Not the End

To chill out and hopefully help find some mojo again I've been having a bit of fun with another page in my art journal.  Lots of bright colours to cheer up these dreary days we are having at the moment.

This is the first time I've used my Dylusion paints - love them to bits, with everything being outlined with a black gelato.  TH Distress inks were used thru lots of different stencils.  Black and white sharpie pens finish the smaller details. 

As well as trying to brighten up this dreary day I've used the inspiration board from Scrap around the World whose monthly challenge I will enter this into.  I've used all the bright colours, the flowers and the steps in my page.

 

I just love the quote I've used  - "You can't run out of Creativity so this is not the end".  I may even use this on a page I've got to create in an journal swap I'm doing at the moment as we are very close to the end.  This page is my interpretation of one of the masses of works I've seen on facebook, thank you to the original artist.  

Time for an Art Journal page

Time for something a bit different with this project.  The theme this time at Southern Girls Challenge is 'Stickers & Tape' of which I use neither.  For that reason I straight away thought of doing a page in my art journal using these different supplies.

I started by following the beginnings of an Andrea Walford express journal page, which used the stencilling, washi tape, cotton & ink splatter.  Then I added the stickers which came from the Kaisercraft Curiosity collection. 
After outlining the words, I started outlining the birds & butterflies but decided because of how the stickers had been cut out, they actually looked better not outlined.

That's my little step into the 'unfamiliar', I'd love to see yours too.  Come and join us for this challenge, there are some awesome prizes to be won from our fabulous sponsors.

Pretty's for Prima

I am excited and extremely humbled to have the privilege to put together this collection of my work and be considered for a position on the Design Team for Prima Marketing.

Firstly here is an altered journal I've made for my nephew and his fiancé, who are marrying later this year.  I really love doing this type of work and alter all sorts of things.

 

 

Enjoy these close-ups



 

 

 

Prima products used here are: Seashore paper, Sunrise sunset stencil, Shabby Chic Treasures - mailbox, Art basics - modelling paste, gesso, 3D matte gel, micro beads & glass beads.

 

Secondly this simple card was a pleasure to make:

 

 

 

Prima products used here are: Ledger pad paper, flower spray - ladybird, Say it in Crystals - Divine

 

Thirdly, my layout featuring another one of my nephews in his favourite pastime:

 

 

More close-ups to enjoy

 

Prima products used here are: Seashore paper & tags, woodgrain & anchors stencil, Art basics modelling paste, flowers - blue mini rose & seashore, Shabby Chic Treasures - resin birds, Junkyard Findings - Vintage Trinkets, light bulb & bottle caps, flower spray - lady bird.

 

Lastly here is my 'tag' notebook (2 oversized tags turned into a notebook:

 

 

Prima products used here are: Seashore paper, flower, Say it in Crystals - Divine.

 

Thank you for this chance to showcase some of creations to you, it has been a pleasure to put this collection together. 

Tane Mahuta

Time for another challenge at Southern Girls Challenge and the theme this time is STARS.  I wanted to do something a little different so have let stencils and this awesome photo speak for themselves.

 

I've started with my ever favourite Kaisercraft paper, from 'Precious Moments' & 'Timeless Classics' collections.  I've added some modelling paste thru this gorgeous Imagine if . . star stencil, distressed, stitched, then added lace & burlap to the layers.

 

Handmade burlap bloom, crocheted & prima flowers keep the page uncomplicated while matching the colour scheme perfectly.

 

I LOVE the kiwiana chipboard available at Imagine if . . , infact they are the only company that I'm aware of that produces this type of product.  Here I've added some flocking to the koru pieces.

 

This felt kiwi is a perfect companion for the mighty Tane don't you think?  As he IS the star of the forest I hope I have done him proud.  'Tāne Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) is New Zealand’s largest known living kauri tree and without doubt its most famous, it is believed to be over 200 years old.

Thanks for joining us here at Southern Girls Challenge, I hope this has inspired you to try something a little different.

Another summer 'Tail'

OMG the beginning of another new month, and luckily we are still very much in the grips of summer.  So why not show off some more awesome summer photos with the fun new chipboard pieces Imagine if . .  have for us. 

