dream ATC

Decided to have a go at printing on fabric with my new printer. I ironed plain cotton to freezer paper (from quilting shops) and as you can see it printed great! Its still very cold here with freezing rain! My car decided to have a flat battery this morning so it was a case of getting the bus and then a very brisk walk through the woods which was lovely as I bumped into my parents there walking the other way to the shops! So at the moment I am dreamin of a new car perhaps and a bit of sun!

Laugh tin, swedish journal and ice

I have had this little metal tin for awhile so decided to alter it today using flowers, buttons, ribbons, grungeboard and a nice little stamp from my Swedish friend Tina. I am going to put photos in it of my mum and dad and their 3 grandsons. Here is a photo of me and my dad taken last year



Tina's journal arrived from Sweden today..she has the theme of black n white and a little red.



Here are the thick handmade paper pages I am going to alter plus a little tag too...so the first thing I am going to do is get rid of that white by scraping black paint on it!!

As you can see from the photos its been very cold here and we have had lots of ice! Keep warm out there and dont forget to put bread out for the birds!

Happy is the heart that holds a friend

Here is an accordion fold mini book I have altered today..I am starting to fill it with photos that have just been lying in a box ready to scrapbook. Its great that I have a new printer now as I can fill all these blank books at last. The idea for this book came from watching a Heidi Swapp demo on my craft channel..she has such a great personality I think and shows some lovely ideas! There are lots and lots of layers on this project as I started with spray inks but then it looked too flat so added stamped and collaged images, gesso, paint, more inks, more gesso and finally sprayed and inked grungeboard, used a fine layer of glitter glue for a bit of bling and added some little flowers with stones. The ribbons are from my Italian friend Letizia and I really like using ribbons at the moment. Over at The Butterfly Effect the challenge is layers hosted by Diane..so be sure to check out the other entries too.


I just love these gates to the woods..when I was little I used to run to these gates from school and drink from the cast iron water fountain in front of them..sadly they knocked the fountain down but the gates are still there!

It was very cold and frosty this morning so decided to have a brisk walk around the woods after dropping the kids off at school. For the first time I could hear woodpeckers in the trees and saw lots of crows and squirrels. Hope you all have a good weekend and wrap up warm in this cold weather!

Practice kindness, mercy and forgiveness mini book

I have had this little plain mini book for ages so decided to alter it today using lots of flowers and prima botanicals paper..think I will put photos of my husband and I in it!

Even though the weather is very cold at the moment I have been buying some new clothes for when the weather gets warmer..here I am in my new indigo moon coat which the kids think is ace as its something a magician might wear! I like the quirky designs of this company and bought a turquoise oriental one too..found them on ebay..bargain!

Dont forget to leave food out for the birds in this cold weather..I love my bird feeding station with coconut shell, seed feeders and bread dish..I love watching the birds of a morning in my garden especially the robins and the blackbirds..keep warm out there!

Saw this on Art from the Heart blog so thought I would have a go too!

1. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Rambling farm house in Cheshire with lots of people to look after the farm so I could paint and go for walks all day!!

2. Last book you read? Currently reading Behind the scenes at the museum by K Atkinson. Fiction makes a change for me as I usually read travel adventure books or biographies.

3. What inspires you? Nature

4. chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate of course but only the high quality stuff!

5. If you could have one magical ability, what would it be? To end wars and cure world poverty.

6. Do you dance? Love my zumba classes at the gym.

7. Do you prefer one on one acquaintances or large social groups? Prefer just a few friends as dont like large groups.

8. Favourite food?Home made chilli

9. What is your favourite season? Autumn as I was born in October.

10. What is your pet peeve? Cruelty in all its forms.

11. If you could live in any era, which would it be? Now as I like the internet!

Well there are my answers..why not have a go:)

quick sketch..

Well I havent been able to do any drawing, painting or cutting for a week as I hurt my thumb! Its better now so had a quick go at this sketch. I think she is looking very fed up too!

