Granny's wisdom

This page is for Roc's monthly journal prompt, which is for 'what quote moves you in your everyday life?' This phrase is a favourite of my husband's Grandmother, who was married to a man whose favourite quote was 'better late in this life than early in the next'. I often aspire to the second quote, as I am frequently in danger of meeting myself coming back the other way, but as a mantra for life, I think that being lucky has so many benefits. I have a couple of truly wealthy friends, but I don't think that they are really, truly, happy. Don't get me wrong, we aren't on the bread-line, but we are far from rich, financially. We do, however, live in the most beautiful place, have our health, wonderful friends, a large extended family and kids of whom we can be proud. I think that's pretty lucky.

The page is created with Dylusions ink sprays, using a technique I picked up from Kate at the Art from the Heart birthday party last weekend. The images are from downloads I have been hoarding for a while, and I embellished the rich lady with a pearl necklace and a crystal bead as a diamond ring. She is sitting on a torn piece of lottery ticket, because let's face it, winning the lottery is a secret fantasy that many of us have!

A big week!

This week is a big week in our house for one person at least. My ten year old has to take her 11+ tomorrow and then again on Tuesday of next week. For those of you who aren't familiar with such concepts, this is a kind of entrance exam for the Grammar (High)school where she hopes to go next year. It's the most serious thing that has probably ever happened in her life, and at ten, it seems like quite a big ask when it is something that will influence her education for the rest of her life. She is very chilled about it, which surprises me, as I used to have to fight her tooth and nail to get her into school for a spelling test!I, on the other hand, am feeling quite nervous for her, but trying very hard not to show it!
The background paper for this page is a sheet of japanese newspaper that came as packing in a parcel of my husbands. It's a long story, but he is reliving his childhood with Airfix-type model kits of cars, and they keep appearing with the postman from various far flung corners of the world. As a committed scavenger, I saved the paper..
The stamps are a mixture of Paperbag Studios and Tim Holtz (for the stars), and the head and feet of the figure are from Lisa's Altered art, and the body is from an advertisement in one of the British daily broadsheets. I was covering a table at work with newspaper and thought, hmm, that picture of all those marbles could look good on a journal page...I'm sure my colleagues think I am slightly barking as I am often swiping things out from under the children's noses for my own creations!
As you can see,the page is dated the 17th August, as it is one of the backgrounds I did whilst on holiday. Don't know about you, but I just love the combination of colours, courtesy of Dylusions and jo sonja's.

September ready!

So here is the page I showed you previously, but all ready to go now! Since we came back from holiday, all I have been able to do is paint walls and learn how to wallpaper, but haven't done much on the creative side. The kids go back to school on Monday, so there's every chance I'll get to play in peace and quiet.

Lazy days

We have just come back from holiday, I mean literally just come back. The washing machine is going round, the cat is meowing like crazy having been left to his own devices for 12 days (apart one of the local kids coming in to feed him), and we have been to our local half pub/half indian restaurant for something to eat, because the fridge is empty and I couldn't be bothered to cook. We have had a great time walking, cycling and generally kicking back in the Lake district. I spent a lot of time journaling, and the picture above is one of the views I had to admire whilst I was sloshing paint about. I have a few bits and pieces to show you, and wonder of all wonders, I have actually got my September journal page ready in advance! Well, I haven't stuck the squares on yet, but the page is to all intents and purposes ready. I bought these Stampotique stamps ages and ages ago, but just haven't got around to using them, so I took them away with me with the express intention of inking them up.

Whilst I was away, it was my birthday, and I had a lot of luvverly presents, including lots of journaling books:

And this, beautiful journal of rag paper from my friend, you know the one I made the journal in my previous post for? It seems great minds think alike! I have already done one page:


Yes, I know, it is very much the same as my September page, but when I had finished the September page, my husband said, 'I can't believe you are going to stick squares all over that, it's a shame to cover it up'. I had to agree, and so I decided to do it again. Actually it was an interesting experiment, as the different kinds of paper made for a very different result.
A long time ago, at a workshop with Kate Crane, I did an atc in hot pink, lime green and orange, which I look at everytime I use our downstairs loo. It bugs me a bit as I really like the colour combinations, but I was in a bit of a rush, and I didn't blend the colours very well. I decided to have another go, well two actually, one where again, it didn't work brilliantly, and one where it did. This is the not so good one:

The one I really like isn't quite finished yet, so I'll show you that next time. I need to keep a few things back, as I will back on with the decorating from tomorrow, and who knows when the journaling will fit in around that...

