ten minute tuesday

hello there! 

Summer seems to be coming in fast and the school holidays are a mere three weeks away for us. 

I dread them. 

Not because I don't love my kids, or spending time with them, but. Yeah, but.  I get nothing done while they are home so much. Working for myself becomes very hard and as for time to create, well, yeah, you can almost kiss that one away. 

On the plus side I'm lucky enough to have dearest darling hubby at home with me for the bulk of the school holidays. As a result, this year we have planned oooooodles of days out to keep the kids amused and get them nicely knackered.

 Its a plan.

 That means most of my ten minutes have been spent dreaming up and booking up some great days out. 

It had better work! I couldn't cope with a summer full of grizzles. 

I did manage some more traditional creative time this week, with my art journal. 

Confession....

• I spent about twenty minutes drawing on this... in one go. 
• I've been backwards and forward to laying down the colour for at least an hour at a time. 

So , not strictly ten minutes. More a gathering of ten minute sessions.

You can probably tell I used a page that had gesso on it. Why? It was the next page in my journal and I didn't give it a second thought. I've done the drawings using Pigma Micron pens (here in the shop) and Derwent watercolour pencil (I don't sell them as I you can get them cheaper elsewhere than I can get them!)

I've had a new set of Derwent Coloursoft pencils arrive today so I'm off for a play with them now.

Happy Creating and don't forget to link up if you've joined me this week. Links run until midnight next Monday. 

the return of the dribble...

Finally I found some time a couple of weeks ago to have a play in Palma's journal for our Collabor-ART pairs journal.  She has a theme  - Spice, so I'm taking that down a colour route. Or at least I did this time.  This is one of the new backgrounds I made. I love the white space I've left in the middle. Wonder what she'll do with it!

a little adventure…

 

A little while ago, over on Collabor-ART, I signed up to do a Pairs Journal with the incredibly talented Palma, and after a mahooosive fight with my sewing machine I have finally made my journal. I know I could have used a ready made one, but I see this as a chance to play and try something new. So, one piece of canvas, a selection of different papers in different sizes and a good dollop of swearing, here it is!  I’m now just keeping my fingers crossed that it makes it Palma in one piece.  If it doesn’t survive I’ll just have to rebind it. No biggy but I’d love it to stay in one piece.

I’m really looking forward to seeing this journal evolve over the coming months, or however long it is until we’ve finished. The idea is that you work on each others pages, so I’ve started mine off with a few backgrounds.

The backgrounds above and below have been started off using Gelli Plates. I really want more time to play with these.

And this one is a stencil – one of my favourites at the moment.

And finally the front of the journal.   No closure on it as yet as I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do, or restrict how thick it gets. I may work on the cover some more when I next see it, or Palma is welcome to work on the cover if she so chooses.

now what…?

One of my problem pages. As I mentioned before I’m on a mission to add more texture to my pages, and this is one of them, but I’m stuck again.

 

I envisaged it being a black and white page when I started.  That alone is rare as I never envisage anything when I start a page. Needless to say I should stick to that as it didn’t work first time around. So it got covered with the trusty gesso. 

Then I added colour. Didn’t like it.

More colour. Yeaaah, that was ok.

Needed more.

More colour.

Now I’ve added black to it. Yes! Like it now.

But what to do next.  Guess for now it will stay as a background waiting for the next round of inspiration to strike.

loving texture…

I’m on a mission to bring more texture into my pages, along with more dribbles because I love them so.

My journal pages seem to be hitting a roadblock as a result though. I’m getting the textures I want….but then what? I have a few on the go at the moment that are just gathering lots of  layers of gesso as I white wash everything out and start again.  I’m not disheartened though, I’m quite liberated by the whole situation as it’s allowing me to free myself up and settle into my creative style a little more.  These things always take time….and paint, and LOTS of gesso!

Did I mention it’s my turn again on UKS Art Journey? No? Oh, well it is.  This time we’re looking at hiding your journaling in plain sight.

rubber and dribbles…

 

 

 

Finally I didn’t just find time, I made time to play in my journal. It was a page of layer as I started and liked, carried on and hated, got out the gesso and palette knife and covered up most of it.  The more layers I added the more I liked what was being created.

When I was happy I whipped out the rubber stamps as this page didn’t scream “write on me” and I had a nagging feeling that if I did I wouldn’t like it so much any more. 

Tim’s stamp said what I needed it to say as right now I’m working hard to follow some life long dreams. It’s hard work and I have been told that I beat myself up to much when something doesn’t go to plan.  And the little girl, she represents me, as well as being my favourite stamp.  She’s becoming a fond friend in this journal.

 

stars, stripes and circles

 

A work in progress, but I thought I’d share it all the same.  This one is using off cuts and chopped up tags to create of focal point.  The background was painted in with dabbers in aqua, pool and stream.

