The Swing of Things

I might be getting back into the swing of things. Going out into the blog world and reading that many, many other people struggle with time is reassuring. Especially when I take into account the fact that the time is being used to house-hunt. I’m not going to go on about it much more – I promise!

My super-special team-mates at Gauche Alchemy are always sharing stuff they find online. Last week, Michelle found this, and we all had a discussion about how expensive the pens are, and whether there wasn’t another way.

Confession time: my watercolour pencils have sat long and neglected on the shelf for one most shameful reason: I couldn’t find the pencil sharpener. Anywhere. I’m talking like two years. The odd drawing pencil is fine to sharpen with my Leatherman, but not 40 watercolour pencils. In the end, spurred on by this beautiful, colourful idea, I consented to using my make-up pencil sharpener for the watercolours. And I got to work on my version of the project. Ah, the joy of objects fulfilling their purpose after a period of neglect!

I forgot how lovely watercolours are. I'm so happy too that the project works with watercolours as well as the pens. Go us and our money-saving ways!

Stealing Moments

That is how I am getting back into scrapping: snatching an hour here, 30 minutes there... I was getting too caught up about needing a large-ish time slot in order to get around to doing anything. 

I realise my blog posts are still sounding a bit subdued; however, the response I got from the last post, and being able to read everyone’s blogs again, has certainly put me on the path to being cheered me up.

Anyway, I stole a few moments to get a quick layout together. Using a kit from GottaCraft, a special photo from our engagement shoot, a selection of bits from Gauche Alchemy, a sprinkling of my Crate Random win, and just a smattering of paint, I created this in not much time at all:

 

And into the album it goes. 

In other, though not so different, news, it’s been a restless, uncomfortable start to the week, despite the beautiful sunshine bringing the conviction that May is finally deciding to show its face. Anyone got any tips on sort of centering oneself after what feels like a rough kind of month?

Metal Breakdown

That mini album I made for Dublin – the one with no photos – gave rise to not one, not two, but three video tutorials for Gauche Alchemy. The first one showed the structure of the mini. I think we missed the second one, about getting messy with paint and textures of backgrounds. (You can see them all here.)

And then there’s the third, about how to achieve a faux metal look from foil paper:

The Gauche Alchemy team is riding high at the moment – there are lots of achievements, great techniques and fabulous little projects going on, so if you’re feeling stuck for inspiration or fancy trying something new, pop over to the GA blog.

That's all for now!

Dublin in Mini

...nope, not in a mini, just in mini. In a mini album, in a mini weekend, in a minimally tourist and maximally family visiting kind of way.

I fancied folding some pieces of card to make a mini album of all the fantastic photos I was gonna take when we went to visit Dublin... but then I got ill, spent the whole of the Thursday in bed in the hotel, and then most Friday and Saturday with family. Plus my SD card decided that no, the nice photos I took on my solitary stroll around on Friday morning were not good enough, and converted them into randomly gigantic encrypted messes. It was easier to try to recreate the stroll and the photos than to work out how to save them from my evil SD card.

So the result is a mini album so far empty of photos but eagerly waiting. I happened to film the process for Gauche Alchemy, and you can also find the video on the 'my videos' page on this here blog of mine.

There are two more videos to go along with this one. They show specific techniques used in the making of this mini - but you'll have to wait! They'll be out later this month. For now, a little taster of the mini album:

I spy Gauche Alchemy products!

See that ouchless cardboard? The coaster? The foil paper? All GA, baby! Go have a look at the GA blog and shop, and at my video too. And do let me know if you've had any annoying or even heart-wrenching experiences with digital images, cameras and SD cards. In my experience sharing is cathartic (plus it'll make me feel a little better to know I'm not the only sufferer).

Off Celebrating

It's the husband's birthday weekend, and somehow it's turned into a four-day celebration. Lucky he took Monday and Tuesday off work. Unlucky for me: I'm ill, ill, ill.

His card this year is a good reflection of how I was feeling when I made it. I was just beginning to see a bit of colour again, but my head was all over the place: buzzy, frenetic, wishing my cold would fly away.

this is me, ill, in card form - could be worse, I suppose!

I used some Gauche Alchemy stuff of course - perfect for this kind of mood. New punchinella from India, ouchless cardboard and pages from an old dictionary and a music book. Most surprisingly of all, though, was the fact that I busted out my watercolour pencils after years of neglect - and I'm so glad I did. (Even if the red did turn out a bit pink - sorry, husband!)

watercolours, oil  paint and Cosmic Shimmer Mist make up this eclectic background

I sealed it all together with a home-made envelope:

that's the man's name

Happy Birthday, Husband!

