Journaling in my Passport -sized Traveler's Notebook

I treated myself to a passport sized Traveler's Notebook on Black Friday, and saved it for Christmas.

Inside I have a kraft notebook, a lined notebook and a week-at-a-view diary.

I'm using the kraft notebook as a 'glue book' (love that term).  I was reminiscing with my brother-in-law on Christmas day about the wrapping paper our presents were wrapped in as children, and wishing I could see some now.  (Our stocking pressies, left by Father Christmas, were always wrapped in different paper to family presents, and it was ultra thin and scrunchy).  

This led me to collaging some bits of paper from this Christmas.  I LoVe cutting and sticking!

In my diary I am writing out a bible verse a day and there's more on this post if you're interested.  I've really enjoyed filling in spaces with scraps of paper and washi tape..

... and creating more art journal like pieces in larger gaps (such as the last week of December's page)

There was another double spread prior to this so I added some previously painted and sprayed paper and doodled, collaged and stamped over the top.

It's so good working small, it makes it achievable.

inspired by ... Ann Wood

Tim Holtz recently posted an image of an owl he asked Tammy Tutterow to make after seeing a number of images on pinterest.  [If you haven't seen it I encourage you to follow either of the previous links, it's worth it!!]  Elements of it reminded me of some I've seen elsewhere but it took me a few days to remember it was Ann Wood's owls that I'd seen images of.

Whilst visiting her blog I discovered that she had a free template for a boat.  Ann's boats are amazing (all her work is to be honest!); her latest one is made from "edwardian gowns and petticoats", how fabulous is that!!  [I also remembered this was where Sue found the template for her wonderful teacups!]

So I got making!!  This is a Mediterranean inspired boat apparently, and Ann's instructions are really easy to follow.  You can find them here.

I was lazy and used washi tape rather than paper mache for the first layer of my boat as I already had it out to tape the cardboard together.  I then coated it decopatch glue (similar to mod podge) after a second layer of washi tape inside.  For the outside of the boat I stamped Journey Collage onto tissue paper then layered it on the boat with the decopatch glue.  

  

I stamped Life onto some tissue paper and attached it to a button before layering it with a crocheted cotton flower I made a couple of years back (they live in a jar for such a circumstance as this!!)

 Stitching the sail was a lot of fun.  I used scraps of fabric and some hand stitching to add interest.

This boat is a gift for my sister and is currently hanging in the window awaiting her visit.  I think I may need to make another one for me though!!

a tag and an apron

Being ill just after Christmas is rubbish (I've had some kind of sickness bug) but after a couple of days reading, sleeping, perusing Pinterest and watching i-player (I don't know what I'd do without my i-pad!!!) I was well enough to sit up and play with my inks and stamps.

I used some Tim Holtz stamps from the 'mini muse' and 'purely random' sets, enjoying adding tiny bits of detail to the background of my manilla tag.

I just couldn't resist finishing it off with a scattering of hydrangeas.

Now all the presents are opened I can share some sewing I did just before Christmas for a friend of mine.  She loves 'dottie angel' so I decided to make a dottie-angel inspired apron.  It includes a little up-cycling - I found a denim shirt in my fabric collection and used the button edge to make the ties and the pocket as an extra pocket on the front.

a waddle of penguins

Well, you learn a new thing everyday!  I googled the collective term for a group of penguins and discovered that there is no generally accepted term, but that
"At the 4^th International Penguin Conference in Chile in September 2000, it was agreed by penguin researchers that they would try to refer to a group of penguins on the land as a "waddle" of penguins and a group in the water as a "raft" of penguins. We hope that these collective nouns will become widely accepted in the near future."

http://www.adelie.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/FAQs/collective_name.htm

Don't you just love that there was even a penguin conference?!!!  I love penguins.  I would love to see them in their natural habitat one day, and have decided New Zealand is the place to go - they have little blue ones!! (also sometimes known as fairy penguins).  Until that time I make do with visits to the zoo and things like my favourite mugs

Crafty Individuals had made some of 'Alice Palace's' drawings into stamps and after seeing her puffin I wrote and asked if she'd done any penguins.  She had, and promptly contacted CI to suggest penguins stamps...

... and now I have a set  :)  I was going to give them coloured tummies, as in the design on my Anna Wright mug above, but the journal page I made was too busy so I'll save that idea for another day.

Instead I added them to a page in my little paperback journal, including stars (by Stampotique) and some home made bunting, all in true Alice Palace style!

Art Journal Freedom by Dina Wakley

A couple of years or so ago now I took a class at Art from the Heart with Dina Wakely.  When I make cards I love a lot of white space on them and I particularly wanted to transfer this to my journaling.  Dina's new book, 'Art Journal Freedom',  has a whole chapter on 'white space' and was a great reminder of her workshop.

It really is a fabulous book, and quite different to the other journaling books on the market, teaching about composition and colour theory - knowing the rules means you can break them if you like!

I used Dina's 'circle' page design, creating a swirl of watercolour before adding some texture to some of the lines with a pecil crayon then adding circles through a large piece of 'sequin waste'.  I stamped a couple of the flowers then drew the other two before adding the words from a Stampotique stamp.  Dina's challenge is to create a second page using the same elements but in different quantities.  I've not done that yet.  I did, however, NoT do a double page spread, which is my usual way of working!!!  Quite a breakthrough for me!  I just felt that the page was too long and thin, as a double page spread, to carry this composition.

