Mixed Media Art Journal / Sketchbook pages!

First of all I wish to apologise for being such a bad blogger! I have just been caught up in lots of 'life's stuff' at the moment and haven't really had a lot of spare time on my hands.

Anyway, we have moved onto a new 'block' of lessons in Art and this time it's Mixed Media!! Yay!! ....I get to play!!! lol.

We had the choice of four themes, but I picked 'The/my environment, simply because it was carrying on from the last block and I didn't need to kind of freak my poor brain out trying to concentrate on something else!! Lazy I know , but, hey, my poor wee brain has enough to think about just now! !

Enough rambling for now.....as I said earlier, I have chosen The / My Environment and of all things i chose to do it just HAD to be the Oil Refinery at Grangemouth!! .... Jeez... NOT very creative I hear you say...buuuuut... there IS a method in my madness because I am also working on stuff that is made with oil or derivatives of oil. So you see, it all ties together, AND it will tie in with something I have planned for further into this lesson!

So lets get down to business then shall we?..... First off all these to pages are supposed to represent the positives and negatives of the Refinery, and it's seems to have turned out ok. Had an absolute blast (sorry) putting it together but boy was the prep work a nightmare....took forever!!

BACKGROUND

Is done by roughly painting a base of gesso on both pages, when dry I then sprayed lots of water and  used Dylusions Black Marble and Melted Chocolate spray inks, sprayed more water then just let the colours run into one another while drying off with a heat gun! Was looking for an "oil slick" look! I sprayed some Fireworks Interference Blue over the top of all that, wanted to get and "oil on water look"! Really pleased with the background, turned out exactly as I imagined (for a change)!




LEFT HAND PAGE



The large cooling tower is done using sandpaper! along with a dried out baby wipe for the steam!
The "pipes" at the bottom are actually Allen Keys that were freebies form flat pack furniture from Ikea and are coloured using alcohol inks to give a kind of rusty look.
The cogs are die-cuts from mirri card and coloured using alcohol inks!

The oil drums were done by dragging dollops of white, green, brown and black acrylic paint along the page with an old bank card again to achieve a rusty look. when dried I just sketched the drums using some fine liners!

The "oil " is done with melted UTEE, Black and Interference Blue melted together in the meltpot and then dribbled onto the page. I wanted it to look like the oil was being poured from the drums!

The Flaring tower is sketched with fine liners and then water coloured. I used some yellow and peach/pink fusible fibres for the flame.


Here are a couple of close ups of the details.... the "pipes" and also the "oil"

And here are the oil drums....

RIGHT HAND PAGE

The trees are done with twigs from my garden and covered with parcel tape! Not the self adhesive shiny stuff but the horrible licky sticky stuff! I used a wet sponge! Wasn't going to lick THAT! YUK! lol They were coloured using alcohol inks!

The painting is a little chipboard frame again coloured using alcohol inks, and the painting is actually done on a "mop up" piece of kitchen roll from an earlier project, I just used a stamp from my stash to give it  a little interest and 'hung' it from the tree using a piece of string.

The flowers were done on coloured book pages using a stamp from my stash with buttons for centres.

The paint palette is sketched and i used a versamark pen and some embossing powders from my stash for the paint, added a wee cheapo paint brush to finish it off!

The "rainbow" paint pots are courtesy of a colour swatch brochure from B&Q!!

Quite a "Dark" piece but to be honest, despite the fact that I live not too far from the refinery it DOES have its advantages....I mean I would never have been able to study art at college if I couldn't use paint because there wasn't any oil to make it with!! lol!! I KNEW I would tie those two together SOMEHOW!!! lol..

So there you have it, this is what has kept me busy over the weekend! I sincerely hope it was what my lecturer was looking for!!

Take care everyone and thanks for dropping by!

Jackie x

Art Postcards.

In 'Contextual Studies' for Art we are working on 'timelines and movements'!

The brief was to do six art postcards on each movement of our choice but putting our own take on things! I have completed five and will work on the final one tomorrow, (getting really sore from sitting too long just now)

Anyway here's what I've completed so far

CUBISM _ 1907 - 1919

And it's a 'painting' of my lava lamp!! And it's loosely based on Pablo Picasso ... (I think) lol

FAUVISM - 1904 - 1908

And this one is done in the Style of Henri Matisse

GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM 1910 's - 1920's

TO BE COMPLETED.....



