Seasons Greetings

Hello dear followers I hope you are doing well.   I'm sorry but I'm not a very good blogger these days but below are a few Christmas cards:

I would like to wish my kind followers Seasons Greetings and all the best for 2018.

Cheers !
Shirley

She Blooms in Ink

Hello dear blog friends, I hope you are doing well during this busy season.

All is well here and I'm super excited to be taking a 7 week workshop with Tamara Laporte of Willowing Arts - She Blooms in Inks.      Lots of doodling and inkiness along with whimsical/stylized faces.  Below are my two journal pages from Week 1:

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Let Your Light Shine

Hello dear blog friends, I have something different to show you today :)

I created this journal page on mixed media paper while following a Lifebook 2017 lesson by the very talented Andrea Gomoll.  She seems like such a sweet lady who is fun to watch and listen to.

The theme of the lesson and painting is to accept your shadows, let in your light (and why one side is is dark as the shadow).   It was so much fun :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day :)
Shirley

Let it Snow !

Hello and Happy Sunday :)

We woke up to a light snow covering this morning, it was so pretty but it's melted away in the sunshine.

I have a Christmas card to show that was created with an inky background and a lovely large snowflake circle die along with Crealies' flowers, and the words and foliage by Creative Expressions.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week,
Shirley

Designs by Ryn for Christmas

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.   

Thank you for your much appreciated responses to my question about photo editing software, I will research your valuable input.

I have been in Christmas card 'mode' and below is one that I created using Designs by Ryn's fabulous stamps :) 

The background was created with Brusho powders spritzed with water.  When dry I over stamped with Celtic Star 2.   I stamped & embossed Seaweed Set around the background with a white & glitter power which created nice branches for Christmas :)

The ornaments were created using Brushos on Spellbinder die cuts which I stamped with a couple of images from Celtic Star Set.   The little hanger die cuts are from a Memory Box set.

I added a little holograph circle sticker in the center of the ornaments.  I wanted to add some nice bling but I was keeping this one flat for mailing.

Thanks for stopping by.  I will get back around to your blogs soon but  life around here is still unusually busy.

Shirley

Serena

Hello everyone, I hope you've enjoyed your weekend.  Here it's turned cool and wet, once the house is clean I'm going to play in my craft cave :)

You may have seen this card on Facebook already, I used a favorite stamp by Chocolate Baroque - Serena and added embellishment die cuts by Crealies Flower 13 along with the set of 3 that match  that seem to be discontinued and Creative Expressions (branches).   I thought maybe I went a little overboard on the branches, but couldn't pull them off once they were glued, so I added some white paint to break up the blob of brown.

I started with Tom Bow water colour markers on the image and and then used Prisma pencils on her hair.  I didn't  like how green it was turning out so I used a white Wink of Stella marker and white dots with an acrylic pen which softened the colour to a lighter shade and created a different effect.

I've changed computers and no longer have the free copy of Picasa for adding soft edges and words to my photos.   Does anyone know of a free and SAFE to download software for photo editing or know where I can still find Picasa?  I've seen some links but don't trust them.    I had a trial of Photoshop but it's way too complicated for what I want/need.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day
Shirley

Christmas in Pink & Blue

Hello everyone I hope you are doing well.

I have a couple of Christmas cards to show today.     Lots of Distress Inks, stencilling, stamping in the background and use of some Dies by Crealies, Creative Expressions and more ....

Have a great weekend,
Shirley :)

Hello from my new Craft 'Cave'

Hello creative people, I've finally found some time for a little creativity and a blog post :)   However, life is still not back to 'normal'.

We've moved into our new home but it's not finished yet, lots of unfinished 'things'.   I won't bore you with details but it's been an unsettled and exhausting month.   The entire summer was unsettled but we did have many good times enjoying the walking & cycling trails in a town up north while we waited for our home to be finished.

So here we are living in a small quiet town, close to water.  The people are very friendly, we feel like we are 'home'.

I've found it difficult to be creative when exhausted but I wanted to make thank you cards for a couple of people who work for the builder and have helped us a lot.

I used inky/painted backgrounds and Crealie (flowers)  & Memory Box (flourish) die cuts.

