Today is meet a Viking Day...

I have declared it as such. Luckily I do have a Viking handy for you to meet.

Not just any old Viking, no,no...he is The Master Viking...and he's awfully good at it.

He's also pretty damn good at art.

Aswell as being a professional artist, this Viking teaches art to unsuspecting student types near his home.

If that was not enough, he also produces, for you...yes YOU... and , well me and everyone else of course...a FREE TO DOWNLOAD...monthly art magazine.

you would be forgiven for thinking it would be full of poncy, art snobbery, but no. It has everything in there, articles,photographs, hints and tips , links and great interviews with all kinds of people. I especially love the Dragon Man from issue two!

Follow this link THE DARK MUSE to find the first 2 totally free online magazines. while you are there consider joining up on the free forums.

Now here is where it gets really good, oh yes there is always more where a Viking is concerned. You can now be taught by the man himself...

ONLINE CLASSES

see the man here talking about the classes...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04L5IckLosU&feature=feedu

Check them out, right now they are at an ultra cheap price, so get them while you can.

Fancy watching the artist at work? check out the Youtube channel where you will find lots of videos just like THIS ONE...

WOYWW

Firstly...PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE scroll back up and read that post up there. ^^^^^It is about an amazing artist who is offering free downloads of his online art magazine and is also offering some bargain priced art classes. Have you ever wished you could draw....like REALLY DRAW....check out the links and bag yourself a place on the course.

Wow I haven't taken part in sooo long, sorry about that. I have been working on my woyww anniversary gift though and it is almost done.

On my desk this week, is a half finished project,(this will eventually become a square teapot) a bottle of water and an overflowing bin....pretty much sums me up there I think lol

there is also an Ozzy cd, that I totally forgot that I had, and was delighted to find again, and a bunch of tags on a book ring that I will blog about later in the week. There also seems to be 2 drums of salt, and I can't for the life of me remember why they are there.

52 Pages 2011

Page 17. Purpose

Do you have a plan or do you meander through life. Do you feel you have a specific purpose, are you working towards that? Do you like the structure of having a purpose, or do you find it restrictive

52 pages 2011

Page 16. nearby.

I started with maps, torn from a cheapy map book from the £1 shop. I covered both the back and the front.

Next I printed off some adorable and very kissable lips, I drew a tin of Vaseline Lip Balm...bear with me, this is going somewhere.

cut out the drawing and glued it down with my title....which is uber long, but i love it. Tis by Lord Tennyson.

Added some colouring and shading using Neocolours and the front is done.



I printed out my journalling, glued it to the map on the back and again coloured with neocolours.

Bag Auction Winner

The highest bid was placed by

Sue Nicholson. £45 UKsterling...approx $73 USD

Well done Sue, Please visit Dale's blog
to make your payment, then the bag will be on its way to you.

Bag Auction...

BAG AUCTION HAS NOW ENDED...

I love playing on Twitter and Ustream, there are a really great bunch of inspirational people on there. From Journallers to quilters, to mixed media artists and to amazing professional artists.

One of these people is a lady called DaleAnne Potter, her medium is textiles. you can see her wonderful creations over on her blog. Just recently Dale was lucky enough to win a place on a workshop in Madrid..Spain..Europe! How fantastic is that...well there is a slight problem...

Dale is in Canada!!!

the prize was just for the workshops, not for travel expenses or hotels.

So fundraising began, Dale presold lots of her work, and other friends and artists within the Twitter/Ustream community began to donate and make items to be auctioned. All to help our friend get to the workshop. You can just imagine how much money is needed for flights and accommodation.

so here is where you guys come in. I have made a small bag, and I would like to auction it off to help Dale with her fundraising. Let's get this lady to Europe!!!

Visit Dale's blog http://daleannepotter.com/blog/ there you will see all the details of the exciting prize that she has won, and you can read about her efforts to raise money.

then please do consider placing a bid on this bag. I will make no money whatsoever from the sale of this bag. If you place the highest bid then you will donate your money directly to Dale using the donate button on her blog. Once I know she has the money I will mail the bag out to you. I will cover the cost of postage.

So here it is. the fabric is navy and white. The bow is a deep plum/pink, and the lining is variegated in pinks,purples and blues.

The handles contain plastic boning to make them rigid, as does the top edge of the bag and the side seams.

52 Pages 2011

Page 16. Nearby

What is in your immediate space right now? What do you like to always have close, what do you ‘need’ to have close, and how would you manage without it?

52 Pages 2011

Puddles... I swiped the page with pale blue ink, then using one my new Mitzi stencils i added the spots/puddles.

On the back, I inked first and then using another stencil I added the rain clouds...

then I totally forgot to take photos....

I added some paper that had been previously coloured with spray inks, and it had inky puddles an blotches on it. On top of that I added wellies and a dress cut from a catalogue. I painted in the puddle and the splashes with acrylic. Glued on the title...I love this title!!!

Quickly scribbled my journalling on the back...all done.

52 pages 2011

Page 15. Puddles

Definition = a small pool of any liquid.

Do you walk around them, or jump over them. Or do you go all out, put on your wellies and jump right in? what does this response say about your life, is it safe or daring?

the hideous blog header is for today only and is all Donna's doings!

Box of Mitzi glee

Flutterbies!!!!

these are rigid plastic, i think they will make great stencils, maybe even emboss??? as well as being good dangly things.

Fibres!!, love me some fibres, these will be especially good in machined cords.

