Thursday 31 December 2009

A creative 2010


I am looking foward to 2010.But i have had a hard time thinking to deciede on some creative new years resolutions, cause there is just so much id like to do in 2010 and i would like to approch the new year openly and just take it as it comes, so I have just thought about some categories id like to inprove on or just continue;


ART JOURNALING:I want to just get better at it and find a nice balance between acctual art and writing, i dont just want to paint a bacxkground andf then write on it i want to add a picture.But then again I would also like to do a little more with watercolours in 2010 and as i got lots of pitt pens and neocolour foe christmas i want to use them alot in 2010.Also I want to try art journaling in a difrent format and on a homemade journal and on an old book.Oh and Id like to broaden my sight of art journaling and try journaling on a bag, tshirt, mug and candle...


RIDING:Id like to work on being on the right stride and getting my hands down when cantering.Also i want to learn more about horses and work on drawing them aswell


BLOG:I want to get better at putting together posts and try to add some extra value to my readers.I also want to aim to get 5 followers.So a little help?


CROCHET AND KNITTING:I want to do more of both of these and get better at them.I want to learn all the crochet stiches and learn how to cable knit.Oh and id also like to try doing a big project such as a blanket or iteam of clothing.


WRITING:I want to keep writing in my diary daily and also start a inspiration book.


STYLE:I want to pimp my clothing to suit my style ala DIY:


So that covers all the stuff i want to do in 2010.What about you?PS i made the bow cool eh?
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Monday 28 December 2009

What materials to use?part 1


When I first started ar journaling, the only thing I

had to go by was one two paged artical in craft magazine.It gave me a rough idea of what art journaling was but just staded use any materials you feel happy with and you have on hand.Now this is a very valid point and I do agree that you should use whatever materials you have and love, but still when you start out this can be hard.mabey you havent done much art yet and you want to learn about what materials are good to use.So in this post i hope to help any newcomers to artjournaling to find some cool art supplies and to show you all what materials I use.A while ago i did post some good videos from youtube on tthis , as you may wish to check out:http://makealifeandmore.blogspot.com/2009/05/supplies-4-art-journal.html

so here we go:

PAINTS: I use two kinds-Watercolour and acrylic paints.I use the Studio Lascaux acrylic paints(http://www.lascaux.ch/english/farben/studio.htm) in dark red, bright red, yellow, lemon yellow, bright blue, dark blue, magenta(pink),black and a huge tube of white which also doubles as my gesso.I hayve a small palette of waterclours(see picture).

BRUSHESand other application methods:I use a bristle brush in size6,a size 11 and 13 0f those normal round ones,two one inched flat brushes for painting walls(i use for backgrounds), a small palette knife,an assortment of brushes in the sizes 6,6,10,4 and some unlabeld, a flat brush in size6, a middle sized waterhandeld brush and a sponge roller.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Wednesday 23 December 2009

TUTORIAL:Last Minute Pressie:Collaged bookmarks




So just incase you have still got to get a few lastminute gifts but you have no idea what to make and acctuly you really feel like art journaling , why not make these cute collaged bookmarks?5 or 6 of them in a little set make a lovely gift along with some choclats.
1.Start off by cutting out some bookmarks from cardstock, they can be any size you wish!
2.Using watercolour crayons or pencils colour the whole bookmark
3.Using water paint with it
Now...
4.Either collect some pretty papers and stick them on or doodle a design on top of the painted surface
5.Now go over it in any colours you like, i picked black and whit, and sponge them, drip them , use handcarved stamps, use wine corks to get the round shape....
6.Write a quote on a piece of paper, either all in one block or in seperate lines...
7.Now you may want to outline the text boxes with a pen(I used artists pitt pens, brush)
8. glue the quotes down
9. add stickers and embellishments
10.Done!!!
Now this is just one way of doing it and i not saying its perfect or anything its just ment to inspire you!!!
Merry christmas!!!
PS:I found this really cool website , its got a tutorial for toiletroll angels, felt cookies....http://alisaburke.blogspot.com/






Tuesday 22 December 2009

My latest artwork



I feel that in the last month or so, my writing skills on my blog and also my art has gotten better.Also I have sterted to work a bit more outside of my artjournal. I am working on a collaged jewelry box and 10 collaged bookmarks as christmas gifts.Yes I am still working on them.I know i should get a move on but I think art should not be rushed.When i am done I will post some photos though.
But for now I leave you with three photos of some of my latest art work.
1.My very first attempt to make an artists trading card.I loved making it. What do you think?
2.Is a journal page.The women where inspired by the volturi in new moon.I know theres not much visual reseblance but its more the feel i got when drawing them.
3.The first picture in the series of three pictures i want to hang up in room. Divided onto each it will say Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.So for the second I am going to paint a big eye.

Merry christmas!!!!

