Art Journal - Page #97

Hi everyone!

I bet you can't believe I am posting so soon after my previous post! Neither can I LOL.

I've been playing in my art journal a lot lately and I seem to forget to add the photos to my blog, so here I go!

I host an Art Journal Techniques group over on FaceBook and one of the most recent techniques we have been playing around with is Collage. This is not my forte I'm afraid LOL. So I thought the best way to ease myself into it was to play around with napkins trying to create scenes. This is what I did in this journal page.

You can view the YouTube video on how I created it here:

Art Journal - Page 97

Here are some photos of the page

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Dylusions Journal Page #5

So....we finally have our dear friend Eileen back with us and boy did we need her back! I couldn't stream without her because she's the one and only who can really push me to my limits.
And today was no different LOL

Today I was 'told' by Eileen to close my eyes and grab three tubes of paint. Well...I 'chose' burnt umber, deep turqoise and pale powder blue (which really looked like a pale lilac). That said I could also use white and black paint.

So we got the background down ok, then I couldn't work out what to do next...so I just covered the entire page with black paint, then wiped some off and went from there.

Eileen said it reminded her of outer space, so I googled 'alien clipart' and came up with an alien saying hi with its fingers and thought HERE'S MY TITLE! "She's back", referring to our Eileen :)

I did record the stream and here are the links to part 1 and 2:

Dylusions Journal Page #5 - Part 1

Dylusions Journal Page #5 - Part 2

So for all you art journallers out there who are looking for new techniques, inspiration, or just plain old art journal fun, why not check out our Art Journal Techniques Facebook Group. We have links to videos, members posting their completed pages, hints, tips and much more! Come and join us here

Art Journal Techniqes - Facebook Group

It is a closed group so you will need to request to join. It's closed just to keep the spam to a minimal.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Series - Wedding #14

Well I've made another card! What's the go??? It's been so long since I've made a few cards in a row but I thought I was overdue, oh and the new stamp sets I recently bought helped :)

This one could be for either a wedding or an engagement card. I recently made a huge Simon Says Stamp purchase and one of the products I bought was the gift card slots wafer die by Simon Says Stamps. If you ever make cards and include gift cards in them then this is one die you will WANT to own! It makes attaching the card so easy!

B.Y.O.P. stamp set by Stampin' Up!

Gift Card Slots Wafer Die by Simon Says Stamp

Products, tools & supplies used to make this card:

• Card base: white cardstock cut at 8 1/4" x 5 1/4" scored in half at 4 1/8"
• Layer 1 (front): white cardstock cut to 5 1/8" x 4", edges coloured with mustard ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker
• Top layer (front): watercolour cardstock cut to 5" x 3 7/8"
• Inside top layer: White cardstock cut to 5" x 3 7/8", edges coloured using Krylon gold leafing pen and die-cut using the gift card slots die by Simon Says Stamp
• Gift image stamped onto watercolour cardstock using VersaMark embossing ink and heat embossed with Queen's Gold embossing powder by Ranger
• Gift image (from I Break For Stamps) coloured using mustard and pale pink Zig markers and blended with an aqua brush
• All other sentiments are from the Stampin' Up! stamp set called "B.Y.O.P." and stamped using sepia archival ink by Ranger
• Mini Misti stamping tool
• Paper trimmer & bone folder
• Scissors, double-sided tape, dimensional foam tape, big shot

Click Here to view the video on how I made this card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Series - Baby #7

I'm back with my first card blog for this year??? Unbelievable! I have made them and uploaded YouTube videos but not blogged about them - tsk tsk tsk!

So I have decided to try to add more information about the cards (and maybe journal pages) I create, from now on...so here goes!

I recently made a Stampin' Up! order, one of the products I ordered was this adorable stamp set!

Baby Bear stamp set by Stampin' Up!

How stinking cool is this set??? It has a 3-stamp layering set of a teddy bear! As well as a 2-stamp layering ribbon bow set! Stamps just keep getting better and better! The sentiments included are also so adorable. I just love this phrase "to hug and to hold, from this day forward".