We have had a lovely few days as our Norwegian friends came over to visit from Thursday to Sunday so we took them to all our fav places inclluding the Cheshire Ice cream farm and the oldest Liverpool cinema to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks which the kids loved. Hoping to post up more arty creations once I get back into the swing of things!

European Circle Journal..beginning

I am taking part in a circle journal organised by Palma in Italy..the journal is travelling around the UK, Italy,Denmark, Norway and Sweden...starting in February. I have made a short video showing its beginnings..will make another one when it returns in a year with fab art! Here is the link..click to view or have a look to the right in my vimeo video column:)

....and more trees

Some more paintings focussing on trees. Where I live we have so many trees nearby and I like looking at the shadows and textures they create against the misty skies we have been having as its still wintry and cold.

Path through the trees

Had half an hour today so did a very quick watercolour painting..as I havent painted with watercolours for awhile so wanted to get back into it. The secret to painting quickly is to use big brushes and a very limited palette..I tend to use just raw sienna, ultramarine blue, burnt umber and a little bit of pale red.

Spring is in the air..well this afternoon!

This morning it was very icy and cold but now the sun is out and its quite spring like! I decided to make some ATCs for the vintage photo images yahoo group that I belong to. The theme is "How does your garden grow" so I have added lots of papers, transparencies, brads, paper flowers, grungeboard and lace.

Wendy Aspinall, Michelle Carrier and April Dudko (VPI atc group)

This morning I recieved some lovely ATCs from the VPI group for the Madonna and Child swap..they are superbwith all the detail and have inspired me...so big thanks to Wendy, Michelle and April.

I have been trying to do a sketch a day so here are some of my latest..trying out different expressions..whimsical and scowling!

Quick Sketch by me and the kids..

We all watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid this morning which is a fantastic movie all about being yourself and not trying to be the school's favourite. I bought my sons some black journals and was so pleased when they all had a go at drawing. While they were drawing I did this quick sketch as I wanted to have a go at drawing a face looking sideways. Gary Reef has put a new group up in Loving Mixed Media which has the challenge of doing a painting or quick sketch every day..so trying to have a go at sketching daily..have a good weekend everyone

Embrace the Day..

When I do journalling I dont particularly like my writing so wanted to incorporate some journalling on a bright layered tag. What I have found that if you write incredibly quick it looks better! so the words on this tag are "just do it dont make excuses" and on the other side "enjoy the sunshine" as we are having quite a nice spring day today..still very cold but with sun. Enjoy whatever your doing today and try writing very fast....without thinking

getting back into the swing of things...

Like most people it always takes me a while at the start of the year to get back into things. All my sons are back at school now so have had a little bit of peace and quiet to myself at last. I have been practising doing quick journal pages using paints and this page has the words" listen closely" referring to the silence I had today. I have been playing around with textures with moulding paste ferns and subdued inks and paints.



I have started on the inside cover of my European Circle Journal..I am going to add twinchie size art to these yogi tea pockets along with little tags in each one for the artists to decorate themselves.



Sat in the garden today as it was quite spring like..the danger at this time of year is that we will have yet another very cold spell and the buds on the plants will die

Did this very quick scribble pen sketch in 5 mins on the school run this afternoon...its not perfect but so what its alright for 5 mins! So by doing little bits and pieces I am soon getting back ..what do you do to get back into the rhythm after the Christmas break?

seeking calm from chaos...

Just playing around with inks and paints in my journal last night and this page happened in about 10 mins..so have a go journal pages dont have to take an hour to do!

some more paint and ink pages to add to for future quick pages with more stamps and drawings perhaps...have a good weekend everyone

we are all destined for greatness...

Playing around with embossed toilet paper again! I like the way that you can sort of hide a stamped image within the layers! I have put this onto one of my pages in my altered book and like all the multi textures. As we throw out the old year and start the new year lets get rid of our negativity and embrace positivity and remember this quote!

