Some Mini Journals For CJS 20, 21 & 24

 Hello All. I hope you're having a good weekend. I was thrilled today to get my first dose of the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccination. I just hope Hubby will be able to get his soon too.

On Creative JumpStart, we learned some ways to create mini books, which will come in quite handy to use up gel prints.

On Day 20, Amanda Trought showed us some simple cuts and folds to create little doodle journals.

On Day 21, Andrea Chebeleu showed us how to create different watercolour meditative patterns and marks on both sides of paper, then to cut them up to make into a journal.

On Day 24, Diana Trout showed us a few techniques with watercolour, perfect pearls and stencils, creating patterns on both sides of a piece of paper, then folding and cutting to create a maze book.

Thanks for dropping by today,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 25

 Hi Everyone!

I'm jumping ahead to Day 25 of CJS, with Gwen Lafleur's class 'Story-telling with supplies'. Gwen's project was a dimensional collage piece, featuring items she had collected from other countries, and items she had in her stash.

I decorated an art journal with a few papers and bits that have been in my stash for a while. My cover features birds and nature that I love. The old clip on earring with the blue stone belonged to my grandmother, and it's nice to see it out on display again. I loved making this piece!

I'm linking up to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Thanks for dropping by,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 19

 Hello All.

Day 19 of CJS was Love The Person You've Become with Marlene Meijer-van Niekerk. She showed us how to create a watercolour background, then used collage to add a figure representing ourselves, surrounded by some things we love.

Here's my take on the class. 

I used some PaperArtsy stamps for the background and the art doll's face. I added teabags, collage circles and birds cut from a bird-watching magazine. After I finished, I noticed that the collage circles that I added to the art doll body looked like a bird's nest.

I'm linking up to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you're having a good week so far.

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 17

 I was so excited to see Iris Fritschi-Cussens' The Story Of Me lesson on Day 17 of CJS. I discovered Iris' work last year, and I really love her grungy style and edgy portrait art.

Here's my take on her lesson. I'm linking this page to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

I enjoyed myself so much, I did another one! This one was for the 52weeksartjournal challenge run by Raspberrybluesky on Instagram. This week's theme was 'Note To Self'.

Happy Friday to you all! I hope you have a great weekend!

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 16

 I have another page for Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey. 

Tania Ahmed's class for Day 16 of CJS involves gel printing and using book text, two of my favourite things. I also used circles, which are my favourite shape, and scribbly writing.

I really like the words I found, quite appropriate for the time of year. Also, we are still going out at the crack of dawn for our daily walks. The sunrise was lovely this morning, and we saw the sparrow hawk and heron up on the golf course again, which made it even better.

Keep safe and carry on,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 15

 Hello All!

Carolyn Dube's lesson was on Day 15 of CJS. I love Carolyn's use of colour, this was right up my street.

I'm linking this page to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Before I go, here's a card I was commissioned to make by a neighbour. I used papers and flowers from an Anna Griffin kit that I bought long ago.

Thanks for popping by my blog.

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 14

 On Day 14 of CJS, Sarah Matthews showed us how to create a block printed paper quilt. She collaged painted paper scraps and pieces of gel prints all over the page, then added the multi-coloured printing with a hand-carved stamp.

 I enjoyed making the collage, and using up a few of my many scraps. It was also fun to do some stamp carving again.

I got carried away and carved another stamp, but I've yet to use it.

I'm linking up to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Thanks for visiting today,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 12

Hi Everyone!

Day 12 of CJS was Textural Watercolour with Nancy Curry. It was interesting to watch Nancy's process. I managed to create a painting with some texture, although my cheap watercolour paints didn't work as well as Nancy's artist quality ones. It might be time to invest in some better paints.

 The flower centres were made using fluid acrylic paint, and I used a black watercolour pencil for the flower stems. I added watercolour and acrylic paint splashes to give even more textural effect.

Finishing a page with paint splashes is one of my favourite things to do, so I'm linking up to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Thanks for dropping by today,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 11

Hello All! 

Day 11 of CJS was Everyday Storytelling with Riikka Kovasin.

 We used different techniques on old receipts and bills, then cut them into little squares to create a mixed media grid background on an envelope. Then we created an art doll focal image, and added some words and doodling.

I used a mix of Carabelle Studio and PaperArtsy stamps, and Tim Holtz word stickers.

Mixed media is my favourite kind of art, and I'm linking this page to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend,

Thanks for visiting,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 10

 Hello All. 

Day 10 of CJS was Setting The Mood with Jimmy Leslie. Jimmy showed us that painting an undercoat of yellow and orange on a canvas would give a finished painting a warm and sunny look. In the same way, a blue or grey undercoat would give a cool finish to a painting.

We both love getting out in nature for a walk or hike, and I used Jimmy's techniques to paint a sunny walk in the countryside. I must admit that I nearly didn't do this class, as I was afraid of making a mess of it. But I decided it's only paper and paint, so I jumped in. I really like the result, as it happens! The grass was looking a bit flat, so I added some contrasting spring daffodils.

Our walk didn't look like that this morning. Today we braved the snow and sleet at 7.30am! It's all gone now though, the rain washed the snow away.

