Special Celebration

... Hello! Somehow this slipped through the net - I should have shared this card several months ago. I made it for one of my favourite craft designers - Dyan Reaveley. Dyan's 60th birthday was in March and I know that I'm safe to share it now. It's a tag card:

Normally I list all the products I use when making a card, but I used so many Dylusions products on this card that the list would be very long!! I used Dyan's inks, paints, stamps, stencils, collage, and words - it was a joy to make. I used Copic markers to colour some of the stamped images. I'm going to share this card to the Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#76, where the theme is always anything goes.

That's all from me today. The sun is shining, it's dry and warm. I'm going to take mum shopping. See you all soon.

MM - Dylusional Fun ....

... Morning! I hope you're all keeping safe and well. I had my weekly class with Dyan Reaveley on Sunday night - Online Class 2.0, it was absolutely brilliant. We learn lots of techniques and work along with Dyan. I've spent the last couple of days finishing off my pages. This time we made four pages in our journal. Here are my pages:

Stamps: Dylusions - Just Breathe, Doolally Doris, Flight of Fancy, Toadstool Town, Let Me Adjust My Crown, The Cat & I, Clearly Flight of Fancy, Starstruck
Inks: Gina K - Black Amalgam
Accessories: Dylusions Jumpstart Journal; Dylusions Paints - Fresh Lime, Vibrant Turquoise, Dirty Martini; Dylusions Stencils - 9x12 - Martha's Mat, Diamonds, Bowl of Cherries, 5x8 - Martha's Mat, Starstruck, Circles; Dycuts Sets #6 and #7; Dylusions - Bigger Back Chat Black; Posca Pens - Black and White; Dylusions Dyary Sticker Book #1 and #2

I'm submitting these pages to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#46 where it's Anything Goes, and to More Mixed Media Challenge - MMMC#05 where it's Anything Goes with the option of Pink.

I'm having such a great time working in my journals with all the techniques I've been learning with Dyan. I've done several classes, but I always come away from a lesson with new ideas to try out. I've got another class - Online Class 3.0 - on Sunday 10 May, and then I'm doing a whole week with Dyan and lots of other Dylusionists from Monday 11 - Saturday 16 May - Distinctly Dylusions. It's going to be wonderful!!

That's all from me today. I think I need to get some work in the house sorted out, as I'm not going to be doing much next week 😁😂😃

Do stop by tomorrow to see my card for our new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz. Bye for now.

MM - Figure Me Out ...

.... Hello again! I've spent this rainy afternoon in my craft room finishing off a page in my Dylusions large art journal. I was lucky enough to take an Online Class 1.5 with Dyan Reaveley last weekend. There's a Facebook group for each class and all those who've purchased the class watch Dyan as she demonstrates various techniques, and we all create our own pages too. Here's the page I made based on the class:

Stamps: Dylusions - Passage of Time, Always, Foliage Fillers, Glorious Blooms, Kiss Me Under the Mistletoe, Clearly Christmas Stocking Fillers, Clearly Christmas 2016
Inks: Gina K - Black Amalgam
Accessories: Dylusions Large Journal; Large Tag; Dylusions Paints - Laidback Lilac, Periwinkle Blue, Fresh Lime; Dylusions Stencils - Holes, Court Jester, A Stitch in Time (Lg and Sm); Dylusions Silhouette - Fred; Posca Pens - Black, White; Copic Markers; Sakura Stardust Pens; Nuvo - Clear Aqua Shimmer Brush; Dylusions - Bigger Back Chat

I'm submitting this page to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#45 where it's Anything Goes, and to More Mixed Media Challenge - MMMC#04 where it's Anything goes with the option of yellow (which I skipped).

I had so much fun creating this page working with Dyan's paints, stencils and stamps. I spent this afternoon colouring all the images using a mixture of Copic markers, Sakura Stardust pens and Dyan's paints. I took another photo of the page where I've removed the tag from the hidden pocket to reveal the snarky quote:

Dyan has been doing daily Dyalog vidoes on her You Tube channel - such a wonderful way to help unwind and relax in these strange times. I've already signed up for next Sunday's Online Class 2 with Dyan and Online Class 3. See you soon.