Monday 21 December 2009

Workshop:layers

Right now i am really in to learning things about layers and also to try them out in my art journal and have lots of fun.It is going to be one of my new years resolutions to get better at layering.And I thought I may as well share it with all my blog readers.So this is going to be the first part in the series.You will learn along with me, about layers. Some of the tips will be from me but others will bw from around the web and books.
One thing I have already learned is that a good way to strat is with colour and then gesso, this starts of your page nicely.Next just keep adding not covering with every layer.I got this very good piece of advice from one of suzi blus videos.So for now i will leave you with the 3 best videos i have found on the subject:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1U_DB4UFmk

object width="425" height="344">



You may also like:
http://makealifeandmore.blogspot.com/2009/12/pretty-layers.html This is one of my first layered pages i every did:
(I have decided to give you one or two links to other related posts on my blog to get you seeing all the work i have put in on older posts)

Merry christmas!!!

Sunday 20 December 2009

100 creative things i want to do in 2010(and a few makes)




To start above you can see the before and after of my pencil holder, i painted.Second i made a get well sooncard and a pretty doodle page from my art journal.
I am in a bit of stress right now trying to get all my christmas presents but i got distracted and made a 100 creative things i want to do in 2010 list.Every so often i will tell you how far i am on it once the new year has started.I wonder if ill do them all.Some take longer than others, but I thought it woild be fun to share my progress.So here is the complete list:
1.Start a series on my blog about art journaling
2.Buy some FIMO
3.Decorate a mask
4.Make some 3Dfaces out of FIMO
5.try bookmaking
6.make and fill a travel journal
7.Carve my own stamp
8.Create a project using ties
9.Collect patterned and intsresting paper
10.make a zine and share online for free
11.make some of my own art supplies
12.Create a monthly calender collage
13.collage on a canvas
14.sew a plushie
15.Celebrate day of the dead and make a shrine
16.Use music lines in my art journal
17.Learn how to create deeper(feeling)backgrounds
18.Find a cool art journaling mag and subscribe¨
19.decorate school books
20.Make lots of badges and decorate school bag
21.Create some art quilts¨
22.throw a crafternoon
23.Learn how to cable knit
24.Collect buttons
25.Make my room artsy
26.Have a go at styling my old chucks...
27...and Then on my new ones and wear them
28.Find oout aabout the history of art journaling
29.Try knitting a shrug or sweater(well just a big project)
30.Collect paper scraps
31. Experiment
32.Make FIMO friendship necklace
33.Create a colour palette
34.buy a brayer
35.Journal a t-shirt
36.make a mixed media doll
37.make my own buttons
38.Try embroidery
39.Join the non stop artjournaling month(in november or call a random moth my nanojomo)
40.Make ice cream
41.Sew or buy a tutu
42.Make resin knitting needles
43.Make some scrappaper out of scraps
44.buy some crayons
45.sew a qulted blanket art journal
46.make some sweets
47.Make journally easter eggs
48.writ for a zine
49.make some cat toys
50.Collect quotes in a nice way
51.Make a mosaic using shmashed plates
52.make some atcs
53.Learn about history of FIMO
54.Buy some creatîve books
55.decorate a mug
56.get some depth in^to my art journal
57.make a resin bracelet with my art in it
58.Buy a bigbag
59.Buy a handbag( thats small but big enough for my art journal)
60.Draw a map
61.Buy some 3d paste
62.¨make my own art journal
63.try doing art on paper and then binding to a journal
64.Have a go at making my own paper...
65.But first buy supplies
66.Find a creative penfriend
67.read a GOOD book
68.watch a GOOD film
69.make a necklace with chunky beads
70.Play with shrinky dinks
71.Burn some songs and make a cd with cool cover art( mabey one a month)
72.Try dyieng hâir diffrent colours in wash outs
73.Sew a collage necklace
74.collect words
75.Collect prompts
76.try felt mosaic
77.Journal on fabric and sew a bag
78.make a page in art journal, 1 week 1o things
79.Take part in non stop journaling ,month and
80. non stop writing month
81.Find out about creative festivals
82. and celebrate
83.Buy new pens and have fun
84. make a ginger bred house
85.Make some earrings
86.Buy some glitter
87.Find an old book to alter
88.Buz gelmedium
89.Iron plastic bags
90.and make a bag
91.Create a fairy jar
92.Make some mosaic tiles from fimo
93.and use them
94.Buz some black flats
95.sew a journaled pillow
96.Create an art journaled candel
97.buz special paper thin wax to do so
98.collect vintage papers
99.buz some paperdolls to use in art
100.collage a few book marks
Merrz x/mas





Thursday 17 December 2009

My fave Art journaling prompts on the web

If you are stuck for ideas of what to write just check out this website.it has more prompts than yourever be able to write about:http://www.squidoo.com/journalwritingprompts.

Tips on how to get started and great resources and more http://daisyyellow.squarespace.com/abstract/art-journaling-101.html

A Heart prompt here.http://www.ihanna.nu/blog/?p=754

A whole page of promptshttp://www.journalgirl.com/journalprompts/

Tuesday 15 December 2009

7 tips for when you are baking cookies

1.Add a pinch of salt to your cookie dough, salt will make the aroma strOnger.

2.When rolling your dough out, sandwich it between two coolbags instead of using floor

3.To give it a nice shiny finish mix icing sugar with milk.4

4.If you want a chocolate topping add some coconut fat to you choclat to make it more shiny

5.if you are alleergic to nuts just add some fine oats

6.Dont let your cookies cool down for to long as they may start to crumble apart

7.If were talking gingerbread add a piece of apple to the storage box as this makes it stay fresh longer.