Surrealism - 1920 -1930

This is just one of my own pieces. I just had a little play with some Dylusions, and some of my favourite rubber stamps along with a label printer and came up with this....Not sure how "surreal" it appears to everybody else but boy do I love those colours!!! The phrase is actually the lyrics from the Enigma song Prism of Life in case you were wondering.

POP ART

Now I could have went the easy road and did something to do with Andy Warhol....but I didn't.... I had a little look at Robert Rauschenberg's work and I love it!! So this piece is very loosely based on his work....despite the fact that Tim Holtz and The Artistic Stamper are in there as well....So I just collaged some of Tim's papers and used some of the Artistic Stamper's steam punk stamps!

MINIMALISM


A VERY simple piece ! I just drew round the circles in the  Dylusions "Chequered Dots" stencil and coloured them using a black fine liner! Simple but effective and it's again loosely based on Frank Stella's work.

So there you have it.... been a busy few days and I still have some more stuff to catch up on but I'll manage. I will post the German Expressionism one when I have that completed. And, that I'm afraid will NOT be tonight! It's Friday and I NEED to relax a little! Hopefully!  Wouldn't mind a nice little Bacardi or two but alas, the big nasty painkillers I'm on will NOT allow! *sighs*

So take care everyone and thanks for dropping by.

Have a great weekend

Jackie x

Alternative self portrait .... pt II

Hello everyone, I finally managed to get the other pieces for my Alternative Self Portrait. This is a project for Analytical drawing in Art and Design at college.....if you look at the previous post you will see the other three pieces I've completed.

This piece is done in Charcoal and Gouache paint and is a piece about my favourite boots, jacket and perfume!

 

 

And the final piece is a painting in Gouche of my Chinese Therapy Balls and basically signifies my liking of the 'different'!.

I was really quite daunted to start this piece because there was so much detail in it but once I got going it wasn't as bad as I thought. I did cheat when it came to the balls though....I used a bottle of nail polish remover to draw around to get good circles! lol... REALLY pleased with the way it's turned out though!

I THINK I've achieved the aim but won't really know how well untill I get back to College and hopefully that will be on Monday! Still feeling very sore and miserable with this sciatica though, but I NEED to go back. I just can't take any more time off.

I have some more pieces ready to be 'blogged' for another project I'm working on in a different class so watch this space....

TTFN

Jackie x

An Alternative self Portrait.

Well it's been a wee while since I last blogged anything and to be honest I just haven't had the time. Just been busy catching up and studying.

I haven't been to college for a week and I'm off again next week thank to 'unforseen circumstances'! OR if you prefer....a rather nasty recurrence of Sciatica, and, by way of trying NOT to hurt it even more when packing my bag for college last week I ended up pulling a muscle in my back! Ouch was NOT the word I used lol!! But it'll do for now....Soooo after a doctor's appointment, and some seriously strong painkillers I now find myself ever so slightly 'floating' all over the place!

Anyway.... enough of this rambling.... In our analytical drawing class we were issued with a brief to do five finely finished detailed pieces on one subject of our choice. I decided to go for an Alternative Self Portrait, thought it would be fun, and something a little bit different.

So below I've posted photos of the three pieces I've done so far..... Hoping to get the other two finished this weekend if I can sit still long enough!!

This first piece represents my favourite band! Yep! As if you all didn't guess already lol.... It's Iron Maiden !! So i decided to draw my 'hoodie' using pastels! I just part of it but I'm really pleased with the end result!

This one represents one of my hobbies.... knitting and crochet, done in watercolours and detailed with a fine liner uni pin pen.

And last one for now is just something that represent me and what i like.... just some art/craft materials painted using acrylics! REALLY pleased with this as I've never painted a 'proper' complete picture before!

So there you have it.... sorry I can't stay for a bit longer but it hurts too much to sit for too long. So I'll say Cheerio for now,

Take care everyone and thanks for dropping by,

Jackie x

More playing in my college sketchbook!

Well, I've been playing lots while on half term holiday!


