France Papillon's FB ALAD/ASAW - week 3 "say yes to everything"

Hi, again.
I have another spread for you in my journal I am dedicating to the a layer a day/a spread a week Facebook group challenge - say yes to everything - you can see the details about the challenge here

Whilst saying yes to absolutely everything could get one or two people into serious trouble, in a journal it is no problem!

Here is my finished page, before I give you some step by steps - the joy of doing just one layer a day (it is still SO hard to stop!)  does mean at least there should be no problem with forgetting to photograph a layer!

I started with a layer of Paperartsy Fresco chalk acrylic (still my favourite go to paint for journalling - so pleased to see some new colours being launched at Creativation at the USA trade show this week)

Lake Wanaka,  a gorgeous blue - spread with an old credit card

 Day 2, I tore some old book pages (a Russian book text that was gifted me by my friend Chris)
which I stuck and sealed with matte medium








Day 3 I added another, lighter, brayering of paint (Antarctic, a really pale blue) to tone it down.

Day 4, I stamped a variety of circles.. who doesn't love circles?!

stamps by Paperartsy the blue inked ones) and a bottle cap dipped in white paint 

Day 5 I stencilled Coarse Texture paste through a Paperartsy stencil (you can possibly tell I was too impatient to link today's later to the FB group album to wait for it to fully dry...)

I used a paste by Reeves which I've had ages... using up stuff still, you see!

 Day 6, I added a row of skulls - stamp by Carabelle Studio - love these skulls... this is the first time I've used them - I did stamp them out when I first got them but haven't actually used them on a project before...

the row of skulls is about 12 inches, and I had to snip it in the middle to allow the page to close still

 final day, layer 7 - edged the journal with Cornflower Blue archival ink, and added the Dina Wakley stamped sentiment, stamped on a piece of the original Paperartsy Crinkly tissue, (hoarding it) which I tore and glued with matte medium to the page..

 was pleased how well the torn edges blend into the page so you can see them

you ca see the texture paste well in this one, and get a good idea of how coarse it is.



Say yes to everything - yes to using up stuff, yes to using new stuff, 






Really enjoyed this week's page coming together, but must now go and see if the next prompt is ready, to start all over again!

Thanks for looking.

WOYWW 450

Happy Wednesday again, deskers!  That week went fast (again).. it's time for WOYWW again.
Still in a creative buzz at the moment; I really hope I can keep it up!

so there are a mish-mash of things going on
balanced on the tubs of pastes, is this week's journal page for the France Papillon FB challenge,

in the middle of the workspace is an MDF tag that I'm working on (no more info, it's a secret!)


the scraps box just behind the tubs of paste is in serious danger of toppling its scraps everywhere.. I need to sort through that soon

this was a journal page for me I did at the weekend
(full details in the post below this one)











and last week's FB page (two posts down!) which many of you have seen


I am much more comfortable working in journals than on other surfaces at the moment, not sure why that is, I intend to pursue other projects to try and change it... watch this space!




I'd just like to thank the deskers who use Google + for always visiting and leaving comments, when I cannot respond...
to answer Sarah, that stencil you liked so much, by Stencil Girl is called Curves.  it's 6x6. 

Hope you all have a good week.

Oh, I nearly forgot to say... I spent part of Sunday throwing out some old magazines (Crafts Beautiful type from 2005/6 ) and stamp catalogues... from 2002/3.. a whole recycling wheelie bin full... the clear out has started!

Another Journal Page - Appreciate Beauty

When I was using the modelling paste for my ALAD/ASAW journal page, I wiped some excess on my square journal (that I'm loving)

Yesterday was time to add to it. 
I thought I'd taken a picture of just the stencilled background, but hadn't.   I sealed it with clear gesso as I didn't know then what was going on top, but didn't want the colour to soak into the paste.

The colour is Portfolio pastels, chosen randomly

 I blended the colours with a baby wipe, and then spritzed the page with water and dried it.

I loved the reaction of the portfolios over the paste

 but it was bright, so I added a coat of white gesso, using not the brush in the picture but my Prima silicone brush.

Stencilled the wildflowers with Paperartsy Little Black Dress paint - Tim Holtz stencil (the big one, not a layering one)










Created a Distress Oxide background on Paperartsy Smoothy card - various bright flowery colours.

Die cut the TH wildflowers
Over the journal, I stencilled (Crafters Workshop) , ringlets stencil in blue and green distress oxide, but it doesn't show up much
so used a stencil brush and pounced some blue and green on as well.

Spent ages gluing the diecuts onto the background, getting very sticky in the process.
Added a border of walnut stain and black soot DO ink to the page.

 sound some TH Big Chat stickers for my title/quote and outlined it in a black ecoline pen












Finished page

Week 2 of ALAD/ASAW

So, France Papillon's A Layer a Day/a Spread a Week.  week 2,  prompt was Visualise...my biggest dream for 2018.

Well I didn't do too much dreaming but I did visualise the spread at the outset of the week and only deviated a little bit from my plan! 
Here are some step by step photos of the way it panned out..

 day one, cut some patterned paper into strips... (a Prima pad from my stash... 2018 is the year of use it up!) 


in hindsight (that valuable crafting tool) I would have varied the height more...

my initial inspiration was from the memory of one of France's Journal on Monday videos from I don't know when! 

 day two, stamped a Dina Wakley script in Potting Soil archival ink..

