Art Journal Advent 2021 - Days 20-24

 Hello All.

I thought I'd better share my final few pages for Art Journal Advent before I forgot. Lol!

Day 20 - To Simply Be. I just created a simple intuitive page, using watercolour paint and my favourite techniques.

Day 21 - Rest. Another fairly simple page, on which I used my hand-carved face stamp, and just Quinacridone Gold and white acrylic paint. There's some collaged papers underneath too, just peeking through.

Day 22 - Look Back. I have used tissue and a teabag on this page, so you can look back through the layers. I really like this page, one of my favourites.

Day 23 - Winter Wonderland. This is one of my favourites too.

Day 24 - Your word for 2022. I chose Explore. There are a few things I want to explore, watercolour painting is one of them, and more collage :-)

Thanks for visiting me today, and all through 2021. I really appreciate your encouraging comments too.

Hugs,

Alison

52 Weeks Art Journal - Week 51 - Keep It Simple

 Hello Everyone.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We got to see our two children, which was so precious after last Christmas. They've both been vaccinated and boostered, and did their Covid tests, so it felt reasonably safe.

Today I have managed to get back in my art room, and I created a couple of art journal pages. I'm sharing the page I made for week 51 of Raspberry Blue Sky's 52 Weeks Art Journal challenge. Keep it simple was the prompt.

I'm linking this page to Valerie's When One Door Closes, Another One Opens theme at Art Journal Journey.

Thanks for visiting me today,

Alison

Kasia's Care December - Days 15-20

 Hello All.

I have the final few Care December pages to share with you today. It's been a wonderful reflective month, and these prompts have helped me to take some time for myself and think about what really matters.

Day 15 - Online Self-care. Take a look at the people and pages you follow online, and weed out the ones that don't bring you joy.

Day 16 - The Muddy Greys of Winter.

Day 17 - Acknowledge and let go of negative thoughts.

Day 18 - Winter Solstice. Plant something and watch it grow.

Day 19 - This is me. Take a selfie, be accepting and don't judge yourself.

Day 20 - Make a wish upon a star. Set an intention.

I hope you've found some time to care for yourself this month too.

Alison

Art Journal Advent 2021 - Days 16-19

 Hello Everyone. I hope you're all well, and have some pre-Christmas treats planned for this week. I have my usual walks planned, but they are always a treat whatever the weather.

Today I have a few more pages to share for Michelle and Tamara's Art Journal Advent Challenge.

Day 16 - Scent. I sketched some lavender. I remember my Gran telling me to put lavender oil on my pillow to help me sleep better. My guinea pig Elliott enjoys munching on lavender too.

Day 17 - To Grow. I created a mandala which grew out from the teabag in the centre of my page.

Day 18 - Meaningful. The Nativity is the true meaning of Christmas for me. I used a Christmas card I received as a reference for my sketch. I used gold watercolour paint for the halos. 

Day 19 - The Power of Love. I used some of my hoarded 7 Gypsies patterned papers.

I printed and cut out some photos of my family to insert in the stamped hearts.

Thanks for visiting me today.

Alison

52 Weeks Art Journal - Week 50 - Winter

 Hello All.

Here's my week 50 page for Raspberry Blue Sky's 52 Weeks Art Journal. This week the theme is Winter.

I love Winter trees. They have such beautiful shapes. Also, without the leaves to hide amongst, it's much easier to spot birds in them!

Thanks for visiting me today. I hope you've had a good weekend.

Alison

Kasia's Care December 2021 - Days 10-14

 Happy Weekend Everyone!

After a nice but cold walk early this morning, then cleaning out the guinea pig cage, I found some time this afternoon for a bit of art. I'll be sharing that another day though, as it's too dark now to take photos.

However, here's my next instalment of Care December pages.

Day 10 - Silver. Apparently silver is a magical colour often associated with the aura of the female. I found a photo of my best friend, myself, and my daughter, taken about 10 years ago, and put it centre stage on my page.

I painted around us with silver watercolour paint. It's very shiny.

Day 11 - Your Senses. I listened to the robins in the cafe garden, whilst drinking a sweet and spicy chai latte.

Day 12 - Paint a watercolour robin. 'Robins appear when loved ones are near.'

Day 13 - A spontaneous call. I didn't make a call, but I did message my cousin the first time in a few months, to suggest a meet up in the new year. I journaled about that, then created my page over the top.

