Steampunk Valentine

Hello everyone, I hope all is well.  It's still dreary here and I've been fighting a wicked cold but getting better.

I have a Valentine card to show today, using a cool Steampunk heart by Chocolate Baroque.

Stamps by Chocolate Baroque:  Punky Hearts, Eccentric Edwardian (lettering). 

The Gear die cuts are by Memory Box & metal cogs are by Tim Holtz.   I used a Heart stencil by Tim Holtz with textured paste in the background.  The I Love You die was a freebie and I'm not sure who it's by.

I used Neocolour crayons and a little metallic powder in the background and 'fancy cut' the heart and popped it up.  I added glitter glue around the edges.

Thanks for stopping by
Shirley

Merry Muse

Hello creative people, I hope all is well.   It's VERY dreary here but milder than normal due to heavy cloud cover.    I'm starting to feel like a sponge as we have not seen the sun in quite a while.    Normally January brings in cold but sunny days.

I am keeping up with Lifebook 2017 lessons, but today I'm showing you a mixed media piece that I did between the weekly lessons.   This is very much inspired by Tamara Laporte of Williowing Art - the Merry Muse course, it's the same layout but my girl & dove look different.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend,
Shirley

Playing with Alcohol Inks

Hello everyone, Happy Tuesday.   It's freezing rain here this morning, so we are stuck inside as the roads can be very slippery.

I recently had a play with alcohol inks, I love the textured shapes the blending fluid creates.  I don't use these inks much for some reason, but they are fun.  Below are a couple of cards using alcohol ink backgrounds, with no stamping.

On the card above, I simply doodled some flowers where I dripped alcohol blending solution.

The background above was cut into four and attached in a lay-out that I've seen on other blogs.  I thought it needed something in the center so I added the die cut leaf and bling.   I gave this card to my Dad for his 89th birthday, I thought it would work as a 'man card' :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Tell me a Story

Happy Weekend everyone I hope you are doing well.

I'm working more on Journal pages than I had in the past, some for classes, Lifebook 2017 and others just playing without following anything.  Below is one that is my own design and I think it tells a story.

Art Journal Journey's theme for January is "Tell me a Story" as most journal pages do tell a story.   I'm linking in at AJJ this month, it's been a long time.  I've met so many talented and friendly bloggers through this site.
 

 
The story here is that the girl loves her home, nature, birds, flowers and her cat and he is the king of the home :)

We had a scary week with our beautiful friendly cat who has been ill off and on for most of his life.   He is doing well on some new meds for GI issues.   Last summer we thought we would lose him after extensive dental surgery (he only has a few teeth left) when a few weeks later he became very ill and in a lot of pain.   However he 'came back' again with good meds.  Our vet bills are high but he is family, we of course love him and do our best for him.  He is probably 13 years old, but we are not sure as we adopted him as an adult from a animal shelter 11 years ago.  He had been picked up as a stray and probably has had about 25 lives.

Here he is laying under the Christmas tree last month. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Happy

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great week so far.     We are 'enjoying' another heavy snow fall but it's going to get milder and turn into rain later, a nice mushy mess.  Not pleasant for driving, so a good day to stay home in  my craft room :)  Yay!   I truly don't mind our winter, the snow is pretty, clear cold sunny days are beautiful to go for a walk and it's cozy inside.  My only issue is that they are a little too long, Spring is a long ways off.

I have a card to show today without purples for a change!   The colours actually remind me of summer and make me happy.

I used Tim Holtz products and the Circle Cluster by Designs by Ryn in the background.  

Thanks for stopping in a my blog and have a great day,
Shirley

Life Book 2017 - Week 1

Hello everyone, I hope you had a great start to the New Year.

My Christmas gift from my dear hubby was enrollment into Life Book 2017 - from Willowing Arts (Tamara Laporte).  Life Book is a year long, weekly on-line art journal class with Tamara and 23 other Mixed Media Artists.

Week one included a warm up page and a wonderful detailed lesson by Tamara.  I'm showing you my pages from this week.  It was so much fun with lots collage, drawing, painting, mixed media & a big mess in  my craft room, I loved every moment.  I'm using 12 x 9 inch quality mixed media pages, they will be bound into a book at the end of the year.  Tamara's lessons are awesome (I've taken several), I love her art and her teaching style.

The above whimsical 'Star Girl' is from the main lesson - Journey through the Light.   The basket is actually 3D and is holding stars on which I've written words for 2017.  

The mixed media page above was the warm up lesson and I have ideas to create similar (but smaller) backgrounds for cards :)

Thank you very much for your visit and have a great weekend,
Shirleyx

Happy New Year !

Hello and Happy New Year !  I hope you enjoyed the festive season with family and friends.   

Thank you for all your visits and comments in 2016.   I wasn't 'here' as much last year as life is busy and I'm doing my best to make time for creativity.  

I am spending enjoyable time drawing and painting stylized/whimsical faces using techniques learned from on-line classes with Tamara Laporte of Willowing Arts.

Today I'm showing a mixed media lady who is ready for her wedding day.    I thought she was appropriate to show for the New Year as we think about new beginnings.  

You can see the stamped hearts under the paint on her dress in this close up.   I find stamping under layers of paint much easier than collage but am experimenting with both.

Thanks for your visit.   I hope you have a wonderful year filled with good health, happiness and lots of creativity.

Cheers
Shirleyx