I'm linking up to Erika's Favourite Things theme over at Art Journal Journey.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Days 8 and 9

 Hello All. I'm so glad I signed up for the CJS course. It's been well worth the money so far, with a great diversity of projects and techniques.

On Day 8 we had Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's class, Story-telling with Symbols. This involved creating a paper stencil that was personal to us, and using it with Distress Inks and a Gelli Plate. I created a stencil similar to Julie's, with dots representing my family and curves being the hugs we are all missing.

Then on Day 9, Danielle Donaldson's project was an Illustrated Mermouse, using watercolour paint. I painted a Mouse Princess instead. 

Here's Princess Pansy...

I'm linking my page to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey. Watercolour paint is quickly becoming one of my favourite things to use.

Happy Friday to you all,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 7

 Hello Folks! Mystele Kirkeeng was our tutor on day 7 of CJS, and she showed us her art process. This involved using a piece of her painted paper that she'd used up paint on I think, then finding an image on it to develop. Her painting was a portrait, but mine turned out to be a crow.

After painting in the crow, I used a pointed tool to scratch into the paint to add texture. I love doing this! I covered up most of the under paper, but you can still see bits of it if you look very closely. I used artistic licence with the crow's eyes by the way, they're not usually yellow. 

Watching birds is one of my favourite things to do, and we occasionally get the odd crow or two in our garden, so I'm linking up to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Have a happy and creative day,

Alison xox

Creative JumpStart Day 6

 Hi Everyone! I was thinking about my favourite people when I created this page, which was based on CJS Day 6 with Birgit Koopsen, 'The Distance Is Only Physical'. There's also lots of colour and splatters, which makes it my favourite type of art.

I'm linking up to Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Keep safe everyone, and thanks for dropping by today.

Alison xox

Creative Jumpstart - Day 5

 Hello Everyone. I love sketching quirky birds, so Jodi Ohl's Whimsical Character Story-telling tutorial on Day 5 of Creative Jumpstart was right up my street. And using watercolour paint was a great way to practise using this medium that I'm still getting to grips with. Also, the idea was to use the eyes to give our character an interesting expression.

Here's Nervous Nell...

I'm linking this page with Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Thanks for visiting,

Alison xox

Creative Jumpstart Days 3 and 4

 Hello Everyone!

On day 3 of CJS, Martice Smith had us looking out and about for inspiration to make mixed media abstract collage papers. She used part of a tyvek envelope to create a mask, and used it with a gel plate. Then she added details to her mono-prints with pens.

I found a photo I took of Berlin Wall art, when we were there a few years ago. I love those abstract faces.

 I created masks to use with my gel plate, cutting around the head and eye, and creating hair at the same time.

I used red and turquoise acrylics to make my gel print, then added details with a black paint pen. 

I used the inner and outer parts of the masks at the same time, one on each side of my plate, with the turquoise acrylic, then switched them around, placing them carefully to match them up, when using the red acrylic. I hope that makes sense.

On Day 4, Catherine Scanlon invited us to make a page about ourselves. My page is very different to hers, as my style of art isn't the same, but the idea is to be inspired to make art with a theme.

I love using collage, and I used my favourite colour combination on my page, so I'm linking up to Erika's Favourite things theme at Art Journal Journey.

Thanks so much for visiting,

Alison xox

AJJ - Favourite Things

 Hello All.

I started a new online class on 1st January. Nathalie Kalbach's Creative Jumpstart runs until Valentine's Day, with lots of guest tutors.

On 1st Jan, Nathalie asked us to pick a word, and to make a sign to hang in our studio. I chose 'Emerge' as my word for the year. You may remember that I used this word on an art journal page in December 'here'.

It's a simple sign, collage on a board background, a layer of warm white acrylic, my hand-written word, then a frame of colourful pieces of gel prints. My sign now hangs by my computer.

On 2nd Jan, Marsha Valk was guest tutor with the theme 'Once upon a time'. I always loved, and still do love, fantasy and fairy stories (mainly by Enid Blyton when I was a child), and made my page along those lines. I used images from an old book of fairy tales.

I'm entering my page for Erika's Favourite Things theme at Art Journal Journey.

I hope you're all having a good week, in spite of the crazy times we live in. I'm off to escape with the fabulous Bridgerton on Netflix again :-)

Alison xox

January 2021 Calendar

 Hello All!

I'm here to start my 2021 blogging year off with my art journal calendar spread for January.

The year has begun with icy cold weather, so I've used PaperArtsy's Seaglass Fresco Finish acrylic, scraped over some collaged teabag papers. Then I used white acrylic and a Seth Apter Impression Obsession stamp to add a background pattern. I splattered on some gold paint, then used burnt umber acrylic and PaperArtsy stamps for the title, and Tim Holtz patterned paper for the journaling rectangles.

Here are some close ups of the teabag texture and background. I love using teabags, so I'm entering my pages at Art Journal Journey, where Erika's theme is 'Favourite Things'.

And here are my completed December pages. Lots of walks, art time, and catching up with family online.

I hope you have a happy and creative weekend,

Alison xox