Bubbles and Circles

it's been a while since I played properly in my journal ... but this is the "story" of the page you may have seen on Wednesday in the WOYWW post...

I started with a Clarity alphabet stencil that has never been used.. I added circles - the little ones are a Stickles lid, the big stencilled (crafters workshop)

Can't remember what colours I used .. Frescos.. possibly Marlin for the circles

 Gesso'd over to knock it back..

added a touch of pale pink (no idea why, wanted a bit of contrast)  washed over that again to knock it further back, then re-stencilled the bigger circles

 more stencils, the Prima circles (12x12 stencil
 Think I definitely used Marlin for the first layer, then a Reeves Titanium White acrylic paint over the top for the 'bump'.. this is the part you saw on Wednesday, that lots of you liked so much (so do I!)  - the titanium white is so bright, over the blue it almost looks iridescent, which is what makes it appear so dimensional I think (along with the bump)

 added some stamped circles (Emma Godfrey for Paperartsy) - they're gorgeous scribbly circles... randomly over the page.

but I  joined them up with the short lines (same stamp set) also  in black archival, making sure the starting and ending points are the edges of the journal.

Using a long handled paintbrush I doodled green round the circles (It's a new Fresco, can't tell you what it's called yet!) and added some Beach Hut too, to tone into the overall blue shades of the page.

added some white sharpie dots in the circles,
then the words which are a new Lin Brown set for Paperartsy (can you tell I've been splurging again?)  cut into individual pieces.
got a bit of shadow, sorry!

Finally I added some drippage with some turquoise Bombay Ink spritzing with water to drip it down the page.

Thanks for looking - I had great fun with this page... now, to ink up some more new rubber!!

WOYWW 348 - more new stuff!

Hi, and welcome to another week's desk snooping.. new to this? check Julia's the Stamping Ground either here or on her new wordpress set up  - she's fighting back from Google... updates which I admit I'd missed, but all to do with the ongoing loss of followers, apparently soon you'll have to be a google+ account person to comment on google/blogger blogs...

anyway more new stuff I promised... Paperartsy are in the middle of a week of new releases - started on Sunday - and yes, I have new stuff already (thanks to some superb service from That's Crafty and Artist Trading Post...

As you can see, I've hidden some of it, because although the online stores already hold the stocks, not all of the products I've grabbed couldn't wait for started with haven't had their moment of glory on the Paperartsy blog so it didn't seem fair to show them in full.. the stamp sets however, have - the top two are by Jo Firth Young and the bottom one is by a new designer to Paperartsy, Kay Carley.  Can't wait to play with these!   Stencils and new colours of Frescos too... Keep watching the blog at Paperartsy and there are daily videos and Periscopes too.

hiding under my new goodies, is a new journal page in progress, lots of circles and blogs... lots of layers - once I get it finished I'll share it in more detail.

Whichever of Julia's blogs you link up on I'll try and find you, though hoping to keep going with blogger.

WOYWW 347 - new stuff!

Morning and welcome to another What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday snoop.. pop over to Julia's the Stamping Ground for the link/info.

I went shopping on Saturday, with a desire to spend some money... in which I was only partly successful... always the way, you go with an intention to buy new clothes etc, and you don't see anything you want/like...  Anyhow, I digress - I was also intending to pop into the art shops, (a small firm with just a couple of branches, and also Cass Art of which there are several throughout the UK. The Kingston one however, is not very big...)  Cass Art have a sale on... although it may be nearly over, I think it's been going a while now.

 I managed to grab a few bargains..

 "one or two" new journals... the little square one was just too cute to leave behind, even though I don't often work this small... the kraft covered one and the landscape orientated one, are intended just to use for the paper they were quite cheap...

At the back is a Prima journal which a friend gave me... and the A4 spiral bound one is another good size... a spare!

I also got... a pad of mixed media paper and some thick cartridge paper, think these will come in handy for the Wanderlust course I'm doing (and very slowly catching up with)

The paints were a bargain, and the pastels - well, also on offer, but I just fancied trying them!

The tub of paste is fibre paste, so textured, and will be used for... whatever!!

Probably just a well I didn't see much in the clothing area as these bags were heavy!!
I got home and immediately started to play..

 the mixed media pad and the pastels were put straight into action on this piece for the Paperartsy blog challenge...

and I did a bit more to the journal page I was playing with the other week...

