Altered book ...bring May Flowers

Did a spot of painting and made this page in my Altered Book to follow on from the previous "April Showers..." page. We have such a Camellia, Wisteria and Bluebells in our garden right now, so I thought it was just the right time to put these in my book. I added glitter and glossy accents to the pages along with a bit of stamping. At least it brightened up a dull day.

Finding Fun - Houses

 Week 2 of Finding Fun and the theme is houses. I think my AJ page speaks for itself here (if you click on it, it should enlarge). I moved around alot as a child so this is a special house to me as we have been here since 1999.
Used my new Tim Holtz Spring inkpads for my page and had my first doodle too.

Just had to add my son's Bird House which he made in Technology Class in School last month. His Dad spray varnished it and put it up last night, it is so cute.
We all love the birds in our garden and hope they will come to live in the little house. My son made 2 Robin boxes a while back and we definitely have Robins in one this year.

Big thanks to the blogger who mentioned using her typewriter as I got my husband to find mine from the loft and used that for my page too. It has a new lease of life now.

WOYWW #152

Hi Folks, well here we are again displaying our desks for all to see and trawl through courtesy of WOYWW. This week I am in receipt of a couple of orders from Create and Craft after seeing Rosemary Merry on their Sunday Scrappers show last week. Excitement faded to sadness after opening the first parcel as the black scrapbook album you can see was damaged severely. Looks like something was dropped on it or something but it is quite unuseable. They have agreed to send me a replacement - phew! It is my first album with the new "Snap Load" binding system and that looks very promising indeed after all the troubles I have had with extention posts in the past. Second parcel was the acrylic sheets for mini albums and the pad of card - jolly nice. I have also ordered their Great British Crafting kit from Kanban but that is still "in the post". As for actual crafting, you'll be able to see my altered book and the ATC's I made from the left over paint (one is hiding on top of the heart drawers for the anniversary SWAP soon). I have also made my Pirate SWAP card for the MAY SWAP on my craft group (UKPC) but that is also hiding behind my altered book! I received a "Pass the Book"  book via Carolyn and some yummy chocolate too - thanks Carolyn. I have my next set of photos ready to scrap of Mother's Day, and my Beth Moore Bible Study book. I think I need a tidy!!! BJ

Altered Book - April Showers

What better way to remember all the rain we've had this month. Hoping the umbrellas stand out as the dominant features in this spread as I didn't manage that principle last Altered book Lesson. I do believe I have included the design element of "texture" from the current lesson as I used texture folders on all the umbrellas plus a bit of ink and embossing powder too.
Really enjoyed painting the background over 2 coats of gesso and also used gesso to mix the blue colours and finally I have managed to obliterate the words on the pages. RESULT!

Finding Fun - Raindrops

Finding Fun started today and my husband and I went out for a walk in the rain. I loved watching the concentric circles created by raindrops in puddles and was amazed to find that each one didn't really distort a previous one but just added it's own mark ontop.

Sketchbook365 - May Challenge

Here is my entry for the Scrap365 Challenge.I had been saving the Official Royal Photos by John Swannell for something special and this months sketch fitted the bill 100%. I used my Do-crafts 6x6 Portobello Road papers and their co-ordinating ribbon bows. I great addition to my patriotic scrapping for this Diamond Jubilee year. (See previous post for tag book where I am collecting photos of our Queen for the tags).

WOYWW #151

Hi everyone, can't believe I haven't blogged for a whole week now! Good job there is WOYWW to keep me going. Thanks to everyone who commented on my desk last week, I didn't realise how busy it would get with a lower number - LOL! I was hard pushed to just reply to all the comments let alone have any time to go visit myself! And remember I DO play badminton on a Wednesday too!

So here's my desk this week. I am working on a scrapbook page using the official Diamond Jubilee photographs by John Swannell. I am going to enter the Scrap365 magazine challenge and am using their latest sketch. They have just moved their monthly challenge from their website to a new blog called Sketckbook365. I will post my finished page in a separate post next so they don't get confused - LOL.

I don't have many drawers to store stuff so the little set of 4 (top right)  just sort of jumped into my trolly at Asda last week. My trusty Cuttlebug is away and keeping my Altered Book flat, my laptop is at the ready and I have my favourite drink to hand - hot Ribena - YUM!

WOYWW #150 - Tools of the Trade

Ah yes - that day is here yet again and thanks to Julia we can have a peek into the workings of a crafter and their desks! Here is my trusty Cuttlebug which is quite happy to cut Sizzix Bigz dies, Quickutz, Nesties and the like. My Fiskars paper trimmer one of my first purchases all those years ago, along with my cutting mat. My glasses which I can't seem to do without these days! Oh and my green laptop with my Altered Book on top. My Cuttlebug and Laptop have to do a change of positions every time I need to do some diecutting.