Here is another one with the same technique..she looks like a free spirit doesnt she..going to add this one to the European Circle Journal I am taking part in which starts its journey out on 1st Feb....

gracias..

Would you believe that the background for this tag was made out of toilet paper? Cuchy did a great demo of squashing wet toilet paper with an embossing folder in the second of the creative jumpstart workshops. She lives in Spain and we are hoping to go camping near Tarragona in Spain come the summer...so this tag holds my dream of doing that. I have painted the dried embossed toilet paper with watercolours and white paint to make it look aged..these colours remind me of my last visit to Spain when I stayed near Cadaques many years ago! I decided to add the tags to my altered book..this is the one I did last year where I used gesso and brown ink to distress the pages.

I made these 2 pages last night as I needed to do some art as I was really fed up..I find art very therapeutic especially when I have had a bad day. I incorporated the bliss tag on to a page just using inks and paints and stamps...I wasnt happy with the square edges of the bliss sticker and found that by holding a heat tool over it for a few seconds that you can scratch the edges to make it blend in the page better..so that is my free tip for you today!

Colour for 2012..creative jump start

You know how it is...all your energy gets zapped up by Christmas and with the children being off school so you dont know how to get going again... Well I signed up for the free creative jumpstart 2012 which I found on th prima blog...this first workshop was by Dina. Last night I got my inks and stamps out and had a quick play just messing round with inks and getting messy...results are not bad! and dont take too long to do. I am probably going to put some of these tags in my art ideas journal for when my creativity needs another kick-start...

Layered Metal ATCs

Happy New Year to you all..here is to a creative and arty 2012!

Had a little bit of time amongst the Christmas chaos to make some metal layered ATCs. My friend Lisa is hosting an ATC swap so thought I would join in as like getting things through the post instead of just bills! I have used various collage images layered with transparencies and some metal birds cut out of old aluminium cans using my fav martha stewart bird punch.

Hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and best wishes for the New Year...

ATCs and starting on a European journal..

ATCs from Wendy, Martina, Trisha

European Circle Journal cover start

Hope you are all having a lovely Christmas and are looking foward to New Year. I recently joined a yahoo ATC vintage images group and today I got these marvellous ATCS.

I am taking part in a European Circle Journal swap starting in January 2012 so have made a start on the cover of my journal today. This will be folded in two and then I am going to put partly decorated sketchbook paper, envelopes, tags, graph paper etc inside it. The journal will be travelling to Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Italy and the UK so am looking foward to this time next year when I will have it back again crammed full of inspirational art and fav bits and pieces.

It is my youngest sons 7th birthday tomorrow so we will be having a big family party for him..this all adds to the madness of Christmas and New Year in our house..hope you all have a good end of year celebration...here is to a creative and arty 2012!

Happy Christmas to all of you...

I wrapped a painting up for my dad today ..this is called waterfalls and hope he likes it!

Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and New Year and thank you for all your lovely comments on my artwork throughout the year. I have been busy wrapping presents today listening to carols by the Liverpool Male Voice Choir which my husband is in. I have uploaded a video to my youtube channel of my favourite carol sung by members of this choir...it reminds me of monks in a monastery and is best listen to on headphones with a glass of mulled wine (click on the coloured link)..Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Freedom of the Forest (using a new product called mul.tex)

can be printed on



fibres trapped underneath the plastic part and gold foil added

plastic part scratched to distress it and it can also be diecut

plastic part distressed with soldering iron to reveal image underneath


hanging in my garden before I sent it off to sunny california to C&T

I am part of the Creative Troupe at C&T publishing..an American publishing company. I was recently sent a new product called mul.tex which I had great fun playing around with as its very versatile. Its sort of a plastic coated fibre that can be sewn, painted, burnt, distressed and painted with alcohol inks etc. I made an ATC hanger out of it using lots of different techniques on each ATC. For the edges I used a soldering iron to fuse it on to itself to form a ridged edge. For more ideas on how to use this fab new product check out the C&T flickr gallery here.