For AJJ 'Anything with eyes' .. what do you see?

My page for my AJJ ....'anything with eyes'
What do you see?....  the answer is at the bottom of post :)

A mix media A5 page using gouache, watercolours and water soluble crayons, black and white Posca pen and a digital quote.

What did you see? ... did you see the word 'eye' on her face.... I started with the word and then drew the rest from there.

this month AJJ challenge 'Anything with eyes'

hope to see you there :)

but before I go I have a digital MOO for the 'Butterflies challenge'
over at MOO Mania and more
 that was created with my own digital art and photos.

OK that's all for today,

Thanks for stopping by..

Gill x

Art for Art's sake and a 'thing with wings'

July looks like being a fun month as Chris from Pearshapedcrafting has chosen "Art for Art's sake" as this months theme at AJJ and it's about having fun with arty techniques and our art supplies.

I was wearing a brand new white T-shirt and apron when making this and managed to get to the end without splashing any paint or ink on me (as far as I can see) phew!!!!

 I will be glad when that song stops playing in my head too... so I had to add the words to the page of course.

I started with some blue card and used some cheap gouache paint that I need to use up before it dries and painted a bit of an abstract design. ( dear hubby got me some better quality paint and of course the cheap stuff gets overlooked). 

Then I dribbled some inks down the page - the black one is in a spray bottle and hardly used and for some reason I seem to just dab it on things as sprays always seem to clog.
After drying the drips I added some white acrylic ink and for the first time made use of those little credit card looking things shops give out and used that to swipe the ink.
After writing the words with a black Posca pen I found a stamp I never use to add some fine dots.. the stamp is pear shaped (made by Stampscapes) and called a toner applicator.

 And I have a whimsical page using Neocolor 2's and a little coloured pencils and gouache which I shall link to TIOT   for 'Things with wings' and MOO Mania    for 'Your favourite colours'.
I'm not sure what my favourite colour is - I love all colours, but I think it depends on the shade and what else they are with.

thats all today..

thanks for stopping by.

Gill x

Flora and Fauna: cat.... and more flowers in a vase

Another acryl-gouache painting to join in with the lovely Jo's Flora and Fauna theme at AJJ

 I used an old photo I took of a neighbours cat many years ago for reference.  I did a very rough drawing on to black card using a white Stabilo All pencil and painted with the acrylic gouache.

 and still using the same paint - another flowers in a vase painting with negative painting for the outline followed by painted details.
I am linking this to Moo Mania where the theme is 'even more flowers'.

 This messy background was my starting point. 

My subconscious brain knowing I was intending to paint flowers,

 probably created some marks that looked like flowers which helped with this fun process.

  
 OK - I promise this is the last of these... but this one is slightly different as it had
 acryl-gouache over painted with normal gouache. Why do that? well the normal gouache can be reactivated with water and moved around/thinned etc without altering the layer beneath.
I also added some further colour on the plant and shadow on table using acrylic inks.

all for today...

thanks for stopping by.

Hope you are having a great weekend

Gill x

Recycle and collage and a masculine moo too

It's Friday the 13th and a good excuse to stay home and make some art :)
I was going out to pick up a book I'd ordered but there's another one on the way so I may as well wait for that and pick up two at once.
Friday the 13th?? nothing to worry about - it's just another normal mad day isn't it?

Ok.. here's another piece for AJJ Recycle and collage theme hosted this month by Alison and again I used the cardboard from a cracker box as my page.
I used some remnants of homemade washi-tape and leftover die-cuts. I have a box of small envelopes full of die cuts collected over time so I used several heart shaped ones and inked and stamped on them.
Other materials used were:Neocolours, acrylic ink, TH distress stains, a small script stamp and a polka dot stencil with white paint.

And for Moo Mania and More  where the theme is 'Masculine' I have a little Moo size piece

I covered my little moo size card with a leftover scrap of paper that had ticket/map sort of theme on it, stamped the little stamps and coloured with gouache and added words using rub-off letters.

And even more recycling..over at  TIOT the theme is 'Recycle something' so I recycled an ice-cream container to use it as a container to hold my art journaling pens.

I also raided my scrap paper box and mini drawer of stamped tissue paper where I found one of a hand holding a pen and coloured it with gouache. I also used some postage stamps too.

Have a safe and Happy Friday the 13th.

And as always, thank you so much for stopping by.

Gill x

Lets Celebrate

Hello

It's a bitterly cold Sunday here in the UK I hope its a bit warmer wherever you are.

After months of having a real good old clear out indoors I am now celebrating having more 'space'and so what a great idea to celebrate that and join in with Sheila from Orange Esmeralda fabulous theme over at AJJ this month 'Lets Celebrate'.