First of all, I was taken on a little visit to the astounding Glencoe on Sunday last week by my arty buddy at college along with her husband! Had a real hoot too as we are all mostly on the same 'wavelength'!

I took lots of photos but managed to sneak a couple with buildings in so I could use them in my sketchbook! It's themed on the 'built up environment' !

Here's the results of that little reconnaissance mission!

This piece is done in pastels and was basically a colour matching exercise, did not too bad with what I had in my box and I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out!

This one below took two attempts because it's a perspective challenge, we haven't covered that part yet so i was a bit unsure as to how to go about it, but I sussed it out and I'm really pleased with it! Again it's done using pastels, I really do like these, and will certainly be using them more often!

Now this piece below...well...I just HAD to lol.....I'll get away with it because there's still a building and a practice session so there won't be a problem! I hope!!

That church is actually a photo of The Tron in Edinburgh, which for any Scots reading this will know is situated in the Royal Mile and looks nothing like that!!

I printed off the photo in grey scale then over painted it with some Gouache, set it aside to dry while getting to work on the background.

It's all done using Gouache paints with some household items used for a textured feel, did the grass on the left with cling wrap lift off! This paint is great because you can go back and reactivate it to do something else to it, hence I managed to get all the lovely smudging effects for the grass!

The tree and wee Raven birdie are drawn by me, the moon was done by using an old book page and drawing round a CD, I just painted over it and used a stippling effect with the brush to give the moon 'dimples' !! The big Raven is a clip art image I downloaded and cut out, as are the grave stones on the opposite page. I just found a suitable quote and wrote that on an old book page which was coloured using an orange promarker!

I am thrilled with the way this has turned out! And, I seriously hope that the lecturers will think the same.


So thanks for reading my update on the sketchbook project,

Take care everyone

Jackie xx

Update on the college course!

Many apologies for the lack of blogging, but I've just been so wrapped up in this course, Got loads to do and masses of homework involving lots of research and also lots of experimenting!

anyway, I just wanted to show a few of the results I've been getting by using some products for the very first time! Quite pleased with some of them to be honest.

This was my first attempt at using Willow charcoals! Great stuff but really REALLY messy!! Absolutely thrilled with the way it turned out. didn't think i could draw like that!  The object of the exercise was to concentrate on the shading , hence the big metal pot!

This next piece was done using Pastels....now everyone in the class had a total blast with these. Our lecturer asked us to bring in 'clothing' and we rigged up a washing line and hung up our clothes! lol....everything from wooly socks to t-shirts to funky scarves and hats! Everyone's results were amazing and the whole lot of the 'drawings' are now on the wall of the classroom! As you can see by the image I brought in a little denim waistcoat, Jane (my lecturer) LOVED this and thought I had captured everything beautifully! Was I chuffed with what she said or what! :)

These next projects were a little more tricky...they involved 'blown up thumbnails'! .... taking a photo, framing part of it off, drawing the framed off part them blowing the whole thing up to fit the page! Quite difficult but once you get the hang of it it's not too bad. We basically had to experiment with different mediums.... I framed off part of the former Scotsman newspaper building in Edinburgh and 'destroyed' that three times lol !!

The first one is done using acrylics! I HATE this piece! It turned out looking like camouflage!! EEKS.... but we only had to use the three primary colours we had to mix those to get the secondary colour we wanted! ..... I may 'do something' else with this later on because i really loathe it!

The same piece again only this time using Gouache paints and I went for a green tone this time...

and finally yet another piece only this time we were allowed to use a full colour palette and watercolours! Quite like the way this turned out despite the fact that i am not really very comfortable using watercolours.

we were allowed to experiment with these first and tried out lots of different things to give different effects, table salt, sea salt, masking fluid, cling film, paper towels, wet on wet, wet on dry etc.....

I must admit to enjoying these little 'practice sessions because I think they give you a feel for the paint and let you know what you can and can't do with them, which gives you just a little more confidence when the time comes to actually use them 'properly'.

There is one final piece I am going to show because I do LOVE this piece and it is so far one of my favourites, (the denim waistcoat come a very close second).....it was another experiment using Gouache paints! I painted over a photo of the Tron Church in Edinburgh and it has turned out suitably 'retro spooky' !! Ewan my  colour theory lecturer also loves this.... the smudge ability factor with these paints is just great, be good for rainy day or fog or even reflections on water...