Sunday 13 December 2009

A new cover for my art journal, a primitiv stamp and my New Moon journal page






What do you think of my new art journal cover?It was so simple to make, i simply cut out random bits of paper and glued them on and them coverd the whole thing with cellotape.The tool thing(is it called a spatula?)on top of it is new and im hoping to do marie antoinettes hair withit.
I really intrested in making my own stamps so i tryed a super caveage version of it, by simply sharpening the top aof a wine cork and them stamped it using black on my journal page.But I do think it is really effectiv.Last but not least my new moon page.I did it after seeing the film and the journaling is about what the story is about.
Happy journaling!!!!!

Tutorial: Felt Bookbag with free style applicate








Okay so sorry the pictures are not in the correct order , but its hard uploading on blogger.:)Anyway here comes a cool Tutorial:
1.Cut out a circle of felt and get some random felt scraps handy
2.Arrange them and sew on
3.Draw round a book and add a few inches on another piece of felt
4.Cut out some 2 inch wide straps
5.Sew bag(sew straps to sides and sew 3 of the four edges of the main pieces)
6.Add buttons to felt circle and sew on
7.DONE!!!!
This would make a great gift to any book lover on your giftlist or you may want to make one for yourself.It took me about one and a half hours.
Merry christmas!!!!!!

Saturday 12 December 2009

Gift Guide: 12 days tell christmas

So with twelve more days tell christmas you shoule get a move on making presents , so here is a quick roundup with links and ideas pf my own to make and buy.Merry Christmas!!!

For...

...Your best friend:
How about these pretty FIMO friendship necklace?;http://www.cutoutandkeep.net//projects/clay_best_friends_lover_necklaces
Or some nice bath soaks or something(search in google)

...Your Mum,Grandma...
This cute http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-appliqued-succulent-sachet.html sachet

...Wrapping paper
http://ilovetocreateblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/knit-print-wrapping-paper.html cute!

...Your gameaddictat friend(joke)
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Case-for-Your-DS-Lite-Games/

....Yourself
this fab skirthttp://soyouthinkyourecrafty-tuts.blogspot.com/2009/11/when-it-comes-to-being-turkey-its-best.html

...Knitting Friends
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=285832.0

...Your cat
my cats have tested these toys and love themhttp://myfantastictoys.blogspot.com/2009/05/cat-toy-plushies.html

...Your Tee loving Friend
http://weefolkart.com/content/tea-wallet-little-birdie-branch so they can take their teabags everywhere

...Any one who loves cts and tea
make them a catteacosyhttp://bustleandsew.blogspot.com/2009/11/sleepy-cat-tea-cosy-tutorial.html

....a lovely gift
This shrinky dinks necklacehttp://lilblueboo.blogspot.com/2009/11/teeny-tiny-shrinky-dink-leaves-necklace.html


So get crafting!!!

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Book review : Journal revolution,Rise up and create




Authors: Linda Woods and Karen Dinino
I really like this book.Its message is to get down to it and create personal art journal pages.It starts off by showing you some cool techniques to use in your art journal such as how to do faux spray paint and how to distress with tape.Then we move on and learn a tone about what diffrent fonts can mean diffrent things but still say the same.This like every other chapter starts off with 'Theory' , then moves on to a project and finishes witha gallery.Alot of this book is aboût finding your personality in art .There are also fun ideas to do like spy on yourself and use your information to make a journal page.Lots of ideas and tips are shared in this book about how you can journal outside your art journal to for eg.On aa paper plate or a paper bag.
In a nutshell: This is a fab book for anyone who wants to learn how to journal the truth, get comfy outside of your art jôurnal and learn lots about art journaling.
Level: Anyone will love it!
Where to get it: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
Happy journaling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday 6 December 2009

Pretty Layers


This is my latest art journal page.Its done with loads of layers.Ive been watchîng lots of art journaling video, reading lots of books and surfing the web a lot.Many people are posting stuff about layers, so I thought id give it ago to.And this is what came out.
My layers:
1.I cut some pages out of an old book and after cutting em done to fit on the page i glued em down.
2.I painted over it with a watery gesso (just add lots of water)
3.Then I coverd the page with some light pink ink from my ink pad
4.And stamped down a celtichorese design in dark pink.
5.I dripped some blue paint down
6.I added two layers of blue paint, not painting over the stamps
7.Next I added some tipex stars and some pencil stars
8.Then using artists pitt pens I drew the girl and gave her a tipex bow
Done!!!!
Have fun and Happy Art Journaling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday 5 December 2009

Here are some cool prmpts for your art journal:

1.Did you see a good film lately?Journali about it, add colours that make you think of it, add your ticket from seeing it and write what the story was about.

2.Experiment with diffrent new mediums like crayons or shading with coloured pencils

3.draw mandalas

4.Draw people and add your fave quotes.

5.Make a page with pictures of all your favorite stuff.Use your fave colours and photos ....

6.Design and plan new projects or partys in your art journal.

7.Grab a magazine and use it in your page in some way.

8.Make cool backgrounds and cut people out of an old book page and go from there.