It still needs some work on it, but I’m waiting for that inspiration to strike. Maybe I’ll crack out the inktense pencils for it.

new beginnings

 

I’m not quite sure why, but last week I decided that I “needed” to start a new journal, and while having a tidy up (and I use that term loosely) I found a moleskine sketchbook. Perfect as I want this journal to just be double pages.

 

I’ve set to work in it already and have a bunch of pages that are all very different from each other.  One of them I’m already not to seen on, but hey, I wanted to try something, and I did, and now I know not to try it again.

 

Recently on UKStampers, a question was asked in the Art Journalling forum – “what gets a page started”. I had to think about it as often I don’t think about it. It can be as simple as what’s to hand.  Having had a bit of a tidy up has probably been a huge contribution to my sudden burst of creativity as now everything is to hand. All my paint, ink sprays, mediums, pencils…oh the joy. The page above was partly down to that.  The pink (Liquitex HB in Medium Magenta) is my current colour obsession, evidenced by the fact I have just ordered a pair of magenta nubuck ballet shoes from French Sole (another addiction I have). But that’s a different story.

 

Back to the page, I love magenta, and came across my Gold dabber when tiding them away. I love the metallic dabbers. They look like nothing in the bottles, but they are probably my to date, favourite metallic paints.

 

If you’re going to use your favourite colour, why not your favourite stamp? Simple page, full of favourites. I love this little girl from Stampotique and she works great as a repeated image.

Other occasions, it’s something I want to say that brings about a page. On this one, I wanted to express how the days just seem to running into the nights at the moment.  That good ole perennial struggle for more hours in the day please. So, I did a sun in the place of the moon.  The sun was done with Liquitex HB Cadmium Yellow Light Hue, Cadmium Orange and Red Pepper Paint Dabber, the sky with Jenni Bowlin’s Spice Tin dabber (It makes a great night sky colour). The whole page was then spritzed with Perfect Pearl Mist in Perfect Pearl, just to give it a starry shimmer without the pain of creating stars.

 

I’m going to get back to some creativity now, but don’t forget to check out UKScrappers Art Journey where this week I’m looking at bring texture into your pages.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

water birds

One thing that I have promised myself recently is that I will draw more. A lot more, so my art journal is doubling up as a playground to experiment with my drawing.  First thing this morning I opened my journal to a nice new page and quickly sketched n some more birds, this time three of them tottering on top of each other – bit of a metaphor for how life is feeling at the moment.  But what to do with them… I had a little think about how I’m feeling at the moment, trying to stay on two feet, living like a single parent during the week with two kids in primary school whilst running the house and a business.  It can sometime feel like I’m about to be swept away by it all…enter waves crashing on the tiny island of sanity my birds are standing on.  

I’ll probably tweak this page a wee bit yet, and I’m not sure if I need to journal on it.  I’ve used watercolours on this one and I’m falling in love with them all over again.  It’s been a very long time since I last used any. Then again, it’s been a very long time since I stopped drawing.  Feels good to start again.

Thanks for stopping by!

mop up page…

This weeks class, by yours truly, for UKS Art Journey is now up.  I won’t show the page or the class here, but it’s all about using acrylic paints (Liquitex Heavy Body in my case) and other permanent medium to create layers. 

As always I had extra paints and ink so rather than waste them I used them on a second page, adding in the spare scraps of papers that I used. Now I have a finished page, which is waiting for me to add some journalling to. 

The bird (not the prettiest is he…LOL), was drawn and coloured with neocolor II crayons, with some extra detailing with posca pens. I’ve used Dylusions Around the Edge stamps for foliage, stamped with Archival Ink in Blue Violet. Followed by a quick whip round the edge with a Jenni Bowlin Dabber – Spiced Tin, my absolute favourite dabber colour, and there are a few to choose from!

Now, what shall I rant about on this page…there’s plenty of room!

Thanks for stopping by.

Time

Not a lot of creating going on at the moment as the lurgy is still lingering and leaving me somewhat shattered.  It’s the second posting of the “Journal Your Art” CJ next week, so if I do nothing else I have to get my pages done so I can pop it in the post.  The theme for this one is “Time” and this is a peek of my page. There is another Time CJ in the group so I’m looking forward to seeing how people interpret, and having done this one I have lots of idea’s for the next one. 

playing with colour

This is a new double page in my large molekine note book.  I never used to like pink, but for some reason I love it in my journals.  It seems yellow has crept up on me as well.  So, I’ve spent half an hour today, playing with colour, a quick and simple page with lots of white space. Quite like it.

works in progress

A couple of pages to share, they are both unfinished in that “it’s not done but I’m not sure I know what to do to finish it off" type not done. Although you’ll notice I have already journalled on the first page, so maybe it is done, or maybe I just don’t overly like it. I’ll look at them again soon and it will come to me.  In the meantime, here’s something to freak out the neatest amongst you….

ooooh, who works in a mess like this. ME!!  I do!!! Now do you see why I don’t do WOYWW! Hey-ho, feels quite good to have created though!

