Just Me...In my own place

Mottisfont thru the year!

2009-06-18T06:50:00.005+01:00

A few months ago whilst browsing the net I was inspired by something I saw to make an album out of oddments of paper, scrapbooking paper, wallpaper, book pages...anything I could get my hands on. The result was this little album with pages of varying sizes and quality. So what to do with it?

I am lucky to live just a short distance from one of the National Trust sites...Mottisfont...so I decided to document some of the garden changes and wildlife seen at Mottisfont throughout the year. Each month I pop up there and practise my photography skills and then put the best half dozen or so photos into the album but the beauty of this is that I am able to practise some artistic techniques at the same time. I don't want it to be just like a scrapbooking album.

I have now completed pages for March April and May and will add some of those over the next few days but here is the album.

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Take one Stamp CJ

2009-06-10T16:09:00.002+01:00

This CJ came along with a face stamp and I have to say I was quite excited by it. I have never played with faces before so it was a first. I had a box of french lace which I had acquired from an antique shop and before I knew it I had come up with this. I do like her...Hope Netty does too!

tfl

52Q - upload catch up!

2009-06-08T16:32:00.002+01:00

I have been doing these weekly but for some reason haven't been uploading them hence the catch up.

So week 18 'Whats on my to do list?' I wasn't happy with this tag, I really threw it together but hey, nothing wrong with that is there? Just realised I havn't turned it to the correct orientation...never mind.

It reads
-make up g's album
-plant herb garden and baskets
-combat and balance - go to class
-lamp for outside front door
-fairy chores!
-stick to diet.

You can see that I lead a very exciting life can't you?

Week 19 'What gives me hope?'

Journalling reads 'everything I do gives me hope. Because hope is what drives me on. It stimulates me. Without it...what would there be?'

Week 20 'My latest obsession'

-Greys Anatomy present
-Greys Anatomy past (working my way through all series since I came to it late)
-Snow Patrol
-Smooshing paint as backgrounds
-Loch Garten Ospreys cam
-Packing tape transfers - still - thanks g!
-Cookery programmes

Week 21 'What would you do if you had a free day with no restrictions?'

Journalling reads - 'I would go in search of paradise on Earth. I would travel at the speed of light all around the globe looking at all the beautiful places that the Earth possesses - for Nature is the real treasure!'

Another CJ page!

2009-06-04T06:50:00.003+01:00

The 'Take one Stamp' CJ is in full flow now. This came along with a medallion stamp and I have to say its not my favourite type of stamp. In the end I stamped onto vellum with stazon and then coloured it in from behind with pencils. I then made it into a little window. The background was done with paint, a technique I learnt on one of the Vivian Bonder journalling workshops. A bit of bling...as requested by the owner and voila! I know...its a crooked photo!

Vivian Bonder's journal prompts

2009-05-17T18:35:00.002+01:00

I am following Vivian Bonder's journal prompts over on ning
http://vivianbonder.ning.com/ and am also doing her art journal workshop so thought it would be a good idea to combine the two. Here are the first two prompts: honesty and change.

tfl

52Q What is my super power?

2009-05-14T18:42:00.003+01:00

I got a little behind with these but am catching up. Here is week 17...What is my super power? I find this sort of question hard...its like blowing your own trumpet and thats not really me so I asked my hubby what he thought. Bless him! He said I was a good organiser, could analyse a problem and find a solution quickly. That I am good at making a bad situation, good. So thats what I wrote on the back.

I have learnt one or two new paint techniques at Viv Bonders art journalling class so practised a little and covered my tag with my own paint work!

Tfl.

g's Album

2009-05-14T18:15:00.002+01:00

One of the first homemade albums I ever made was done following a class by the very talented Gloria Froese. One thing led to another and now I have made so many of my own albums...I will never buy one again. This little treasure was a kit that G sold and I just had to have it! Gloria is a lover of old things and often incorporates a bit vintage in her projects...a lady after my own heart!

DaisyGray Designs

2009-05-04T20:48:00.001+01:00

Whilst surfing tonight I found Daisy Gray designs, a very generous lady who lets you use her background designs for free...how cool is that?

Thank-you Daisy!

52Q - What is the truth?

2009-04-30T18:17:00.003+01:00

This is definately not a good photo of this tag, its come out very dark but anyway...my answer is that 'we are born, then we live and then we die'. It sounds kinda morbid but lets face it, its the only thing we know for certain isn't it?

GPP Cat got your tongue

2009-04-29T12:29:00.005+01:00

Over at the crusades this month, Michelle has challenged us to get innovative with words on our journalling. Not just the written word but stamps, stencils...anything goes.