Day 3 where I thought it was going wrong... used the Melted Chocolate Dylusion spray, spritzing and dripping from the end of the tube... went a bit pinky as it dried... 

did not like it much at this stage (but France did... )
anyway, onwards to day 4, layer 4...

 Day 4, (which had been going to be day 3)
applied more strips of the same paper horizontally...

 and this is what it looks like with the flash!

day 5.... stencilling.  started out so well..

used an opaque white modelling paste (Finnabair's for Prima)   was still nice and white whilst it was wet...

but of course what I hoped wouldn't, did happen - the paste in drying picked up the colour from the drippage/sprays underneath.  and became pink....


but it's ok, there are no errors only lessons for the future...

and it seemed quite popular on the Facebook group...

 look how pink it looks!

 Day 6, apply a focal image... two, actually.

Tim Holtz paper dolls (2018 is the year of use it up... have had these months and months and these are the first ones I've used from the packet0


I sat the man on one of the horizontal paper strips to ground him, and the girls stood on the edge of the page...

 day 7, final layer... splatters.

I was always going to add splatters.

after my issue with the paste on day 5 I was wary... but have splattered black and white acrylic paint ... it's still wet so we'll see what happens..  (it seems to be going a bit pink...)

and edged the pages in Black Soot Distress Oxide.



Week 3 commences today... we'll see what happens next!

WOYWW 449 still creating

start as I mean to go on... this year I WILL make art! 
But first, it's Wednesday, so it's WOYWW  - time to share and bare all on our workspaces.  Head to Julia's for the link.

My last order from Country View's advent event came, it was photographed before being (part of it) put away... my stencils have a home, the rest doesn't! 

 a set of Tim's layering stencils, a pot of Finnabair's wax, in a pretty pinky colour; and some blueish glass glitter.   You can tell I had mixed media projects on my mind...

 some of you saw in the post just before this one (I know, I blogged a non WOYWW post!) a journal page I did last week for a Facebook challenge - so on my floor today, is the start of this week's (top left of the 3) another page in progress on the right, and another new journal that I started - because obviously having just 2 I'm working on, isn't enough...

close up of the bottom square page... I used the stencil on a birthday card and liked the effect so much had to re-create it in journal form - the stencil is 6x6 so smaller than the journal, so I started with the middle and then filled in round it.

the stamps are by Dina Wakley. 

I have another challenge - well a series of prompts - that a group of my friends are setting ourselves to get us crafting again - that needs to be commenced, so I must away!!

Catch you at a desk near you soon. 

A new challenge for the new year - France Papillon - ALAD/ASAW

You saw the start of this on my WOYWW post a few days ago.

France Papillon, that very talented artist, is hosting a journalling challenge through her  Facebook group France Papillon and Creative Butterflies (that's us,her followers!) called ALAD/ASAW - A Layer A Day, A Spread A Week... you can find more details here  on her blog

The idea is, as we are all busy, that we do a layer a day, so over the course of a week, we have a finished spread..

Week One started last week - " first page, let's set the tone"  no more guidelines... just one layer a day...

 I didn't photograph the journal I'm using on it's own but it's the smaller (A5 roughly) one at the front.

Layer one, day one, stencilled modelling paste through the Donna Downey stencil.

 Layer two, day two, Linday's stamp gang sprays - I used the Tibetan Poppy Teal as a spray, and then painted, with the end of the spray tube, Bells of Ireland Green, over the outline of the flower

 Layer three, day three, stamping (Kaisercraft diamonds) in Ranger Garden Patina , randomly, no acrylic block, avoiding the stencilled flower

 Layer four, day four - no separate photo for this - I'm not very good at this game yet !   I cut some images from a roll of quick release die paper - using it as tissue wrap  - and glued the images.


Layer five, day five, no separate photo -  stamped a Carabelle Studio alphabet plate in Watering Can archival randomly in the gaps

Layer six, day six (where I decided the spread was finished)

a tiny (size 1) tag, coloured with distress oxides in several bluey greens to match the background

stamped Just Do It and edged the tag, used some leftover fabric (actually the frayed border from a bathroom towel, nothing goes to waste here!) 



The spread for week 2 is already underway but you'll have to wait for that! 

It is SO hard to stop at one layer... hence my journalling bug having really kicked in and I now have another 3 pages (not for this challenge) on the go at once! 


I am determined that I will blog more regularly in 2018, create more art, and use up more stash (already hitting the patterned paper stash!!  Watch this space!

WOYWW 448- Happy New Year!

Well, that was 2017 - over in a flash!  I hope 2018 will be kind and happy and healthy for all.

We meet once again for WOYWW for our latest desk sharing time.
I thought I'd have my last order from the Country View advent sale but it hasn't arrived yet.

I spent New Year getting a head start on some January birthday cards, I seem to have need for several - but can't share them here yet! 
After I finished my card making session, I was sorting through my new journals for the next one to start, when my friend Emma mentioned that France Papillon had just put a notice on her FB group page, about a new journalling challenge - fate!  I have been itching to start a new journal! 

so I have started that

 the challenge (open to anyone who is part of her FB group) is to do a journal spread over the space of a week, at a layer a day.  Anything you want...

so, the smaller white journal at the front, is the new one I'd decided to use, and I stencilled some light modelling paste through a stencil.  (Donna Downey)



I added some more to a black journal and a large one too, whilst I was at it. 

I added some gelato colours to the black page, but need to go and do my day 2 layer on the FB challenge page.


I'll be round to see your desk at some stage - but being back at work after the Christmas holiday is taking it's toll and I might just put my feet up first....