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

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

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

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

Mixed media stripped back.

I had the urge recently to use my water colour journal, one I've not used since.......since......that long!!!

I love water colours, it's my favourite way to add colour but despite this usually my journal pages are full of mixed media goodness but in fact I thought I'd go simple for a change and really take it back a notch. Mixed media doesn't have to be about tonnes of different products and in fact if you've put two different media on a page you can call it "mixed media".

So with that in mind I masked off a border in my book and stamped Agatha Crown by Magda at Stampotique with a Waterproof ink.

I painted the whole page around her with clean water then using my Neo-Color crayons, I made pools of paint and dabbed this around the wet paper.

Once it had dried I went around it again with more watered down colour to make the paint darker. I painted in some of the image with my fine brush and used a skin tone alcohol marker for her face.

I simply added a few spots of paint and stamped the "When Pigs Fly" also from Stampotique next to her and gave her a little grounding with some MME washi tape. This one is a really shiny blue but its not easy to tell from my photo. At the moment I seem to be into ripping it in half and using little bits of it here and there. This photo taken later in better light shows the tape in all its shiny goodness.

Have a good day

Jaine x

Calm Cat

Hello!

I'm back again with my fist DT project of the year, so happy 2015 everyone!

Along with lots of you, I have a few goals that I want to achieve this year...pushing myself into getting better at things I'm scared of! One of those is embracing my own handwriting. Hate it, think it looks rubbish....which is precisely why I need to do it more! My creation today has handwriting on, and more than a little washi tape! Another 'goal' - use up my stash!

Here it is...

I've got lots of step by step pictures for you to look at....

Going along with the theme of 'use what you have', my substrate for this page is something I'm sure you all recognise...

A good coat of gesso later and you're all ready to start..

Gather up your washi tape, any colours and designs, the more the merrier! Tear strips, and then start to add them to the page.

Save even the tiniest ripped bits, as you can use them at the end to fill in any gaps. Create a colourful washi background...

Now, I'm going to be adding lots of wet media on top of the tape, so it really needs to be all sealed. I have given the whole thing a thick coat of clear gesso...

I used a thick coat because I wanted to scribe into it, creating more texture...

The thick coat means it dries a little more opaque than a thin coat would, but once dry it is pretty much clear!

As a comparison, the pic below shows a before and after...

   No gesso..............................Dried clear gesso!

The gesso gives a great 'tooth' for the media you are about to start layering up!

Add a bit of paint..

I have smeared tiny amounts on with my fingers, trying not to obliterate the washi tape, but adding colour in the blank spaces. A little white paint blends things nicely, and tones down the stark clashing washi colours so the whole page looks more cohesive. I added a little stamping and printing...

This is the basic background finished.... any doodling and edging will be added after the image/words are in place!

I collaged my weird quirky figure using a mixture of stamped images and hand cut shapes...

Once she was glued in place, it really looked like she was meditating...so I thought the word 'calm' would be a good one to use! I practiced on scrap paper before drawing it on lightly in pencil, then used acrylic ink in a waterbrush to actually write the final version. 'Calm' was SO not the feeling actually using the ink directly on the page!

The washi background shows through wonderfully, giving colour and pattern in a funky but understated way....

So..... there it is, first one of 2015!

Hope you like it!

See you soon,

Trish xxx

Courage my friends.

Oh I do love it when something comes together so effortlessly like the page below called "Courage",

Working in my big journal I had already used the Prima 12 x 12 flower stencil to add a base layer of texture paste. I painted over that totally with Claudine Hellmuth Studio paint in Classic Teal which is an absolutely gorgeous colour. Once this was dry I took a sanding block and gave the whole page a gentle sand to take off the top layer of paint and reveal the beautiful stenciled image below.

That all done I seriously didn't want to cover it up and would have been quite happy to leave it like that but that doesn't make much of a page really, so I clustered a few off cuts, a piece of glittery tape from My Minds Eye, a bit of journaling and I stamped and embossed the lace border by Prima and Finnabair taking a paintbrush to flick off some of the powder to give it a tattered look.

I think that's all it needed as I wanted to leave plenty of "white space" as they say.

See you soon

Jaine x

A bit of graffiti.

It looks as though Agatha Moon is dreaming of the future and what life has in store for her.

My page was kind of created by just adding stuff and doing what I fancied. No plan, just winging it so to speak. I slapped on a bit of paint here and there and used a few off cuts of paper as a collage element on the page. I then added some paste through a Crafters Workshop stencil and wrote my journaling with a paintbrush. Agatha who is designed by our own Magda, was painted with water colours as these are my favourite colouring media to use.

Happy crafty Sunday

Jaine x

Getting my art on.

Maybe it's the change in the weather or maybe I'm just coming out of a creative funk but I'm having a great time at the moment getting my art on with my journal seeing most of my creative play.

This is the latest page to come off my table with a line taken from a song by Abba (I was a huge fan) which any fan of the movie Mamma Mia  will recognize from I have a Dream,  "I believe in angels, something good in everything I see". Don't ask me why but it was one of those moments when that song kept playing on repeat in my head while I was working. Subconscious trying to help me out or something?

My figures are created from an Andy Skinner, Tando stencil called Hippy Chick.

 The background has been sprayed with Dylusions inks (Squeezed orange and Postbox red). I'd forgotten how bright these colours really are. Note to self : restock the Dylusions! There are some gorgeous new colours in the shop.

While the ink was still wet I used a wet paintbrush to paint circles into the ink, creating the swirly background.

Have a good weekend.

Jaine x

In the pink.

This journal page was so easily put together that I can almost be accused of cheating on my blog post, but I was so excited by parts of it I really wanted to share it with you.

To start off,  the background is what was left on my work table after spraying some die cut shapes. I always keep these clean up sheets and have a large sketch book especially for the purpose. I spray over it and clean my stencils off on it and it really makes for quick and interesting backgrounds.

After cutting it to fit my journal and sticking it in, I added a torn piece of text page which I gave a thin wash of gesso. I've been playing with transparencies and layers recently and thought I'd print a photo onto a clear sticky label sheet for ink jet printers. I love this as it's a brilliant way to get a wonderful translucent finish. I just love how you can see the text page underneath as well as some of the original background.

The letters I found in a magazine and fitted my page perfectly.  Quick, easy and hardly any effort.

Thanks for looking.

Jaine x

Circles!

Hello!
I love circles, use them loads whether its scribbly circles, printed circles or stamped circles! I decided to have a little circle play on a panel today, this time cutting some circles out and sticking them down.....

I took two different approaches to the circles. I gave some book pages a wash of paint, and dried it thoroughly. I then punched a few circles our (make sure the paper is COMPLETELY dry before punching, paper that is even a little damp just gets mangled up in the punch.....ask me how I know that lol!!) I glued the punched out circles to the background, overhanging the edge...

Once trimmed, you have a nice scalloped edge that you can then print or doodle over!
I cut out two larger circles from book pages, and very simply smeared paint over them! These were then stuck down to the background, and printed and doodled over....

These circles were my focal point, and I placed them upon stripey stems....

The background itself is another messy painty affair, as you might expect! Lots of smears, all done with fingers and dried in between colours so no muddy mixing occurred...

I stencilled a little, and then stamped a little too...

I added stitching for my other worldly flower heads to stand on...

And then added a cut up book page as a title..

Black UTEE splatters also found their way onto the panel!
So, a nice messy painty creation, colourful as usual with an emphasis on circles!
Hope you like it!
Trish xxxxxxx