9.Use photos of yourself

10.At the beginning of a new month makew a page with goals you haave for that month and tick em off as you go

11.Go overboard with your fave stamp and add glitter

12.Simply doodle

13.Cut out random words stick em on the page and get inspired from that.

14.Next time you go to an art gallery, make notes and buy postcards . Then make a journal entery about it.

15.If youre in abad mood.Go grab your art journal and express yourself in colour and words .It helps!!!

16.Draw
17.Doodle while you listen to podcasts

Happy art journalin!!!

Saturday 28 November 2009

What I've been up to....








Okay so I have this cool plan to make some photo FIMO coasters as christmas presents, so today i bought the supplies.A huge chunk of white FIMO and FIMO liquid with which you can transfere photos.So stay tuned for how that works out.
The yellow art journal page was made when i was at my friends staying over, so my art supplies where limited. I painted it at home and then did the glueing and journaling at theirs.I think it turned out okay but...As you can see Bella , Edward and Jacob are on it to and this is cause im a twilight junkie and must see NEW MOON( Im going tomorrow ) and I thought later i could post a review on it. That would be fun eh?
Then the next photo is on a canvas.Its going to Marie Antoinette.I felt inspired to paint it , after watching the film ( the one with Kirsten dunst as Marie Antoinette).You should watch it to . the costumes are amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!So what do you think so far?Im gonna take and post pictures as i go along. At the end i want it to be a mixed media painting.
The last page was inspired by ihanna's pagehttp://www.ihanna.nu/blog/?p=1016 . If you look closely you will even see I included her fab page in mine.It was so FUN.Its also a marie Antoinette meets LONDON page.
The last piece of news is that I bought the book: Journal Revolution.I will post a review later in the week.
So now you know what Im up to.Happy Art Journaling


Thursday 26 November 2009

Inspiration







A problem a lot of art journalers are faced with:You sit down to art joournal but you have NO inspiration and art journaling with no inspiration is not fun!!
So where do you get some?
Well in your day to day life you can find an applethera of inspifration if you know where to look.Go through a day with me and I will give you ideas to inspire you:
1.The colours or theme of you cereal packet
2.Newspapers:Cut out intresting photos . word and headlines plus you can use the text in your background check out ihannas post on more ways to use text in your art journal pages(http://www.ihanna.nu/blog/?p=998)
3.Adverts can give you inspiration
4.A material can inspire you to, like a pretty paper
5.A cd may inspire you
6.Or a magazine( the magazine was staring at me begging to go in my art journal)
7. Someone elses blog or art
8.A film or book or tv show
9.Food packaging
......
pretty much anything that you like the colour, texture, writing or whatever can inspire you.So once you find something that appeals to you in some way , how do you go about using it?
Well you can just let yurself be driven by inspiration.Or you can take your Magazine (or what ever inspired you) and look at it again...Ask yourself:
1.what do i like about it the colour, the theme, the font, the context, he images ...
Now find a way of using this in your page.You could simply cut out the word or image and stick it in in some special way .Or you could try to draw or paint a face like the one in the photo.Or you could write you opinion and add cut out quotes on the artical.Or you could just use the colour that is so inspiring.Do you get the picture here? Basiclly:
Find out what it is that you like and think of creative ways to use this in your page
______________________________________________________________
So above you will see the 3 photos from my art journal. The first one the giraffe is what inspired me to do the giraffe page beside it .The giraffe just keept looking at me and asking to get in my art journal so I did. This is a simple collage with doodling:Things like this can be preped and then taken to a cafe and you can journal there.The second one is based on Avril Lavignes album The best damm thing.
Happy journaling!!!!!

Sunday 22 November 2009

Tips for your art journaling space

As I got more and more into art journaling, my stash of pens, papers, old books,paints and so on grew.At first I kept all my supplies in a big box, which I took out when I did art journaling and put away again when I was done.But soon this was impossible as my supplies no longer fit in the box, so I decided to make my self a crafty corner.

Your desk
DO NOT go and buy yourself a new one, as you will spill paint , glitter and tea all over it!!!Just use an old one you would other wise throw away or go and get one in a second hand shop. It should be big enough though for all your supplies.Also it helps if it has drawers and lots of room underneath to store supplies.

Lighting
Your best option is to get two lights - one coming from the left and the other from the right, but if you only have onê put on the left if youre righthanded and on the right if your left handed. Otherwise your hand will block the light hitting your journal properly.

Chair
Make sure it has a backrest so you can journal for hours on end .And it should be comfy!!!

Storing supplies
Tins or jars are a great sulution for storing paint brushes, pencils, pens and scissors.
I pile my books I use for art journaling on my desk, but you may want to put up a shelf for them.I think the best way to store stamps is n a drawer.I just arrange a lot of my stuff on my desk. But I do keep paper in a basket under my desk- I have 3-One for pretty patterned paper, one for Junk paper and one for old magazines.


Inspiration
Their are many ways you can get inspiration from your work space:
Create an inspiration board or file-simply fill with images you love but dont know how to use yet.Hang up lots of pictures and postcards that inspire you.Keep your fave books close.Arrange your supplies in an inspiring way.Have lots of magazines around you.Cut out random words in adveance and when you dont know what to journal about let them inspire you. Have some kind of music player near so you can get inspired by your fave music whilst art journaling.