I'm currently doing a scrapbook page and have actually made my own backing paper this time. Old Paper Stain to cover the white cardstock, inking and stamping a bit of grunge. It's geting there, still needs sticking down though. Thanks for stopping by, BJ.

Altered Book Part V (Still Lesson 6!)

On this cold and rainy day here in the UK I decided to get out my sunny Springtime magazine pictures and make a collage for my Altered Book. I just wanted to cover the words and have fun with this.  I
used quintessentially British pictures and inked the bare bits with Peeled Paint. Now that had cheered me up.

Altered Book Part IV (lesson 6)

Had this page milling about in my head for a few weeks now so just had to make it. Found lots of pictures on the internet to depict our 3 Saints Days which fall in Spring. I even opened up my new acrylic paints for the first time and had a go at painting the pages. 

Firstly, St David of Wales. I grew up in Wales from the age of 9yrs and dressed up like the picture in national costume for Eisteddford's in school to celebrate the day. The yellow and black flag is St David's flag the dragon is the Welsh flag. The leek is the emblem of Wales along with the floral version of the daffodil. I made a pathway using daffodils through the spread.

Secondly, St Patrick of Ireland. I lived in Dublin when I was 18yr-19yrs and studied the Irish Leaving Certificate there. Always wanted to play the harp and hoping there will be one reserved for me in heaven along with those big fluffy white wings!!

Lastly, St George of England. I was born in The Midlands and now live in Surrey in England, although I'd never think of myself as English, always British as that is what it says on my passport, I do speak English though!!

As for the design principles - now that is a diffucult one. The Movement one certainly grabbed me so the pathway of daffodils hopefully makes you wander round the page as it were. Contrast, well the colours are quite striking! Repetition, the flags and also the row of stamps with the little girl adding more contrast there. Not sure about its Rhythm nor Dominance but I have done a page of the Saints and I'm happy with it.

Stampman Challenge - Vellum

Oh My! Vellum. Back in 2005 when I found QVC on Freeview, there was alot of talk about this stuff called Vellum! I had no idea what it was so ordered a few sheets to find out.

Must admit it isn't my favourite paper to work with as being translucent it has the eternal "how to stick it down" challenge all of its own.

In this card I have tried to show some different uses and fixing techniques. It diecuts (top butterfly), it punches (boarder), it tears and rolls (mat). Attach it with eyelets (or brads) or sneak some glue (pinflair) under the parts which don't show.

Best put it back in the cupboard now............

WOYWW #149

Ah - Here we are again, having a snoop about people's workdesks. Join the fun @ Julia's. Here's what I have made this week. My Art Journal is turning into more of a Tag Store! Every other double page I am sticking in the month's tags and writing a bit about them too. The ATC on the easel is made with the left over pieces of another tag I made for this month's UKPC SWAP. The theme for our SWAP is Easter/Spring colours including Buttons and Beads. Last but not least is my "GOTH" scrapbook page. We'd been chatting on UKPC about whether we wore make-up or not and I happened to mention I used to wear a bit when I was a goth. This sparked surprise as to why I hadn't scrapped any "Goth" photos but alas it had been before my scrapping days. Anyway, I took some photos of my photos and have since printed and scrapped them. Gosh that was some time ago..... I even used to wear the black lace on the page in my hair! Sigh..........  

OK - So not exactly on my desk but I couldn't resist sharing the bunny-egg which came in my Easter Flowers. Looks like he'd be easy to make. The felt for his feet is heart shaped but sadly no fluffy bunny tail.

Well that is me for this week - BJ

Hallelujah - He has Risen

Happy Easter Everyone.

I made a few ATC's this Easter and decided to put them in my Art Journal. Firstly I have always had trouble spelling Hallelujah so thought some crafting might help. Then I googled it and found there are quite a few different spellings - no wonder I was confused. The other two pictures I had left over from my Altered book spread and Easter cards. The barbed wire frame was inspired by Julia's "Wheels" card, and as I made this on Good Friday, it seemed quite fitting as I remembered Christ's Crown of Thorns. The broken glass stamp showed how Christ was broken for us, the words "Special Love" speak of His sacrifice for us and the footsteps for how He walks beside us now. The crosses speak for themselves and I hope the empty tomb does too.

Hallelujah - Praise the Risen LORD!

TH#4 - April Tag

OK - now let me see - What Timmy products did I have? Oh Yes - "some" of the distress inkpads! That was IT! Oh well a valient attempt, if I say so myself, under the circumstances. So - What did I use then?