It's All About The Journey

I'm loving this artistic journey I'm on, and I'm finding myself fascinated by the twists and turns a journey can take, and how each new avenue leads to change, influence, adaptation and improvement. All those terms are subjective, obviously, but I really mean them in a sense of how happy I am with my creations and the direction they are heading in.

A journey can be so many different things.

This life journey I'm on, for example: I'm married now, and I feel like we can take on the world. We will go places together. 

All this and more fed into this layout as I was making it for this week's Punky Scraps sketch challenge. I wanted to pay homage to life and living, to enjoying and experiencing the journey as we are on it, not just after it's finished.

Don't you love it when you look at something you've made and it makes you happy? I used: Basic Grey Basics and Wander paper and Wander rubons, American Crafts Thickers and Toga Alphas, Sassafras Lass bunting sticker, Heidi Swapp Ghost Alphas, Glitz transparency, Echo Park For the Record journalling card, and Gauche Alchemy goodies (feather, sequins, plastic embroidery grid, map, foot paperclip, WOODGRAIN PUNCHINELLA!) 

how great is that foot paperclip?!

Go check out the sketch and the other DT members' awesomely punky work, and share a tiny slice of their journeys too.

Back to Black

In rebellion against the lovely autumn colours, today's post is going dark. Or maybe it's just because I completely bypassed Halloween this year. Or because I used to have goth tendencies. Or all of the above.

The November challenge up at True XOXO Girls is all about black - about being inspired by black in any way. I was inspired by this photo via Pinterest...

photo from bleachblack.com

...because, well, WOW.

I wanted to play with texture in this challenge, so I made a canvas, with just a splash of colour. A ray of hope, if you will, emerging from the shadows.

I used some texturising medium to get that sandy look on the bottom third, mixed acrylic with PVA glue to make it glossier for the top two thirds, and added some gesso coffee rings for added relief. I also stamped and heat embossed the swirl which I love.

It's tough, to make something inspired by black, and then to photograph it well. I've not done such a good job: I should have listened to Michelle's excellent tips on photographing all-black creations.

It's a bit better in close-up though.

Oh, and - exciting news - there are a couple of DT spots open on the XOXO team. If you like the sound of creating something for a monthly scraplift challenge, go see the DT application post and apply!

No Regrets

Often it's too easy to dwell on the past, to go over things that didn't quite happen the way you expected and analyse them for how they could've been changed or avoided... I'm guilty, sometimes, of this - like most people. But I do make it a daily challenge of mine not to live this way. This year one of my resolutions was to stop worrying about the passage of time and see how much it slows down (it works, by the way), and an aspect of this change was adopting the 'No Regrets' mantra.

this project is subtitled 'my tidy catharsis'

This was put to the test almost precisely two months ago today. Awake at 7.30am on my wedding day, and with 6 hours ahead of me in which to get ready, I was blissfully unaware of the stress that would bring the morning to a close. The car (you've already heard that story, about which I have no regrets, by the way) was due to take us away at 1pm. So, in a leisurely, calm mood, I had my nails painted, and had some coffee, breakfast, and then some champagne. Then it was My Turn - I sat in The Chair and began to have my hair and makeup done. From there, I was facing a clock dead on. I watched with anticipation as both hands approached the 12, then with discomfort as the minute hand hit the 6, and then with rising panic as it passed the 12 again, and passed the hour hand pointing at the 1.

Five minutes later my makeup girl finally gave me a Murray Walker-esque 'Go GO GO!' and I ran downstairs, literally jumped into my dress, had my bridesmaids zip me up, and ran back upstairs to grab my bouquet and my shoes. Outside there was just time for a quick photo and then - uopa! - into the car we squashed, and sped off into the busy centre of Brussels.

It would be two hours later before I realised that I'd completely forgotten to put on my veil - the first accessory I focused on in my wedding planning to embody the image I wanted - and a further 5 hours after that that I realised I'd completely forgotten to write up my vows for our personal ceremony - leaving me with a scribbled piece of paper of half-remembered things and huge gaps where I had wanted to put the love in.

Today, these two issues are still smarting. But in the grand scheme of things, neither caused the world to end, neither ruined the wedding, and neither were unfixable after the event. We will have a 'Rock the Dress' photo session next year, and I will wear the veil. I have written up my vows in full and in the way I wanted to read them, and will give them to him soon. I'm moving on, with no regrets.

...none whatsoever.

For more similarly themed projects, get yourselves over to the Punky Scraps blog this week for the first challenge of November. You'll love what the team have done, and you'll probably love the challenge, too. Thanks for reading my stress story. Now it's out there it feels much, much further away and an entirely tinier problem. See? No regrets!

Trayding Places

Altering things is a pastime that often evades me. I fail to break down the project into small, manageable pieces and then get so overwhelmed with the seeming enormity of the task that I put off starting - or, to be truthful, in most cases, finishing - the job.