Day 14 - Embrace the mundane. Do some mindful stitching on your page. I stamped the face I carved recently, then used variegated embroidery thread to stitch the outlines. I didn't find this mundane at all.

Thanks for coming by today. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Alison

Art Journal Advent 2021 - Days 11-15

Hello All.

Here are a few more of my pages for Art Journal Advent.

Day 11 - Free Spirit. I used the face stamp I carved for Care December last week.

Day 12 - Dreams That Give You Strength. I used a 'people' mask I cut out a while back for gel printing.

Day 13 - Priceless. Spot the teabag in the centre.

Day 14 - Hodgepodge. An eclectic collection of paper and fabric collage.

Day 15 - A Burst Of Courage. This is me hiking on a mountain in Chamonix, 2017. We climbed the mountain too. I couldn't imagine doing this 10 years ago. Using walking poles, as well as losing 3 stone in weight, has given me a lot more courage. 

I think you could say that a door opened up for me, so I'm linking this page to Valerie's One Door Closes, Another Door Opens theme at Art Journal Journey.

Thanks for visiting me today,

Alison 

 

Kasia's Care December Days 4-9

 Hello All.

I have a few more of Kasia Avery's Care December pages to share with you today.

Day 4 - A letter of thanks to yourself. I scribble wrote my letter in pencil, it's just about visible in places.

Day 5 - Clouds.

Day 6 - Care for your space. I found a box to put some of my collage fodder in, and made my space a little tidier. All of my pages start with a layer of collage. I used acrylic paint on this page, with gold acrylic ink accents.

Day 7 - Carving. I've missed carving stamps! Kasia carved a face similar to the one I carved. This stamp is going to be so useful.

Day 8 - Winter spices. Mixed spice reminds me of Christmas biscuits. I mixed some into the acrylic paint on my page. I wrote down 3 of my favourite things too.

Day 9 - Release. I wrote down some negative things about myself that I wanted to release.

That's all for now. Thank you for visiting me today.

Alison

Art Journal Advent 2021 - Days 7-10

 Hi Everyone.

Here are a few more of my pages for Art Journal Advent. Some of the prompts are quite tricky, but I'm enjoying the challenge.

Day 7 - Pause. Looking out of the window at my garden calms and centres me.

Day 8 - Fulfilment. Walking in the countryside and bird-spotting brings me lots of fulfilment.

Day 9 - Boundaries. Sketching over the boundary lines, or are they fields separated by hedges?

Day 10 - Inner Strength. She looks like she has inner strength, but my thinking was that it's taken a while, but I'm now lots more confident in drawing faces.

Thanks for visiting me today.

Alison

52 Weeks Art Journal - Week 49 - Under The Influence

 Hello All.

This week's theme for Raspberry Blue Sky's 52 Weeks Art Journal is 'Under The Influence'. My page was influenced by the wonderful artist Gerhard Richter.

It was very strange for me not to add splatters or words! Is it still an art journal page?

Thanks for visiting me today.

Have a great weekend.

Alison

Kasia's Care December - Days 1 - 3

 Hi Everyone.

Here are my first few pages for Kasia Avery of Everything Art's Care December Instagram challenge.

First of all, here is the cover of the little junk journal I made with packaging. I do enjoy making these small junk journals for specific challenges. Can you see the tiny red 'Warning! May be habit forming!', underneath the title? :D

Now onto the pages...

Day 1 - Set a new intention. 

How about taking a few mindful moments to look at the moon each night?

Day 2 - Rituals.

Before I start to create, I usually make myself a cup of tea or coffee, and this time of year I sometimes light a scented candle.

Day 3 - A Winter Walk. Get outside and gather some natural materials to arrange and sketch on your page.

I hope that you're all having a good week.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Alison

Art Journal Advent 2021 - Days 1 - 6

 Hello All.

I'm joining in with a couple of Instagram Advent challenges, one of which is Art Journal Advent, organised by Michelle/RaspberryBlueSky and Tamara/MaraKreativStudio. 

I created a junk journal, using some Amazon packaging, graph paper and ledger paper, and decorated the cover with some collage.

Here are my first 6 pages.

Day 1 - Here and Now.

Day 2 - Movement.

Day 3 - Glitter and Glamour.

Day 4 - Femininity.

Day 5 - Rituals.

Day 6 - A Moment of Happiness. We spotted a Sparrow Hawk on our early morning walk today.

I love creating these fairly quick little pages. I'm also doing Kasia Avery of Everything Art's Care December challenge at the same time, and I'll show you my first few pages from that tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.

Alison