Last day of the new stamps from CHA

Today is the last day of the CHA new stamps reveal from My Stamp Box.  My card was made using the "Striped Stems" flowers.  They have a really pretty sketchy, whimsical feel and would look great in my journal which I'll have to try.

As with the other days if you leave a comment on the MSB blog you can win yourself a set of stamps.

More new stamps

It's day 2 of the CHA new stamps reveal from My Stamp Box.  When I was sent this set of "Lovely Houses" stamps I couldn't wait to use them in my art journal.  They're such a cute set of little houses, whimsical and sketchy and so much fun to use.

If you want to see more just go to the blog, make a comment and you could win a set of stamps. It's as easy as that.

CHA and new stamps.

It's that CHA time again in Anaheim and My Stamp Box is releasing some new stamps during the show.  On the blog each day during CHA we are showing the new stamps along with some DT creations made with them and for everyone who comments on the post, there is a chance to win a set of stamps. 

Today we're showing two sets called "Special Teas" and "Enjoy Your Latte".  Here's a card I made using the Special Teas set and on the blog you can also see what Isolde and Jolene made using the stamps. 

Using watercolour pens

Lesson 2 is up on the Craft Academy web site and I'm proud to say the tutorial has been put together by me. 

I was lucky enough to be given some of the Art and Graphic twin pens and Clean Color watercolour pens by Kuretake to play with and it's using these pens that I created the tutorial. The two cards shown here are using Art and Graphic twin pens which I'm absolutely loving for their watercolour-like finish but with colour far brighter and intense than I could get using actual watercolours.  They're great for taking around with you as it's easy to put the pens along with a waterbrush in a pencil case and pull out to do some watercolour painting.  Anyway, if you go to the Craft Academy web site there's a whole pdf to download with the techniques for using watercolour pens.

The stamps use in the top card are by My Stamp Box and the card underneath has been stamped using stamps by Inkadinkado.

Craft Academy is open

The first lesson is up on the Craft Academy and it's all about paper piecing.  Sarah has been working very very hard for the past few months to get this up and running and I'm giving her my full support for such a wonderful idea. 

The site is going to be packed with tutorials and tips on all sorts of different crafts, kids included.  I'm giving a tutorial next week which I'll be linking to from here. 

A touch of mixed media on a tag.

Today on the My Stamp Box blog it's my turn to post a tutorial.  You can see how I created the flower on this tag using papier maché and a stamp. 

On the background I've used dye inks and some white ink splatters before stamping with "Garden Sketches" stamps from MSB.  I've also used some fabric tape, a bit of green muslin and some staples.

Thanks

This morning there's a little bird singing in the trees outside, so happy despite the stormy weather we've been experiencing over the past few days. 

The first challenge of the year with Sarah Hurley is 'Thanks', something alot of us are thinking about right now.  I made this card to send to a friend who lives in Sweden.  The little gnome is a digital stamp from Sarah's Woodland Whimsies 2 cd and my background was a piece of mop up paper lying on my desk.  The big splodge isn't a spider, it's black ink splattered in a bit of a heavy way.  Maybe that wasn't such a good idea as the more I look at it the more sinister I think it looks???

Another piece of news from Sarah is the launch of a brand new venture called The Craft Academy.  It's a project we've been working on for quite some time now and It's really exciting to see it come to life.  It'll be a place to find tutorials and how to's as well as information on materials and stuff for kids to do too. 

This is a massive project which I'm really proud and excited to be part of . 

New Calendar Journal - January

For some months last year I followed, with interest, the calendar journal of Kate Crane.  When Lena suggested we started our own this year I was more than willing to participate. 

It was a new large format for me and two pages at once is alot of area to cover but I absolutely loved the end result and can't wait to make next months background.  I couldn't stay away from my old favourite colours (I should make a resolution to use more pinks and reds in my work this year)  but added the red squares as a contrast. 

Happy New Year

A very happy New Year to everyone in bloglandia.  I hope 2012 will be full of love, luck and laughter.

