Art Journal Journey - Fur and/or Feathers

Another journal page for my theme at Art Journal Journey and this time it is one featuring a torn piece of paper which I had in my stash of collage materials.  Now to be honest I do not know where this came from, did I do it or someone else?  If really have no idea but it is something I like and so I decided to use it in my journal with my feathers theme as it featured a bird cage and a little bird holding a sign in the bottom right hand corner.

I went over the already cream background with a little Vintage Photo Oxide ink  and then a touch of Peeled paint around the edges.  I then took a piece of card and stamped one or two images with the green and brown and put the first image on the top.  The whole image was then placed on my page which had been inked with \antique linen Oxide and had had Abs circle stencil placed on top.

One thing I always liked when I did a workshop during the lockdown with Tracy Evans from Aall & Create was how she used bits of card in strips to create texture and interest on a card or journal page and so I used some of the many strips I have saved and added them down the side of the image I now had.  Time for a bird.  Or two?

I stamped and coloured the bird from Tracy's  using Oxide inks and placed him on top of the strips of card.  There was something else needed ... and so I stamped another bird, this time from Tracy's and placed him at the bottom of the page as if he was standing just going into the main image.

I hope you like this page which I think is quite different from my usual style and join me over at Art Journal Journey with something with fur or feathers.

Art Journal Journey - 1927

 Today's page features yet another of the Roaring Twenties women.  I have so many rubber stamps of this era as it was my favourite period when I first began stamping.  Probably captured by the romance of it all at that time.  Saying that I have always enjoyed the art and dress of the Art Nouveau and Deco periods and today's focal image comes from a Non Sequitur A4 Plate which I bought at the time.

I think the young girl is holding a rather large fur stole but you could be forgiven for thinking she has a huge feathered fan.   Whatever it is it fits in with the Fur and/or Feathers theme at Art Journal Journey.  If we look at the postmarks she is either in Casablanca or hoping to go there, perhaps she has a date with Humphrey Bogart?  Or maybe her young man is over there as she does look rather wistful.

To begin with I took my piece of cardstock and Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Dried Marigold Distress Inks and smooched them about the card with the blending tools to try to get a good blend.  Next I stamped the images on the background, again I think they are from a Non Sequitur A4 Plate apart from the one which looks a bit like sequin waste which is one of my background tinies along with the script.

Finally I mounted the image on a piece of blue crd cut to page size in my journal and used the Feather Leaf stencil from Lavinia Stamps in the opposite corners.

This is another of my pages for Art Journal Journey and the Fur and/or Feathers challenge.

Art Journal Journey - Another Bird

Before I begin can I extend a warm welcome to my newest followers Barb and Sylvia.  Lovely to have you on board.

Another bird for Art Journal Journey and the theme "Fur and/or Feathers" but this time a completely different style of stamp to the last one.  This one is from a north UK company called 'Pretty Gets Gritty" and is more of a stylised bird.

This time I decided to use my Distress Inks for the background as I found some die cuts in my stash which were left over bits from some previous work with my Aall & Create dies.  I love these die cuts designed by Abs and use them a lot on my cards.

I took some of the colours from one of the die cuts to determine my background and used an assortment of colours and then stencilled a large feather across the page diagonally.  You can only see a little of it at the bottom left corner and above the wings of the bird.  Similarly you can only see a little of the transparent stencilled dots underneath the letters and numbers.  I got carried away adding things to my page.

I decided to leave the bird white, adding just a touch of blue along some of the outer edges and then I gave it a green stone for its eye.  I added some left over flowers, again Aall & Create, from yet another project to emphasise the colour in the top left die cut and some circles from something I did simply years ago.  

I think I will spend more time looking through my Collage drawers to see what else I can find to use in my journal pages as I so enjoyed using all of this from my stash.  I really would like my journaling to go down a different path to what I have been used to at times.

Jeudi Journal - Fabulous

The words "I am Fabulous" are the ones that came up today for this journal page and they are from a Tim Holtz Snarky Book.

'Susie had gone into town to meet up with her friend Janet.  It was the usual Thursday meeting that they had each month and today Susie was bursting with news to tell her friend.  They always met in the "Friendly Teapot' a local spot for ladies to meet and sharek a cup of tea, or coffee, indeed it really was the place to be seen.

Susie arrived early, eager to tell her friend what she had just witnessed, it really had been quite bizarre and Janet would either laugh her sides off or be mortified when she heard Susie's story.  Oh it really was naughty of Janet to be late, any other time it would not have mattered but Susie began impatiently tapping her teaspoon on her saucer much to the annoyance of the old man sat at the next table.  Then Janet arrived and the tapping stopped.