By the way, my craft room is pretty much the same size as I've had previously, it has lots of natural light during the day, even though it's downstairs.  I'm very pleased with my 'craft cave' as my husband calls it.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day !
Shirley x

Follow Your Dreams

Hello creative people, I hope you are doing well.  If any of you have been impacted by recent or in the path of new hurricanes, please stay safe, we are thinking about you.

I worked a little more in my small art journal, the faces are a bit 'wonky' but I'll show another one today.  I'm missing my craft 'studio' but very grateful to have a spot to sit and practice a little creativity.

We are fine but I'm feeling a bit 'wonky' myself as I'm unsettled and not sleeping well.  In a few weeks we will be moving again, we are busy, so I won't be around in blog land for a while. 

Once again this page was created with pencil, pen, and coloured with a light wash using Tom bow markers.

Thanks for stopping by, take care and stay safe.
Shirley

Accepting 'Wonky'

Hello creative people, I hope you are doing well.

Thank you to everyone that shared your experiences with blog spam, it's not pleasant.

I had fun working in my journal today while it was raining.  I realize this lady is wonky here & there, I find it more difficult to draw 3/4 faces.   I won't point out what I see is off and try to improve next time. 

Again I used minimal supplies - pencil, Tom bow markers, white & black pens.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Abstract Backgrounds & Spam

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.  Sorry that you may see this post twice in your reading list, I was having trouble and had to delete the first one, updating was not working.  I'm having one of those days with blogger :)

I created these two cards using an abstract page back in the winter with one of the Life book 2017 lessons.   I decided to go my own way with the finished piece(s) and used them for card backgrounds.   The die cut flowers are by Crealies.

I posted some information yesterday about Spam that I'm getting on blog. "They" are cutting & pasting your comments to appear like a blogger.  I've since deleted the post as I talked about turning off comments completely.   A kind follower was able to contact me with advice that I will follow and see how it goes.  Thank you Annie for going through a lot of trouble to get the message to me :)

I now have comment moderator turned on.

 
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley 

Blue and Pink Lady

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have another page to show where I used minimal supplies again.  (Tom bow markers rubbed on craft mat and then 'painted' onto pencil & ink sketch, highlighted with white and black pens). 

All is well here, we are feeling more settled in our temporary home.   

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Flower Lady

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well today.

I have another journal page to show you where I've used minimal supplies.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend,
Shirley :)

Quirky Owl

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well, it's hard to believe that we are well into August already!

As I've mentioned before, life is not 'normal' right now and I'm not feeling settled.  I'm happy that I'm able to be creative from time to time but we are also enjoying summer activities and being outside as much as possible. 

This journal page is very much inspired by Tamara Laporte of Willowing Arts, in fact it's from a Lifebook 2017 lesson.  The lesson teaches a class using mixed media and collage, this is a very simple version using minimal supplies.  Most of my art supplies are packed in storage at the moment so I don't have to make any decisions about what to use.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

'Tangle' Lady

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well this weekend.

I found more time this week to 'work' again in my art journal using just pencil, pens and Tombow markers.  I added tangle (zentangle inspired) doodles in her hair.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Art Journaling with Limited Supplies

Hello everyone I hope you are doing well.

It's been a long time since I've posted at my blog.   Life has not been 'normal' these days and blogging takes energy and time that I have not had. 

We moved a couple of weeks ago into a very small temporary furnished home while we wait for a new home to be built.   We are fortunate to be able to look after the most wonderful cottage style gardens while we are here.

Most of our belongings are in storage and I could only bring minimal art supplies.  I'm looking forward to having a craft room with all my stash again this Fall :)

I brought along my box of water colour markers (Tombows), pencils, black & white pens (some acrylic), my craft mat, a water barrel brush and a small art journal that can handle light washes.   One of the earlier Lifebook 2017 lessons with Tamara Laporte focused on using minimal supplies. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it and it helped me decide what I should take with me. 

Yesterday was the first day that I actually found an afternoon free and was in the mood for art.   I created this page fairly quick, I felt 'rusty' but now anxious to play some more :)

I'm sorry that I haven't been around to your blogs, I will get around to visit soon :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
Shirley

Sending a Smile

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

We are still in packing mode here but I have another card to show that I created recently (before my craft studio was packed up) using Heartfelt Creations Tattered Flowers and Creative Expressions Leaf dies.