Anyway as soon as I received my order I started playing around with the teddy bear stamps, trying to work out the best layering steps and currently I love the following colours:

For the first layer I chose the solid bear (bottom left of above pic), I chose a medium shade (MementoLuxe Toffee Crunch), the next bear (bottom right of above pic) I chose the lightest shade of ink (MementoLuxe Wedding Dress), and the top layer, the remaining bear (top right in above pic) I chose the darkest ink shade Memento Rich Cocoa. I felt the darkest shade of ink needed to be the last stamped because it had those details that define the teddy bear - eyes and snout.

I've yet to work out which two colours work best with the ribbon bow, but I'm sure I will be using this stamp set for a long time and should work it out sooner or later LOL.

Now even though this stamp set is a photopolymer clear set, I still think that the use of a mini Misti stamping tool helps to align each layer perfectly. Yes, I broke down and bought one LOL.

                     

Click here to see how to use this amazing stamping tool!

So here are the tools, supplies and products I used to make my card!

Card base (cream shade): 8 1/4" x 5 1/4" (scored in half at 4 1/8")
Front of card - layer 1: Kraft Recollections cardstock cut at 5" x 3 7/8"
Front of card - top layer: die cut from cream cardstock using the "stitched rounded rectangles" die set by Die-namics
Inside layer 1: Kraft Recollections cardstock cut at 5" x 3 7/8"
Inside layer 2: Cream shade cardstock cut at 4 3/4" x 3 5/8"
WRMK Corner Chomper - rounded all corners of card base and layers at 1/2"
Sentiments stamped with "rich cocoa" Memento Ink
Teddy Bear stamp - first layer "toffee crunch" MementoLuxe ink, second layer "wedding dress" MementoLuxe ink, and top layer "rich cocoa" Memento ink
Ribbon bow stamp - first layer "salty ocean" distress ink, top layer "versamark" embossing ink then heat set with light blue embossing powder by Ranger
Bow adhered with Glossy Accents
Top layer of front of card adhered to second layer with foam tape
All other layers adhered with double-sided tape
Other tools used: Scissors, paper trimmer, embossing pillow, Mini Misti stamping tool, heat gun

Click Here to watch the YouTube video I uploaded on how the card all came together.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Back to 'normal'?

Hi everyone!

Just thought I'd give you all a quick update as I've not blogged for a while. I have crafted some, but not as much as I'd have liked, as real life gets in the way of our crafting sometimes, as it should be LOL.

So...I have suddenly been thrust back into parenthood with the arrival of my 17 year old grandson, Cameron, our doorstep. Rebellious teenage years - oh how I remember them like they were yesterday, went through it all myself and with my 3 daughters. But who could predict I would have to go through it all again at my age!

Anyway, he's now settled in with us, he's attending one of our local high schools but has yet to find a casual job. If I remember rightly, it helps to gain employment if you actually get out there and LOOK for it! Sometimes I just shake my head, but continue to love him for who he is.

Anyway there has been a lot more going on, family coming and going for the past 3 weeks and it will continue that way for the next month or so. We are going to visit my ailing mother-in-law soon so we will have time to visit with other family members also, this can only be one heck of an emotional time, as my mother-in-law is 93 and recently had a mild stroke. So fingers crossed she remembers us when we visit and we can spend some quality time with her. We will try to visit as many family members as we can while we are there but with only 3 days to fit it all in I think we're deluding ourselves LOL.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi to everyone and let you know that I will be trying to keep my blog updated with my crafty adventures more regularly.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

Jen

Art Journal Techniques Challenge Information

Hi everyone

As some of you already know I stream live on Ustream most Fridays at 11am AEST (that's 9pm Thursdays Eastern USA time). What resulted in a recent impromptu stream was an idea that a lot of my art buddies wanted to be involved in. The idea was an art journal techniques challenge. How would this work? I'm still trying to sort it out but will attempt to convey our ideas here.

Each week someone will stream an art journal technique, explaining all the types of products you could use, any way you can achieve that technique and how to apply it to art journalling.

We will start off with me (guinea pig) today and we will work out who will next be the 'teacher' or 'guinea pig' for the next technique and will announce it on that broadcast.