Propmtfile
Keep a notebook or file to record all the great quotes and prompts from the web near so you will always have an inspiration kick!!!!

So that was just a few tips based on the way i have my artsyden organized.Tip: Have some comfy seating solutions near you, so can do the page at your desk and then journal in a nice comfy space:)
Happy art journaling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday 20 November 2009

The first page in my 4th art journal and more cool stuff

1
2
3



4



5


1.The newest issue of lets knit.I love this magazine, okay Im really not that good at knitting but it has some nice simple patterns to and is full of inspiration for diffrent things. This issue has an extra mag with it on knitting hats, scarves and gloves.
2. This is Scrapbook magazine.I have never seen a magazine about art journaling( so let me know if you know of one) but this is really quiet good to.Every issue comes with free paper which is fab to use in art journaling. Also all the techniques used and explained in the magazine can be refunctioned to work in an art journal.
3. This the wonderful shrug / bolero my grandma knit me.Its made from eco cotton and I LOVE it. Whats really nice about it is that depending on how tighly you tie it closed it gives a completly diffrent affect and the colours are so nice!!!!!Thanks Grandma
4 and 5. This is my first ever page in my new watercolour sketchbook moleskine.Its an evil angel.I got inspired by suzi blus video on angels and orange trees to do an angel.First I drew it , then picked colours and started mixing and painting.The red background is meant to be fire and her eyes are black:)She is painted over a two page spread. Then I added the journaling which is just about my inspiration for this page . As I like mentioning this so that later when I look at it ill remeber why I did this page
Thats all if done this week . Had a lot going on ...
Happy journaling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday 17 November 2009

How I got into art journaling


One day I came across Craft magazine and bought it and loved it so much I even subscribed to it(http://www.craftzine.com/ ) . Then issue two arrived with an artical about art journaling in it.In the magazine they told me what it was and how you could to it and recommended a moleskin journal to start off in.So I went down the town and bought a moleskine. Then I searched on flickr " art journal" and "Moleskin" and came across many inspiring images. Try it for yourself.Then I had ago myself.First a page about me which was just writing and a few doodles really. Thats all my first pages where writing and doodling.BUT then I went on youtube and searched art journaling and found suzi blu.So I did what she told me dont worry about your art not being perfect just do it. Now my pages started to evolve from just writing and doodles to doodles on painted backgrounds, then collages,altered magazine images. Then as time went on the writing got less and the paint more.I bought some artist Pitt pens and started using them on my pages.Alot of my art was ( and sometimes still is) simply drawings on mixed media backgrounds. I started experimenting with doors in the pages and using pages of old books in my journal. Soon i was hooked.I could not not art journal. I found many cool links to sites and have know filled three art journals.All are moleskin sketchbooks so now Im getting a bit out of my comfort zone and am using a moleskine watercolour journal.
Happy art journaling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday 14 November 2009

Whats up?

1
2

3


4



5




So as you may see I customized my blog with a few new colours.I thinks it looks cool.Just giving everyone an update.Iv (okay I admit Im late) enterd the nonstopwritingmonth and am atempting to make a piece of writing about art journaling.My third art journal is almost done.My next journal is bought, its a moleskin again but this time its a watercolour notebook.I will give you my thoughts on which is better for art journaling soon.I was delighted when I found this cool mini bargain bag in my local fabric shop.It conzained lovely buttons, ribbon , glitter stone tape and some cool bias binding.I LOVE little goodies like this:)

Some cool quotes I have found over the last few days:
"My home is where my books are"- Ellen Thompson
"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary"- Pablo picasso
Now to the pictures above:
1. I did this yesterday. Id cut the masked face out of the a magazine and it had been in my college file for a while. Suddenly i felt like using it in a page. So I did. First I painted thewhole page with a mix of red , yellow and pink. Then I glued down the face.My nest step was to while paint was still damp go over it with white paint.Then I added paper(from an old book) and painted over it in the same way.Next I hand stiched around the edge, wrote the quote in crayon(Chaos in the midst of chaos isn't funny , Chaos in the midst of order is - Steve martin) and drew lines ( with a red artist pitt pen , brush) and added journaling.:)
2. This is my teesha moore page.I did it after watcching her videos on youtube( the link is 2 posts ago).Cuttings from a fashion magazine.My quotes read: " The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts"- Markus Aurelius and "Imagination is more important than knowledge. knowledge is limited, Imagionation is not "-Albert Einstein
Tip: If you dont have a white pen ( I dont) , just use tipex( in pen form or on a paintbrush).
3. This page was created after I had a piece of music copied for school, which I didn't need anymore. Then the treesha moore videos ( before id watched) was my second inspiration.I glued old pages from a book so i could use watercolours, then i added the music border and pasted together some people.
4.Did this when I was anoided, one time. Just slapped down dark clolours, added some cut out words (from my colllection (I cut out cool words and save them to use on later journal pages))they are storm, world , focus and escape.Then I added two quotes and spirals:
"If youre going through hell keep going"- Winston Churchill and "Don't cry , just say f*** you and smile"-by my friend
5.This is another page done by my podcasts and journal method.I posted a tutorial a while back, so if your intrested check it out.Its about Dodos and Crafting for when zoure under the weather(Craftzpod(