OK so my digital page isn't the exact 'space' I have -  I was thinking of doing a big empty cupoard but that would have been less exciting :)

I've always loved to watch the night sky and at this time of year when its cold and the sky is clear, the stars always seem to twinkle more and make me wonder what else is out there..

So I want to celebrate that 'space' too :)

Next I have a page for Moo Mania for the Christmas theme

A quick little painting of a vase of Christmas roses and 

a sprig of holly with some digital additions at the bottom.

At last my Christmas card making is finished, the trees have been up since 22nd November and there's not much else to do for Christmas except getting last minute fruit and veg and putting some more decorations up maybe.

Dave has been busy making cookies using a Jamie Oliver 5 ingredient recipe and the making some other versions... well you have to try all sorts don't you?

 

 This is an over head shot of a box of cookies - they are all piled on top of each other.

These ones are cherry with chocolates chip and Apricot crumble. I would have shown the lemon, ginger and also the apple crumble ones but they have mysteriously disappeared but you can help yourself to the others if you'd like one.

thanks for stopping by,

hope you have a lovely day

Gill x

Hair, circles and some faux Washi

Hello

5th of June already - I seem to have a lost a few days while continuing working in the garden - well except Saturday which was Daves birthday so we had a lazy day - mmmm - except for the birthday boy who does all the cooking ( it's what he loves to do, so who am I to complain? ha ha) and even though it was a hot day again Dave fancied roast lamb and that's what we had :)

But I did fit in some time to make this A5 page which I am linking to MM&M for 'hair' theme and to AJJ 'circles' which is Rosies new theme for June.
I used a mix of acrylic paint and Neocolor 2's. Used end of bottle caps and black mister ink for circles. Large fancy circle journal stamp from a set of 4 journal stamps by Stampology and words were TH Idealogy stickers.

 

A couple of weeks ago I got some tape to make some Washi tape but on opening package I was disappointed to find it had writing over it. Last week I saw two posts from Beo and  June  who  had both made fantastic tapes themselves. Inspired by their results I thought I'd try the 'duff' tape and see if it was still usable.... this is my first attempt... but I have since bought some plain tape.

 

I stuck some strips of the tape onto black Teflon oven liner - this is what I have used for years as a craft sheet before craft sheets were more easily obtainable.

I didn't try anything fancy on this occasion and mainly just used acrylic paint and made a few marks with ends of brushes etc. .. the second one I stamped on with an owl from a set of birds from 'The works'.
I haven't peeled the 'faux Washi' off the sheet yet and I have a feeling I should have transferred them onto another sheet before they dried completely as there might be some unwanted paint attached at the sides.
Will definitely be trying this again and making different patterns as it was fun.

 

thanks for stopping by,

hope your day has been good.

Gill x



STYLE IS ETERNAL for AJJ and headgear for MM&M

Hello
Hope you've had a good week and looking forward to the weekend.

This is todays page for AJJ 'Elegance and Grunge' theme  

A little grunge and some elegance too - this page has an Aquamarker background - the sort where I scribbled/doodled the markers on a piece of cellophane and spritz with water or breathed on it and then press that down onto the paper to transfer the ink. 
I then muted the colour down in places with some white gesso.
The mannequin, quotes and chandelier stamps by 'Kanban' ( I think). I stamped the mannequin on tissue paper and coloured with Inktense pencils. Other messy/grungy stamps that I used are by Crafter Companion and a set from The works.

 

I made a 'Moo' for MM&M where the theme is 'headgear'. I used some small stamps from an old set of 'Hats and Gloves' by Hero Arts. I always find it challenging (but fun)to work on such a small size - and it makes good use of some little stamps that sometimes get over looked. I used Prima water soluble crayons on b/g and the other colour is pencils and white Posca pen.

  

Thanks for stopping by

Have a great weekend..

Gill x 

Heritage tag and Moo face

Hello everyone

Here's something different from me today that I made yesterday while waiting for the delivery of a rustic looking garden bench. So with one eye looking out of the window and the other looking through some crafty bits and pieces ( I must have looked very cross eyed) I came across a few things to use for the Heritage challenge over at 'Tag Tuesday'. And then after making the tag and still waiting for my bench I decided to make a 'moo' for MM&M faces theme .

Initially I think of family history when I hear the word 'Heritage' and think of my ancestors and the places they came from and their trades. So this tag is in memory of my lovely paternal grandfather, who in WW1 was in the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps) and was never in very good health after that. My granddad was a lovely, kind man and I do remember him doing drawings with me when I was small.

 

Next... as I haven't done a real 'Moo' size piece for a while, I thought it was about time to do one. So linking this to MM&M It was quite fun drawing this on this small area.

