November Art Journal Calendar

 Hello all.

Here is my art journal calendar for November, which I'm linking to Wendy's On, in, or beside the sea theme at Art Journal Journey.

As I often do, I started with a layer of teabags. I scraped on some PaperArtsy Fresco acrylic paint, Midnight, Captain Peacock and Snowflake, then painted a mixture onto the centre of the pages. I stencilled the fish with Pewter Fresco acrylic, and used a Tim Holtz letters and numbers die and silver mirror card to create the title.

I outlined and added features and numbers to the fish with a black gel pen.

I was inspired by the crashing waves on the rocks of the North Devon coast that we recently visited.

That's Woolacombe beach in the distance, a beautiful stretch of sandy shore.

Aren't those rocks amazing?! Some parts of the coastal path were narrow and rocky and a little bit challenging, but I wouldn't have missed it. And we were very blessed with some beautiful sunny Autumn days.

And finally, here's my completed October art journal calendar.

Thanks for visiting,

Alison

Gratitude

 Hello everyone.

I have another page to share for my Autumn Colours & Inspiration theme at Art Journal Journey.

There is so much to be grateful for, not least that we live in a peaceful country 💔, and we don't get many hurricanes here🙏.

You can just see the outlines of the rectangle teabags I used as my first layer on this page. I then added paint and stencilled leaves(outlined with a black biro), and used a rigger brush and black ink to draw the large leaf stem and write the title. I used a white Posca pen to add highlights and splatters. I also added some fine black and not so fine gold ink splatters.

 Thank you to everyone taking part in the challenge at AJJ, so many and it's only halfway through the month, and your art has been beautiful! Thanks also for all the lovely comments on my recent posts.

Hugs,

Alison xox

March 2024 Art Journal Calendar

 Hi Everyone.

I have my March art journal calendar to share with you today.

Here are my two tortoises who recently came out of hibernation, and they are the inspiration for my new calendar spread. They are the same age, but males are smaller than females, half their size! As you can see I have one of each. I need to separate them soon, as little Ollie is constantly pestering poor Josie. I'm hoping my son will adopt one of them.

And here's my March calendar spread...

I started with a collaged background, then stamped the Stampotique tortoise 4 times on painty paper, cut them out and glued to the teabags, which were then glued to the spread. 

I hand cut a flower stencil, and used Butter Fresco acrylic to stencil them, and used my finger to add an orange centre, then doodled the outlines and dots.

I sponged some Butter Fresco acrylic at the top, and stamped my title using Darkroom Door Alphabet & Number stamps. I added a few orange paint dots, wrote the day numbers on the flowers, and inked the edges of my spread with black ink.

I'm linking my calendar to Chris' On All Fours theme at Art Journal Journey, and also to Try It On Tuesday's Spring theme.

Here's my completed February calendar...

I hope your March has got off to a good start.

Thanks for visiting,

Alison xox

Art Journal Calendar - January 2024

Happy new year to you all! Hope it's blessed with lots of creative time.

I'm starting my blogging year off with my January art journal calendar, with bells to ring in the new year.

I'm linking my calendar spread to Erika's It's on the calendar theme at Art Journal Journey.

Here are some close ups.

And here's my completed December calendar.

Thanks for visiting.

Alison

October Art Journal Calendar

 Hello friends.

Today I'm sharing my art journal calendar for October.

I started by gluing down some torn 7 Gypsies patterned paper and book pages to my pages, placing a piece with 'Life Is Good' in the bottom right corner. I added a light layer of gesso to this. Then I stamped some Stampin Up gears with Ranger archival sienna ink.

I found a piece of Tim Holtz red paper from his Christmas patterned paper pad, and brayered some PaperArtsy Cherry Red Fresco acrylic paint on to make it a deeper red. I cut out 31 1.5 " squares for journaling, and stamped gears and clock faces on them in Sienna ink.

When I was gluing down my red squares with gel medium, a happy accident occurred, the sienna ink bled and turned my background a lovely rusty colour 😁

I stencilled my title using a PaperArtsy stencil and Cherry Red Fresco acrylic, then added outlines and numbers with a black gel pen.

I'm linking my October Calendar to Neet's In Gear theme at Art Journal Journey.

Finally, here's my completed September calendar.

Thanks for dropping by. Have a wonderful October.

Alison

September 2023 Art Journal Calendar & AJJ - Books, Cats & Tea

 Hello All.

It's been a couple of weeks. maybe more, since I last posted here. Our son moved into his new house on 21st August, and we went up to help clear out the old rented flat, move him into the new house, then lay some flooring and put up curtains. It's a brand new house in Salford, Manchester, taken an age to build, and lots to do. Thankfully, the kitchen and bathrooms are all fitted out, at least we haven't got that to sort. It's getting there. 

I'm glad to be home for a little while, before we head off on our hols, and I've been catching up with some artyness. I'll be sharing a few bits and pieces this week.

Today I have my September art journal calendar to show you. Over on the Art Journal Journey blog, Elle has challenged us to use Books, Cats, & Tea. I've used books and tea on my calendar. One of my favourite books is Thomas Hardy's Far From The Madding Crowd. 

I used collage with teabags over the top as my base layer. I created a little teapot stencil, the stenciled my journaling teapots in pale blue, adding details with a red paint pen.

I added some book text from my spare copy of Far From The Madding Crowd, around the edges and bottom right.

I used a PaperArtsy stencil for my title with the pale blue Fresco acrylic and red paint pen outline. I finished with some black paint splashes.

A little close up shot of the quote from the book that I used.

Before I go, here is my completed August calendar.

I apologise for not visiting lately, I'll try and catch up with some of your blogs this week.