So hope that inspired you to create zour own pages.Happy Journaling



















Friday 13 November 2009

Crafty chica

Heres her site(i love her passion for her country and roots)
http://thecraftychica.blogspot.com/

Sunday 8 November 2009

Cool art journaling vid

COOL video about a cool art journaling technique : http://www.youtube.com/user/tracyvmoore
Its like taking a free class!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday 6 November 2009

Links for the weekend

Here is a cool toast keychain (out of felt); http://aiwa-9.deviantart.com/art/plush-toast-keychain-tutorial-64057573

Cute knitted bear x-mas decorations;http://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/free_knitting_patterns/

Knitted stocking: http://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/free_knitting_patterns/2007/06/knitted_mini_ch.html

Super cute lamb i-pod case:http://www.hipgirlie.com/2007/11/06/diy-ipod-mp3-case/

A super cool way to use up old starbucks cups or just have fun:http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2009/10/tuesday-tutorials-wilna-furstenberg-.html

Crochet a really cute owl:http://www.coatsandclark.com/Crafts/Crochet/Projects/BabyChild/WT1741%20Cutest%20Little%20Owl.htm

Retro inspired FIMO hearts:http://www.cutoutandkeep.net//projects/retro_inspired_fimo_heart_jewellery

SO THERE ARE A FEW TUTORIALS TO GET YOU THROUGH THE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday 2 November 2009

Late autumm: the cozy season Art journaling mini TUTORIAL











When it dauns apon me that summers over and autumm/winter begins, i start crafting in a whole new way.So my wonderful sewing room is fab BUT its in the attic, so its one (no the) coldest room in the house, thats why i do alot of sewing in the summer and less inthe winter months.So what do i do?Well i get into things with yarns such as knitting and crocheting, I cuuddle up with a warm blanket and read books, plan projects, listen to podcasts and plan christmas presents.So one of the things iv done alot over the weekend is listening to podcasts and art journâling.Heres a quick tutorial of how I did it:Ps. photos above
TUTORIAL;ARTJOURNALING N LISTENING
So first grab you art yournal and pick a podcast(http://www.craftypod.com/2009/10/23/craftypod-102-creating-with-food-with-kathy-high/ , was my choice).
1. now take out your paints and pick colours so above i used warm colours such as red and yellow and then let them mix on my page.
2.Gather pretty papers in either similar colours or a contrast what ever you please.
3. Now get a magazine and choose an artical that your intrested in (with pictures, or if not gather or draw your own)
4. Cut out some parts of the artical or all of it
5.Arrange and glue the paper and artical on your page, as you fancy
6.Turn on your podcast and cuddle up somewhere with your art journal , a pen and a warm cup of tea
7. Doodle and write notes about the podcast(this is nive as it ads meaning to your page , ads text and is more fun than just taking notes in a boring notebook)
8.Finish off by adding embelishments such as stamps and glitter
Done!
By the way I highly recommend listening to www.craftypod.com as its always real intresting and full of great ideas.

Sunday 25 October 2009

The magazine:A goldmine for artjournaling



So youve finished reading your magazine.What do you do with it?

a) You throw it away
b)You recycle it
c)You give it tô a friend
d) You keep it and read in a few months again
e)You use it in arty ways

What did you pick?
I always do e) (okay sometimes i do d) first but then i do e))


So you may ask How can i use it in an Artsy way?
Well you have many options, Im sure I dont know them all , so if you wish to ad to the collection leave a comment.

1.Cut out pictures and use them in your art journal, create gluebooks, decorate furniture and whatever else you can think of

2.Think of a theme for example Autum.Now collect all the info and pictures you can out of lots of magazines and create a collage.

3. Cut out words and use them in art

So thats what i do, but now you can use these simple ideas in any way you want.Why not decorate a canvas or piece of furniture?

Some artjournal prompts

These are things iv done and now im sharing with you:

1.Is there a film you wanna see? Yes then create an artjournal page around it and add a pocket for tickets and newspaper reviews

2.Practise mixing coloured pencils and then artjournal it up a bit

3.Write down you feelings

4.experiment with new art supplies

5.paint people and draw their face as practice

6.draw spme still life in colour

7.Try to use your art journal as a way of learing for school, by using info you have to learn in your art.

8.Make a page about things you like

9.Use cartoons out of newspapers in you art

10.PLan partys inside in a creative layout.

11.Rip up magazines and use thwm in diffrent ways

12.Create a page around a quote

13. write lists

14.Doodle

15. write about art gallery visits

Thursday 22 October 2009

Cool pumpkin ideas

Check out this fab video

Monday 19 October 2009

Getting through Hell

This video really inspired me to just not give a shit, after a BAD day.Even if you dont do any art it will cheer you up.Im not saving i agree with everything shes saying, but i love how much passion she puts into art and not caring about what people think about her.Yes it sounds like Suzi went through SHIT and i dont want to do that and im not saying its good .But now she is great!!!!