Another composition book!!! and yes Donna because you begged so sweetly and all puppy dawg like, with your lil paws up on the screen, you can have this one. there are also some plastic sheets which will be perfect for cutting stencils.

these are masks, they are thin foam, which peels off, so you can stick it to a page and then spray over it..cool huh? Tim Holtz aint got nothing on this little lot lol

More stencils...

and masks!!!

and more stencils.....

alphabetical glee!!! with a piece of shiny card behind so you can see it.

more stencils...

I am in stencil heaven, I can't wait to have a messy,painty day.

52 pages 2011

Page 14...TODAY

This page!!!!! Involved much grrrrring, a little swearing, some giving up and nail painting...which was an epic fail also...and several reworkings! Ok to start, distress inks smooshed on and blended with a little water. then I used some of my new Mitzi stamps to create the background pattern. I was going with an archaeological feeling...you will see why in a bit.. So the circles are burial mounds and the little ovals are graves..cheery eh?

On the back, I added these images, and allll was going swimmingly! Of course this is the time to worry, when things are going well, watch out, cos they are about to go tits up big stylee!

The word is TODAY, sooo today...well yesterday now duh! My son texted this photo of a skull to me, he is an archaeologist, not a grave robber. I thought I would use it, yes I did....should have thought better about it.

First i printed it then tried to do a tape transfer, i was busy playing on twitter and totally forgot that you cannot do a tape transfer with an image from an inkjet printer...just cos you can't ok, it doesn't work. i do know this already, you might not, but i do...I just chose to conveniently forget and try to do it anyway!

So then printed it again to do a gel transfer, forgot to reverse the image pffft (insert swearing here ) printed again, wrong way round...which for a transfer is the right way round...stuck it on the page, started to paint my nails while i waited...managed to get red nail varnish on the tickets already stuck on the back of the page...also got red nail varnish on my belly...really don't ask how!

Wet the back of the transfer, it didn't work and looked shit...this was not the point where i gave up, oh noooo this page was going to be rescued whether it liked it or not! printed it again, this time on photo paper, had got bored with transfer at this point.

Stuck the photo on the page, scuffed it up, added my title and VOILA! I hated it!

now this is the point I gave up. It was ready for the bin, and no way was I gonna blog it.

this brings us to today...the real today. i couldn't be arsed cutting a new page, and godamn it i would not let this beat me, it would be saved. I decided, I still liked the back...and that it would now become the front...

the shitty front would be gessoed over, yes it would, paint away that nastiness.

oh and then watch it all peel off.....*screeeeeeeam*

two layers of gessso and all the crap underneath all peeled away, as did half the thickness of the page.

So ok, now I had a plain page again, albeit a little on the thin n flimsy side. I gessoed it again and redid the background...putting the graves in the wrong corner and so having to add them in the opposite corner too.!

Can we say 'having a bad day yet'

did not want to print the flippin skull again, so I used one of the wrong reverse images from last night. it still looked bad, so i matted it on white and then black and then stuck that blighter down good and tight!

this is the back...

the front, that was the back, but which behaved itself and got promoted...had some more images added and the title. See the blob of red nail varnish in the middle of the green ticket!!!

and on the back all my journalling, which thankfully covers up the wretched photo! Serves me right for using a real live skull instead of a drawing purloined from the internets...though of course the skull is not really alive..more like really adead!

I really need a drink now! see the girls names in the left side bar, go and see what pages they made. We have a new page sistah, Gina...go and stalk her.

there will be more Mitzi packages to open tomorrow.

Mitzi box day 3

First up is a gigantic,mahoosive roll of packing tape, wider than even the biggest ones I have seen over here. perfect for doing packing tape transfers. On top is a roll of cotton surgical tape, I have been wanting some of this for EVER!

next is a composition book, i know Mitzi bought a hundred gazillion of these to give to all her friends lol. I can't wait to start journalling in it.

but look what was hidden in the pages...alphabet stencils lol all sneakily tucked throughout the book!

more stamps, loving these foam stamps so much!

Finally for today some K&Co letters, again with my love of alphas and text these are just perfect!!

Much love Mitzi...

I haven't done my 52 page..well i have but it is shit, so much more shit than last weeks, that i am not posting it. it will be yelled atand thrown in the bin.I might even send it to Amy to throw in her bin.... a new one will be made, today, I think...but it is Lush Friday. so i will be heavily under the influence...

Stuff from the Mitzi box

Todays unwrapping revealed this little lot..

how lush are these pins?

more stamps, omg i love these. I forsee a lot of splodgie painting in my future..

more stamps...

Stencils, oh i adore alphabets, cannot get enough alphabets, EVER!

and just look how much there is, all those letters and numbers too!!!

More stamps...sqeeeeee!

Aluminium tape, and a Mitzi mouse. I have been waiting for this mousie for aaaaages, and he is finally here. He needs a name, I think Albert.

blue masking tape, this is fabby. I have no idea what I will use it for but just looking at it makes me excited lol

and these are just jaw droppingly amazing. Mitzi made these!!!!! can you believe it, they are not bracelets, though the darker one does fit around my wrist. They are dangly doo dahs...ok so that isnt their real name. But they do dangle, and twizzle... I will be hanging a doll from one of them so that she dangles and twizzles around, instead of getting twisted up in the nylon thread that she currently hangs from.

again, Mitzi thankyou sooooo much.

can anybody please tell me why none of my paragraphs are working when i use compose?? I am having to go into the edit html and go thru the whole post adding paragraph html???? it is very annoying.