Recently I was lucky enough to spend the day fishing at the Hen & Chicks, islands outside the Whangarei harbour, and we had such a fantastic day.  The sea was crazy calm, the weather was awesome, the company was great and the fish were biting - need I say more.

 

Again I've used paper from the Kaisercraft 'Sandy Toes' collection, its just so right for these summer photos.  The brown checkered paper is from my stash.   

 

First step after I distressed the paper was to apply 'bubbles' on the page.  Sadly not easy to see on the big photo, but they can be seen clearer on these closeups.  I applied some gel medium thru the bubble stencil.

 

 

Don't you just LOVE these chipboard tails.  Here I've coated them with modelling paste then when nearly dry I've pressed on the scales and ribbed the tail.  When dry I painted them with silver paint, then when that was dry I used several different Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays in blues & greens.  Did I say how much I LOVE these??

 

Lots of other little 'bits and pieces' finish my summery page.

 

Imagine if products used  -  Tails

                                              'Sun Sea & Sand'

                                              Anchor

                                              Sea horses

                                              Quote Sheet - 'Seasons in Time'

                                              Bubble stencil

 

 

Summer fun

As soon as I saw this photo on Facebook I just knew I had to make a summery page using it, so thanks Sarah for sharing it with us.  This was also a great chance to use other summery supplies, both paper and Imagine if . .  goodies.

 

Gotta love the paper from the new Kaisercraft 'Sandy Toes' collection, which was distressed to the max, then I used some modelling paste thru a stencil before spritzing with 2 different blue coloured Lindys Stamp Gang sprays.  Corrugated card was distressed, as was this gorgeous photo.   I left the chipboard title raw as the colours match well.  Muslim & felt flowers soften this area. 

 

 

Flowers from BoBunny and Prima compliment this new 'wispy burlap flower' I've just learnt to make.  Take this link here to see the easy tutorial I followed.

 

Prima bling, buttons and this lovely Imagine if . .  quote finish the page nicely.

Thanks for visiting, I hope this leaves you with the warm fuzzies.

 

Imagine if products used:  circle stencil

                                           spring leaves

                                           Seasons in Time Quote sheet

                                           Adventure

 

 

Let's Upcycle

Time for another blog hop with Imagine if . .  and for this week Jo has left it open and has allowed us to do anything we please.  If you are following the hop correctly, you should  have come to me from Katrina's  awesome creation,

 This has been a great chance to do a bit more with my storage boxes, as I have planned to ultimately have all boxes looking pretty - yeah right ! !  I store my individual and random papers by colour and decided to paint several pizza boxes for the job, to be decorated as time permitted.  So here is my first decorated box.

 

This box obviously is for all my green paper, so I wanted everything to be differing shades of green.  I started by covering the box with scraps of green papers, then added some texture by using texture paste through several different templates, added random scraps of laces, dry wall tape, & random flowers.  These were all gesso'd, then all was coloured with various layers of green paints, Dylusions ink sprays & Lindys stamp gang sprays.  The grey Prima flowers were painted, then sprayed; the old black flourish with black felt flowers were painted, the quote was distressed then inked to match as well.  The peacock feathers add a bit more dimension and interest as well. 

 

When it was all assembled and glued down I thought it would look great with a face in the middle, so if you look carefully you will see I've inked thru one of the Imagine if . .   face stencils.  Sadly with all the texture and with the flowers already attached its hard to see, but I wasn't brave enough to use a stronger colour incase it didn't look good.

 

Here is how it now looks back on the shelf with the other plain boxes, you can see why I've decided to 'pretty' things up a bit.

 

Next stop on your journey through the hop is Carol where she is also touching on the subject of storage.  I hope our ideas give you inspiration to sort out your own collections.

 

 

a Stitch in Time

Is it a canvas? is it a book? . . . No . . . its a sewing kit.
For this weeks Imagine if . .     post I've been busy putting all the pieces together and created a wee surprise out of Jo's hollow book.

 

 

 
 
 
                           

  

 

 

I struggled at first for inspiration on this project, but once the ideas came I was away laughing.  After all these pieces were sorted, the fun began.

  

 

First the cover was created, using some sticky back canvas as the hinge.