The background was created with Distress Inks & water, stamping with water, stenciling with white paint, sprinkled and heated white embossing enamel and gauze painted with Gesso.   I also stamped the background using Design by Ryn's Circle Cluster stamp set.   The sentiment is by Chocolate Baroque but it seems to be discontinued.    Using glue, I added a little Prills and glitter here and there.

The flowers were coloured with Distress Inks, spritzed with water and molded on the back with a stylus and foam mat.

Thanks for your visit, have a great day,
Shirley

Whimsical Girl

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I created this journal page with acrylic paints and pens earlier this year when I was more relaxed and had time. I'm looking forward to getting back to mixed media art and drawing, but my craft 'studio' is packed up, I won't have much space and limited supplies for art for a few months.  We are moving to a temporary location soon while waiting for our new home to be built :) 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Beauty

Hello creative people, I hope you are doing well.  It's a rainy Sunday here in Ontario, it's been a 'wetter than normal' spring.    The gardens are looking lush :)

I finally found time to play in my craft 'studio' and created a couple of cards.  Below is one of them using beautiful Chocolate Baroque stamps.

Life is quite busy, that won't change for a while, but it will be more normal and settled this Fall.

The background was created using Distress Inks, white highlighter Pen, white acrylic paint and stencils including the script.  I also added some fabulous Crystal Clear glitter by Papericious :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day
Shirley

Quirky Birds and an Update

Hello creative people, I hope you are all doing well.  It's been a while since I've posted here and I'm sorry that I have not been around to your blogs.   

I won't give you a book version of the past year, but life has brought challenges and we have changes coming our way. 

I have not been in my craft room for a long time, I've either been too busy, too tired, or not in the frame of mind for creativity.    I would like to get back creating art as it is meditative & calming. 

Last fall I discovered on line classes with the lovely and talented Tamara Laporte of Willowing Arts.  I love her whimsical art and have enjoyed learning from her through her video workshops.    I joined the Lifebook 2017 course, but have only managed to download lessons the last two months which I can work on the in the future when life is calmer. 

However I created these Quirky Birds with one of her lessons last fall and thought I would show them to you today.    Some of the words are appropriate :)

Thanks for stopping by, I'll do my best to get around to your blogs soon.
Cheers
Shirley :)

Best Wishes with Crealies

Hello creative people, I hope you are doing well.  

Life here is very busy and I'm still taking a break from blogging, however I've had the pleasure to Guest Design again for the wonderful Crealies company.   I'm showing a couple of cards today that I designed using their beautiful dies and little stamps.  These were shown at the Crealies Blog yesterday.

The background was created with Distress Inks (China, Blueprint & Raspberry) and water on an acrylic plate.   I over stamped using the little hearts with Raspberry DI with Bits & Pieces stamp #50.  Using the circle stencil CLMM20 (which is temporarily out of stock) I added more contrast with first Blueprint DI and then white acrylic paint.

I coloured the flowers with the same Distress Inks and stamped the circles Bits & Pieces stamp #53 before molding them (using a stylus and foam mat) to create dimension.

The card has the lovely shape using theXXL Tag No. 7.   I folded the card stock before cutting and placed the edge of the die just past the fold to make a card in the die shape.

I also created a little gift tag to match.

I used the following Crealies  products to create the card above.

Crealies Dies/stansen:

Set of 3 No. 17

Uno No. 17

Crea-Nest-Lies XXL Labels & Tags No. 7 (smaller tags)

Crea-Nest-Lies Extreme Labels & Tags No. 7

English Text Dies No. 8

Duo Dies No. 34

Duo Dies No. 34A

  

Crealies Stamps/stempels:  

Bits & Pieces No. 50

Bits & Pieces No. 53

    

   

For my second card below, I used a mixed media piece (with collage) for the background.  It has many layers including tissue, texture paste, Neocolour crayons, white and black acrylic paint. I like to 'decorate' mixed media backgrounds using die cut flowers, leaves and shapes.  I coloured the flowers with co-ordinating Distress Inks and spritzed the entire card with Gold Glimmermist.

I used the following Crealies products to create the card above:

Crealies Dies/Stansen:

Duo Dies No. 31

Duo Dies No. 31A

Set of 3 No. 17

Uno No. 17

Decorette No.11

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed my designs for Crealies.

Thank you for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley