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 - Covid-19 ...

.... Good afternoon! It's a beautiful day here in Northop Hall and in normal circumstances I would be going out for a walk, but it's not normal and I've already done my daily exercise. So, I've been working on a spread in my art journal. You've probably guessed by the title of this post that my spread has been inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stamps: Dylusions - Graphic Backgrounds, Toadstool Town, Say It How It Is, Basic Background, Branching Out, There's Not Mushroom in Here; Dylusions Clear Stamps - Numerology, Creative Dyary Stamps, Others (from the USA)
Inks: Dylusions Sprays - Lemon Zest, Fresh Lime, London Blue; Ranger Black Archival; Gina K - Black Amalgam; Versafine Clair - Golden Meadow
Accessories: Dylusions Large Journal; Dylusions Collage Sheets; Dylusions Paint - Black Marble, Lemon Zest; Copic Markers; Posca Markers; Dylusions Stencils - Bubbles, A Stitch in Time; Joggles Stencil - Starlight; Images from the Internet

I'm submitting this spread to More Mixed Media Challenge - MMMC#03 (anything goes with option of green), Addicted to Stamps and More - ATSM#382 (make your mark) and Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#44 (anything goes). I'm also playing along with the Dylusions Facebook Challenge March.

With all that's been going on with Covid-19, I wanted to get it out and on paper. Going through my art journals I found a pre-inked and stamped background spread using yellow, green, a touch of blue, and leaves - the perfect spread for the Facebook challenge. I'd already ghosted the page with a Joggles stencil, and I outlined a couple of the stars with black paint pen. I added a black stencil border to the areas that didn't have any leaves. I used some Dylusions background stamps to add some detail. I found a biohazard symbol on the Internet and printed off a few along with some words. I went through the collage images (all previously cut out) and found some that worked with the challenge theme, but also seemed perfect for the pandemic idea too. I stamped out a selection of different mushrooms, coloured them with Copic markers - some red and lots of shades of yellow - all suggesting danger/toxicity and cut them out. I created a hidden pocket on the spread for a tag. I painted the tag bright yellow, used the alphabet stamps to spell out "covid 19" and added some typed notes that I created on the computer. And I found the perfect quote from Dyan's word stamps "I am exhausted by how stupid everyone is getting" - mainly those that seem to think it's a good idea to stockpile loo rolls and pasta!!  Here are some larger photos of each page:

I've also taken photos of the tag - back and front. The data comes from various sources on the Internet - mostly the World Health Organisation and Public Health England.

I'm not sure that I've worked out all the anxiety and worry, and this theme may make another appearance in my journal, but it's helped for now. That's all - be safe and stay indoors.

Mixed Media Dylusions Fun .....

...  Good afternoon!!  I say good, but it's awful here today.  Those weather boffins were absolutely right - pouring rain, grey skies and so much wind.  We've moved all the garden ornaments into the shed.  And we're not going out at all - so I've been playing.  I started this yesterday afternoon and have just finished.  I had such fun:

Stamps: Dylusions - Crown of Roses, Clockwork, Sunshine Girl, Around the Edge, Graphic Backgrounds, Say It How It Is, Just Breathe, Doodle Parts, Toadstool Town
Inks: Archival - Jet Black; Dylusions - Postbox Red
Accessories: Dylusions Square Journal; Dylusions Inks - Tangerine Dream, Squeezed Orange, Pure Sunshine, Postbox Red Bubblegum Pink; Dylusions Stencils - Holes, Heart Border, Diamonds, Starstruck, Old School Numbers; Copic Markers; Glitter Pens

I'm submitting this spread to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#43 (anything goes), and some new mixed media challenges - More Mixed Media Challenge - MMMC#02 (anything goes/option red) and Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge - CAMMC#57 (anything goes). I've also put this into the Dylusions Facebook Challenge - February to use Orange, Stencil and Doodle.

I have several of Dyan's journals and many pre-inked/painted backgrounds ready to make into spreads.  This spread must have been done while I was in the States as I've not done any inking since I've been back home.  I added some more stenciling to the pages, rummaged through my cut out images and worked out the spread.  I had so much fun putting the page together.  You can't see it in the picture above, but there's shimmer on the page too - I used glitter pens to colour the flowers .  Here are larger photos of each page.

That's all for today - I'm off to cook lunch and then chill with the family and a movie.  See you soon.

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!

Art Journal Index ....

.... Hi! I've had another fun day working on my Joggles Art Journal Adventure. Yesterday I shared the cover for the 2017 journal and today I've made an index for the journal.

Supplies:
Archival Ink - Jet Black
Dylusions Paints - Lemon Zest, Fresh Lime, Dirty Martini, Black Marble
Dylusions Stamps - Further Around the Edge
Stampin' Up! - Layered Letters Alphabet
Joggles Stencil - Starlight
Dylusions Stencils - Holes (lg), Stars (sm)
Pitt Pens
Signo - White Pen
Rooster image from Internet

The January challenge at the Facebook Dylusions Challenge is to use Lemon and Lime - Dots and Dashes - so I decided to use that as the main inspiration for the spread. I used baby wipes to apply the paint to the page - I just love how quickly this paint dries. Next I added some depth by lightly stencilling on some patterns. I used the Joggles starlight stencil to carry the design from the cover, and added some Dylusions bubbles and smaller stars. I added a dot-dash border around the edge of the spread. Then I stamped the word INDEX in black archival ink, added some white dots for fun and then drew the lines on the page. I added a few dot and dash extras too. I finished the page by adding a smaller rooster to match the one on the cover page.  Here are a couple of close-up photos of the index pages:

I'm going to submit this spread to Love to Craft Challenge - LTCC#6 where the theme is Anything Goes. That's all for now! It's time to make a start on dinner!