I have been doing a lot of art journalling over recent months but am still trying to find my own style...its tricky! And getting words on to the page is even trickier. It doesn't help that I hate, I mean really hate my hand writing...so this has been a challenge indeed!

Here, I used a few elements and techniques collected from previous crusades namely wax rubbings and masks. Even that spade shape was used as a hand made mask at some time.

here some stencilling and a little doodling which I am experimenting with at the moment

and some collage, paint and gesso!

and finally a page in progress

I have realised that I love to use the cut titles and words from magazines.

Mottisfont Abbey

2009-04-20T08:18:00.004+01:00

I belong to the National Trust and am lucky enough to have Mottisfont Abbey within a very short drive of my home so I can pop up there at any time, even if just for an hour. So on Saturday, I took one of these impuslive decisions and just threw on my coat and grabbed my camera and went off to see what was occurring up there.

This bench is one of my favourites, it sits within the walled gardens which are relatively peaceful at this time of year. Come up here in June though, when the roses are out and its a different matter!

the tulips are out

and just look at this fella...he is on a mission I think!

I am currently art journalling the changes at Mottisfont through the year...more on this later!

MMM - Mermaids

2009-04-20T07:47:00.002+01:00

Used this postcard of A Mermaid by John William Waterhouse on this page. I love his work.

Used Mica and distress embossing powders. tfl

52Q - Q15...What makes me me?

2009-04-19T08:38:00.003+01:00

The writing on the back reads...

All the good and all the bad, my ups and downs, my drive and motivation, my laziness and stubborness, my likes, dislikes, loves and hates. My DNA and that of my ancestors, my environment and how I was brought up. The people around me in my past and those who are there now. Events, moments, experiences, days, morals, beliefs. My husband, my children, my family. My love of life and my belief that everything and anything is possible with focus and strength of mind...my past and my future.

tfl

52Q weeks 13 and 14

2009-04-13T09:20:00.003+01:00

Had quite a laugh doing the hair one...I wish I could have found more photos! I have had a number of very dubious hairstyles over the years but here I am sporting the Kevin Keegan and the Farrah Fawcett-Majors :lol:

And secondly...books. I used to read loads when I was younger but it kind of got spoiled when I started studying and HAD to read. I never had the time to read for pleasure...so now I read lots of art books but mostly only read novels when I go on holiday and then I can easily read 4 or 5 over a couple of weeks. I like Paulo Coelho, Patricia Cornwell and more recently Lisa Gardner whom I discovered in Florida last year.

The Ospreys at Loch Garten

2009-04-11T18:21:00.009+01:00

I don't often say much on here about these birds but I watched them last year and they are back again now so they are top of my favourites list at the moment.

Last year we watched as EJ and Henry became a couple and then a family as all three eggs hatched. Sadly the youngest chick was beaten into submission by his brother and sister but the two surviving youngsters, Deshar and Nethy, fledged and eventually migrated in the search for warmer climes. They were tagged so we were able to watch on google earth as Deshar got his radar all wrong and disappeared into the Atlantic but Nethy found Africa and I think she finally ended up in Senegal for the winter.

As she was tagged the centre reported recently that there had been no movement for several weeks and they assumed she had met her end. Having said that it seems there is a possiblity that she lost her tag. Its been very sad as we watched these birds hatch, fledge and then migrate but it just makes you realise how few of these magnificent birds actually survive and how vulnerable they are.

Anyway, EJ came back a few weeks ago and has found herself a new man whom they have called Odin. The two have been mating and appear to be very happy and we are all awaiting the first egg which they speculate will be any day now. I warn you this is compelling viewing especially when she is keeping those eggs warm and calling for her partner to feed her and then again when the eggs hatch...it is sooo exciting.

Enjoy!

I can't seem to link this for some reason but there is a link in the side bar.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/webcams/birdsofprey/lochgartenvideo.asp

Another CJ page

2009-04-11T17:51:00.005+01:00

this time its Lorraines. The stamp she sent is the damask one from Heidi Swapp

This had me stumped as I really wanted to come up with something different. I layered several layers of 'fantasy film' in between paper and ran an iron over it to make the film stick together. I then cut out my shape and stamped with stazon. This film is fabulous stuff, its irridescent and shows many different colours depending on the light. I then kept the background fairly simple and just stamped with Stewart Gill paints before assembling the butterfly on sticky pads.

tfl

Journal Pages

2009-04-09T06:51:00.006+01:00

I thought I might start putting up some of my journal pages. I have been messing around with these for weeks but always felt that I was trying to achieve some kind of standard and then it clicked and I realised I can do whatever, I mean WHATEVER I want and I am the only person I have to please. I also realise that there will be some good ones and some bad ones but the main thing is they will all reflect how I am feeling at the time. The interesting thing is that I may be feeling really c**p but just going through this journalling process makes me feel so much better! So this is a page from a couple of weeks ago.