"How are you?" asked Janet.

"Never mind me" replied Susie, "Guess who I saw on my way to meet you?"

"No idea" replied Janet, "but by the look on your face you are going to tell me."

"Well", said Susie, lowering her voice as much as she could, "I saw Mildred Arquhart in the park today.  I was on my way to meet you but had an errand or two to do first so went by the way of the parkland and took a shortcut through Mushroom Way.  I could not believe my eyes."

"Why, what happened, was she with someone?"

"No, she was with her dog.  Well, at least I think it was her dog she was with, it had wings on- and a rose on its head, and boots on all of its four feet, and she has had it coloured Pink!"  Susie stopped to see the look on her friend's face before continuing.  "Well, you should have seen her.  She had a fairly short dress on and a rather large hat - not the brimmed variety but sort of leaves or feathers or something piled on top of her head.  It was quite pretty in a way but then she had the most enormous pair of spectacles on too."

"Go on then" said Janet, "what was so peculiar about that?"

"Well, it wasn't so much what she was wearing but the fact that she was dancing around and around in circles singing  'I am fabulous' and the dog, dressed so stupidly was sniffing the mushrooms.  I began to wonder if she and the dog had been on them.  Then I began to wonder if it was me who had been sniffing them as I walked along.  It was all so very peculiar."

"So did you say anything to her" asked Janet.

"No" said Susie, "I was a bit embarrassed that if I stopped and spoke to her people would think I was, well, you know, a bit like her."

"Maybe she has had some good news, a windfall on the lottery, a part in a West End production or something like that." suggested Janet.

"Mmm," I think I will go and buy a newspaper, if she has had a big win it might be in there.  Hang on a minute whilst I slip out."  

And with that Susie was out through the door, much to the amusement of the old man who had been sitting listening to the prattle of these two young women.  Of coursed the girls had no idea they had been his afternoon's entertainment.'

Gosh another long story, I just go on and on when I start, maybe I should have a story in mind when I do begin.  Anyway, I stencilled some stars at the top of the page and then painted the whole page with Teal acrylic paint.  The stars did not show very well so I rubbed some Pearl Lustre over the top and wiped most of it off with a baby wipe so that it just stayed on the edges of the stars.  Lastly I drew a fancy border around the edge of the page but the scan has chopped it off.  Sorry.

As there is a dog on the page I am entering this into Art Journal Journey where the theme includes "fur and feathers" and even if this pink dog is shaved and does not have any fur I think her wings will have feathers.  

A Little Furry Rabbit for Art Journal Journey

It has been a week since we saw photographs of our Queen, Elizabeth II, appointing our new Prime Minister.  Little did we know when we saw Her Majesty's smile that two days later we would be hearing that she had passed and we would be welcoming a new Sovereign, King Charles III.  It has been a very sad time and her passing has touched the lives of so many as has been shown on television each day.

I was surprised at how touched I became and have had many a tearful moment as I watched things unfurl on our TV.  I marvelled at how her children, grown up they may be, held themselves when inside they must be hurting at the loss of their Mother.  And how wonderful was the new King as he got out of his car and walked over to the waiting crowds to shake hands with some of them.  Of course I enjoyed seeing William and Kate on their walk about, what a wonderful Princess she has made, such a beautiful looking couple. 

On Sunday last I went to a Craft Show in Harrogate, West Yorkshire and there I saw one of my favourite guys, Abs from Aall & Create.   I hadn't seen him since before the pandemic so it was lovely to go and meet up.  Luckily for me the show wasn't busy first thing in the morning so I got to spend lots of time talking to him and enjoying his company so much.  (And had a long chat with Debbie too who I have not seen for ages). So today I must feature stamps from Aall & Create including the light bulbs (387 Steampunk Alchemist) which he uses quite often in his own work (and which I so admire).  Abs,  I have done my best with the light bulbs, honestly.

As I am linking to my theme at Art Journal Journey I had to feature 'fur' and what could be furrier than a lovely rabbit?  I love this image by Bipasha. (529 In The Wild).  The flowers are from 'Lotus Cluster' (stamp 441).

I began by sticking some bits of text on the page, you need to look closely, and then I went over with a turquoise acrylic paint and stencilled one or two ferns in a deeper blue before adding my favourite tiny crackle stamp in Versafine Nocturne.

I hope you like this page and look forward to seeing something you do at Art Journal Journey.

