Peacocks

Well I didn't think I would be doing two posts in one night but miracles DO happen!

I've just finished my tags for the September Tag Swap on UKScrappers. The general theme in 2012 is "trendy tags" and the host Leanne aka lovely leanie is choosing themes that are on trend this year. In September that theme is PEACOCKS - limes, purples and teals. All my favourite colours!!! I turned once again to my beloved Dylusions sprays - fresh lime, crushed grape and vibrant turquoise. I also added distress inks over the top in salty ocean, dusty concord, pine needles and shabby shutters.

I stamped over the inked backgrounds with a stamp I'm purchasing off leanie... I haven't paid her yet :o).... I love all the different fonts on it and its about friendship.

Etsy has been my friend recently and I've been looking at a lot of digital images. I bought the peacock inchy bottlecaps you can see on the tags and I also bought some collage words with quotes on that I really like and I've matted onto turquoise and purple mirri. I added purple and turquoise ribbon as a final touch. They are so pretty I may just stroke them for a while before posting them off!

Come on, Dance...

Another UKScrappers Swap. This one I took part in last year and really enjoyed so couldn't wait to join in again... it's a mini book of tags. You create ten tags and post them off and get ten back which you can choose to make covers and bind them altogether to make a mini book. We leave space at the top so people can add holes, bookrings or whatever.

My current obsession with everything Dylusions meant I wanted to create something around one of the quote stamps I've got. I decided on, "If you're walking on thin ice you may as well dance!", as I have a dancing stampotique character stamp which fit perfectly! So here are the tags:

 and individual pics....

The tags were made from my favourite white card Stampin' Up!s Whisper White. They were sprayed with Dylusions sprays then I used Stampin Up!s background stamp.... and a Dylusions border stamp that I am using so much at the moment I fear it will break... if stamps broke that is... I'm sure you must be able to wear them out though! I love how the sprays blend beautifully with no effort. Just spray a little water on the card first and hey presto! So I just have to write my details on the back then they can be sent off. Now onto the September tag swap.... watch out for some peacock themed tags... Sian xx

Making books into cards

For the September Card Swap over on UKScrappers I chose this month's theme as BOOKS. The main criteria was to use a book page or alternative as part of your design. As two additional challenges I suggested using a book as the theme, e.g. Alice in Wonderland, and then with the (rather annoying) huge sales of 50 Shades of Grey I suggested people use many shades of one colour. The main theme of books is mandatory but the other two themes are optional. I decided to make the same card in 5 different colours and really wanted to make use of some of my favourite stamps. Here are my 5 cards:

I used 5 different shades of Stampin' Up! card for the bases. I matched ink to card to create the bottom background and stamped a "She Art" background stamp. The second layer is Bazzill Antique book paper sprayed with Dylusions ink. I used a sentiment from Dylusions stamp set, "Say What You Mean" and finally stamped a Suzi Blu girl and coloured her in using all different shades of pro-markers.

I've loved all the different cards that have come through my door and look forward to seeing the rest when they arrive this week.

Inspire Me!

As part of the art journal CJ, "From the Ashes" I've completed an entry in a journal called "Inspire Me" where we are to create a page using whatever inspires us.

On the back I've written, "Without a doubt my inspiration often comes from other mixed media artists whether they are well-known or amateurs - other people's creativitiy constantly astounds me. For this entry I've chose stamps by Suzi Blu, Donna Downey & Dylusions. Dyan Reavely of Dylusions is a huge inspiration to me right now. my other favourite form of inspiration is quotes and poetry. To form words in such a way that it moves, inspires and affects people is a gift! I've called this piece, "Live a Life Inspired"...

The sentiment in the middle is a Donna Downey stamp which spoke to me straight away. I do feel I can't breathe if I'm not making something or thinking about making something. I used gorgeous Dylusions sprays to make the background I love how well they blend and how bright they are and how when they mix together they create other colours. So I hope Yolanda - the owner of the CJ - likes it as I enjoyed making it very much. Sian xxx

Pop Me Your Art

As part of an art journaling circle journal on UKScrappers my current journal is called "Pop Me Your Art" by Tracy... there aren't many rules really except no bright colours which at first I wasn't sure about as I'm heavily into Dylusions sprays which are extremely vibrant and I had it in mind that not bright meant pastel but I realised it could also mean darker.

