a magic time

 Hello - hope you are having a great start to this new week ☺
I have a scrappy share!!  I was inspired by the October sketch from The Scrapbook Store to create this page.

 I just love this photo of my boys with their dad - it was taken recently on a weekend away at the beach.  We were watching the sun setting and it was a beautiful time of day.
I haven't added in a lot of pattern paper.  I like to work with a white base and create my own backgrounds.  For this page, I've created a mixed media feel in the background.
The sketch shows circles, but I've chosen to keep my photo's rectangle!
Here are a few close-up's:

 I love the shine these gold sticker letters give - I've also added in some sequins too.

 I love wood veneers - these hot air balloons worked well on this page.

The background is a combination of:  paper circles, texture paste with stencil, water colour paints, mist and ink.

In between a lot of other projects and busyness of life, this is my second scrapbook page for October.  Not so many ..................... but I'm glad to fit some in ☺

Creating with love + happiness

precious days

 Hello - the school holidays have been and gone ..................... and we are now back in full swing in life's routines and the last term of the year!!  WOW, this year has flown by ☺
This past week, I've been creating a scrapbook page, using the October Prima Sketch as my starting point.

 I used a recent photo that is very special to me:  me with my mum and two sisters ♥
It's not that often we are all together, so we take the opportunities and get a picture to remember .
I used the Epiphany collection, Prima flowers and some Prima stamps. There's a bit of texture paste happening too with circle stencils.  Lots of fun little elements - I really enjoyed putting this one together.
Here are some close-up's:

 Layers of circles, sequins, flowers, ink and texture paste.  I've used an alphabet die-cut for part of the title == 'day'.

 I love the Prima 'stitched look' stamps!!  I've clustered some flowers over some twine here.

Some more layers and my journal strips.

Check out the Prima blog if you would like to join in too ☺   I love sketches - they are a great starting point to a page and for me - one of my sources of inspiration.

Thanks for coming by.
Creating with love + happiness ♥

canvas art - she was a modern girl with a vintage soul

 Hello ☺ I've been doing a little bit more canvas art and thought I'd share this cute piece with you all.
I recently purchased a book called Vantastic by Kate Ulman from the Fox Lane blog.
A beautiful book all about their travels in a caravan!!  I was inspired by the cover to create a canvas with a retro caravan as the theme ................. and I just love how it turned out. 

 Lots and lots of layers of paper, dressing making pattern paper and paint.

 I found this cute little quote and felt it suited the canvas and also says a little bit about me ☺

So this little canvas sits proudly in my home and makes me long for another camping holiday ................................

Thanks for coming by.
Creating with love + happiness ♥

canvas art - life is beautiful

 Hello there ☺
I've been getting all creative with paint, paper and canvas.  Today I'm sharing a recent canvas!  I'm teaching this one at my kids school - so I took a few photo's to share here!

 It's an 8x8" canvas - I've done a few layers here with paper, dressmaking paper, modelling paste and paint.

 Here is the cute little owl which is the main design on my canvas.  I've paper pieced it on to the canvas and added in details of rub-on's, stamping and black pen.

 Adding in the little details is always the fun part .....  a cute little wooden heart and a little bit of bling ☺

 a few words added in ......................................

 ................. and here it is all complete!

Mixed media is a lot of fun - I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a few more of these as time allows ☺

Thanks for coming by.
Creating with love + happiness ♥

art journal

 Hello everyone - today I'm sharing another part of my art journal - I'm following along with the Art Journal == Tangents & Tactics over at daisy yellow.  And I'm just loving it ♥♥
Each week, there is a prompt, including video's to watch and be inspired by.  No #3 is to create an accordion album from manilla folders.  You can find the details at yellow daisy.


 

 So here's what I've come up with:

 I've used a Better Homes + Gardens magazine and cut out lots of little pictures that 'spoke' to me, of all things that I love!!  It's all about pink, tea & crochet - some of my favs at the moment ☺

 I've used an art medium to collage all the pictures on each little page - this also created a great 'workable' surface for other mediums I wanted to use.

 Each page is like a 'mini scrapbook' page - paper + embellishments.

 I used quite a bit of Heidi Swapp products = paper & sticker words.

Both sides of the accordion album are filled!!

 

Some area's around each picture have been accented with watercolour crayons - I've drawn in with the crayon and then added water to my finger to blend in the colours.  By using an art medium in the background, it allows for blending in of colour.  I love this effect and it's so simple to achieve.


I love my new stamp set that I got this week ====== HELLO - it's called a click and stamp set - you can click the stamps together to make a word, then simply stamp away.  I found this one at Viva Books ☺

Check out the Yellow Daisy blog if you want to join in - there's heaps of inspiration to get you all 'arty' and 'creative'

Thanks for coming by
Creating with love + happiness ♥

art journal

 Hello crafty peoples!!  Today I'm sharing more from my art journal.  Going along with Daisy Yellow Art - Tangent No 2 !!  This tangent and tactic is about the glass half empty and half full - positives and negatives.
The video provided gave idea's for the painted background and using items around your home for stamping.  

I chose to interpret this as: things I like to improve on & things that are important to me.

 My painted background was done with gesso and paints.  I found a few items in the bin in my craft room and used these to stamp circles and triangles in the background.  I also used stamps and rub-on's.

 I used my manual typewriter to write down things that I feel are negative issues in my life - it's always so easy to think of these things in our minds, but when it comes to writing them down and being honest .......................... it's completely different.  Although this is not all of them, it was good for me to identify some points!

 My little list here are things that help make life positive and enjoyable - I'm thankful for all of these things and so much more.

 The scrapbooker in me couldn't resist adding in a few embellishments too.  I included a photo on this side with a quote which reads: there is always something to be thankful for. 

