A bit of journalling

Now that's surprised you hasn't it! Me posting twice in as many days!

Having completed all the things on my immediate to do list - there are other lists - ie buy new sandals, book dental check-up, buy paper and carrier bags for the shop, etc,etc... I could go on...but the immediate things are all done and so I awarded myself a play date this morning. Flicking through my moleskin I found this background done a while ago - it has acrylic paint, oil pastels and a little doodling on it - but it seemed to be right for how I felt and

here it is completed. I added a couple of magazine images, some journalling, a

bit of random stamping, a pair of numbers cut from packaging and alcohol inked, more doodling and a quote that I thought seemed most appropriate... given that the temperature is..... well,  HOT!

Right, I'm off to jump in the pool to try to cool down so
Bye for now
Sue

Hoping for a bit of inspiration...

I have been going through a complete brain melt down since my holiday. I haven't been able to rouse any ideas or inspiration which is so unlike me - my brain normally travels faster than my hands can write down the ideas or process them - so I thought that if I bought a couple of plain wooden boxes from the local Chino bazaar - like pound shops - and painted them it might kick start my mojo or at least awaken it. I have loads of assorted sewing items and buttons scattered around so I thought if I gave them a home in one place that would be a good start so this is what I made...
A distressed sewing bits n bobs box...
and a button box... in a funky urban style...very Barbie pink and bright...with grungeboard letters and rub-ons...
Will have to see on Monday if the therapy worked but I am generally pleased with the way they turned out and if nothing else they will be useful and help me be a bit more organised.At the start of the week I made this little book with sticky back canvas covers, alcohol inked letters and spray inks for Inga as I had forgotten her birthday - to give her due credit Tanya originally made one for me - although I used templates with the spray inks...as my mojo was still somewhere over the USA I decided I could lift the idea and I know Tanya wouldn't mind...after all it was a personal gift for a friend and not a class.

Right, I have loads of ironing still to do - 16 days away sounds good but when you come home to bad weather and can't dry the washing and the clothes you are wearing in the meantime also need washing it mounts up to 3 and a half weeks worth - anyway, I am now wafffling so I will say

Bye for now

Sue

Kits for the kids

I was asked a few weeks ago if I had planned any courses for the school holidays and the answer was nothing more than the usual classes. These continue all throughout the year because whilst some of the regulars go to their homeland or just on holidays, the rest still attend added in with the children here on holiday from Madrid and Valencia or UK.

With this thought in mind I put together a kit consisting of a sketch book, two gel pens, two paint Dabbers (Ranger of course) and a selection of bits and bobs to help them with their journalling. I added doileys, die cuts, alphabet styles, phrases suitable for girls 8 to 14 - the hours I spent on the internet researching these - lids, sequin waste, a page of journalling prompts, a page of hints and tips which walks the girls through the order they can add layers - which we have been doing in class over the last six or so weeks and lots more.

These kits have proved to be very popular and so I decided to use exactly the same kit to make some example pages for the girls and here they are

I just loooove this page. Just a simple face from a magazine -the flower with eye is cut from another image so she has two different colour eyes - didn't we all love adding moustaches and glasses on photos in newspapers when we were younger - this is hopefully just the next step up from that!
On this page I have used the sequin waste to add texture and stamped with lids using Stream and Mountain Rose - my two chosen colours - a fun page... I did these next two pages to dispel the idea that you needed more than two colours. Some of the girls believe that more is more and I have tried to tell them that you use what you have this page is mostly images from magazines with a little Dabbered water and doodled word "blue" Colin is home shortly - he has been away in UK on a golfing jolly with our two sons - and I am sooo tired. Looking after two dogs and a cat, an 86 year old Mother and keeping myself fed and watered - most of which Colin takes care of has taken its toll and add in the neighbour two doors down who had a party on Thursday night which had a singer with a microphone in his garden no less!!! belting out Elvis hits until 12,50 am!!! when I had gone to bed at 10 absolutely whacked for an early night. Add in looking after the shop, teaching classes, the washing and ironing, watering the plants all of which I always do anyway, de-pooing the garden - how can two little white fluff buckets produce so much of the stuff!! and a large delivery which Yaa helped me to check off, price up and put out yesterday and more projects in the pipeline and I think my head is about to burst! so before it does I will say

Bye for now and see you soon

Sue

Overwhelmed - who me!!!

