Art Journal Cover ...

I recently moved flat, same block, different floor ... What a pain that was, in some ways I'm sure that it was more intense than moving towns!

Anyway, while arranging the craft cupboard, amongst all of the the lovely stash, that I have far to much of to use in one lifetime 🙂 I found a rather nice 'naked' album, with kraft paper pages, which was great, because it was just what I needed for a new coarse that I am doing, it's called The Savvy Supply School. The aim of the coarse is to show crafters, that great art can be made even on a low budget, that we don't have to have all the branded products of we prefer not too.

The album I found in the cupboard became the star of the of the show, during the first tutorial, called Mark Making....

 I began in the usual way by preparing the from cover using White Gesso, while it was drying I started looking through the flat, for bits & bobs that I could use to make marks or interesting shapes, no paint brushed used here LOL

So, I chose a piece of Hessian (dark blue) a straw (green circles) a tablet blister pack (yellow) a metal bookmark (orange) & a leaf shaped cookie cutter (red) I also tried using the bottom of a fir cone, but it wasn't very successful. After making marks, I edged the sides of the album using blue, green & gold pastels on 3 sides only, smudging them to blend in. Next, I gesso'd & painted a large resin piece, before embellishing it with some good wax!

I used DecoArts Fluid Acrylic Paint on the cover & DecoArt Acrylic Metalic Paint & Cosmic Shimmer Wax on the resin!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges

http://moremixedmediachallenge.blogspot.com

Mistletoe Kisses

Hi, today I am posting another ATC created specifically for a swap, we were just given the words Mistletoe Kisses as a prompt. The cute & pretty style is a little out of my comfort zone, but it was a fun challenge for me! I wanted to create a wintery, frosty look, but didn't want just white! I have learned to love colour & find it hard to not use it now.

I chose an MDF base & after giving it a good layer of white grasp & dried it, I painted it using DecoArt paints in turquoise & white, while gently swirling the colours together quite openly, as opposed to blending them ... I wanted a slightly broken finish.
Next, I coloured some Scrapinec snowflakes, word & icicles used a Ranger paint dabber in white, this left a slight texture on the surface & while still wet, I sprinkled some DecoArt glammer dust for frosting & again allowed to dry.
After glueing on the Scrapinec shapes, I dotted randomly with white paint & on some of those dots I glued some tiny polystyrene balls, as well as a row of the balls on top of the icicles.
Hmm, it still needed colour, so I coloured the icicles & the word LOVE in a pinky blue  & finished the look by adding the coordinating faux pearls! I hope my swappee likes it.

I would like to enter the following blogs:

http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting my blog
Jane x

Heart & Soul

                                  Please click to enlarge for detail

I am limited in my craft time at the moment because I have operations on my eyes for cataracts, my second eye was done  about 4 weeks ago. It takes much longer for my eyes to settle & heal due to added inflammatory markets in my body because of the AS (arthritis) I have always worn glasses because I was shortsighted, however, when they replaced my lens, they have me optic ones that has corrected my straight & it's fantastic! The downside is that I now need reading glasses, which is fine, but until I am given the all clear, I find close work very difficult, hence my lack of craft time ..... I can only do it in short bursts & good daylight. So, I am (im)patiently waiting to be able to book my opticians appointment & get reading glasses & get back to my craft desk on a daily basis.

The ATC above took me 4 days to complete, but I love it

I started with an MDF base, which I painted with black gesso, next I adhered some MDF cogs a metal flower & the music note, using strong gel medium. Next I added a small metal flower shaped button, a metal cog, a heart charm & a copper rose. When dry, I painted it all again with black grasp & left to dry.

I searched through my word/quote box for suitable wording decided on *HEART & SOUL*, but the matt finish card didn't look right against the metals, so I have it a heavy layer of glossy accents & set it aside to dry. Next I painted the whole ATC with green metallic paint, except the music note, which I painted bronze & allowed to dry. Finally, after glueing the wording in place, I added touches of  bronze & black paint, as well as gold was to break up the green ...... I am pleased with the finishes result.

I would like to enter this piece in the following challenge blogs:

https://bleedingartchallenge.blogspot.com

https://welove2create.blogspot.com

http://moremixedmediachallenge.blogspot.com

https://atcsmitherz.blogspot.com