What we aim to do is make it as fun and as easy as possible for anyone to attempt that technique. That person can then upload their photos or ask questions via any of the following three options.

There is a FaceBook Group set up called 'Art Journal Techniques' for more detailed information (still working on it so please bear with me) on each technique and documentation on the technique. You can upload photos to the albums (yet to be created at this stage), ask questions, suggest new techniques or suggest we revisit old techniques. It is currently a "closed group" so you will have to request to join. Here is the link to the FaceBook Group:

Art Journal Techniques Facebook Group

I know some of you are not FaceBook users so I have set up a Flickr Group for those wanting to upload their photos. Here is the link:

Flickr Art Journal Techniques Group (this link is correct)

A lot of our art buddies use Twitter to chat and let us know what is going on in the art world so we have created a hashtag for those wanting to just tweet their photos of the technique they have tried. The twitter hashtag is:

#artjournaltechniques

If you would prefer to use Instagram then you will have to add each of the streamers or participants as followers of your account. Don't forget to use the hashtag #artjournaltechniques when you upload your photo of the technique to Instagram.

My username on Instagram is ozegran and here is my Instagram link:

ozegran

The streams will be live and will be recorded. Most streamers upload their recordings to YouTube so you will be able to go check out the video again and again until you are happy that you have successfully learned that technique. I do not upload my Ustream recordings to YouTube so I will upload a new video on that particular technique to YouTube. There will be a list of recordings (Ustream and YouTube) available here on my blog to make it easier for you to access. Please give me time to get this organised too LOL.

Now to the fun part! Anyone can join in on the fun, trying the techniques we provide but you don't have to upload photos of your work, heck you don't even have to try the techniques if you don't want to. This is all about learning techniques to apply to your art journalling and having FUN!

So let's start playing :)

Mandy's Temperature Blanket Swap

Hi everyone!

For those interested in a "Temperature Blanket" swap that my daughter, Mandy is hosting, I decided to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and make the information available for you here on my blog, all in the one place.

This swap will commence as soon as we have at least 7 (4 more to go) participants and you must have all your 6 strips posted no later than 31 January 2017.

Each participant will crochet 7 strips of 40 stitches by 376 rows (made up of 365 days of 2015 plus the 11 monthly divider rows). You keep one and mail off the remaining 6 to the other participants.

PLEASE NOTE that this is an INTERNATIONAL swap so you will be required to post internationally. Please do not participate if you may not be able to afford the postage.

Here are the links to the documents which give you the details:

• Information Sheet
• Mandy's Temperature Blanket Chart
• Jean's Temperature Blanket Chart
• Mandy's Email

We really hope you can join us!

Bye for now,

Jen

Card File

Recently on my Ustream channel I started working on my online craft friends' bio cards. These cards have information about their online social sites they are connected to and a bit of personal information as well, such as their birthday and address. We love to send and receive happy mail so this is a great system to keep track of everyone and what we send and receive from each other.

To make it more personal I started painting an index card for Eileen, using her favourite colours, stencils, medium, etc. Instead of doing this on a separate index card you could actually paint Eileen's file folder in her choice of medium and colours! This is what I may do for every second one. Don't know yet but it will be colourful, that's for sure!

How to make the card files:
I just cut down a manilla file folder (mine was a foolscap size - I get 4 files that measure 5"x8 1/2").
I scored it at the 4" mark and cut off the top flap section leaving approximately a 1" tab section to write the name on (refer below for brief instructions with photos).

I have a pdf document (click here) which has all the information I used for the bio cards. You will get 4 bio cards from one print of this document. Print one side, turn over and print the other side - they match up perfectly! Cut these down to 4 7/" x 3 3/4", and these are what you will write the information about that person.

I also cut up, fold and staple a small booklet from copy paper which I place inside each card file so that I can document things about that person as well as when I receive something from her or I send her something.

So when I next stream I will be creating another card file on someone else. So if you would like to watch and join in on the chat click here to go to my Ustream channel. I will be broadcasting live on Thursday 4 February 2016 at 8pm (EST USA) which is Friday 5 February 2016 at 11am (AEDT - Australia). Hope to see you there!

• Bio card pdf document
• How to make the card files