On a roll...

This photo frame was a nasty orange wooden frame from a pound shop that I bought years ago, thinking that one of these days I would do something with it. Strangely, once I got down to it, it really didn't take long, the ideas came thick and fast and it took minutes to put together. The stamps are all from Sir Tim, and the frame itself is painted in a mixture of Claudine Hellmuth and Ranger acrylics (mainly traditional tan and juniper).

This is a page from my little Moleskine journal, with the background done in a Dina Wakely style, with sprayed ink and water circles. I actually used ecoline inks in mini mister bottles, as I prefer the brighter colours, but Dina uses the Adirondack colour washes. You can see how she does it
here.
The stamp is my latest Stampotique purchase - now that Dyan is stocking them, rather than having to send for them from the States, it would be rude not to indulge these urges wouldn't it...
Amazingly, I have actually prepped two more pages in my little journal, one of which has really surprised me, so I have posted it below. I am not a fan of purple in my art, when it comes to clothes, I wear a lot of purple, but I never really like it on paper. But, I have to say, I am quite taken with this:

Tomorrow I really have to get on with some real world stuff, but not before I have been for a ride on my horse, had coffee with a friend, picked my daughter up from Brownie camp and of course blogged my completed May journal page....

Watch the birdie!

How else to spend a wet Saturday afternoon, but in your craft room? I bought these little gems about a year ago, and always intended to do something with them, and the miserable wet afternoon we had today seemed like an ideal opportunity! So, I dragged out the Claudine Hellmuth sticky backed canvas, paints and the sewing machine, and hey presto, my little birdie friend! On reflection, he probably should have been a bit smaller, or maybe I just need to find a bigger bird cage?

Fun and Sun!

Well, how can a day get more perfect? First of all the weather is AMAZING here - warmer than Majorca, and it's not often you can say that in North Yorkshire! Then, I spent the morning at a workshop with Kate, and for once had a really productive morning. I loved doing these, I love Stampotique stamps, and playing with Kate's extensive range of these and Tim Holtz's stamps as well as some of the new Distress Ink colours made for a cracking start to the weekend! I made this pad for a friend who invited us over for a BBQ this evening, thought it would make a change to a bunch of flowers.



I adore this set of stamps (they are from paperbag studios) and I have been lusting after them for ages, so it was nice to have a play, and now I know I really want them!
Anyway, I was on such a roll, that I came home and made this pad for another friend who had us over last weekend. The text is from a Mills and Boon, they are so great for stuff like this! I have cheekily used it as my entry for Wednesday Stamper's theme of the week, which is Orange:



Tomorrow I have to take my son into Harrogate for a swimming gala (boo!), but I suppose it would be rude to go all that way and not call in at Dyan's and satisfy that itch for some of the new distress ink pads....(yeh!)

Can you keep a secret?

I have been reading 'Journal Spilling' by Diana Trout, and she talks (and she is not alone) about the benefits of spilling all your innermost thoughts, fears and secrets into your journal, which sounds like a good idea, except when you then put it out there in the blogosphere for anyone to read! Not just that, but my family and friends often want to see what I have been up to, and even the normally disinterested almost teenage son of a friend of mine wanted to know what I was 'colouring in' when he saw me at it one day. So, those private thoughts, secrets and the like wouldn't be for long would they! Which is why I wrote my secret into my little moleskine, added some torn book pages and then I don't know how many layers of paint over the top. I sanded some of them off in between, and there was a point when you could still make out my writing underneath, but at some point it got covered up! I have to say, I am not overly thrilled with this page, because the colours all got a bit dark and the overall effect is a bit muddy, but 'it is what it is' as my Mum would say. I have given the Stampotique character a zip for a mouth, and the text is from a Mills and Boon novel! I'm not even sure that I will add any more writing to this, we'll see. One thing is for sure, no-one else will ever know what lies beneath!

Whilst I remember, have a look at this! I never knew it was possible to do such things with paper, but Sue Blackwell is amazing.

Grumpy Old Woman

I am convinced that I am getting less and less tolerant and more and more grumpy as time goes by, and if I am noticing it, goodness knows what everyone else is thinking...Having said that, I prepped this page and then thought I would add to it as and when, and I actually found it quite hard to fill the page. These bug images are from rian and the background is painted in claudine hellmuth's studioline acrylics. What bugs you?

Beatles Swap

These are the atcs I have done for Marion's Beatles swap. So many great tunes to choose from, but I went for three of my favourites. The girl is a Stampotique stamp, but I had to shorten her legs to make her atc sized! The background and ticket stamps are by Crafty Individuals.

This Octopus is from a set by Stampin' up and the background stamps are by Crafty Individuals and Paperartsy, with plenty of beeswax to try and suggest the underwater element.

The fool is from printer's block that I found in a box that were given to me by a neighbour, stamped into tissue with the aid of a brayer, as the image doesn't transfer well otherwise. I wonder what I will get in return....?

I'm starting to get a bit scared about how quickly this year is going! Another month down. I don't know if it always goes this quickly or if documenting it just makes it seem as though it is going fast! Anyway, still going, still logging the minutia of my life. I know that some of you were rather dismayed about how organised I was early in this process, so I am sure you will be glad to know that I put the finishing touches to May's page this afternoon, and I haven't even committed pen to paper for the past two days. As far as June goes, I'm just glad that half term is only four weeks away...


Right, off to finish my ATCs for Marions Beatles swap now, so I can post them next! look forward to seeing everyone elses pages!