Does anyone have a few hours to spare that they could lend me.....on second thoughts, perhaps not, as I am pretty certain that I will not be able to return them! Just at the moment I am feeling totally overwhelmed - well OK not strictly just at the moment but for a few weeks now since just before I went to Stitches. So much to do and so little time.....and on top of all that the orders that I placed at Stitches are due to arrive this week!!!! anyone know how to clone yourself?????
One of my daughter's best friends, the lovely Gillian who was a bridesmaid at daughter Victoria's wedding is getting married herself later this month and so I made her a trifold-shutter card from the gorgeous L'Romantique collection from Graphic 45 - such beautiful designs.

This morning I made an easel card for my Isla, a beautiful 5 year old who is my grandchildren's half sister - they share the same Mum...and who calls me Granny Clifford like my own two do...
Tonight in class the youngsters completed their 2011 art journals - a voyage of discovery of paint techniques...not bad for 6 to 10 year olds... there are 28 pages in these journals all painted, splatted, dribbled, stippled, spritzed and stamped and probably much more besides and Saturday Jonas...

and Blaithin - seen here with the lovely Yaa my Saturday girl completed their 2011 journals...
some youngsters are still to finish theirs...

and on Friday morning my lovely ladies finished their 3 week project of a doll painting - all who said I can't paint or draw - just look what they have achieved.
The unfinished painting in front of the photo belongs to my good friend Lorraine who sadly had to take her poorly dog to the vet's and wasn't able to be with us

So with an album to make for good friend Liz and another to finish for Gayle whose 40th birthday I went to last Saturday week...and those are just in the pending tray...this is not mentioning all the other half finished projects still lying around and all the projects I shall want to make when the delivery arrives and whose ideas are floating round in my head...now do you understand when I say I am overwhelmed and I am not after sympathy - it is all self inflicted
pressure so as Lesley, the Editor of a magazine I advertise in said earlier today....hhhmmmm and just Breathe!!! so with those words I shall say

Bye for now

Sue

Feast or Famine...

...or like buses when three come all at once. No posts (bad blogger that I am) and then a looong one tonight so grab a cup of coffee and a biccie or two and relax - lots of pictures and not too many words so not too onerous!! Lol!

For the start of the year I devised a project where the girls could make their own art journal over the course of five or six weeks learning new techniques along the way.

I had done this myself last year as part of Kate's 365 day challenge which they had followed with interest - they were so excited...

I will put some of the fabulous pages the girls have made when I remember to photograph them... So here's mine for 2011....
January is spritz, snip, stencil and create ...

splash and splatter for February's heart banner...

weird doodled letters and stippling through offcuts in March...

Loads of painty fun in April...and some 3d writing... flying high with a spot of punching and doodling in May...

Showing the girls styles that they might not have come across in June...

introducing another art style in July... August with flipflops and long cool drinks... over resist Last night the girls were absorbed painting September's page...

September and the leaves are changing colour ...

the spooky October page... The ribbon technique explained with a real piece of ribbon for November... and December and dry brush (or rather dry Dabber) technique and masking... the "All about me" page...except I haven't yet worked out how tall 5 foot 3 inches is in metric...

and the back cover says it all.....Bye for now

Sue

Attitude!!!

Well, just like buses, no posts for over a week and then three in one day!!! Today was a fiesta and so I wasn't allowed to open the shop. The sun was out, the sky was blue and it was 22 degrees in the naya ( Spanish conservatory) so out came one of my new A4 moleskine journals - but don't tell my daughter who has bought me these two for Christmas! so shhhh! not a word!.....

and I sketched and painted another doll portrait...but this one has attitude. All the others have been butter wouldn't melt if you know what I mean but this one - well see for yourself. Right I really am going so this will be the last

Bye for now for today

Sue xx

3rd week of SSSS challenge

For those of who who do not know what the SSSS challenge is I suggest you visit simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com and see for yourself - it's a newish challenge blog just overflowing with great ideas and artwork. It's a site for people who love Tim Holtz, Wendy Vecchi, 7 Gypsies and Graphic 45 and all things vintage. Each week a challenge is issued and anyone can put a photo of their artwork on there and each week some lucky people win prizes - this is my way of doing something for myself. I make so many things to demonstrate techniques for my classes I need an outlet just for me to be me and this suits me down to the ground.