My 'low cloud' page did work well this size though.  On the first day of our ski-ing holiday my youngest son questioned whether we could refer to 'low cloud' whilst up in the mountains as, surely, it was just that we were high up and maybe we should call it 'high people' instead!  This really tickled me so I carved a couple of stamps - one of a tree, the other with the word 'cloud' - and made a journal page.

I used Tim's umbrella man and put him at the top of the mountain because I really did meet a lady with an umbrella whilst walking at the top of 'Saulire' between two ski lifts!  It was snowing.  

I made the mountains from a piste map and added the true names and heights of a couple of the mountains I went to the top of using my pedestrian ski lift pass.

Coming 'down' is a bit scary!  But the lift attendants were all lovely, and often slowed the lift down at the end to help me get off!!

And it was definitely worth it for the views!

The Play Date Cafe challenge...3 years on!

I know it's such a cliche, but really, where does the time go?  Three years ago I was never going back to teaching (!) and now here I am, happily teaching in a local special school and enjoying every minute of it!  Today I've been invited to be an Alumni guest over at The Play Date Cafe.

There are big celebrations going on over there, from Oct 18-22, with other design team members returning to join in the fun as special guests.  With daily prizes from a variety of sponsors, and additional giveaways for becoming a follower and displaying the brand new badges it really is a party!

The PDCC has always been a unique challenge for two reasons:

1) they encourage you as a player to 'interpret the colours' as YOU see them

2) they welcome pretty much ANY type of project, from cards to layouts, knitting, crochet and sewing, mixed media and even cupcakes!

I just love that you can join in whatever you're in the mood for making or have the appropriate colour resources for.

After an initial panic (!) I decided to see what I had materials wise in these three colours and eventually settled on some felt.  I considered making some toadstools but then realised that my favourite flowers of all time, hydrangeas, come in all these shades so I set too with a bit of stitchery...

Inspired by Julia Jowett's intricate needlework I used some ribbon for part of the petals then added tiny cross stitch, creating hints of decaying petals.  French knots and tiny beads decorate the centre and there's more on the blue tag.

I knew when I made the felted tag that I was partly chickening out from combining these colours in a painted project and it was kind of bugging me that I'd not really risen to the challenge!  So yesterday I set too and made a card, using lots of white space between the strong colours.

I'm particularly happy with this as I used my 'Faded Jeans' distress marker to colour directly onto a text stamp, meaning I could create texture to the centre of the flower and made a stem.  I've had my markers for a while but hadn't really used them.

I'd love for you to join me in congratulating The Play Date Cafe by playing along and sharing your support by saying hello when you pop over for a visit.  This challenge has a  very special place in my heart (sorry, corny but true) and it would mean a lot if you joined in.

picking myself up off the floor!

I am absolutely thrilled, and honoured, to be featured in Tim Holtz' blogworthy links post today! (Actually I'm bouncing around with happiness!!!!)

The 'shout out' was for my use of Tim's alpha parts as a stencil :)

"4. Sarah Anderson: very clever way to use the alpha parts as a stencil along with the colorful dylusions ink sprays"

I AdOrE lettering of all types and just love the splodginess that using the alpha parts as a stencil produces.  In fact, I hadn't realised how often I used it!!

Top tip: the alpha parts are sticky on the back so press them against your jeans a few times in order to lose the stickiness, otherwise they stick to your page (which is actually what they're designed for!!!)

:)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)

more later, as promised ;)

Met two very busy people, one gave me a sample, the other didn't...guess who!!!

 [Sue, next time we see an old ledger, we MuST buy it, this one was FaBuLouS!!]

Dyan's ledger book was 'absolutely fabulous darling'!  Full of colour, images, writing, and wonderful snippets of someone's handwritten numbers.  Every time I saw Dyan the ledger was held close with both hands!

It's that first mark in such an old book that's the hardest, but this ledger would never be looked in otherwise, so a great new use for it!

Carol was very taken with Dyan's Dina Wakley style kitchen roll, used to mop up excess ink:

Then of course my yummy tag was from the Timness himself. 

I AdOrE the new distress ink stains, the colour is so easy to apply, and looks fantastic layered, and is oh so, so vibrant.  The kraft paper is a must too for lovers of kraft paper with black printing on - fab, fab, fab.

And check out my 'crinkldy' ribbon!  So easy to customise with the ink stains.  I did like the perfect pearls mists, which spray the shine without a coloured ink, but I don't use that idea enough to warrant them ... yet!

But the distressing tool has been added to my birthday list - so much better than my scissors!  There was a very cool looking little dispenser for tissue tape, which just looked too cute not to have lol!

I must also share a pic of another special person (I'd show you Wendy and Jennie and Kate and Colin too but didn't take your photo!!!) learning to knit/crochet with some fabulously therapeutic wool from the Wendy wool company:

We called it 'monkey wool' as it looked like monkey's tails, and the pieces on the wall looked like monkeys!  It's texture is like fleecy jumpers - cosy!