Jeudi Journal

"I refuse to become what you call normal" is the quote for this week.  I had it in my head which figure to use but then I had to change journals so it had to change.  Do I go with an animals head on a human body or a human head on an animal body?

The background was already done from a previous journal day with Dyan at Art from the Heart - red and orange "blobs" from the roller - so I just went over the whole lot with Dyan's yellow paint.   I was going to do something else with the background but I left it but added some little buzzy bees at the top.

Nobody but nobody walks around in a corset type top with suspenders and striped stockings, but if they do they certainly don't have their head in a box.  Well this "not normal" woman does and she is.  Mind you her friend is a bit peculiar too with that hair and those studs going across her face.  Not sure who is normal here!

I am, once again, linking this to Art journal Journey where the theme is "Yellow" - a lovely sunny colour for February.  Maybe that is what brought us the real sunshine of the last few days.

WOYWW 508

Another spell of gorgeous weather - two hottest days in February ever recorded?  Climate Change!  Wonder how many of you have been crafting and how many have been enjoying the spring like weather.

I have my journal page for you to see, nothing else.  As you know I finished my square journal on Thursday last - totally full!  So a rummage around and I have started on this flip one which I began a while ago with Dyan at Art from the Heart.  The figure on the other page is one of those compilation figures from a magazine.

The page already had reds and oranges on it so I went over it with some yellow paint (red and yellow make orange, don't they?) and now I have to think up some figures to put on for my "Jeudi Journal" challenge with my friend, Wendy, tomorrow.

You can see my pot of Yellow Dylusion paint, with the foam circle on top that I use to paint my pages with.  Just beyond it is the Ranger tool that the foam sticks to for putting paint on the pages with.  There's also some green and orange paint on my glass mat waiting to be cleaned off from last week, ooer!

That's it for this week - see you at The Stamping Ground shortly.

Art Journal Journey

Another page in my Junk Journal which can be entered into Rike's challenge over on Art Journal Journey because, once more, I have a yellow background.  I need to use some of my scrapbook paper up in this colour and I must admit it makes me feel sunny when working with it.  I think it is a colour that should be used more often because it is such a happy colour.

Once again I used the Wildflower die to cut some flowers.  This time I wanted to make them with dark colours and I chose to use two burgundy ones and a moss green one.  I felt they worked very nicely against the yellow background.  As you can see I bunched them together and put a single word on - Hedgerow.

There's just a few days left to do another entry and I have plans for it, I just hope I get around to it. 

Jeudi Journal

"You're Not Yourself Today, I Noticed the Improvement Immediately" is the quote for today.  

Again I painted my page yellow so that I could enter it into the Art Journal Journey challenge set by Rike and, using the same paint I painted a stencil border down one side and across the bottom.  It hardly showed up so I did it again on the other side and used Orange as a contrast.  Later I decided to outline the squares on both sides.

I didn't really know how to portray the quote and so I put an Owl head on what could actually be a person's body and partnered him with a woman, using the cat body, but cutting the paws off.  There was a little of the two paws showing but I hope I made them look like bracelets by colouring them orange.  I felt that the cat body was the best one to portray an arrogant stance which I imagine the person saying the words would adopt.

This is the last page in my square journal so now I need to find another journal to carry on with next week.  Wonder which one, of the many I have, I will eventually choose.

WOYWW 507

Once again it is Wednesday and time for our weekly visit to Julia's WOYWW posting which leads us on to lots of other blogs from like minded folks who show us what they are up to craftwise.  Why not join in and become a WOYWW'er!  It's a great vehicle for making friends.

For the past few weeks there has been very little activity to show you on my desk but yesterday morning a parcel arrived from America, something I have been waiting for for a while.

A few years ago I did a class over there making flowers using the Heartfelt Creations dies and I had some sample sheets to go with the written instructions for the four dies I was using that my friend sold.  Last year when I was over I meant to ask if I could have the samples for a workshop I intended doing at our club, saving me repeating them.  

Anyway, to cut a long story short after my friend passed her cleaner said she would get them and send them to me.  Well, it has taken a long time, lots of reminders but at last they are here.  So I have kind of set my desk up to show them to you - makes a change from there being nothing on it.

Now I just need to refresh my memory on how I did all of these, make up some cards for samples and book a workshop.

Yellow for Art Journal Journey

In my Junk Journal I have done another yellow page so I can enter it into Art Journal Journey's challenge by Rike which is 'yellow'.

I did intend using one of Tim Holtz' Petite Dolls but cannot find them.  I have obviously put them somewhere safe and, as often happens when I do something like that, they are out of sight and no amount of searching has found them.  Luckily I had these portraits so I decided to use one of those. 

I felt sure I had a pad somewhere with yellow papers and lo and behold I found it so was able to rip several of them out and put them in my Junk Journal folder for future 'yellow' pages.  I tried several of them together and ended up using the floral one for the background and one with some script on to cover part of it.  A tiny bit of an advert and a piece of text (Spanish?) completed the background so with the addition of a bit of German Scrap and the portrait it was finished. 

Unfortunately the German Scrap was not quite long enough so I tried some flowers and a butterfly on as a kind of 'patch'. 

So there you are, my yellow page and another entry for Art Journal Journey.

Jeudi Journal

This time the quote is "Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart" and I thought that quite appropriate for Valentine's Day and I could use some hearts on it.  I had some left over from my February Diary so knew I could use them but what to do about the background colour.

Lightbulb moment!  The challenge over at Art Journal Journey is to use Yellow.  So what was the background colour going to be?  Yellow!  To be precise three Distress Ink Shades of Yellow with a fourth one through a stencil to make a border (and a couple of bits on the page too).  