 

Then I attached lots of die cuts (recognize these Ngaere??), used several stencils with texture paste, then painted it all with several colours with Lumiere paints.



 

All the embellishments were then mostly hot glued in place before getting a coat of gesso to seal them all.



 

Most of the bigger embellishments then received a coat of a very dark purple (yes scary I know) just to give them a solid base, then several layers of different colours were added until I was happy with the end results. 

Products used were: Lumiere Metallic Acrylic - Pearl Turquoise & Grape

                                 Folk Art Acrylic Paint - Heather

                                 Lindy's Stamp Gang - Starburst, Azure Sea Asters

                                 Viva Décor Inka Gold - Platinum

                                  Rub'n'buff - Gold leaf

 

I created the 'page' effect by adding book paper and scraps of lace between the chipboard 'pages'.

 

Enjoy more closeups of the embellishments.

 

 

Lots of Imagine if . .  products have been used in this, from lettering, random chipboard, felt flowers, stencils, quote from quote sheet, words.  All these products are available from the website and now can be found in several shops around New Zealand along with their very own new shop in Morrinsville.

 

Thanks for visiting, I hope my work inspires you to go forth and create something similar.

 

 

Feathered friend

This week Jo from Imagine if . . wanted us to create  masterpieces on her oversized chipboard tags.  I just LOVE the fancy top she has on these, really elegant.  After much deliberating I came up with this, not too far off my original idea of going steampunk, but hey what the heck, when an idea comes its always easier to go with it rather than try and stick  to the plan.

 

I started with these yummy coloured paints and 'splotched' layers of the first 4 colours onto the tag. 

 

 
 

 

 

Next I used the bubble stencil with the grape paint (yes very bold I know).  When the grape was dry I 'bumped' the stencil and applied the sage over top.  Then when that layer was dry the whole tag got a really good sanding to show off the underneath layers and to soften and blend everything.  I LOVE this effect.  I learnt this technique from a video I watched on  Art of Craft.  I then inked the edges & drew on some faux stitching.

 

 

 I really didn't want to cover my painted finish, but that wasn't enough. Before applying anything I randomly stamped with a small script stamp.  Next I painted this birdcage/dress form, then inked & stamped and finished it with crackle paint.  'FLY' was created using TH alpha tiles, then I added a quote from the 'Wings and Things' quote sheet, which was distressed and inked.  These mini roses & leaves are also available from Imagine if . .   . 

 

I'm very pleased with how this has turned out, and LOVE this technique.  I'm sure I'll be using it again.

 

Have you visited my fellow designers yet, as usual we have all created something totally different to each other, I'm really loving being part of such a talented, versatile group.  Please leave a comment, I love to hear your feedback.

Cheeky Monkeys

Gee where has this last week gone, here we are again, time for another blog hop with Imagine if . . where this time the prize for visiting all the DT's and leaving a comment is 2 sheets of quotes of your choice.  These are an awesome prize, very versatile, I use them on everything.

My layout this week is sadly a rush job as I was working on the wrong project, and didn't find out my mistake until Thursday night.  I hope you can't tell I struggled for inspiration.  This week Jo wanted us to showcase her awesome stencils of which I only received earlier in the week.  These are awesome, and who can't use more stencils?

 

I started with a Donna Salazaar paper and firstly using the bubble stencil I added some texture paste on both sides of the photo, I also inked thru the same stencil randomly around the page.  Next came the wording stencil inked around the edge, very apt for the photo I think.  I then added a bit of subtle colour by sponging ink on random places.  The cogs were heat embossed, monkeys got painted then flocked, bird on top was glimmer misted.  I've used another of the new zipper flowers I have just learnt to make.  Finally to use the 3rd stencil required I inked on some birds

 

The page feels quite strange to me, I'm not sure whether its the pale colours I've used, or whether its just the fact that I didn't have too much time to think over things.  Anyhow it has all come together quite nicely and shows off the photo well.

 

If you are following the blog hop correctly you would have come to me after visiting Jo, and now to continue on your way the next stop is Lilian.  As usual please leave a comment here and every stop to be in with a chance to win the lovely prize.  Good luck.

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