Paint, collage, stamping, doodling...this one has it all. And its a big book which I am using so I am altering it as I go. Often the diagrams and words show through a little but I don't mind that...it adds to the effect.
tfl

MMM Spots and Stripes

2009-04-06T08:55:00.003+01:00

I am very obsessed with journal working at the moment so much so that when I couldn't sleep the other night I started doodling and this is the result. It was 5am! Ridiculous time of the day...and I had already been awake for a couple of hours.

I hope it still qualifies for MMM...it was a bit of collage, paint and doodling :lol:

Grateful For - Em's challenge

2009-03-30T08:19:00.003+01:00

Here's my tag. My first attempt at using a sewing machine!

So amongst other things, I am grateful for (just this week) being 7 years cancer free!!!
My kids...as always.
Finding and being part of this wonderful hobby which has put me in touch with so many lovely people via cyberworld.
My art books...I am so addicted to buying these.

I have tags for this project in all sorts of sizes and made out of all sorts of things, even cereal boxes! I am determined to keep it going which is why I have kept all the tags fairly simple. I want to be able to do them quickly so I don't fall behind. When done I will bind them with the bind it all and I envisage lots of different tags all spilling out of a big fat book...we'll see!

Bits n Bobs

2009-03-25T10:42:00.002Z

I have just finished Natasha's CJ page. This CJ is small and in the shape of an envelope book so we had to create an ATC size layout and decorate the envelope to put it in. The challenge was to use just paint, ink and embossing...no embellishments. Now that is quite a challenge...to be embellishment free. The stamp was quite small and of waving or cheering hands. I really wanted to do something quite different so I stamped and embossed onto black card and then tried my hardest to make the hands look like trees! I then used one of my favourite quotes and came up with this.

On another note here is my submission for this weeks MMM's oriental challenge. I cheated here as this page is a few weeks old...hope thats OK?

52Q What keeps me awake at night?

2009-03-19T16:06:00.004Z

There are three things that keep me awake

1. Worrying over stuff...anything...mostly kids and money!
2. Back Pain! Since being diagnosed with a disc prolapse ontop of a degenerative disc I have had two lumbar epidurals for pain relief. Its settled a little but I live in chronic pain especially at night. Can't lay down and be pain free at all...it just doesn't happen. I guess I will have to have surgery at some time but I am putting it off!
3. Singing the same song over and over in my head. Sometimes I just can't stop and it drives me nuts and can keep me awake for hours!!!

Mixed Media Monday

2009-03-18T22:30:00.003Z

This weeks prompt is Spring colours and I have managed yet another page in my journal. I love using these prompts to kick start a page in one of my art journals. I now have about 6 six journals that I work in. This one was a kiddies hard back book which I am altering as I go.

tfl.

Another CJ

2009-03-18T07:03:00.003Z

I have only just decided to post pics of this latest CJ I joined. Its called 'Take one stamp' so each participant finds a stamp and sends it on its way with the journal. Here then is my effort. I did a lot of painting on this which is not really my forte but Michelle would be proud as I tried all sorts of techniques to get some depth on the page. And I was just a little 'g inspired' too as I used her walnut ink and yet another packing tape transfer! I am getting so addicted to those. I never bound the CJ as I want to make sure the binding wires are big enough for all the pages so I just tied it with ribbon. I should get this back in around a year or so if all goes well.

Crusade 29 - Brush Effects!

2009-03-16T20:29:00.005Z

Michelles crusade this month involves messing about with brush effects and that is exactly what I did! Working in this black journal (again!) and using some very bright paints, I stencilled, monoprinted, and used both clean and dirty dry brush techniques! One of the interesting things I did was stippling with a hard brush which I did to fill in the Orange flower which had gone rather 'blobby' when I had stencilled it. I am feeling rather pleased that I managed to cover up something which had not turned out as I had expected. Anyway, I still feel I have a little more to do here but wanted to put this one up for starters.

52Q

2009-03-14T09:39:00.003Z

This weeks question from Em is 'Which 5 movies inspire you creatively?'. I love 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' and it alone inspired me to do this tag.

The other movies inspire me in many ways...the funniest being 'Pracctical Magic'. The scene where they make marguerrita's definately makes me want to create!