Am I enjoying this course?... well yes!! I have learnt so much in the short time I've been there so can't wait to see what everything will be like once the course is finished!

Thank you for dropping by and let me ramble on about my college experiences, I do appreciate it.

Take care

Jackie x

Well Hello there......

I have been a bad blogger! :( I haven't updated my blog in SUCH a long time and I apologise unreservedly for that.

I do have some pretty good excuses though, I've been caught up in a lot of general 'life stuff' AAAAND I have started a college course as well, it's a full time NC Art and Design course. I've only been there a couple of weeks but boy have I been hammered with homework already, so I haven't really got a lot of free time for crafting just now.

Anyway....part of this course includes "Media and Software skills" i.e. Photoshop and 'stuff' ! lol...Now without boring you all rigid with the techy stuff I'll just give you a quick overview :-

Basically we have to try out 3 different graphics packages - Photoshop, Inkscape and GIMP....we have to just explore these packages and basically find out which one is best for what purpose! doesn't really matter if things a re right or wrong, it's all about 'experimenting and learning!

Now for those of you that know me you will have gathered that I'm not exactly a 'genius' when it comes to computers lol...... but I had a go anyway, not quite sure if I've achieved the 'brief' or not but hey ho! I'll have a word with the lecturer on Wednesday!


So here's what I did....


I started out with a piece that I had drawn in art class, A red pepper done in chalk pastels with an oil pastel background textured using a fork!!

NOT the best artwork but I have got to start somewhere lol...



I then opened that in Photoshop and played around with some of the filters and other stuff and ended up with this image below

Of  all the programs I used I MUCH prefer this one despite the fact that it's the professional version of Photoshop and it is supremely technical and complicated it seemed to be the easiest of all of them to use in the end! Whether or not that was because I briefly touched on it last year in the access course I don't know!



The next program used was Inkscape!! Now heaven only knows what happened with this but boy did my PC throw a hissy fit!! It practically ATE the memory for lunch!! lol.... I absolutely loathed this program....it just seemed a struggle from start to finish....I just don't know enough about it to really pass much of a comment I'm afraid, but everybody I have spoken to about it seems to be of the same opinion! ..... the image turned out....well....erm... see for yourself....lol

I have no idea what happened (or didn't for that matter lol) but looking at that image that program looks like it would be great for large text stuff..... IF I ever get it to work properly I might have another play!



And finally GIMP ... the one my teenager loves!! He thinks it's great and I suppose it is but I haven't used it much either so can't pass comment....it did what I wanted it to and the end result is alright I suppose ...

I must admit to rather liking the filters i used for the texture on this... it has a fantastic canvas look to it....it's turned out not TOO bad but I'm still leaning evermore to the dreaded Photoshop!!


I am going to make a 'paper' version of this project.... fancy putting all the images in a journal along with lots of notes on what was done and what I liked and disliked....think it will make things a LOT easier when I need to find out the best program to use for whatever project I will be working on!


Sooooooo.........on that note I will bid you all goodnight!

Thanks for dropping by and reading these rambles, just wish i knew more about the programs to give you all a better idea.

Take care

Jackie x

A beautiful gift!

 On Monday I received a beautiful gift for my birthday from my lovely sister in law! She is an art teacher at high school and decided to get me a few arty bits because she knew I was going to college for Art and Design in August.

Now that little Journal is leather, embossed with a gorgeous big elephant on the front and is loaded full of hand made paper!

Sooooo....seeing as it has a very 'Indian' feel to it I decided to do these pages!

Handmade paper does NOT like water, so I covered the pages with Gesso and then inked them up with Dylusions spray inks, I just then drew some Mehndi designs on top!

Love the way these have turned out!


just a quick post tonight, not really got much to show just now anyway, still been a bit busy with appoinments and such likes!

Take care all , and thanks for dropping by

Jackie xx

Worse than the buses lol....

Don't see anything for ages and then it all comes along at once!!!

