Travel journal

Over at Artistic Creationz they are now taking entries to join in the annual Circle Journal, so while I've got a bit of time up my sleeve I've made a start to mine.  Firstly to think of a theme . . . once that was established the whole idea of the shape/size/construction of the journal was quite straight forward.  I also wanted to do something quite different to the norm.

 

This collage was such fun to make, and surprisingly easy.  The whole idea hinged around the availability of the Eiffel Tower chipboard, which luckily Spotlight did have in stock.  I have taken a few photos to show you the different easy steps.

 

 

I started with just a piece of cardstock.  After creating the background by sticking on some 'texture' (muslim, tissue, lace, netting, etc) I hot glued all the bits in place (as you can see there is allsorts here - even a dismembered doll).

 

 

Everything then got a generous coating of gesso.

 

Then the fun part really started.  I painted the whole thing in red, then the base got a touch of black paint and coffee shop glimmermist (to tone down the red a bit).  When this was all dry I touched up the red again (several times), leaving the black background.  Then to attach the label.  The whole page has been finished off by highlighting areas by dabbing on some gold rub'n'buff.  I LOVE how its turned out, and by the comments and 'likes' on facebook, I think I've done myself proud.

 

I hope I have inspired you to try something similar, it is soooo easy and fun to do.  Thank you for visiting and for all your lovely comments.

  

2014 Calendar

Again this year I have joined in on the Calendar swap at Artistic Creationz where I was chosen to create pages for July & August. 

 

These only measure 4" x 4", and I had to make 6 sets.  I'll keep one, and swap with the other girls for the other months they are creating.  When I have them all I will punch holes in the top so they can be bound in a rolodex style.

 

For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere don't forget we are mid winter in July, and August has the stirrings of spring, hence my selection of papers used.

 

I will be entering this into the latest challenge at Lets Craft & Create with the theme of 'Glitter'.   ***WINNER***

Thank you for looking, please leave a comment.

Halloween Flowers

Today I'm sharing some flowers I've just made for a Halloween swap at Artistic Creationz.  These will be going to Sue, I hope she will be able to use them.  As they are layered up, I have actually made them so she can pull them apart if she wants and use each individual layer as a separate flower.

 

 

 

These yo-yo flowers are all made from satin fabric, with a black lace layer in the middle.  The orange one has one of my little crocheted flowers as its top layer, then they are all finished with a small black mini rose as the cherry on the top. 

 

The box is just a bit of cardstock with lovely Halloween paper attached.  I will tie it all together with black ribbon.

 

As I mentioned above each layer is attached with a glue dot, so if she wishes it won't be too hard to actually pull these apart and use each layer separately.  I hope she likes these as much as I've enjoyed making them.



Candy Station swap

I made this 'Candy Station' aka 'pretty box of lollies' in a swap for Paula at Artistic Creationz.  The brief was to decorate a box no bigger than 6" x 6" x 2", and to use a spring theme.

 

Sadly nothing I tried came out looking like spring, but I love how its turned out anyhow.  I've used lots of hand made flowers here again, with pearls, laces and trims to finish it all.

 

The goodies inside are all homemade:  Russian Fudge, Hokey Pokey and Candied Figs, yummy.  Now I can't wait to see what Paula has made for me.

 

 

Dodge parts

Todays layout is a bit overdue, but finally done.  This is for August's monthly sketch layout at Artistic Creationz.  Its great to find sketches needing more than one or two photos, even though these are weeny little photos.  So I thought what a great opportunity to use all these lovely photos taken by the NZ Rodder magazine of our pride and joy - our 1938 Dodge pickup.

 

Believe it or not I did actually start with a paper covered with cars, then placed my little 2"square photos as per sketch, picking out the purple and green from the photos.  Lots of trinkets, die cuts and bits finished the centre.  The frame around the title is from Dusty Attic, DA0869 - Elegant Frames.

 

It took a few days of thinking as to how to finish the outsides of the page, which I  bricked with texture paste, gesso'd & painted green & purple, then gesso'd again.  For the finishing touches I used a flourish stamp using TH Brushed Corduroy distress ink, and inking the edges and bricks also.

 

Another layout just a little different than my normal, but we've got to think outside the square a bit to learn now don't we.  I enjoyed the challenge, and have seen it is quite different to the other layouts created for this challenge.



 

 

Art Journal swap

I have created this Art Journal for a partnered swap with Tai over at artistic creationz.  This is another project I had not attempted.  The brief we were given was to create a blank journal from any materials we chose, but it had to include at least one signature of 20 pages, while considering adding pockets/flaps/tags etc, and be an A5 size.

Here I have used corrugated card for front & back covers, while for my 'signature' of 20 pages, which I've used pages from an art sketch pad, I have split into 3 sections, divided by 2 tabbed envelope pages with a flap/pockets & tags.

 

 

 

As I was finished in plenty of time, I've included this tag also.  I've used glimmer mist, paint sprays, stamps, TCW templates, texture paste, gesso, and handmade flower.

 

This has been an interesting challenge, which I really had to think a lot about and have learnt a lot as well.  I hope Tai likes this, and can make good use of it.  I am now waiting for hers to arrive here to me.    I've got lots of ideas of how to 'fill' my journal, perhaps that will be another post in the future.

Faiths 'F'

Here is a swap I've done with Faith from artistic creationz.  This was a partnered swap to decorate our partners initial.  We had to decorate it in a shabby chic style, which is something I really don't do a lot of, but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

 

I had real fun with this challenge, a great chance to get out all those pretty laces, flowers and things to make a 'girlie' project.  I started by painting the F with gesso, then I covered it with 5 different laces.  Then came the fun bit, all the trims and flowers came out.  I used a handmade lace flower I've had in my stash for a long time, then crochetted more white flowers.  The peacock feathers worked well and gave the colours a bit of a lift.  Little pink mini roses and pearls finished it off.

 

I hope Faith likes this as much as I liked making it.  Now I'm really looking forward to the 'B' she is making for me.  I will be fantastic, as she is a brilliant crafter.  I'll post a photo when I receive it.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a happy crafty day.

Utes in the Paddock

Wow its been a great weekend for crafting, we've been having cold weather so I thought why not do some catching up.  This is my 2nd layout completed for the weekend, so I'm pretty happy on my efforts.

I have used photos from my holiday last year to Australia.  We came across this amazing paddock in the middle of nowhere with not 1 but 15 works-of-art in the form of old holden utes transformed into many a wonderful statement.  The paddock is on private property on the Burrawang West Station, on the outskirts of Ootha, NSW.  Its fantastic, visit it if you can.

I've used Kaisercraft 'Great Southern Land' paper (which I thought was extremely fitting), and have given the whole layout that grungy/rustic feel using lots of corrugated cardboard, walnut stain distress ink, Dusty Attic barb wire (from the Rustic Charm Frame set DA0665) and Branches & Berries DA0720.  I made the flowers trying to match those on the page.  The inspiration for the large one came from Natasha at moments-of-tranquility then I used part of those techniques to create the smaller flowers.

Challenge entered with this is:
artisticcreationz - monthly sketch LO
lets craft & create - fancy edges

I love how this page has turned out as I think its quite different to what I usually do.  I hope you enjoy it as well.  I look forward to your comments.