Day-by-Day Dyalog Project ....

.... Morning! I think many of you know that I really like Dyan Revealey and her completely off the wall stamps and quotes. Well, like the rest of the world, Dyan is under "house arrest" and she started a Day-by-Day Dyalog project for the month of April. You can find full details on the Facebook group Dylusions Dyalog & Creative Dyary. It's a private group, but if you're interested you can ask to join.

I thought I'd share some of the work that I've done in my dyalog - some of it is totally mine, but a lot is based on Dyan's videos. I picked three warm colours - Rose Quartz, Pure Sunshine, and Cherry Pie, along with three cool colours - Mushy Peas, Polished Jade, and London Blue. I'm using these colours throughout the dyalog.

This is my month of April - totally based on Dyan's video. Apart from a few stamps, all the images are Dyan's stamps.

My introduction page is the quote that Dyan used. I think it sums up the whole "stay at home" thing perfectly!

The pictures above are for 2nd and 3rd April - my take on Dyan's videos. I had so much fun doing these pages. You might notice that there are some bits from Dina here too.

These are just a few of the pages that I have ready in my dyalog for the rest of the month. I may well add more colours or stencils, but it's all a work in progress.

I'd like to thank Dyan for taking the time to do daily videos for us all to play along wit. Not only are the videos good fun, but they are really helping me feel much less anxious or worried. That's all for today. Do drop by tomorrow for my regular weekly post for Seven Hills Craft blog. See you soon.

MM - Still Kind of a Mess ....

.... Hi! As well as making cards, I like to play about in my art journals. In February I joined in with the Dylusions Facebook Challenge and I was lucky enough to be picked to be a Guest Designer for the April challenge. This is the page I made:

Stamps: Dylusions - Down in the Woods, Glorious Blooms, The Cat & I, Fish Face, Ocean Backgrounds
Inks: Dylusions Sprays - Crushed Grape, Bubblegum Pink, Cherry Pie; Versafine Clair - Monarch; Dylusions Paints - Black Marble
Accessories: Dylusions Large Journal; Dylusions Stencils - Squares, Luscious Leaves, A Stitch in Time; Copic Markers; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush; Sakura Stardust Pens; Dylusions - Bigger Back Chat Set 2

I found the page already inked and ghosted in my journal. I simply added some background stamping, outlined some of the ghosted images and added a border all round. When our daughter was born she ended up with the nickname "Fishface" - no idea why, but she did. So, when Dyan released the set Fish Face I had to get it, and it's been a favourite of mine ever since. I use the fish head image often, and I like to colour the scales like a rainbow - it always reminds me of the story "The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister" I used to read to Kat. On this page I've put the head on the body from The Cat & I - love the long body! I used Copic markers to colour all the images and added sparkle to several area with either Sakura Stardust pens or a clear aquashimmer brush. I finished the page by adding some words taken from Bigger Back Chat Set 2.

The page was created about the same time as I did my Covid-19 spread, so the words sort of continue the theme. I guess that many of us are experiencing varying degrees of stress and anxiety, so I worked out some of mine on this page. I took a close-up photo of Fish Face and her jacket where you can see the shimmer and sparkle.

I'm submitting this page to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#45, where it's Anything Goes.

That's all from me today - bye for now!

MM - Idle Hands .....