My humble apologies for being such a bad blogger, I've just been so wrapped up in 'life stuff' at the moment. So much so that I haven't even taken part in any blog challenges for a couple of weeks.

So instead of inundating you with loads of posts, I'll just do one mega post, so get a comfy cushion and a cupppa and get ready for a 'novel' lol!!

Starting off way back on June 22nd, it was my 'wee boy's' 18th birthday!! I can't believe that he's 18 already!, just where has the time gone! Anyway, he didn't really want a huge fuss because he's saving for driving lessons so he wanted me to put the money I would have used for a party into the bank towards that, that was fine by me ! A pretty sensible idea! So, I just took him for a slap up meal at the local restaurant and then into the pub for a few beers! A few of his mates turned up so it ended up a good laugh. Got evidence too lol !!

Yes that was taken fairly early on....note the fact that there are no empty glasses!! Anyway....we didn't do too badly, and I did give them all fright when they thought that I couldn't handle the Jaeger Bombs!! lol!! I showed 'em good!! lol..

Right, that's enough of the birthday shenanigans......or not....had to go and get some 'stuff' dealt with the day after and guess what?.... yup! We kind of ended up doing the same again lol!! This time it was some of MY mates that turned up! And it was a complete hysterically fun and enjoyable day!! Thought we'd both be ill on Sunday but it was fine :D

The next couple of weeks were really taken up with lots of legal meetings, letter writing, form filling....blah blah blah, catch up tidy up stuff!

I DID however mange SOME crafting, mainly journalling so I'm going to show you what I've done with an explanation if I can.

I did these pages for a reason, just got sooooo fed up with being criticised all the time! Plus the fact that it gave me the chance to practise my drawing! The background was done using Dylusions Inks the rest is all hand drawn except for the phrase which was printed out on the computer.

These two pages are pretty self explanatory so I won't bore you with the details but I think you get the idea...


A wee while ago I joined a journalling group on Facebook, one of the ladies did a spread about her tattoo so I decided to do one of mine....was quite pleased with the way this turned out, I printed off the photos of my tattoos and then just drew the the other images myself. Not brilliant and I certainly won't make a  tattoo artist that's for sure but I do like these pages...

These next two pages I just finished off today and I am thrilled to bits with them, sooooo bright and colourful and they really make you smile!

Done using Dylusions Inks, and stencils, and the stamps are from Chocolate Baroque and are coloured using Inktense pencils. Just really enjoyed chilling out colouring in these flowers and butterflies! That big butterfly is just perfect for shrink plastic!!

While I was in the middle of those pages I received a lovely surprise from the postie! It was a present for me for my Birthday on Monday! Dammit she remembered! lol...... thought I could be sneaky and just let this one slip by!! lol.......... seriously though.....it was THE most STUNNING card and gift! So much so that I shed a tear or two!........Everything about this piece just screams "ME"!! .......so without further ado, I'll quit with the waffling and leave you alone to look at the pictures of these exquisite pieces of art!!

A gorgeous card and matching envelope! The wording is from the classic Steppenwolf song "Born to be Wild"! Isn't that card just amazing?...........and here is the gift! I am totally blown away by this! It is absolutely gorgeous!!......

Just have a wee look and see what's above the 'door'! Now THAT was clever! lol....it's the Bacardi Bat....and yep! you've guessed it! I drink Bacardi! Such a clever little touch that :D

And here is what was behind that door...........

..... a sweet little 'parcel' with some adorable crafty embellishments! Beautiful roses on  clothes pegs, loads of divine little buttons and charms, some crystal teardrops, lace, 'ruler' ribbon and loads more.


I am such a lucky girl to receive such a beautiful gift as this and I will treasure for years to come! It didn't half lift my spirits I can tell you. Not really had too much to smile about recently so this just made my day!

THANK YOU MY FRIEND .... It means a lot !


So on that note i will be off......I have waffled on waaaaaaay too long and your bums are bound to be getting numb! lol


Take care and thanks for dropping by


Jackie x

WOYWW 159

Can't believe it's Wednesday already! First of all I would like to welcome some new followers - Thank You for taking the time out to read about my rather hectic journey in life!