Ripped the first page out of the dictionary I bought at our Scout Jumble Sale for such purposes as this. Considering the Easter season I went to the "e" section and there was "egg" right at the top, how could I resist?

Embossed frame made from a small freebie Christmas Tree folder where I just put the edges of the tag in and had to emboss 6 times to get the edge pattern.

Bird - Marianne die (sans it own branch)
Branch - Quickutz die (2 parts)
Leaves - from Tim's Regal Crest die
Plaque - Tim's book plate from Tag die
Crown - metal embellishment from "The Works" here in the UK. Had to cut the brad ring off the top - now that was fun!

On reflection I really ought to have made the bird BLACK in honour of the Blackbird which has taken up residence in my garden and promptly starts singing his little heart out around 5am and continues 'till 9am and then returns in the evening. I think the novelty has worn off now!!! BJ

Stampman Challenge - Bingo

Really wanted to enter The Stampman Challenge this time but was having Bingo Block! So I just went ahead and made a tag anyways and hoped the ingredients would "find themselves". I love green so that was a good start, then flowers too but swirls just didn't make it into the mix.............. My ribbon is polka dotted but I guess you can't count that as fabric aswell - hmmmmm. Then - eureka - I realised the button is a circle!! YIPPEE So Green, Circle and Ribbon it is then, with a few polka dots and flowers thrown in for good measure - LOL. And some alcohol inked acetate butterflies with bead bodies (set using pins to hold beads in place - been wanting to try that for ages). My forsythia is in full bloom at the moment so just had to use that paper today too. Phew - think I have made it by the skin of my teeth.  BJ

WOYWW #148 (AB:Part III-Lesson 5)

Gosh EASTER seems to have happened on my workdesk this week. Mainly due to the fact that the next Altered Book Lesson came out on Monday last and I have been beavering away. Oh and it happens to be Holy Week which makes it really appropriate to do an Easter spread in the Spring section of my Seasons themed book. There are also the garden gloves and wooden hen I got for my Mother (she especially said NO chocolate and requested the former). I got the little lime gingham hen for myself! My latest photo batch arrived and includes a photo of the roses my son got me for Mother's day too.

Elizabeth, our Altered Book Course Tutor, has had us looking at the Principles of  Design concentrating on Harmony, Unity, Balance, Proportion and Emphasis. Homework was to produce a page showing each, but having a smallish book I decided to try to show all five in one double spread. Pages may yet get updated (last lesson's have already!!) but I think I am there.

Harmony - Common theme of the page is Easter.
Unity - Repetition of the colours from the sunset.
Balance - There is symmetrical balance left/right and asymmetrical top/bottom.
Proportion - Smaller palm tree made from the larger diecut one to give proportion.

Emphasis - I think the main cross and title say it all really.

Hope you all have a peaceful Easter.

BJ

PS Here's what was on my desk last week after I had posted my WOYWW.

Thanks Julia, have pinned it on my little Rudolph, so he is taking care of it for me.

Scrapped my Blogspot Photo(s)

Just scrapped my blogspot photos using the Scrap 365  Challenge Sketch for April. Don't usually think to use circles so it was a good exercise for me.  Patterned paper is K & Company's Emma Blue Floral. The lace is the Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace punch. Alphabets are Sizzix Monograms and Typeset. With a few gromlets and bits and bobs to finish off.

WOYWW #147

Well here we are again. Thought I'd get myself sorted this week on the Tuesday as, of course, I'll be going to badminton again on Wednesday.

Here's a wider shot of my craftcorner in my bedroom. Whilst I am scrapping, my Cuttlebug changes places with my laptop as I love diecutting. Perhaps you'll notice the boards with most of my die shapes on the wall behind my chair! I did my "Leap Day" scrappage earlier in the week and it is hanging from my shelves on a coat hanger (a great idea I got from a magazine once).

Not sure if you can see the special distress ink shelf under the bottom main shelf which my husband put up for me for Christmas last. My inkpad foams are stored in the little wooden cuttlery tray under the Gesso!

And yes I do use the end of my bed for albums, folders and the like whilst I am crafting. The round light is my SAD light, not only adding to my sanity but great to craft with.

My current pages are of our trip to the Royal Academy of Arts to see the David Hockney exhibition. I always seem to have more photos/memorabilia for my pages than most people but I try to add embellishments where I can.

Hope this gives you all a better insight to my craftcorner, and hoping my badge turns up soon too.

Thanks Julia for doing this, it is great fun.

Altered Book : Part II (lesson 4)

Hi Folks, Well here's the next installment of my Altered Book journey. My book isn't that thick but it was all I could lay my hands on before the course started. My theme is Seasons and they will be getting one signature each of 8 pages! Elizabeth, over at The Altered Book Lover suggested that I did the glued pages for this lesson not consecutively but one per season/signature which is what I have done.