I love how this stamping turned out, in this corner of the journal - it adds texture and a sense of layers.  I used the left-over paint from the background and blended in the colours a little.

Well, that was week two in this art journalling series - I'm really enjoying this little project.  If you love art journalling, check out Daisy Yellow Art.  It's a very inspiring place ☺

Creating with love + happiness ♥

Art Journal

Hey and happy Friday ☺  Yesterday I shared a little of my new art journal.  Last night I finished off my first page and thought I'd share it here today ☺

I was inspired by the Art Journal Tangents & Tactics series - each week there are prompts, inspiration and a video tutorial.
This week the inspiration was a starburst and to use watercolour.  The video tutorial included lots of art doodling and drawing.
So here's my interpretation:

I have to admit that not alot of this is 'free-hand' drawing.  I have a 'thing' for having things neat and in order - I think this reflects alot in how I craft too - so with the help of stencils I added in patterns and let go a bit with some little bits of doodling and flowers ☺
I'm hoping with this art journal, I can learn to explore the drawing side of art!

I've added in some words and also did a little bit on my typewriter, then added that to one of the sections.

I've also added in some wood veneers - I like dimension and texture and felt the page just needed a little bit more.
The art mediums I used were:  Gesso for the background, watercolour paints, crayons, Faber-Castell PITT pens, black pen & Modgepodge.

A new Tangent & Tactic comes out today, so I'm looking forward to seeing the inspiration for this one.

Thanks for popping by and have a lovely weekend.
Creating with love + happiness ♥

currently creative ...........

 Hello - hope you are having a great week.  I'm linking up with Give a Girl a blog this week to share what I'm currently creating ...............................

 About a month ago or so, I decorated the cover of a journal ..... in an arty kind of way ** reflecting the things I love - paper, yarn and paint. 

 I love how it turned out - it has heaps of texture on it, little words and notes and includes a photo of a little spot in my craft room.

 Even the back has texture and words!

 So being my first art journal, I found I really needed some direction and inspiration before I started ........................................
A bit of searching on the net and I came across Daisy Yellow Art!

This one here really appealed to me, so I've made a start, getting inspiration from the prompts and video tutorial.  Can I say, I'm so excited that I've finally started!!! Here I'm sharing what I've currently created on my first page --

 I covered my page in gesso before drawing on the starburst design - I like the way the paint flows on your page when you have gesso as your base.  I've used a waterproof black ink pen.

I've used watercolour paints and crayons to add the colour to my page.
I still need to put in some finishing touches and add a little more depth - but I love how it's turning out. 
I can't wait to share more each week - thanks for coming by ☺

Creating with love + happiness ♥

reflect - once upon a sketch challenge

Hey - two posts in one day - that's amazing ...... but I wanted to share my page for the Once Upon a Sketch challenge - I always find the sketches so pretty to work with and with a theme to go along with it - that's a great combination to create your page ☺
So here is the sketch - the theme is a quote: you only live once but if you do it right once is enough. I've not used the quote directly on my page, but was definitely inspired by it!

 And here is my page:

 My son has been using my camera, so I have heaps of photo's to work with lately.  He needed to do portrait style for a digital media project, so he found me willing to be his subject!  I don't often create a page about me - but with a photo in hand and a great challenge theme, I took the opportunity ☺ 
I've used some papers from MME - Izzy collection, Prima & Manor House Creations blooms and mixed media products.
Here are some close-up's:

 I don't often use many flowers on my pages so this was a fun time to use heaps of them ☺  You can also see an Ornate frame peaking out from behind the photo - these are by Manor House Creations and are so pretty.
The sticker letters are by Heidi Swapp - B & W Epoxy sticker letters.

 Some more blooms and my journal work!!
Just some thoughts to reflect on - my little word for 2014 is 'gratitude' so I wanted to bring this in my scrapbooking as well.

I've used a white paper bag to matt my photo - it's easy to distress and curl the edges.

I had a great time creating this page and am loving mixed media and incorporating it on my pages. 
Thanks for coming by ♥

now & then

 Good morning and a happy Monday to you all ☺
Today I'm sharing one of my pages that I've created with my March kit from The Scrapbook Store.  I'm working with the Now & Then - Izzy collection by My Minds Eye.  This is one of those fun and versatile collections, suitable for all types of scrapping.
Here is my first page!

Project: March DT Kit - MME - The Scrapbook Store
Title: Now & Then
I've gone with a mixed media background - lately I've been playing around with textures, stencils, gelatos and mists - all very fun to combine.  I also happened to use some packaging from MME which in turn became my title ☺
Here are some close-up's:

 For the textured pattern - I've used the Texture Mesh stencil from Memory Box!  I have found that when doing mixed media it's best to let each layer dry naturally, rather than speed dry.  I tend to have a mixed media project on the side, so I can keep going back to it and take my time.  I've built up the layers with paint, ink, mist, gelatos and stamps.  For some extra details, I've also used a black pen with the same stencil.

 Here is that lovely piece of packaging!!  I covered some of the printed words with sticker letters by MME - I've also used a flair pin from this same collection.
This collection has some really cool 3x4 journalling cards, great for Project Life.  For this page, I've layered a couple under my photo as seen above!

Here is my journal work with my typewriter. 

Products used:

12x12 pattern paper - Good Times Range - MME

12x12 pattern paper - Smile Regard - MME

3x4 journal card pack - MME

Flair Pins - MME

Sticker letters - MME

Ephemera Pack - MME

Memory Box - Texture Mesh

Faber Castell Gelatos

ink

script stamp - Prima

stitched circle stamp - Prima

mist

paint

modelling paste

cotton thread

black pen

I will have another couple of pages to share using this great collection - MME is always fabulous.  Please check in the store to view more from this collection ☺

Thanks for coming by ♥