Holiday fun

So the holidays are upon us, and I promised my children I would take tham camping for a few days. The campsite is a looong story, but suffice to say whilst the views were fabulous, the facilities were a little...filthy? As we were not keen to use the showers, this waterfall and natural pool were a much more attractive option.
This view made the campsite worth the trip.

And who doesn't take Twister on a camping trip with them? Really, I must supervise my children's packing better...

Since we came back I have been pressing on with the wall and woodwork painting, but I found a few minutes one evening to do this page in my A5 moleskine journal.

Then, do you remember that I posted a while ago that I had been on a bookbinding course? Well, of course, part of the fun of doing a course in a new technique, is the shopping for new supplies afterwards! Whilst I had stocked up in various bookbinding goodies, I haven't had the chance to do anything with them. However, some people in your life are so special that you really want to give them something that you have put a bit of yourself in. So, I made this book for my friend, who as well as being like-minded, is an incredibly generous, supportive, shoulder-proffering, star. (And if she is reading this, she's probably reaching for the tissues now!)
This is the finished product, complete with 7gypsies bookband and 'little feet' stamp from Paperbag studios.

Here you can see that I made the register from 4 sections of handstitched watercolour paper:

I made a little bookplate to put inside with a message:

The book is about half way between A4 and A5, and 3/4" thick. I hope it holds together long enough to get a year's worth of journalling in it!

Ta -da!

In my last post, I said that my new studio was habitable, but not yet showable. Well, now I think I can share a bit of it with you. This is the very old bookcase, which came from husband's grandparents, which I have loved since the first time I saw it seventeen years ago!

Here is my desk, with my favourite pebbles on the windowsill and Charlotte the penguin, and lots of natural light. Believe it or not, if it weren't for the roof of the house opposite, Kate Crane and I could almost wave to each other!

As you will all know, we need somewhere to store all the 'paraphenalia' so I have this bookcase, which has plenty of space for baskets of paint, babywipes, etc, my collection of old books and the journals I am currently working on



and the books which I call on for inspiration..

But my favourite thing is this:

My husband was kitting out a his new office and whilst at the office furniture showroom, saw this and thought of me. Not only can you move the shelves depending on what you want to store, but at the bottom, there is a pull out table. Oo, but I was a happy girl the day he brought this home!
And this is the first creation from my new room. This year, having spent all our money on the building project, we will be spending our summer holiday in the UK, so we will be subject to the vagaries of the British summer - which, at best, could be descibed as unpredictable!

The background is a very patriotic red white and blue, and the figure is a Stampotique stamp.

Woo-hoo!

It has been a busy time in the Haslam house recently, so a weekend away with very little on the agenda, other than relaxing and spending time with the kids has been something of a treat - not least because I actually got my June journal page finished! Well, I say finished, I haven't finished colouring it in in yet, but nearly there...
This month time seemed to be either flying or dragging - depending on the situation. My little sister was awaiting the arrival of her first baby, so for her, the time was dragging. For us, the end of the school year is approaching, ever faster, and it always focuses the mind on how much you have yet to achieve before time runs out.
Suddenly, the building project that we have been living through since last November is almost nearing an end, so I have had a mad dash on to get sanding and painting complete before the flooring people wanted to get the floor laid and carpets down. We are still a way off completing, but the children have moved into their new rooms and they love them! (So do I!)
So, my June journal page was pink and blue (with a bit of yellow in between) as we didn't know what 'flavour' the baby was going to be, and I have used old timetables as a base layer, clock stencils over the paint layers, and cut up a watch advert to make the body of the creature juggling time(the face is from Crowabout). I typed up several different phrases about time to complete the page.
Something of an indulgence was the fact that the first habitable room was my workroom! It isn't quite 'showable' yet, but I have a space to create in for the first time in 6 months! I'm hoping that I can squeeze some journal painting in between the wall/woodwork painting on a more regular basis now!