more inkiness in my moleskine planner

 I finally got my photos sorted :) I can't remember where I saw the idea of using deli paper/greaseproof paper to cover the diary part of my journal but it is a fab tip!

DLP challenge: Under Paper

The above page is one of my favourites.. I just love how it turned out; it got a lot of inspiration from Robin-Marie's work

DLP challenge:  When not to Stop

The following week is when the diary part of my planner fell by the wayside...I was so exhausted post OFSTED!

It's not one of my favourite pages I have to day.  It was a real challenge, to just keep layering and layering...and challenge is good!

I often use a double sized piece of card/watercolour paper for these challenges, then fold them in half and use the DLP challenge on one side and Documented Faith on the other (although I've not been able to manage many of those)..

...but it's there ready and waiting!

DLP challenge: Layers you will love - cover up good stuff

Back to loving my pages again but this time ignoring the challenge prompt!  I completed this one whilst away in Saltburn and used some seaweed from the beach as a mask..

This was another double spread before folding it in half and adding it as a tip in.  I have to say, I highly recommend DLP, and the girls who run it are so generous in their time and energy - it is free!

That's all for today though folks, week 8's pages coming up in another post.  They were inspired by the Cardboard Crush workshop by the DLP team, Art to the 5th Academy; I can recommend it!

15 min art journal challenge

I've seen the idea of a 15 minute creative challenge on a few blogs so decided to give it a go.

I'm not great at planning out an idea for my journal pages; I journal intuitively... but all my inks, stencils and favourite stamps are within easy reach of my desk so I figured I'd see what happened!

I even managed an action shot within the time!

Time's up!  I was pleased with how much I got done - which included cutting out a couple of stars from underpaper that I ended up not using so they'll go in another project.  Have you tried giving yourself a 15min time limit when working in your journal?

circles on a journal page

I am very happy with this journal page spread!

It started off as a bit of a rubbish gelli print which I painted over with some turquoise brusho, thinking it might lift it - it did!!

Then I started playing around with Daniel's circles cube from Stampotique

and lots of variety in text and numerals.  The background numeral piece is from my scratch paper on my worktable; it's how I clean my stamps - by stamping them repeatedly on scrap paper!!

Add some doodling ... and Sarah is a happy art journaller!!

Stampotique Stamps used:

Daniel's circles cube  #6184  by Daniel Torrente

Romantic Text  #10028  by France Papillon

Numeric  #7164  by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Baroque Background  #7109  by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Antique Description  #7228  by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

deli paper and the gelli plate

I finally got hold of some deli paper to try with my gelli plate - only taken me a year!!  I discovered this when I googled 'deli paper gelli  plate' and found Kate's post, which is where I must have seen it originally!

So I spent yesterday afternoon playing, and what made it more wonderful was that I did it with two good friends :)  I started off with colours and stencils I'm happiest with...

... then branched out, adding an earth colour as per Sami Harding's advice at Art Summer Camp this year...

... and ended up adding colours I don't normally immediately choose as that was what my friend used and it looked amazing!  That's one of the brilliant things about playing with your paints etc alongside others, whether at home with a friend or in a class.

I particularly wanted to try deli paper this week because I discovered Bible Journaling a week or so back and, keen to give it a try, I purchased a journaling Bible (it has extra wide margins for note taking ...or paint, depending on your preferences ;)  )

I thought the deli paper would work well on the fine paper that Bible's are made up of.  In the end, I also dived in and added paint straight to my pages, working alongside my gelli plate, using it just like I would any other journal!

I added some texture to a random page whilst cleaning off my stencil ...

...and added some gelli printed deli paper alongside one of my favourite Psalms

 And that was my very happy Saturday after an exhausting first week back at school :)

finally made some time for 'me'

Yesterday I finally got round to cracking open my biggest stamps, this set of french stamps by Carabelle Studio from That's Crafty.  

The set is A4 in size but comes complete with an A4 mountblock so I felt it was really good value.  I was teaching a workshop for the fabulous Victoria Stampers stamp club in Warrington yesterday and used my demo piece as a background in my passport sized journal.

I just love the contrast of black and white imagery against a colourful background.  It still needs more work but I'm not sure what yet so leaving it to sit awhile.

We decorated envelopes on the workshop, made tags and doodled/practised journal writing.  It was a really fab day and I'll definitely be going back each month as an attendee as they are such a friendly bunch of people with some great workshops planned.

a little book

 I wanted to make a little journal as a gift for someone and a large tag in my tag box caught my eye!

I smooshed paint, stenciled and stamped both sides of the tag, which I'd pre-folded ..

... and after adding some 'shrooms', discovered that I'd put them on upside down.  Hmm, make a backwards book or ...???

I trimmed the end of the tag, added some sari ribbon and stitched it onto the other end of the tag!

Now the book has additional texture :)

I used pamphlet stitch to add the pages inside, and a ribbon long enough to tie around the book to keep it closed.

All in all a very happy couple of hours, and a gift in the post to a friend.  Hope you've had a lovely evening and have time for some creative craftiness this weekend.

Stampotique Two Sticks 6006 by Jill Penney and Daniel Torrente

Stampotique Giant Shroom 3009 by Jo Capper-Sandon

Stampotique Mushroom Group 3010 by Jo Capper-Sandon

Stampotique Tall Word Collage  7167 by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Crafters Workshop Stencil Cornflowers TCW 375 by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Bunting galore, and a goodbye

I've been madly sewing this morning.  I'm off to teach art journaling at a Christian conference tomorrow followed directly by a family holiday so I was keen to get some bunting made for my tent (at the conference, to be transferred to the VW campervan whilst away after that).  I have tonnes of other things I should have been doing ;)

It was hard to get a decent photo of the bunting itself.  There are fourteen flags in total.  I bought the bunting from Paperchase then 'embellished' it!

The birds are from some fabric I bought on holiday a couple of years ago.  I have a matching tablecloth for the camper.

Yesterday saw a busy day of bunting making too.  I've been busy journaling, initially to de-stress after finishing work.  I'll share some pictures on another day.  I saw some blank paper bunting in Hobbycraft and decided it would be nice to do some journaling on the flags and hang them up during my workshops next week.  Over the week I have six classes, with a max of 11 people each class.  Attendees sign up the day before so I don't yet know how busy I'll be...looking forward to it though!

On a different note, a sad one really, we said goodbye to the play date cafe challenge today.  It was a quiet one, which is why I wanted to make sure I played this week.  It's a challenge I was honoured to be a part of right from the start, and one I continued to go to when my mojo needed a bit of help getting going.  Thanks for all your hard work running the cafe Julie and team!