The theme this week is Anything Tim Holtz inspired - and I remembered he made a quilt out of grungepaper so thought I would try to use that as my inspiration. This started out as a 4 x 4 book cover - I had too many images and ideas so I then decided to use the 7.5 x 5 Bind-It-All covers and ended up with the 8 x 8 ones!!

This is the back and front cover unbound as I haven't yet decided what to do with the inside pages. I made the tag to go on the inside front but liked it so much I decided it would be good on the back cover instead. The tag has been inked with Distress Inks over Tim's mask, stamped, the edges distressed and some alterations attached and ribbons added.

On the front cover the grungeboard heart has been crackle painted and distressed over, the grungeboard wings have been Dabbered and sewn with wire, there is some stamping with Tim's stamps and some texturing with Tim's texture fade dies, the top right corner is a fragment glossy accented over stamping, the 13 was textured faded, distress inked with glossy accents over, the FLY letters were cut with a Tim Sizzix die called Vintage market alphabet I think, I added some paper clips to hold the typewriter key letters and a few staples and the rest has papers from Tim's paper stack and some embellishments from- yes you've guessed it , the man himself Tim.

I was a little panicky at first as I thought I was very low on Tim's bits and bobs but I needn't have worried - I had plenty.

Thanks for looking and have a go yourself - its good fun

Bye for now

Sue

ps just looked at the blog and think I might put some cinammon stickles on the crown tomorrow.

New Challenge

Over on the new Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge blog the challenge this week is "Things with Wings" so to me that means birds and butterflies. I took three beermats, covered them in Alcohol inked glossy card and edged them with gold Dabber. I then stamped a few Tim Holtz stamps directly onto the beer mats. The butterflies I stamped onto card covered with book page, coloured them with Distress inks and then added touches of Stickles. I dug out my Grungeboard letters and Dabbered them and Alcohol inked them, added a metal bird embellishment coloured with Alcohol ink and attached it all together with ribbon after Crop-o-diling. Oh and not to forget the Wendy Vecchi sentiment.

It now adorns the wall by the till.

Off for some lunch and a rest before the younger kids class tonight.

Bye for now
Sue

August is done...

This is my August page.
It didn't work out how I thought it would but I am pleased nonetheless.

I painted the page, dribbled a bit and splattered a bit and thought I would die cut Tim Holtz flowers on my big Shot for each days entries but I couldn't get 31 of them on the pages so on to plan B!! I stippled through the left over bits of the die with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and added 4cm squares of Spring Fling paper then a bit of stamping, a bit of outlining and a bit of doodling and a flower or three and ta da! finito!!!

I just need to remember how to add all my missing challenge pages onto Kate's Flikr page now

Bye for now

Sue.

Wooden house

WooHoo!!! I finished a project in just two days....
I decided I was going to do something other than a project for classes and I have had a blank wooden house in my craft room for quite some time so yesterday I painted it with Pebble Dabber and stamped a few images onto card and tissue to play around with.
Today I went to the shop half an hour early, assessed the bits from yesterday and then Distressed and Dabbered and Stickled between customers, went home late for lunch (a Crunchie ice cream - well its too hot to eat!) left the house early on the pretence of having to buy a new clip to put my hair up and dashed back to the shop. Did some more, helped the Wednesday youngsters with assorted projects - catch up day for them - and then having told Colin I would be home for dinner about 9ish - well it was 9ish - well 10.30ish really! So that's it then....the black flourishes are painted on the wall and not part of the house... just look at the mess I created making it...but worth it I think.

Well its now 23.34 and it is still sooo HOT I think I might skinny dip before going to bed so

Bye for now

Sue

Hot, Hot, Hot...

Here at last is my July 365 day challenge page.

Its HOT here and the page reflects that. It has been painted, sprayed, stencilled, stamped. distressed, doodled and ticketed.

It was done a few days ago but Tanya and I have been having such a great time lazing around reading - well falling asleep a lot, swimming - well no that's too strenuous so lying chatting in the pool, playing with inks, paints and other messy stuff and there's so little time - her holiday is half over already.

Tanya is such a WUSS!!!!! its only a henna tattoo after all!!!

While the tattoo dried Tanya had sex on the beach..... and I had a brandy and Sprite...Cheers!

We are having a great time. More tomorrow.

Well, we are going to play cards so

Bye for now

Sue