Alison 

August Art Journal Calendar

Hello everyone.

I have my August art journal calendar to share with you today.

This spread started off with some Blue Oyster Fresco acrylic paint for its base. I created some tissue collage papers using my Gelli Plate, various Fresco acrylics and small masks.

I added some Inky Pool Fresco acrylic to the edges, and some small images cut from a Daphne's Diary magazine.

I painted some copier paper with the Inky Pool Fresco acrylic and cut 1 inch squares for my journaling, and used a white gel pen to add the numbers and outline the squares. 

I used a PaperArtsy stencil for my title, and highlighted the letters and numbers with the white gel pen. 

I like nothing better than a holiday in the UK. So much easier than struggling at airports etc., just to jump in the car and head off into our wonderful countryside and to some beautiful beaches, maybe visit some of our lovely stately homes too. Hopefully the weather will be good enough to sleep under canvas, watch hot air balloons and old aircraft flying over, and go for some lovely hikes. 😀

I'm hoping this spread qualifies for Chris' Where in the World theme at Art Journal Journey.

Before I go, here is my completed July calendar spread.

Thanks from dropping by,

Wishing you all a happy August,

Alison xox

June's Art Journal Calendar

 Hello friends.

I have my June art journal calendar to share with you today, and I'm linking it to Matilde's All About Numbers theme at Art Journal Journey.

For my base, I used some 7gypsies printed tissue, then I scraped on some Seaglass Fresco acrylic, and used PaperArtsy stencils with Little Black Dress Fresco acrylic for the journaling ovals and title.

And here's my completed May calendar, mostly country walks with my Hubby, friends and various walking groups, and my birthday on the 24th.

Have a great June!

Alison

Final Batch Of Christmas Cards...I hope!

 Hello All.

These cards were inspired by some gorgeous Christmas cards made by Claire Snowdon for the PaperArtsy blog. I pretty much copied Claire's process, and made 16 cards like this. Hopefully I have enough Christmas cards now. This brings my total this year to around 70!

I'm linking these cards to Leah's Art Every Day Month challenge Day 25.

I'm also linking up to Try It On Tuesday's Winter Wonderland challenge.

Thanks for visiting me today.

Wishing all my friends across The Pond a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Alison

AEDM Day 11

 Hello All.

I'm not sure if it was a side effect from my jab, but I woke up feeling nauseous today.

I felt a little better this afternoon, and managed to make some more Christmas cards. I'd better think about sending my overseas ones off soon, as time is marching on.

I made 8 cards today, 4 of each colourway. It brings my total to 51 so far, only about 20 left to make. Fortunately, not all of them are posted!

I'm linking up to Leah's Art Every Day Month challenge Day 11.

Thanks for visiting.

Alison

Gratitude Day 2 and Week 44 of 52 Weeks Art Journal

 Hello All.

I love it when I can combine a couple of challenges/classes in one piece of art. 

For Day 2 of Gratitude Junk Journal, we used a phrase or quote that someone had inspired us with, and that we adhered to. I thought of the phrase 'Life Is Too Short'. I can't remember where I first heard it, but it's something I say a lot.

And the prompt for week 44 of Raspberry Blue Sky's 52 Weeks Art Journal challenge is 'Get Messy'. This prompt could have been made for me! Grin! I think that life is too short to make neat and tidy art. More grinning!

Here's my page...

I used a few pieces of collage I had in my collage fodder basket, including the half face sketch, that was left over from a class a while ago. I used a palette knife to scrape Seaglass Fresco Finish acrylic over, sketched some leaves, added some stencilled fabric strips and diluted coffee, wrote my quote, then added splashes of neon pink acrylic ink. I also painted the lips with the pink ink. So yummy!!!

I'm linking my page to Leah's Art Every Day Month challenge Day 5.

Here's a bundle of fabric collage fodder I made this week, using acrylic paint and stencils on strips of gauze bandage. I used a dotty one on my page above.

Thanks for dropping by!

A happy Friday to you all,

Alison

Some More Christmas Cards

 Hello All.

As promised, here are some more Christmas cards I've made.

These ones were inspired by Leandra Franich's post on the PaperArtsy blog. They're very similar to Leandra's cards, but I added some round teabags and watercolour paint splashes to mine.

A close up of one...

These next cards were inspired by Anneke De Clerck, also on the PaperArtsy blog. They are pretty much a copy of Anneke's cards, I only had black wire to hand though, and the stars are Carabelle Studio stamps.

I'm linking up to Leah's Art Every Day Month challenge Day 3.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Alison

Art Journal Calendar - June 2021

 Hello All.

Before I show you my June calendar, I have some very sad news to share. I sadly had to have my sweet little guinea pig Angus put to sleep last Friday night. He'd lost his appetite and lost a lot of weight. I took him to a vet on Thursday, who said they could find nothing wrong. But, on Friday night he started fitting, and I quickly called the night vet, and took him in. 

Bless him, he was was sweetest little guy, and I miss him so much. I didn't know his age, as he came from the animal rescue, so maybe it was his time. I'm glad I was able to take care of him for a happy two and a half years.

So it wasn't a happy end to May, but here's to a better month ahead.

Here is my bright and cheery June art journal calendar, with lots of butterflies for Mia's Butterfly theme at Art Journal Journey.

I laid down a base of torn gelliprint collage, scraped some Ice Blue PaperArtsy Fresco acrylic over the top, then mixed Tango orange and Cherry Red Frescos, and stencilled the butterflies using a hand drawn and cut paper stencil. I added outlines, wording, numbers and doodles with paint pens.

Before I go, here's my May calendar all filled out.

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

Alison xox