... Hi! When we came home to North Wales in October 2018, we were living, temporarily, in Chester. On one of our shopping trips we past an art gallery where they were about to host a show for Todd White. In the window was a painting called "Idle Hands" and I feel in love with it. Now, in the past I've seen other canvases that I've really liked, but this was the first one that I felt I had to have. I went in and just looked at the picture and then I headed off and mentioned it to Jonathan. He simply said - go buy it!! So I did!! The picture had to stay at the gallery until we were able to move back into our house. And now, "Idle Hands" hangs on the wall and I see it everyday and it fills my heart with joy. I was lucky enough to attend his show and meet Todd - he's a fab guy and signed the book I bought.  I made this spread to celebrate my lovely new picture:

Stamps: Dylusions - Dependable Dotty, Around the Edge, Bordering on the Edge, Anatomy of a Page, Three Little Maids
Inks: Dylusions Inks - Crushed Grape, London Blue, Dirty Martini, Squeezed Orange, Tangerine Dream, Postbox Red, Bubblegum Pink, Lemon Zest, Cut Grass, Fresh Lime
Accessories: Dylusion Large Journal; Ranger Archival Ink; Brochure for Todd White Show; Skull from Todd White Carrier Bag

I have several of Dyan's journals with lots of backgrounds started - this one was started while living in the States. I picked this background and added a simple border, along with some shadow stamping using Dylusion stamps. In the catalogue was a section of 'my' picture which I cut out, mounted on black card and adhered to the page. I then cut out some images, coloured them with Dylusions inks an added them to the page. I finished by cutting out the large 'day of the dead' skull from the carrier bag, added some colour and glued it down. Here are a couple of close-up shots of each page:

I'm submitting this spread to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#44 where it's anything goes, and to More Mixed Media Challenge - MMMC#03 where it's anything goes with the option of green.

Before I go, I took a photo of my picture to show where it hangs in the house. I know the picture is called "Idle Hands", but I call her Sally as she reminds me a bit of the character from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

I am so lucky to have this picture - I see something new in it everytime I go by. That's all for today. Wherever you are, keep safe.

Finished it ....

PHOTO HEAVY!!

.... Morning! It's been quite a while since I posted anything remotely creative! Well this morning, I'm sharing pictures of my completed black Dyalog insert book. I started working on this book when I came back to the UK last summer. I spent many happy evenings in different hotels doodling backgrounds, adding images and words to my pages. I shared some of those pages on the Facebook Dyalog & Creative Dyary group last year. I spent some time this past weekend in my craft room finishing off the last few papes - and it's all done now.

I'm going to enter the current Love to Craft Challenge - LTCCB#35 where it's Anything Goes. Here's one of the spreads I worked on:

Inks: Dylusions Spray Inks - Postbox Red, Polished Jade; Posca - White Paint Pen 0.7mm bullet nib
Accessories: Dyalog Black Insert Book #1; Image from Dylusions Colouring Sheets #1; Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss

I started on the right-hand page by drawing the boxes by hand - hence the wobbly lines! I added lots of different doodle designs using a white Posca pen. I picked one of my favourite images from the colouring sheets book, cut it out and adhered it to the page. I doodled the border, added a touch of colour using my paint pens (Tim Holtz water brushes filled with Dylusions spray inks), and finshed off by adding the quote. Sadly, you can't see the sparkle on the little labels on her coat from the shimmer pen - it's so pretty!!

Here are the rest of the images from the completed book - I had such fun working on this and can't wait to work on more.

Apart from one "oops" I used only Polished Jade and Postbox Red inks as the spot colours, on the "oops" page I used Cut Grass and London Blue. Most of the stencils are also from Dylusions. I do hope you've enjoyed looking at my black Dyalog.

We are fully settled back into our house in Wales - so nice to be home, but I do missed Scrappy Chic and Stampeddlar - my local craft stores in Michigan. I am fortunate to have Dyan's shop - Art from the Heart, here in the UK, but it is a three hour drive from where I live. I will be visiting later this year - more of that later.

Life here is very busy. I'm almost recovered from the surgery I had on my ankle - cast off and now having physio and learning to walk with my new fixed ankle. We've done renovations on our two main bathrooms, and will be started work on converting a couple of rooms on the ground floor and the double garage into a suite for my mum. She can't wait to move into her new place. After that we'll be renovating the kitchen - but more of that much later.

That's all for now - thanks so much for sticking with me. I hope to get back into a more regular pattern of posts again soon. See you!