Inktense pencils with the pages already prepared with gesso and set about adding colour.

 I created the framing around the outside with Finnabair stamps called Lace and Doily and a Prima Stencil. The texture paste is also from Finnabair and has a fantastic sparkle to it when it's dry.

For the butterfly, I drew it onto a sheet of music score paper and used the Inktense pencils to colour it in.

If you needed any convincing about how vibrant the colour is, just take a look here at the before and after adding water. I think it speaks for itself.

I put a crease in the butterfly wings before adding it to the page so it would add dimension.

Happy crafting

jaine xx

Evolution of a doodle

I know I'm a bit slow on the uptake sometimes and usually I live in a little world of denial until I give in just to see if I was right all along and this is one of those very examples.

Quite a few of my friends use Inktense pencils and being a bit 'tight' when it comes to spending money, I had the view that they were just another water colour pencil of which I've quite a few. It was only after coming across a video on You Tube where they were being compared to your ordinary pencils that I thought ok, lets give them a go.

They didn't disappoint in any way and I really gave them a run for their money creating a background and colouring my main image.

I did gesso the page first to get maximum effect then used my Micro pen by Sakura to doodle the tree.

Finishing off the page with some white painty marks using a store card all it needed was a touch washi tape (Tim Holtz) here and there and that was it.

The colour of the pencil ink is very bright and delivers exactly what it promised to. If you're like me, wondering what all the fuss is about then give them a go. Vicki sells them in singles in the shop so you only need to buy a few to try them out, no need for a major expense.

Happy Easter weekend everyone.

Jaine x

Spring birdie canvas

This mini canvas has been recycled from a project I made a few years ago which featured a bird, then stamped using a Tim Holtz stamp and a little nest made from torn strips of paper.

Well, the bird has evolved with confidence into a hand drawn and collaged image and the nest has become significantly more sophisticated along with the background.

My background is simply finger painted with acrylics but it's the addition of the Finnabair White Crackle Texture Paste through my favourite Balzer Designs stencil Fleur de Lis which really made the background interesting.

I used a mini 6X6 pad of papers by Basic Grey called Spice Market to collage my bird as I thought the designs and colours were a bit spring like. I added some extra interest by stamping with one of the lacy borders from a Finnabair stamp set called Lace and Doily by Prima.

A touch of doodling with Posca pen and it was finished. I now have it hanging above my desk to help cheer up a plain wall.

Have a good weekend.

Jaine x

Layering stencils

There's nothing I love more than using stencils and layering them with different media makes for a wonderfully true touchy feely experience.

This is the page I ended up with, I just went with the flow and waited to see where the feeling would take me.

I started off by using two Crafters Workshop stencils, my favourites, Fleur de Lys and Mini Vine along with Golden crackle paste. I randomly sprayed the page with a few select colours to lay down a base.

Once this was dry I sanded the top of the texture which helped to bring out the crackles in the paste.

For my next layer I stenciled Dreamweaver Embossing paste in black (which is absolutely yummy) through Dylusions Letter Jumble and Tim Holtz Dot fade. I'm loving dot fade at the moment.

 For a third layer I used another Crafters Workshop stencil this time by Rebekah Meier and Rusty Hinge Distress ink.

The tree was a bit of an afterthought and I just decided to paint it on (like you do) while looking out of my basement window.

I love layering and if only you could touch it, the texture is amazing. 

Jaine x

Nest building journal page

I'm trying trying trying so hard to bring some spring into my life. It's surely not far away and little signs of it are all around if you look hard enough. The best sign is when I hear and see the geese flying overhead in that V formation on their way to new nesting grounds.


My journal page started out with the sketch of the bird done on a book page and coloured with watercolour pencils. 

I stamped leaves around the background using a hand carved stamp from Softcut, some Picket fence Distress paint through a stencil and a few black marks here and there.

Here's my birdy.

I made good use of some pieces of washi tape namely My Minds Eye and Tim Holtz. My title is the alphabet from a Jenni Bowlin sticker sheet  and my Dymo.

Here's hoping spring isn't too far away,

Jaine

Layout for December

By the time you're reading this, Trish and I will be at the NEC in Birmingham at the CHA UK trade show looking at all the good things coming out this spring.

Anyway, I felt it was time to do a December layout before spring comes and everyone is totally fed up with all things Christmas.

I didn't want to go down the usual Christmassy route so opted to use a kit called Freedom by Jenny Bowlin for Echo Park as I love that red and black look.

For the stars I used a Balzer Designs stencil called Punchinella  and tried out some black embossing paste by Dreamweaver for the first time and was totally blown away by it. I've usually added black gesso to my paste before but I thought I'd try out one which was black to start with and it's gorgeous. It's thick so no leaking under the stencil and glossy so you have this gorgeous shine when it dries.

The only other things I used on the page were some white gesso, Broken China Distress paint and a few bits of shiny turquoise washi tape by MME.

Have a good weekend what ever you're doing.

Jaine x