UKS Art Journey has begun

After huge interest on UKScrappers, UKS Art Journey was born, a series of weekly classes over the next six month to introduce you to the world of art journalling. There are lots of very talented teachers for the classes.  Each Monday will give you a heads up as to what you’ll need for the class on Wednesday.  Starting off with choosing a journal, or if you prefer, making your own.  Wednesday’s class is from the very talented Sarah Harris (AKA Flo), who will show you how to make your journals.
To celebrate we’re offering 10% off Moleskine Journals until midnight Friday, while stocks last.  If you’re making your own, check out our waxed thread, we have lots of colour available and it’s only 12p a meter.  If you’re only ordering waxed thread we will adjust the postage charges for you.
Happy Journalling!

did you blog hop here?

If you are participating in the UKS blog hop, you may have come here from 3 Jolly Scrappers .  Hope you enjoyed their project and didn’t forget to post a comment so that you can be in with a chance to win one of the prizes on offer.

First up, if you are new to my blog, a bit fat welcome to you! I’m Vicki, owner of a sprinkle of imagination where we have a passion for memories and getting messy! Which brings me nicely to our project - an accordion art journal, although, you could use it as a mini book rather than an art journal if you preferred.

To complete the project you’ll need:

a sheet of grungeboard (you know you have some, we all got it when it came out and then said – “now what?”)

a sheet of watercolour paper – I’ve used Windsor & Newton Bockingford 14x10 inch – 300gsm.  The size is the most important part, any watercolour paper will do, or you could substitute with a heavy weight cardstock. Check places like The Range or The Works.

Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints

Brushes and plastic palette knife

Ranger Craft Mat

Liquitex Acrylic Inks

Jenni Bowlin Paint Dabbers

Liquitex Gel Medium & Gesso

Stencil of choice

Waxed Thread and a charm

Stampotique stamps

and lastly – an old gift card.

 

Start by applying a thin coat of gesso to both sides of your watercolour paper and grunge board.  Using an old gift card will help you get a thin coat. Let it dry on one side before you do the other.

Once the gesso is dry, apply some gel medium through a stencil with a palette knife (easier to get the gel out of the pot that way as well) in patches to create some texture for your backgrounds.  I used the Crafters Worskhop small circle grid, a big favourite of mine at the moment.  You’ll notice that the dots left on one side were a bit black as lazy me hadn’t cleaned off the black paint from the last time I used it.  Again, you’ll need to let it dry before you do the second side.

 While you’re waiting for everything to dry, select the colours you want to use to create your backgrounds. Add a little water to a small amount of paint and create a colour wash over both sides of the water colour paper and the grungeboard.  You’ll notice that the dry gel medium will create a resist.  If you want the resist to stand out more, then you can dab the still wet paint off, or if it’s started to dry, use a baby wipe or a slightly damp cloth to lift the excess paint off.  Keep applying the paint until you are happy with what you have.  Tip – use complimentary colours to avoid a muddy outcome. 

 

The next later on the page is created by drawing circles with the Liquitex Acrylic Inks, if you are worried about getting round circles then you can always use one of the basic circle stencils as a guide to help you.  Acrylic Inks come in dropper bottles so I just used the dropper to draw with.

 

This is the point where the size of the watercolour paper is perfect for working with the grundgeboard. Fold the watercolour paper in half – lengthways, and then cut it in half.

Next, score and fold each half at 3 1/4 inch intervals.  You’ll have a small excess at the end, cut this off ONE of the lengths. The stick the two pieces together with gel medium, using one of the short lengths to overlap them. This will then make one long accordion piece.

I’ve cut window in some of my pages, so if you want to do the same, this is the time to do it as it’s easier than when it’s stuck on to the cover.

The grungeboard is to form the cover for your book.  Lay it down lengthways and find the centre, then mark half and score across the short side a half an inch either side, giving you a one inch wide spine for your book.

Before you adhere your pages into your book, using a 1/16th inch punch, punch two holes in the back cover for the wax thread to go through and create your closure.

I’ve used a 1 meter length of red waxed thread, may seem a lot, but it will wrap around your journal three times to make an attractive closure.  Wiggle the thread until you are happy it’s in the right place, then stick the last page of the accordion to the back cover with gel medium and let it dry.  You can then wrap the thread and decide where to add a charm.  To do this create a lose knot and add a charm to a jumping, thread through the know and tighten.

You’re now ready to decorate the book, adding photo’s, or in my case stamped images and some doodling ready to add your journalling.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the project and feel inspired to have a go!  If you do, please leave us a link so we can come and see your version.

Now a chance to win prizes!

If you’re a member on UKScrappers, and leave a comment on each blog TODAY you’ll be entered for a chance to win a prize, remembering to include your UKS ID so we know who you are.

Anyone posting a comment here will also be entered in with a chance to win a set of Claudine Hellmuth Mini Studio Paints and a winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday.

 

Next to visit is A Trip Down Memory Lane. 

If you get lost along the way you can go back to UKS and find the full list of blogs taking part here