We were to choose a subject and base our page around it so as I love stamping I chose one of my favourite stamps, Pretty Girl by Suzi Blu, and found a quote that matched. The quote came from an art journal page I came across by a talented lady called Heather Foust so I scraplifted her page and here is the outcome...

I kept to the colour scheme of olive and aubergine which blended really well. The background was sprayed with Tattered Angels sprays Haunted Shadows and Olive Vine and left to dry overnight as it was printer paper so quite thin and vulnerable. I stamped a stampotique stamp all along the bottom of both pages and used black and white pens to create a frame and the flowers. I put crushed grape dylusions spray into a water pen and used it to colour in flowers. The stamp was coloured with pro-markers in pear green, plum, purple, orchid and pastel yellow. 

The clouds were cut out of white card, glued on and then a black pen used to create the shadows. I hand wrote the quote to give it a personal look rather than printed it. I used a gold pro-marker for the sun so it wasn't too bright and it complimented the colour scheme. I also added some flourishes from Tim Holtz stamp "Urban Chic". 

The signing in book was gorgeous. We had a double page each and two ATCs to fill in and then decorate to match our pages. I simply sprayed them with the same tattered angels sprays and repeated some of the elements from the main page.

Hopefully this meets Tracy's requirements and she likes it. It's been really enjoyable to work on. Sian xx

Decorated Notebook

How many crafters love stationary? Yes me too!!! So when I saw the decorated notebook swap on UKScrappers I had to join, my very own personalised notebook what's better than that? Not much! This was a direct swap and I was very pleased to get Chris aka scrapnanny whose likes were Tim Holtz, grunge, art journaling, graphic 45 and 7 gypsies.... yummy! Her dislikes were peeloffs, crows, people with one eye?? and cutesy. I happened to possess some gorgeous graphic 45 communique papers perfect for a notebook. I found decorating the book thoroughly enjoyable. Here it is...


The front is decorated with graphic 45 papers, lace, grungy flowers and a lock I'd been saving for something special...

The back is decorated with graphic 45 and 7 gypsies papers, more lace and flowers:

One of the graphic 45 papers had a spine length pen which I cut out and it fit perfectly here:

I hung cream ribbon through the notebook adding a key on one end and a 

Tim Holtz pin with "ideas" on it to the other end...

Inside the front and back I added more graphic 45 images:

Then finally inside I left these 3 journaling notes free for Chris to put anywhere. They came from the Graphic 45 Ladies Diary paper I bought:

I hope she likes it as much as I enjoyed making it. Sian xx

Look closer...

The regular monthly tag swap on UKScrappers has a theme in August of "canvas". I happened to have two pieces of printable canvas paper that mum gave me - I think they call that serendipity. I decided to print a vibrant background onto them before adding my images however printing on canvas turned out to be a washout - literally, the background looked washed out. So I sprayed over them with dylusions sprays with varying results. On one I added some water which succeeded in sealing that particular tags fate as a faded background. The others are more vibrant but it wasn't the easiest medium to work with in tag form.

I added Dylusions images to the tags and a quote which I hand wrote. I stuck to three colours - pink, green and blue. Here's the tags:

I wanted a quote that went with the emphasised glasses on the lovely Pondering Petunia. My mum says it reminds her of her huge glasses in the 80s :oD The quote also reminds me not to judge people by their initial appearance but to get to know them. I recently used the same quote on an art journal page I made with the help of Dyan Reaveley's fantastic new book, "My Creative Journal Journey" which gives you step by step guidance. Here's the page:

I'm not sure it's totally finished, but for now it is. I've some other projects to blog but I'm waiting until they've been received by the swappee so they get to see them first. 

Keep crafting! Sian xxx