WOYWW 693

Almost forgot to post.  Have been glued to the television watching all the happenings in London.  So sad to see the Queen coming home to the Palace.  It's been a teary time since last Thursday when the news arrived of the passing of Her Majesty.  Almost unbelievable that we saw her with her new PM on Tuesday and then heard of her passing two days later.  I feel so for her family having to put on such a brave face when all they probably want to be doing is hide away and let their grief pour out.  What an example of courage they all are.

Anyway, I am going to have to be quick with this post for WOYWW,  I need to get to bed as I am up and out early in the morning (chiropractor - needed so much). Unfortunately my desk does not contain much activity as far as "making" is concerned.  I have spent the last two days, and more, re-cataloguing my Lavinia stamps.  Not all Lavinia but some that are similar and can be used alongside them.  I have not been concentrating that well and discovered some have been done twice, maybe what has been going on has had something to do with it.  Anyway, here is my desk - or at least the little table I have taken to working on.

At the back are the stamped sheets inside the laminating sleeves waiting to go through the machine.  In front of them are the actual stamps piled up on their acetate sheets.  That is my Versafine Claire Nocturne pad and the dirty thing in front is my babywipe - yes I get as much out of one as I can.  The red bit is my foam mat I use to stamp on.

On Sunday we had a day out in Harrogate.  Haven't been there in ages and certainly not since before the pandemic.  It was lovely to go and visit the town but to begin with I went to the Craft Show for two hours on my own solely to meet up with a couple of friends I have not seen in ages.

First stop was AAll & Create where I could not wait to see my friend Abs.  He is a lovely guy and it was as if we had only met the day before.  I was lucky in that it was early morning and the crowds had not descended so I got at least an hour to chat with him and look what he made for me (below).  He was demonstrating Oxide Blending and his stamps, of course, on circles of card he had pre-cut.  Just for me he used the only big circle he had so this is my special - but it is what he wrote on the back that means most to me.

The next stand just happened to be Stampers Grove and the lovelyn Jo Rice was demonstrating.  It was lovely to see her as she had been to our club the month before doing a class for us.  I had a good old chin wag with her too, and found out that Lisa, who works on the stand with her remembered me from way way back when I did a workshop one Sunday for Happy Stampers.  She said she still has the little book I made with them.  That was in my early days of workshops so I hope I was ok at that time.

Then it was time to see Amanda from Honey Doo Crafts.  I was hoping to see her mum, Kay, as well but she had not travelled up to the show this time.  However I will see her soon at another show they are going to be at.  We had a good old catch up and put the world to rights between us until my cell phone buzzed.

All too soon it was time to go and meet up with my other half and spend the rest of the day with him in and around Harrogate.  The sun was shining, it was a lovely day and we stopped for lunch and then had a trip to Betty's Tea Rooms before setting off home.  I just hope we managed to walk off those calories before they settled too comfortably on my hips.  For some reason they never stay with him!  Not fair.

BTW I have another post scheduled for 7am - it was created a few weeks ago but for reasons was posted today.  I'm not going mad posting twice on one day - there are reasons.

Art Journal Journey - Erté

Erté, or Romain de Tirtoff was a Russian born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté from the French pronunciation of his initials.  He was most famous for his fashion designs and was often called the "Father of Art Deco".  He was also a costume and set designer, and some of the most notable silent films he worked on included "Paris", "Ben Hur" and "Dance Madness". (Wikipedia)

When he was 15 he went to Paris for a year and whilst there he designed "Demoiselle à la balancelle" an Art Nouveau piece which he did not include in his biography as he thought it uninteresting.  I beg to differ as I love the piece and am sure many people do.

His decision to move to Paris, in 1910, was made despite objections from his father who wanted him to continue the family tradition and become a naval officer.  He assumed his pseudonym to avoid disgracing the family.

In 1915 he secured a contract with 'Harper's Bazaar' magazine and launched his career designing costumes and stage sets.  Between then and 1937 he had designed over 200 covers for 'Harper"s Bazaar' as well as other magazines.  He is, though, perhaps most famous for his fashion designs which captured the 'Art Deco period in which he worked.  On Broadway the celebrated French chanteuse, Iréne Bordoni wore his designs.

This is one of my much loved Erté stamps which depicts "Fur" in two ways, firstly there is the dog,  and then the lady is sporting a rather elegant fur collar on her outfit.

Crushed Olive and Scattered Straw Oxides were used for the main background, again with several of my small background stamps.  the teal background page has a Lavinia stencil in Vintage Photo across the base and up the left side.

I  hope you like the elegant figure of Erté and it gives you an idea for a journal page of your own for Art Journal Journey.  Hope to see you there with Fur and/or Feathers.