"If you're going through HELL keep going" Cant remeber how said this quote but its damm good.
Mini creative challenge:
Take this quote and this video and use it to inspire what ever you do creativly.Your artjournal,your art, your photos, your blog , your knitting, your sewing -WHATEVER just go and DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday 17 October 2009

Cozy yarn season:Links

At this time of year I always love to turn to knitting and crocheting as a craft, as it is so warm and cuddly.Im knitting a cute pink and blue beanie and will share the tutorial soon.I will also review a few knitty and crochety books, give you loads of great links, a peak at my stash and much much more.
So to get started here are a few links:

1.Craft had a few articles about yarny buissness:http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/cozy_up_to_yarn/

2.Wanna go travln?http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/07/simple_yarn_project_travel_cas.html

3.Make some cute logcabin washcloths:http://www.purlbee.com/log-cabin-washcloths/

4.Q:How can i use up all my scrap yarn in a project?
A: Make mixnmatch yarn:http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/09/how_to_crazy_yarn.html

5.Make an Owl yarn oganizer:http://www.girlontherocks.com/knit/blog/2009/01/12/crewel-for-christmas/

6.Acorn storage:http://www.girlontherocks.com/knit/blog/2009/01/12/crewel-for-christmas/

So there`s a small taster.More coming soon!!!

Thursday 15 October 2009

A link


1.
Download a cool coaster pattern here(free):http://www.leethal.net/quickknits/patterns.html

Sunday 11 October 2009

Nature (art)Journal ideas part 2

More ideas:

Observations of weather, seasonal changes, animal behavior, animal tracks, birds at the feeder, the shapes of leaves or twigs, insects on the windowsill, flowers, grasses, mosses, bark, even soil. Be sure to include the date and time, and if you don’t know the name of an animal or plant, try looking it up in a field guide when you get home.

Drawings of landscapes, wildlife, items collected on a walk, your children or other people, plants, insects, mushrooms. These can be simple pencil or pen sketches, or full-color drawings or watercolors. Don’t worry about your artistic skill—no one else has to see your work; the point is to have fun and sharpen your observation skills.

Poetry or Essays about the things you observe in nature, the memories your outdoor experiences evoke, and reflections on how these details fit into the bigger picture of your life and the world. As with drawing, the finished product is less important than your experience of fashioning words from the natural world.

Tools for Nature Watching:
Binoculars
Magnifier of 5X or 8X
Field Bags
Field Guides
Trail Guides and Maps
Good Hiking Shoes
Water to Drink
Neutral colored, cotton clothing
Insect Repellent
Snack of Trail Mix
Plastic Freezer Bags (For collecting treasures)

Nature Journal Supplies:
A good sketch pad, journal, or notebook
Mechanical pencils (They keep a sharp point)
Soft, cushy finger grips for pencils
Black ink pen - ball point or felt tip
Prismacolor Pencils if you wish to color your sketches

Things to Include in Journal Entries:
Date
Time (Be specific)
Weather (You can include temperature, wind, humidity, and sky conditions)
Habitat or Location
Draw and label details of your specimen
Compare sizes (Size of thumbnail, thumb, finger, palm, etc.)
List Textures or patterns (fuzzy, thorns, freckles, spots, smooth, etc)
How are the leaves and veins on the leaves arranged?
A simple sketch will do. You may wish to try and trace items like leaves.
Might wish to press leaves and flowers and tape into journal and cover with clear contact paper.
Make note on what's going on: What is the animal doing or what period of growth is the plant.
Make note of landmarks of your adventures. Wild animals make note of landmarks and often keep coming back to their same spots. If you mention that it is on the blackberry trail near the old fallen Oak, you can later retrace your steps.
Make note of items like owl pellets, ants, dropped feathers, cocoons, or insect wings on your nature adventure. All of them have a story to tell.

What to Look For:

On Mammals:
Stripes, spots, or streaks
Bands or rings around the tail
Mask or dark band across the face or around the eyes
Claws

On Birds:
Bars or bands across the tail
Narrow bar of white across the wing (wingbars)
Eye-ring or ring around the eye
Eyebrow or streak of contrasting color above the eye
Bib or dark area under the throat
White throat
Neck bands, rings, or a broken band
Spots, either large or freckles
Crest or long head feathers
Make note of the sound the bird makes.
On Butterflies, Moths, Beetles, and Other Insects:
Shape or length of antennae
Wing patterns of either borders, bands, or stripes
Camouflage patterns or colors
Eye spots or false eyes - large round spots that may serve to frighten away enemies.

On Plants:
The height of the plant - ground or knee high?
Number of petals of a flower
Shape of flower - trumpet or separate petals?
Colors and patterns - stripes, spots, or dots?
Center of flowers - different colors and shape?
Sepals (green petals) - shorter or longer than the petals?
Leaves of flowers - rosette design at base of stem or along the stem in arrangements of either opposite or alternative?
What is the size of the leaf - thumb or thumbnail?
Edges of leaves - smooth, wavy, or toothed?
What is the leaf texture - waxy, leathery, thick, fuzzy, smooth, or rough?

On trees, notice the same leaf observations.
Shape, size, and texture of tree.
Notice the fruits and nuts of trees.
Bark of trees - smooth, flaky, stringy, rough, etc.