First project of the year is this card which is being featured on the web site of My Stamp Box.

So let the crafty projects start. 

Coming to an end of the 2011 altered book.

This is a closer look at the crackle paint.

With just two days of the year left to go I've been challenging myself to finish my altered journal in order to start a brand new book for 2012.  These are the last few pages minus the last page which I'll complete this weekend.  As I've reached the end of the book it's become so fat and the pages so warped there was a moment when I fell out of love with it but as it progressed and I started pulling out pages before glueing them together (which I should have done in the first place) I was more content.

I'm so looking forward to starting new journals and trying new ideas out.

Day 12 - finished!! :)

At last I've finished my 12 Days journal.  For those of you who are thinking, "hey, the 12 days are now, between 25th and 6th Jan?",  I KNOW!!!  I just thought it would be more fun to do it before. Note to self - next year, do it after!!!!! 

I had no idea how to finish the book so I challenged myself to use what was on my desk.  Background Christmas papers, some washi tape.  Crackle paint through a stencil (love that look), a beautiful star sent to me by a friend (I hope she doesn't mind seeing it in my journal) and lots of words and a digi stamp from Sarah Hurley's Tinseltown cd.  The bakers twine was tied around a present from my very good friend Lena.

We're already planning how to journal 2012 whilst finishing our altered book from 2011. 

Back to it......

Day 11 journal page

Four sleeps 'till Christmas - eeeeek.  I'm so behind it's untrue. Not so for my journal.  Day 11 of my 12 days so only one more to go.  I've used a photo of my Grandma as a girl and used her as an angel. 

I had a good post day yesterday with the delivery of my Scrap 365 magazine where I have a journal project featured. Happy Christmas to me.

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree.....

The tree is up and I'm catching up with journal pages.  Thursday I attended The Night Of The Proms in Luxembourg and what a fantastic show it was too. A Christmas present from my girlies, I enjoyed every second of it. 
The weekend was tree decorating time and I have to admit to being a bit of a pain when it comes to finding the perfect tree and the decorating but this year we found the perfect shape first time and the girls did a fabulous job of the decorations.

More journal pages finished

The weather here at the moment is wild but when I think back to last year, we were digging ourselves out of snowdrifts at this time.  The only thing to do is stay indoors and create and that's just what I've done in my 12 Days of Christmas journal.

The top page has been created using a digi stamp from   He's called Brill and he's adorable.  I've also added some of the words which come from the Tinseltown CD by Sarah Hurley. His little bell has been coloured with a Wink of Stella gold pen by Kuretake which gives it that gorgeous shine (photo doesn't show it sadly). Sarah Hurley has a new challenge up sponsored by Limited Runs Digi and you can see what the other DT members did with their digi images here

It's a shame you can't see properly the shine on the bottom page.  I used a metalic paint and added some gold flakes with my Zig glue pen.

Little boxes

The Kuretake website is holding it's own Christmas countdown with offers and tutorials right up to Christmas day. 

I've added my own little tutorial for these favour boxes which are perfect for the Christmas table.  I used a box template from Kuretake to make them and used the Zig glue pen to add gold flakes. 

The stamp is a snowflake stamp from the Let it Snow set by My Stamp Box. 

You can find the whole tutorial here.

Journal day 4

Wow I hadn't realised until now how blue this is!!  I don't think it was my mood, maybe just the longing for snow.  It's rained absolute cats and dogs for the past few days causing land slides and floods which is miserable but if it was snow........ now that's a different matter!!

Day 4 journal entry. This is my Christmas card design - sorry to all those friends and family who might be looking and hope for a surprise this year - not going to happen!! With 50 to make I'm afraid they're all the same design.  They won't be quite so blue though I can honestly say. 

12 Days of Christmas journal

12 Days of Christmas journal - days 2 and 3 together.  The first page is using my Santa image which I've added to my Etsy shop as a digital stamp.  I love the background colour thanks to Lena for pointing it out in my paint drawer (it was a long forgotten tub of acrylic I thought had dried up).