Secondly many apologies for not making round everyone's desks last week, there were just too many and i simply ran out of hours ... *sighs*.... it's not going to be much better this week either, My son is 18 on Friday and I have 'things' to organise.... muhahahah ... !

Anyway, if you are wondering if I've lost the plot by showing you my my creative space then pop over to JULIA'S PLACE to see what it's all about! you'll love it!!

My desk this week has been caught in a mid mini tidy up! I had just finished that Collage canvas  - see HERE for a better look if you are interested..... so I was tidying away the paints and 'stuff' when I remembered what day it was!! So I just took that photo while I was at it!

I am going to take a couple of days off from crafting because I NEED to do the dreaded h*******k !! My place looks like a small thermo-nuclear device has exploded in it! It would be a whole lot easier if I could get rid of this 'stuff' I'm storing for my soon-to-be-ex-husband though...*sighs* ... I have the hairdressers tomorrow, and an appointment of Friday....then off out with the teenager on Friday night for his birthday (did i mention that already?) lol..... he didn't want a 'big do' because he would like  the money I would have spent on that put towards his provisional driving licence.... and who said teenagers were selfish.... I thought that was a pretty sensible idea and one i am more than willing to go along with! His mates will probably all take him out 'clubbing' for a night to celebrate anyway....so it's just basically going to be a night in the pub with me and 'him'  (ID card arriving on time permitting)!... lol... (poor kid doesn't know what he's in for)!!!lol..

Right, I'm off ! Got loads to do an not enough time to do it in...

Take care and Happy WOYWW

Jackie x

Textured Collage on canvas board.

I so wish I could have taken a better photo of this piece because there are so many different layers and textures on this piece! This photo just doesn't do it justice!

Anyway, it's done on a 10 inch by 12 inch canvas board, using magazine images, lots and LOTS of Gesso and acrylics along with some spray inks, die cuts and some odd bits of lace.

I saw this image in a magazine and loved it, so I tore it out and ran it through a Cuttlebug embossing folder then stuck it down onto the board using Gesso, added some mixed browns acrylic paint an more Gesso then stuck down some Alterations die cuts, mainly Vintage lace trim and also the Mannequin dress from, just slabbered <----- technical term that....lol...over some more acrylics and gesso with my fingers. did some random imperfect stamping then added some more die cuts, this time Tattered Florals, these were cut from a mesh fabric and look great when stuck down. again I just slabbered on some acrylics over the top. I also added an off cut of some old beaded lace which was white but I added some mixed browns and copper metallic acrylics to blend it in. I randomly rubbed over some Copper acrylic paint to try and highlight some of the the textures.

Hopefully here are a couple of close ups of some of the textures.....

The phrase was downloaded from the Internet and just handwritten onto an old torn book page. I distressed the wording with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink and then stuck the phrase down onto the board.

I am really pleased with this piece because it's my first proper attempt at collage!


Thanks for looking in,

Take care

Jackie x

Art Journal Challenge....

Yes another one! lol.....I actually managed to be on time with this one!!

Over on The Art Journal Cafe The challenge this time is a Colour one! I'm not really very happy with this because I screwed up in the middle of one of the pages hence the stupid position of the VW Camper van! So I ended up improvising slightly, I guess I just got 'put off' a little.  Still I've managed to cover the challenge and use what was asked for so it's turned out not too bad in the end!

That's one of the good things about journaling... if you DO screw up it doesn't matter too much....you always have it to look back and learn what NOT to do! It IS fun just playing with all the new techniques and thrying them out though.


Thanks for looking

Jackie x

Art Journal challenge .

Over on the Art Journal Cafe blog The challenge at the start of this month was Technique! ( I'm a bit behind lol)
Multiple layers of colour, collage and dimension! So me being me and REALLY in the mood for playing I used them all!


I started off by glueing some book pages to my journal pages, then gave them all a 'plastering with Gesso! Wanted as much 'texture' as I could manage with such runny Gesso. When dried I mixed up and added a coat of acrylic paint, when this was dried, I mixed up yet more paint, this time in reds, white and Gesso and painted round the edges of the pages, leaving the centres of the pages 'blank'. When this was dry, I then 'dry' brushed through some sequin waste, added some stamping (the ink blots) and then used some lids off a coffee jar and a bead storage container to give me the hollow circles! I also used an old debit card to give me the white and teal 'lines' .

