October Art Journal Calendar

Hello Everyone! Happy October!

I've been getting back to normal after returning from visiting our daughter in Germany. She is doing a 4 month placement, working for Rolls Royce in Friedrichshafen. As it is near the Swiss and Austrian borders, we went there too, and also Liechtenstein. Lots of lovely mountain hikes, beers and Wiener schitzel!

My Mum and Dad came also, and here's me with my daughter and Mum, up the mountain in Bregenz. I braved a gondola! Lots of people, so very claustrophic for me.

And now here is my October calender spread...

I used a small circular Gel Press plate, with acrylic paint and a skeleton leaf, to create the background.

I painted on the journaling leaves, and the black wording and outlines were made with my glass dip pen and Bombay India Ink. Doesn't the skeleton leaf create a beautiful leaf pattern?!

I'm linking my pages to Eileen's Dreams or Wishes theme at Art Journal Journey.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend,

Alison xox

Birgit Koopsen's Instagram 30 Days of Gel Printing

Morning All! As promised, here are my first week of gel prints for Birgit's Instagram Challenge.

Day One - Colours Of Your Flag

Day Two - Masking ( I used hand-cut circles)

Day Three - Lace

Day Four - Water Soluble Crayons (I used Scribble Sticks)

Day Five - No Brayer (I used my fingers)

Day Six - Tape (I used masking tape)

Day Seven - Trace (Placed clean Gelli Plate over magazine page & traced image)

Thanks for dropping by,

Alison xox

Everything Circles - Days 15 & 16

Hi Everyone. Hope you're all having a good week.

We're over halfway through the April Everything Circles Instagram Challenge now, and here are my latest pages.

Day 15 - I printed some circles with a small round gel plate, then some colourful stencilling. Then I drew circles with my black Bombay ink dropper, lifting my journal to create drips. I filled in the background around the circles with orange acrylic, added dots of black ink with my finger, drew white circles inside them, then added a quote sticker on a piece of painted masking tape. Finished with white paint splashes.

Day 16 - A background of teabags, Seaglass fresco acrylic applied with a palette knife, then the fun part...dried paint from my paint pots that I've saved for ages, glued in a circle and randomly dotted on the page. I'm linking this page to Wendy's Having Fun theme at Art Journal Journey, because it really made me smile.

Thanks for dropping by my blog,

Alison xox

Art Journal Journey - Geometric Shapes

Happy New Year Everyone!

I'm thrilled to tell you that I'm starting the new year, hosting Art Journal Journey's January Challenge. I've chosen the theme 'Geometric Shapes', and here is my journal page inspiration to start you off.

I look forward to seeing you over at Art Journal Journey, joining in with the challenge.

With love and best wishes for a very blessed 2019,

Alison xox

Art Journal Journey - Flora Fauna

Hi Everyone! A new challenge has started at Art Journal Journey. Jo from Let's Art Journal has challenged us to use Flora & Fauna on our pages. As it's a new month, I have my May art journal calendar to share with you today...only a day late!

I created a background with my small round Gel Press plate, PaperArtsy paint and masks. The butterflies were stencilled, using the waste from a Sizzix die cut. I used PaperArtsy stamps for the title, then finished with some doodled flowers, marks and splatters.

We've had some good news, my husband has a new job, after being made redundant at the end of March! It's such a relief, and we booked ourselves a holiday to celebrate.

 Wishing you a happy new month! 

Alison xox

Leaves

Hi Everyone! 

Day 24's Gelli Print prompt was leaves, and I got pretty carried away! I consulted Birgit's YouTube tutorial '3 Ways With Leaves', and here are the results.

I took ghost prints along the way. I really love these!

Then I used a small round Gel Press Plate, acrylic paint and a little leaf to print on some teabags. Appropriate I thought, for the theme. And these will be my teabags for 365 Somethings, Week 13.

I also did some printing on some of the larger leaves themselves.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend,

Alison x

February Artmarks and 365 Somethings

Hello Folks. 

Do you ever start a page, then you don't know when to stop? You just keep adding and adding. I watched two episodes of Grey's Anatomy...well listened actually...whilst making this one! Lol! That's long for me anyway. The day 8 word was 'Attention'. This page certainly held my attention.

Here's a closer look at the teabag flower...

Speaking of teabags, here are my decorated teabags for week six of the 365 Somethings Challenge.

I used a small Gel Press Plate,  some PaperArtsy stencils, and Snowflake Fresco Finish Chalk paint. Then I used a black pen to add dotty outlines.  The first, positive prints were naturally brighter, but I love the more faded negative, secondary prints too.

The sun is shining, so we're off for a walk with friends now.

Hope you're having a fun and creative Sunday too,

Alison x

Two Cards and An Ugly Page

Hello Folks. It's been another dark and gloomy day, and raining so I couldn't escape from the noisy decorator! I did make a journal page, although I think it turned out a bit ugly. It started off ok, some collaged scraps of book pages, and a layer of red Dylusions paint.

I painted over with turquoise, and sketched some circles, revealing the red paint beneath.

Then I got carried away, adding book page circles, doodling, splatters, drips and quotes. It was getting dark, and I was disillusioned, so the drips were still wet when I took the final photo.

Not all arty adventures turn out as you'd like! Nevertheless, I'm linking my page to Art Journal Journey.

I have some male birthdays coming up, so here are a couple of cards I made too, using a mini hexagon Gel Press Plate and PaperArtsy stamps. I was inspired by Cat Kerr's video on YouTube.

Until next time...

Alison x