Seasonal Nature Sites:

Spring:
Now is the time to go and enjoy bird watching. The males have on their colorful coats and are singing to attract the females. Nests are also being built.
Frogs are beginning the choruses. Find a pond and watch the frog cycle in process.
Plant some seeds. Draw what the different plant seeds look like.
Investigate some spring flowers. How soon did the first flower pop its head out of the snow and what was it?
Go on a hike and enjoy the first bursts of life coming out everywhere.

Summer:
Insects are starting to get noisy. Listen! What insects are you hearing? Make some notes of what they sound like and study how they make their noises.
Explore some wetlands. Dragonflies, turtles, and wetland wildflowers are sure to be admired.
Those beach trips offer investigations into shells and sea birds.
Grow a garden and note the changes you find there from week to week.
Plant a butterfly garden and enjoy watching and drawing all the different types and their behavior.

Autumn:
What an excellent time to do leaf studies of trees. Enjoy their color, their fragrance, and all the different types.
Harvest time provides a look into different fruits and vegetables.
Note the flowers that bloom only during this time of the year.
Certain farms open up for tours during this season. Take advantage of them if you don't live on a farm and draw the different farm animals you find. Ask some questions and make note of what the animals were doing.
Pumpkins are always fun to measure, check if they float, cut apart, estimate seeds, and then count them.
How many different types of apples can you find?

Winter:
Learn some about animal tracks and go tracking. The snow makes an excellent blanket for tracks to show up clearly.
Keep your bird feeder filled and watch which birds come visiting each day.
Mark small holes in the snow. A burrowing animal lives there. Check the site out come spring.
Search out some snowfleas. These are not actually fleas, but they are very tiny insects that can be found abundantly on the surface of the snow around trees.
Note the shape and size of snowflakes on your mittens. Draw a few and dry to make copies of them as an art project.
This is a great time to really make some detailed notes of different tree barks.
Evergreens can provide some interesting plant studies.

Saturday 10 October 2009

Nature (Art)journal

I got inspired to do some research into this after reading an artical about it.So here I am sharing what iv found on the net:



Some SUGGESTIONS for what you can do with this journal:



-Include pressed flowers and leaves you find. You may also record time and location where you found them and identify them using a flora. Maybe describe it with botanical terms.Since this is an ART journal, you may do this on a watercolored background, or whatever else.



-Journal about your favourite spot. For example, if you have a favourite tree to sit under, try to share this experience with us. Take a photo of your tree, write how you feel about this tree, what it means to you. Share memories connected to this tree. Include leaves from the tree, do leaf printing, do a sketch of the tree, or a watercolour painting, this can be abstract if you are not a good figurative painter, just express the colors of the tree. Include photos taken in the morning and at night.



-Take a walk in nature, document your trip, write about flowers and animals you see, the mood you have, share your photos taken on that trip, include a pressed flower you find beautiful, make an abstract painting with acrylic or watercolour in the colors you saw on your trip, or figurative if you have the skills.



-You can make leaf and flowers pressing by just stamping them on the page with paint. Or you can use them as a negative.



-You can also use magazine images, pages from books, or other images/rubberstamps etc to show what you have seen. But it should be image of something you have seen in nature, not just any nature picture. It should be personal pages



.-Recreate a flower you saw, making a paper flower of scraps…then you can paint the stem, and include real leaves from the flower. That is really mixed media, which I encourage in this journal.



Ad by me: Tip

Get a Moleskin or something as your natureart journal and when youre out and about note stuff on a notepad.When you get home you can sort your info into a cool pages and use big heavy books to identify the birds and trees youve seen.Take photos so you can do some drawing at home or bring a drawing pad, but leave you acctual journal at home, so it stays pretty with all the end results:).

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Start-a-Nature-Journal-25542806



This website has a few good tips to: http://homemade.truepath.com/nature2.htm

Monday 5 October 2009

Tutorial: Felt smelly Lavender sachet


You will need:
Scissors
Felt
Felt scraps
Dried Lavender
Needle
Thread
Smelly socks
Funnel
1. Pick a basic shape like a square, circle, heart ... and cut it out twice.
2.Now cut out coloured circles or squares and handsew using a whipstich them onto one of your main shapes.
3.Now whipstick up 3 of the 4 sides( of your two basic shapes)
4. Using your funnel fill it with lavender and sew closed
5.Now tie the threads and pop it into your basket of smelly socks and voila the smell fresh!!

News from me














Yes i am still here even though it has been a while i know.But thats cause if been up to a lot.
For a start i made some cute soap(sry forgott to take pics) and started my halloween costume(post some pics when im done).
Now for some stuff you can see on the photos.I gessod an old book and am starting to write down the peter rabbit tale in a creative way.So fun:..
Then Iv decorated my third art journal and I took a look at my new found felt craze, by making some spotty lavender smelly pillows for underwear and socks.
And last but not least I wnet to a craftfair and bought loads of goodies, including shrinky dinks plastic, xxl thick wool, hat pattern, fat square of fabric and a cute unicorn stamp.
I found this great tut for shrinky dinks on the threadbanger forums http://forum.threadbanger.com/showthread.php?t=724&highlight=shrinky+dinks