I used a mix of  Derwent artbars, coloured pencils and Neocolor 1(on hair)

 

 

  

Fortunately Dave had been baking the day before and had made some spice bars so that kept me going until the delivery men had been.

 

This was Valeries recipe that she kindly shared with us last Summer. (thanks again for that Valerie x )

Dave used Ginger preserve and chocolate chips in this one.

 

 

 

The bench arrived safely but as cold weather is now predicted

over weekend I won't be trying that out yet. It may be a weekend staying in the warm and having some more arty play time - I won't complain about that :) 

  

Thanks for stopping by today..
I hope you have a wonderful weekend

Gill x

Light and Darkness

😊Hi everyone
Hope your week going well.

Today I'm linking to AJJ Light & Darkness  the great theme for December chosen by Valerie . This is an all digital piece using an image from 'The Sum of all crafts' and a kit called 'Passionata' by ML Designs. The image I altered in my software to give an artsy feel.

 

Thank you for stopping by

Gill xx

Wheels for MM&M

Hello everyone 



I did this last week and forgot to post as been feeling a bit out of sorts for a few days with a throat/glands thing, probably after getting cold when our heating broke down Wednesday afternoon - brrrr that seemed a long 24-ish hours till it was mended.

 

My page is for MM&M where the fab theme is 'Wheels'.

I used a mix of stamps from Viva Décor, IndigoBlu and 'Artemio'.

Colour is Distress stains, Aquamarkers and coloured pencils.



 

 

 I'm a bit behind so will try and catch up

with your posts asap :)

Have a great day.

Gill x

 



Halloween Party and Falling leaves

Hello and Happy Sunday...

I am happy as (other than writing in cards and maybe making one or two additional special ones) I have at last finished making all of my Christmas cards - big sigh of relief!
Now to continue with the big de-clutter and finish off going through the old 45s and LPs :)

For Moo Mania & More  Halloween party is the theme and I have a digital piece created with various clip art and some added digital blending/effects.

Another all digital piece is for Valeries fab theme at AJJ Indian Summer - Golden October - Autumn   
The digikit used is one I made a couple of years ago. The squirrel and hedgehog from photos in my garden..

Summer has definitely gone but autumn is still being a bit shy here. I have a few leaves that need picking up in the garden but they are mainly green. The nights are darker earlier and the sun rising later.

I love looking at clouds and seeing shapes and things in them and we had some unusual clouds as the sun was rising yesterday .. what do you see?

It reminded me of people sitting chatting and eating. 

There's a man with a beard and a lady holding a glass of something and it looks like she might have had one drink too many.

what a strange silhouette at the bottom



 Thanks so much for stopping by

which I appreciate very much.

Hope you have a lovely day

Gill xx

Moon madness For AJJ and Moo Mania

Hello .....
Today I have an all digital double Moon theme going on, firstly For 'Nature's Wonders' at AJJ.
I love to sit and watch the sea and the waves rolling in as I find it is very calming - although never by moonlight but that  might be nice too.
I blended a couple of my photos to get the exaggerated size moon over our sea shore. And digitally cut out the young gull. Other elements from Beaches kit by 'Kreative Designs by Karen'. Font Pie Contest BTN Cameo Rev.

Not sure who the verse is by, but this is what it says.....

The tide recedes, but leaves behind

Bright seashells on the sand.

The sun goes down, but gentle warmth

Still lingers on the land.

The music stops, yet echoes on

In sweet soulful refrains.

For every joy that passes,

Something beautiful remains.

  

Living near the sea, I probably should have a better understanding of tides and the moon and how it all works but I don't.

I know there are two tides a day and at certain times of the year there can be some very high tides which can cause flooding and much damage.

The effect of the moon on the tides is a very powerful one and one good use for all this tidal energy is for generating electricity.

However, I am once again left with lots of questions, wondering if tides are useful for other things and wondering what effect the tides have on fish, sea birds and everything else in the water.

I did find a good answer to  why we have tides   explained by  Professor Brian Cox but I can't begin to put it into words but I kind of grasped it I think.

These photos don't really show it clearly nor the power in the waves, but this was a winter high tide and the water on the lower promenade had not yet peaked.

The water rising and almost looking like it will cover the pier floor

and next, something for Moo Mania & more or perhaps that should be MOON Mania as moon is the theme at present. My piece will make more sense if you know that I've always loved the quote that Susi used on her team sample  'Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star'.

 While I was trying to be creative  Dave-the-chef was busy in the kitchen being creative himself making some chick pea veggie burgers and various breads.... yummy!



cheese bread with sesame seeds and black pepper



white bread with sesame seeds

white bread with black pepper. sesame and garlic

 That's my lot for now...  it's Friday again

(bet there's not too many of them until Christmas!)

I hope you have a great weekend

and thanks so much for stopping by today

Gill xx