Not so with this one. It kind of wrote itself, in a way.

do they actually have a name for these cushion-tray-things?

Take one TV-cushion-tray-thing. Take a bunch of old scraps of paper, a pair of scissors, and some glue. Sit down in front of the TV (in my case, it was a silly film called Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), and proceed to cut and stick. Afterwards, laminate and paint the wooden frame (only if you like painting wood. My husband near forbade me to do it as the tray is one of two which came from his late grandfather and for some reason he dislikes painted wood to an almost extreme degree. But I am working on that, now we're married).

it's mine. it's not any one else's.

Finally, brand it as yours so no one else can use it. Then promise that you'll make one for said person trying to steal usage minutes of your tray, but remain vague on the timescale involved. You never know, this might be a one-off case of finishing something within a day of starting it.

it's the shabby-chic distressed effect of painted wood he dislikes the most

To round things off, here are some end-of-the-month competitions for some weekend crafting:

• Punky Scraps - three October challenges to choose from: a collage, a spooky sketch, and a recipe
• True XOXO Girls - October's scraplift challenge is still open: choose one of the team's eye-catching creations as a jumping-off point 

As always, if you enter you could win a prize. There's no excuse not to get crafting!

And if you're still reading, a small toot: I'm usually their video alchemist, but today I'm also being written about on Gauche Alchemy's blog.

This is My Tree

This is my piece of artwork. Many times pencilled in, many times erased, painted over, re-sanded and re-pencilled. It finally took shape, aptly enough, from the roots upwards; specifically, from the heart.

Annoyingly, I was so eager to get started on it that I completely forgot to take a 'before' picture of the frame. It was something I found on recycling night: down the road from us, someone had left this painting outside their house to be taken. By me, it seems. It's made out of a few short planks (hehe), joined together by a frame at the back, and on it was painted a bottle of wine, and possibly a plate of cheese and some grapes. All very rustic.

But with the power of will, the grease of elbow and a big pot each of white and black paint, I removed all evidence that that wine bottle had ever been there.

Many trees came and went: realistic ones (or attempts at), Tim Burton-esque ones (or attempts at), abstract ones (or attempts at... see where I'm going with this?), but none were quite the tree. So I thought more about what was going on - a wedding, namely - and realised that there needed to be two trees, not just one. A la Louis de Bernieres in Captain Corelli's Mandolin, it was the roots that needed to be joined together.

The idea is for people to stick their thumb in an ink pad and make a print near the branches to represent a leaf. And then they sign their name on their leaf. It'll be a nice 'togethery' reminder of who was there on the day.

Wedding Trees

What feels like a long time ago I posted about trees. I've been thinking a lot about them since then (and I still have to scrap that photo I took) - in the context of a wedding celebration.

Trees fascinate me, and how people live with them and use them all over the world sometimes just blows my mind.

Tree bridge at Cherrapunji, India (source: www.world66.com)

Treehouse in somebody's garden, NY State (source: www.treehouseworkshop.com)

Wishing tree in Phuket, Thailand (source: www.travelerfolio.com)

I love wishing trees as a way of bringing people together for a common reason. For that reason, I'm choosing to feature trees in the wedding. But I'm going to be mean and only share sneaky peeks of them right now.

Actually, they're quite generous, as far as sneak peeks go, don't you think? The first one is mine, the second one my mum made. I'll elaborate on them soon....

Tester Page

OK - this is a tester page. It's a layout using many different techniques and styles - a horrible mish-mash of things. I don't like it, but I wanted to try a lot of different approaches and I'd rather have one whole page I'm not happy with than seven pages which I mostly like but contain little bits I'm not happy with.

Some thingsI tried were mixing (if not matching) paper patterns, masking/misting, covering doilies with Cosmic Shimmer Mist, making flags with ribbon and sticks...

 ... heavy embossing on white-backed paper...

 ... lots of paper layering...

... building up layers on nice bought chipboard shapes (these ones from the Restoration collection)...

.... and painting and stamping on plain chipboard...

This page was a result of me editing a long document for many hours (days, in fact) and every now and then remembering this thing I once did called scrapbooking... and pining for a chance to stick and cut and stamp and paint, and then going totally overboard once I finished working on the document. Like a kid in a candy shop, you might say. So, I'm not happy with it (I didn't even give it a title), but I'm sharing it to show how important to me planning and spending time thinking about a page is. I actually made another layout straight afterwards, but it was one that had been brewing for a few weeks, and I'm infinitely happier with it. I'll share it in a fortnight or so, when the XOXO March challenge is up and running.

I Already Went Postal Once, Didn't I?

Ooops... I almost used the same post title as I did back here. (Hmmm... mini-challenge: come up with 52 different postcard-related blog post titles...)