The best thing about this Altered Book lark is that there aren't any rules (save getting a sewn spine book). Jolly good job as one would think I had definitely lost the plot this lesson, but as there isn't a plot - that's fine.                          

I glued my pairs of pages together using the following:- 1) Pritt Stick  2) Anita's Tacky Glue  3) Inkessentials Glue N'Seal   4) Boldmere's Gesso.  My Cuttlebug makes for a jolly useful weight so my book sits under it most of the time.

The tags I used to mark the sections are from clothes/products. I have been saving them for ages and at last, found a use for some of them. I have noted the glue I used on the reverse of each tag.

So for my Seasonal title pages:-

I did Spring first, inking the pages using the direct to paper technique as outlined by Elizabeth in the lesson. I decorated with some previously made ATCs and bits and bobs. I even found the feather on the day I made the page.  

I did Winter next, Gesso was the background to these pages, although as they were quite bare, I stamped the music score first. I also stamped with distress over the Gesso and as it seemed to remain sticky I ran some talcum powder over it - now it is OK.

Then came Summer. I inked the background with distress stains, added a cacophony of diecut elements and then some stamped images too. Vanilla Sands is a make of clothing here in the UK and inspired my beach page.

Finally Autumn, loads of diecut leaves, a few trees and more stamping, with a Cotton Traders Tag.

The only thing I haven't managed as yet is to use glue as the main part of a page and as an element in itself. Might have to save that technique up for later.

WOYWW #146

Hmmmmm, seem to be buying rather than doing these days, although have started on lesson 4 of the Altered Book Tutorial.


Join in the WOYWW fun over at The Stamping Ground (hope this was short enough!)

Mildred and Martha

I was so taken by the canvas workshop by Neil I just had to have a go myself. I didn't have any canvas but did make a card, then decided to reproduce it in my Art journal. I really need some "sayings" stamps and wonder if anyone has any recommendations. I'm still amazed as to how the Tim Holtz reindeer dies can make such cool birds. Thanks Neil.

TH#3 - March Tag

Finally I got round to doing the Tim Holtz - March Tag Was lacking in quite a few in the supplies department but "battled-on" and here is the result.

WOYWW #145

Thought it about time I showed you all my workdesk. I'm off out to play badminton in a minute (reason I haven't played along before) but this week I happen to have my New Year scrappage on the go!
We had gone up on to Epsom Downs for the first year ever to watch the fireworks down in London. We were quite a distance away but we were able to see them along with the 100's of other people there too!      Actual pictures are from the TV btw!!

Altered Book : Part I

I have taken on the challenge of Elizabeth's Altered Book Lessons which will run fortnightly over the next 40 weeks or so! Here is the result of lessons 1-3. Finding a suitable book was quite a challenge to start with. This one is about a cricket commentator! However, the title did spark the theme of Seasons. Here you can see I have removed a good chunk of pages from the front section of the book (under the elastic band). In the back section I will be creating a "niche" so I have glued the pages together and the pegs are holding it in place whilst it dries. I still need an item to go in my niche and will be rummaging around in the loft later for a suitable Christmas decoration which will go nicely in the Winter section of my book!

Well I found a silver glittered snowflake which was shallow enough for my niche so went ahead and cut the hole and pegged with "mini pegs" this time! I then covered the block with snowflake paper from my stash and cut out some additional snowflakes in the niche backing card. I speckled them with white paint and glittered the backing paper too. Couldn't decide whether to cut the decoration's hanging string off or not and in the end just glued it to the outside of the niche. I'm loving my Altered Book :)

Here we go then, reinforced front pages. The papers were the ends of a 6x6 pad so a bit of patchwork was in order, covered by carefully positioned sticky ribbons! I cut up an old card I had made some time ago for Spring and have had hanging on my wall ever since. Added glossy accents, decoupage and crackle to the elements.  For the "bump" on the next page have stuck some mulberry paper. Sort of want to incorporate the book's title somehow??

I have cards already made for the other seasons too and one for all of them which might have to be on the cover (when we get to that bit) one way or another............ Happy Bunny!

Couldn't help myself, just had to do the other half of the back page next to the niche. Had to do a bit more patchwork as I didn't have enough of the patterned/mulberry papers without joins. Shame the white glitter doesn't show up on the photo, but I know it is there. I think lessons 1-3 are done for me now................

Kitchen Roll Tag Book

Keep seeing these cute little tag books in magazines so decided to make one myself. Used my Portobello Road papers and will be adding memories of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee to the tags.