Because the contrasting colour was going to be red (hearts) I thought I would dress her in greens and blues but then she could have a tweed coloured jacket.  She had to have a head on that would tilt slightly so the figure I was to use was determined.

So that it is - another page - only two more to go and then the journal is full.  Now what is it we are doing next week?

WOWW 506

Another week to point me to the desks of friends who like me, love to show you our desks.  Most have work on them that you can admire but mine has been a bit empty of late - still, will play catch up shortly.  In the meantime I am off to enjoy what others have on show so why not join me by visiting Julia and following the links that will appear on her page.

I need to do my journal page for tomorrow for Wendy's challenge so my square journal is out on the desk open at a couple of pages I did a while ago.  I left it open because at least that way you have a bit of something to look at - I was finding what empty pages I have left - only three and the journal is full.  Moving right is my daily diary for February, need to play catch up on the last two days but as I have also got something written down on the computer I know what the day was like.

Then we have my cutting station with my Vagabond and my tiny Misti sitting on top in readiness for some creating.  Not much else to talk about so I will leave it there - short and simple like Julia likes it.  See you over at J's!!

Yellow Again - Junk Journal

Art Journal Journey with the theme "Yellow" has called me again and there is a link to my previous page in my Junk Journal which focussed on 'feathers' because I have chosen 'wings' for this page.

Another previously coloured yellow page, this time I added a deeper shade of Distress Ink (Fossilised Amber) through one of my favourite stencils.  A rummage through my bag of bits gave me a focus - a butterfly lady and I found one or two other 'yellow' bits to use plus a bit of gold - well it is a kind of yellow isn't it?

A clock face led me to thinking about 'time flying' and so I had a look for some smallish wings to attach.  This time they did not look right left white and so they got a bit of Fossilised Amber on.  I had to outline them with a black pen as they faded into the background and the addition of the word in black seemed to marry the whole page - central picture, outlined wings and word.

So there it is, my latest page for Art Journal Journey.

Jeudi Journal

"If I'd Known you were Coming I'd have Left the house" is the Dylusion quote for this week.  I wanted a figure with attitude so I chose the cat with her hand on her hip.  Is that really Cattitude?  Her visitor looks a bit grumpy so he fit the bill perfectly, after-all he would not be pleased with a reception like that.  Wonder if he came far to visit her?

I think the background was Teal and Lime Dylusion paint, both applied with a damp babywipe - it was quite a while since I did the background that I have forgotten.  Lucky for me I had some houses already stamped, printed and even cut out so I used those in the background and left them as they were with no colour on.  

Once again I cannot find the words Wendy did for me so I have had to type them out myself.  One of these days I might get organised.

WOYWW 505

Here we are again but this week the snow has gone.  Actually there are a couple of little spots on our front lawn where the snow still lingers.  And a drinks carton that someone has obviously thrown over the hedge - why do people do this?  It was fun looking out last week and seeing the various footprints left by the little birds as they hopped along looking for food.  Yesterday I saw a blackbird, which I believe is a ground feeder, sat in the Magnolia bush trying to get at the fat balls we have hanging in a cage there.  Shows how much we need to consider our little feathered friends.

Well, my desk just shows the aftermath of the construction of my pain diary (2 black and red sheets) which is for the physio.  I needed some small letters to fit in the space I had left so I used the inner letters from a set I think is called 'cargo'.  It is a very old Spellbinders Alphabet set which cuts out a circle with the inner dropping out so you get two sets of letters for each cut you make.  Handy really but most of the time i don't have all the letters I want ready cut out - or they are the wrong colour, still, occasionally they fit the bill.

I might tidy the mess up later today, after I have joined my friends at WOYWW.

Monthly Diary

I almost forgot to post this - in fact I had started writing it up and then left it to play 'catch up' at a later day, which is going to be today.  It is important I keep up with this as it is a pain diary for the physio who is encouraging me to craft a bit each day.

Decided to use black cardstock so I didn't have to bother with a background and as it was February thought I could get away with just using some hearts in red.  Easy to cut out different sized hearts using the Vagabond - a simple press of the button and away it went.  I have a hand held punch that cuts out hearts and so Chas got busy with that for me - in fact I have so many tiny hearts I could make a few Valentines if I felt inclined to do so.

I remembered a Non Sequitur stamp of a man and a lady (Gibson Girl I think they call that style) which could go on and so I stamped and embossed them, cutting them out later, and edged my ready cut out squares in red.  Finally it was the month that needed to be cut out on the Vagabond and the whole thing arranged "artistically?".  

Now to fill in for yesterday and write up that I was up at 6.50 this morning.

Art Journal Journey - The Colour Yellow

The Challenge this month on Art Journal Journey has been chosen by Rike and she has cheered us all up by using the colour "Yellow" - perfect for the month of February.

For my entry I used my Junk Journal that I do with Lorraine  but I guess I am adding things we haven't even listed, but I am so enjoying myself.  I had actually painted a white page with some yellow paint, via my roller. so I used Squeezed Lemonade and Scattered Straw on most of the blank bits.

Then it was a rummage through my 'bag of bits' and the perfect piece of cardstock was there - left over from a workshop with Abs using one of his stencils.  Next it was a "Katy's Corner Collage ATC Pack" which revealed a birdcage with two canaries in, a red flower on a partial yellow background and an advert for some Baking Powder.  

I played around with the positioning of the bits and added a feather (Sizzix die) which I decided to leave white.  This led to my stamping the word 'feather' on a strip of yellow paper and it was finished.  i guess I could have gone on and on with other bits but I chose to call it finished.

I have another yellow page in my junk journal and I think I might just play around with that later in the week.  Now what other yellow 'bits' can I find?