So, finally I seem to have got the "bug" back - shame I have to keep going to work- I just want to play now!!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you had a good visit - leave me your desk number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Hearts - Paperartsy 2016 challenge

I completely failed with my intention to create something for the first topic of the new year of Paperartsy challenges, but topic 2, Hearts, was an easy one to play with!  Once again, we are being treated to some wonderful projects from the DT and contributors.

On Saturday I purchased a pad of Mixed Media paper from Cass Art (a UK art shop) and some soft pastels... (along with some other stuff...)  so I had to have a play.

I got so engrossed I only took one  photo along the way..

I stamped the hearts (Sara Naumann for Paperartsy) 3 times on the paper (it's slightly textured) and scribbled three of the pink pastels round the hearts, graduating downwards in shades to the palest.. blended them with my finger and then a barely damp paint brush

I sealed that with a layer of clear gesso.

next, I stencilled some hearts (Dina Wakley) in Bougainvillea Fresco paint, and stamped the teeny hearts in Magenta Hue archival ink.

I filled the stamped hearts with 3d transparent gel and sprinkled some clear glass beads (Finnabair for Prima) into the wet gel, and very patiently let it dry overnight..

The sentiment is from the new Emma Godfrey plate for Paperartsy EEG13, same as the little hearts come from.

Sorry about the photos even with a daylight bulb I can't get them very well - I'll see if I can do better at the weekend when it's properly light!
I'm entering the Paperartsy Hearts challenge here 

What I Really Want - Wanderlust book prompt 2

I have been playing catch up with the second prompt for our Wanderlust book over the last few days and a large part of the inspiration comes from the very talented Chris who is also doing the course and a page she did in a circle journal challenge she's organising...  The prompt was simply "what I really want is..."

 I intended to go with many more layers originally, this is just gesso'd background and stencilling (large prima stencil)

 Created some black lines with Dylusions paint flowing across the pages







doodle and wrote with a large white Pitt  pen

 added some blue pastel ( a new purchase from Saturday, ) blended with finger and brush
this picture is taken with the daylight bulb as I'm too impatient to wait for some proper daylight..

 there is some Prima snowflake paste in the background but I can't get it to show up..

still a couple of challenges behind, but glad to have done this one!

WOYWW 346

Can't be Wednesday again already, surely?  That means another week's gone by and I've done hardly anything crafty and am now at least 2 weeks (and 3 challenges) behind on the Wanderlust course... these cold evenings aren't conducive to crafting, I just slob in front of the telly!
So, you're here for Workdesk Wednesday, brainchild of Julia

my desk today on the floor shows a part-done journal page and some little jars of fabric flowers that I got in Wilkinsons for £1 each I think, (I bought them for the jars truth be told but will use the flowers too - they're a bit shiny, but nothing some paint won't cure!)

 I was struggling with the colours on the journal page because it was dark and of course by artificial light the colours don't look right (especially with long-life bulbs which don't project enough light anyway) so it's been abandoned for now...

I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I have a glut of birthdays in January, these are the next crop of cards (am taking a punt on none of the recipients reading this post as they're not Deskers, so usually give this one a miss)
as they are not yet received...


Thanks for stopping by, have a good WOYWW.

WOYWW 345

It's Wednesday (well it will be when this publishes..) and that means it's time for another snoop at our workspaces... the Stamping Ground is the place for the info/linky

Despite my taking part in the the Everything Art "Wanderlust" course, there isn't a lot happening on my workspace this week... I have, though,  "re-purposed" an empty hamper that wasn't wanted at work...

 it came from Fortnum and Mason's at Christmas and my boss persuaded me to have the empty hamper... I resisted for a while, but in the end couldn't say no!

it opens nicely with a couple of leather buckles and is a nice size as you can see...
No idea what I'll store in it yet, or where it will go when I decide what to put in it... as you can tell I am seriously running out of space!

But, too nice to turn down and certainly too nice to throw away!





Hopefully by next week I'll have completed (started!) my second week's project for Wanderlust and there may even be some art to share for you!
I spent much of the weekend watching Periscopes (live phone/video streaming ) from CHA, the trade show in the States, (became somewhat addicted; another reason not much art got made!) looking at all the new products that are being launched soon... my poor wallet!  Didn't catch sight of our own Neet who was visiting the show though.