I put the whole thing aside to dry and then started work on the heart, which was done by drawing around the lid of a heart shaped box. I covered the whole thing in Gesso roughly to give me texture, dried it off with a heat gun and then mixed up some Deep Red and Burnt Umber acrylic paint gave the heart a coat of paint but wiped some of it off with a baby wipe so you could see the texture underneath.  I dried it off and stuck it to the journal page, blended it using what was left on my pallet along with some Gesso, then edged it with some doodles!

Here is a close up of the heart so you can see some of the texture ....

The wording on the opposite page is just drawn very roughly and then coloured in using a black fine liner, I use a heart shape instead of the letter " o " just to theme it in a bit.

The edges are done using the 'waste' from The Vintage Lace Alterations die, I just doodled some hanging hearts and white dots to finish it off a little. The Keyhole and Key are again an Alterations die cut, i just painted them using some burnt umber and teal to give a slightly 'rusty' look. I edged them with a gold marker to make them stand out a little.

I've had an absolute blast doing these pages today! thoroughly enjoyed my playtime and can't wait to have a go at the next challenge, which is up on the above website now!

Thanks for looking


Take care

Jackie x

WOYWW 158 !

Picture the scene ...... laptop open and I'm blogging..... cat curled up on the sofa next to me and purring VERY loudly, a gallon of steaming hot coffee and total silence..... all ready to go for a trip around the world for the phenomenonononon....that is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday run by the fantastic MRS DUNNIT over at HER PLACE ! So why not pop over and have a wee look to see what I'm on about! It'll be fun and it's a GREAT excuse or not getting any housework done! :P lol...

The scene earlier on this morning was NOT so 'heavenly' though.....there I was at 8 a.m. in my big purple fleecy dressing gown, head like a hedgehog on steroids (don't ask because I don't know, but you get the idea) lol and not a tooth in my head!! Was answering the door to my son's mate! They both have a second interview (skills test this time) for a place they applied for at College, they wanted to get away early because the Olympic torch is coming into Falkirk today and the traffic will be horrendous!! Trust me when I say that the Wicked Witch of the North looked a helluva lot better than I did!! lol....I was NOT a pretty sight! lol

Anyway I digress somewhat!... On my ...erm...shall we say ..'creative space' this week lol...A  gorgeous ATC that was done for the 3rd WOYWW birthday swap! And I have to say it is just gorgeous!! Very cleverly done and i love it!! So THANK YOU KAREN aka Ink, Paper and Scissors! ...

Here's a close up of the cleverness.....

I just adore those 'mini polaroids' of my workdesk!! THAT is such a great touch! Got to figure out how that lettering was embossed though....that's just so cool!! And I have to say that I love the lovely card that came with it too...all the way from Canada too... :D

The other fancy wee ATC is from Mrs D aka Julia and had the WOYWW badge attatched! I love this little piece! How she managed to see that 'teensy totsie' wee man to stick him onto that card is beyond me lol...but he is ever so 'cute'!

Here's a close up ...

Cool innit?!! ....

I have another ATC to come yet but that's 'winging' it's way from America so it will take a bit longer. which I don't mind. I have actually managed to POST OFF MY ATC'S at long last long! .... so to my 'swap' partners....they are on their way to you and hopefully they won't be too long in getting to you! Once again I am so sorry for the delay.

The other 'stuff' on my desk.... is well.... just the usual creative stuff...my art journal, which I actually managed to get a couple of 'dark' pages done for, (needed to vent a little) ... a big 'bits and bobs' journal that I use for practicing ideas, and as you can see I'm in the middle of some 'tangling'! ....and piles of other 'stuff' that I've just been too plain lazy to put away lol...

So there you have it.... I completely disobeyed Julia's rules to keep this post short and sweet this week.... lol...So I am now procrastinating on whether or not to mow my lawn, the sun is actually shining but seeing as I'm in Scotland it won't be for long lol...it is to be raining tomorrow and my lawn is currently looking like the local farmer's meadow!! Wonder if he would lend me a sheep!! lol...

So Thank You for dropping by, take care and Happy WOYWW !


Jackie xx