This past week I've mostly had dancing on the brain. After a 3-week break, our lessons began again and although we could've been rusty and stressed, we did really well. The worst exchange, caused by me stopping every time we made a wrong move instead of trying to recover and carry on, ended with him giving me some advice: 'It's dog eat dog out there in the ballroom. Move, or get off the dance floor!'

So my postcard this week used bits from our teachers' flyer. I am liking paint rings at the moment, too:

 

Ooh, and just a quick note to say that I was given honourable mention for my submission to the Play Date Cafe's competition last week, meaning I get to sport this badge on my blog:

Scrapping in a Punky Kinda Way

One of the Scrapbook Challenges DT members, Natalie, also has a little challenge blog of her own. It's called Punky Scraps, because she's a punky kind of girl. She offers sponsored prizes every month and sketch challenges every week, and in short she's a girl after my own heart - to steal my university's old motto, we like to 'do different'.

I made a layout for last week's sketch, using scraps of paper in colours I would never normally dream of using. It's a fun, bright little page with some hidden journalling and some paint splodges. And that's about it!

The hidden journalling tells of how, at my cousin's 80s-themed party, my family dressed up to the nines and when I saw the photos I was struck by how young my mum looked - the outfit, the makeup, the hair all took 20 years off her. Of course, she still looks young now (and yes, she does read this blog), but really, she looked younger than me! This is the 80s word I used to describe her and title the page:

Nostalgic, anyone?

Art for Art's Sake

I love the circular nature of art.

In December we visited the Magritte museum here in Brussels, and I gained a lot of insight into this man's mind, whom I had only known previously for a hat, an apple and a pipe (or not a pipe, if you prefer).

In July, during the National Day celebrations, we witnessed a group of drama students interpreting Magritte and his work. My talented fiance took a photograph which subsequently inspired me to make this album (during the super-rainy August we had). But I knew there was more. I just had to wait for it to come out.

And this is what came out:

A tribute to Magritte, to Brussels, to Belgium, to art. Here are the 'don't be afraid' splodges:

 

 I used bubble wrap and a plastic cup to imprint the patterns on the canvas. And added some French newspaper and raindrops.

 I cut out the words with the Cricut, purely because I got to choose my exact font that way.

And there you go. That's my homage to Magritte. 

Texturally Speaking...

A lot of what I'm doing lately in my scrap runs deeper than paper. Most recently, it's been about getting over fears. No change today. Inspired by the 'child's style' used by Chocodeline in this project we did together, I've been playing around with acrylic paint - and lots of it.

Gone is the fear of just slapping it on. Worry about a finger smudge? - Gone. Concern over the thick blobs that will take ages to dry? - Gone. Hesitation over using 'different' methods? - Gone.

Here's a little peek at what I've been doing:

I'll show you the finished article on Thursday. Thanks for looking!

Coming Round the Mountain

Even though I made a mini book about our Easter trip to Innsbruck, I still had some large layouts in my head that I wanted to do to show off the incredible photography skills of that fiance of mine. I finally got round to doing two, and there are two more that are nearly finished, which I'll show you next week.

Years ago I salvaged this big blue mountain from a chocolate box... I was just waiting to go to the mountains and take some pictures so I could use it!

I kept all the colours very icy and muted. I used 3 Bugs in a Rug and Echo Park papers on brown cardstock, and used only a few embellishments. I just love these little footprint embies - I can't remember where I got them from though! The alphas are from Toga.

The second page was made with the same colours but some different shades.

I was really pleased with the paint job in the end - I used leftover chipboard letter outlines as stencils and didn't mind if I went over the edges.

I also drew some tiny circles with a white gel pen and dotted some paint in the middles for a little accent.

I'll have the other two pages finished soon. I'm going to experiment a little with the clean & simple style... watch this space...

Feeling Fruity

I'm feeling very pleased with myself today as I've managed to tick something off of my physical To Do list. I've had a set of mini canvasses lying around for years - and I mean years - and I've finally finished them!

I usually enjoy making more detailed, messier and more random collages, so these turned out to be quite a break from my normal style. They're crisp, almost sparse, but there's enough on each to get the idea across. Individually and collectively they represent snapshots of us and a few of the things we enjoy in life.
I painted each canvas with a couple of layers of acrylic paint, and then covered them in coordinating, themed embellishments -simple.

Just a quick little crafty experiment to get some creative juices flowing after having lost my mojo for a couple of days.

Before you go, I have a question for you. I love cherries - their flavour and feel, but also their image and the things they're associated with now, like contemporary vintage (I love 1950's-style clothing). I also love cherries because they quite closely resemble my name :-). I'd love you to tell me whether you have a particular affinity with a fruit or a flower, and why!