Some pages

Hi there, I have been trying to keep up with Wanderlust, however there is so much of it I am way behind. I am doing ok with the one collage challenge and the Wanderlust pages get done when I have time. Sadly the classes are on hold for now. I do download them all and will get to them when I can. 

So here is a bit of a catchup with pages. 

This page was for the prompt 'what are you most grateful for' After 11 operations in 11 yrs I have a lot to be grateful for regarding the nhs. This was a quick doodle of an old fashioned ambulance. 

Another prompt was 'fingerprint' This isn't mine, it is a doodle of a fingerprint, just done with a black pen. The background was lots of layered stencilling. 

This one doesn't look like much, but it is actually finished. The prompt was 'what is different today from a year ago' This represents my swimming journey and there is a lot of muted text in the centre section talking about this subject. 

This prompt was 'what are you passionate about' For me it is colour. I started by writing words associated with art, using Crayola Slickstix so they could be blended a little and blurred. {The background is ink through a piece of tapestry canvas}

Over the top I added a colour wheel using the new stamp set from Everything Art.EEA03 I also added painted fabric flowers and circles, and finally the stamped text from one of my own stamps. EDY18

Darcy x

Wanderlust page 8

Here is another Wanderlust page, this time the prompt was 'my future' I totally forgot to take photos with this one, though to be fair the technique is very simple. 

I began by adding strips of washi tape to my background. Over this I added paint, stamped with lids and added flicks. 

Then i peeled up the tape and decorated the trees. 

I love this texture.

This is so simple to do, take a look at THIS VIDEO it explains the technique perfectly. 

As for it fitting the prompt, well our futures are always uncertain.. a bit like stepping into a forest. It can look dark and scary but often there are hidden gems of beauty on the path, and thru the trees we glimpse flashes of what is ahead. 

Darcy x

Wanderlust Kate Crane Part 2

So here is the mini journal that I made for the Kate Crane lesson. I have to say it was a lot of work.. not hard, just very time consuming. Lots of pages needed colouring on both sides with several layers on each.

Despite the time taken I am pleased with how it turned out. I have no idea how I will use it yet. Kate suggested a travel journal, but as i don't really go anyway that won't work for me lol It will probably end up just as a handbag journal, to play in when I go to town and stop off for coffee. 

I pretty much followed Kate's instructions, it is actually nice to just follow along and not have to think too much lol 

My front cover features a stencil by Seth Apter  I love these collage style stencils. The covers measure 13cm x13cm. 

Here are my insides..of the book, not my actual insides, cos that would be a bit gross and not very arty lol  Because of the paper that I was using I had enough to make two pockets instead of one. 

I really like all the colour inside and the use of different sized pages. 

So far all I have added is a few quotes here and there. 

In total there are 50 small pages to work on, so it's a bit of a monster really .. plus 6 tags! However because of the concertina style it all folds up very neatly and is only 2 cm thick. I guess it will expand as i fill it, so it may become chunky. 

Very happy to be able to tick one lesson off lol 

Darcy x

Wanderlust Kate Crane Part 1

I fnally got around to starting the actual lessons on the Wanderlust course, not all have appealed to me so I am picking out my favourites to do. Going right back to the beginning of the year { I am so far behind lol} I chose to do the Kate Crane class. 

Before the main lesson we had to fill some pages with mark making, I had done this many years ago, but it is always handy to have a collection of scribbles and marks and patterns that can be used in other projects. 

I had some very very old sketchbooks that I had taken apart, thus giving me a huge pile of paper. Not really good enough to do good drawings on, but ideal for quick sketches and for mark making exercises. From some of these I made some tiny signatures, the pages are only 10 cm by 14cm. 

I compiled 7 signatures each with 4 sheets, giving me lots of little pages. I have bound them into a piece of canvas, whch I painted. 

Front cover:

Front and back covers, showing the stitching in the spine where the pages are attached. 

Here you can see I have lots of pages and I wil fill them all over time with patterns and ideas for use on bigger pages. 

Here are a couple of the pages done along with Kates exercises. 

Not a new technique for me, but nevertheless I did enjoy doing the pages. Sometimes it is good to revisit old techniques. 

Darcy x

Wanderlust Page 7

I am amazed I am keeping up with these lol, though I am woefully behind with other parts of the course lol 

This page is inspired by the prompts 'Everything you did today'

Again I had a ready coloured background, done so long ago I have no idea what was used. 

I addded some bits of leftover papers just for texture. 

and then added more paint, around the edges is copper metallic paint. 

using charcoal pencils I added my image, and to that i added some stamping using the wings and circles from one of my latest stamp releases. 

 I added more copper and then the text which is a list of things done that day. Things such as travelling on busses, going swimming, attending a hospital appointment, having coffee in Costa. 

 Apart from the text I really like this page. 

Darcy x

Wanderlust Book Pages

Here are 2 more pages in my Wanderlust book. This first one came with the prompt 'what do you see in the mirror' I wasn't sure I wanted to do a self portrait, but then I found this page in my journal. This is a background started many years ago, like most pages in this book. It is Neocolor II crayons and acrylic paints. It seemed perfect . 

So I added a double border using Metallic pens and Portfolio pastels. 

I then added liquid pearls. 

and using paint markers I did this sketchy weird colours portrait. 

Added a little more shading and it's done.. hope I don't actually look like this .. maybe first thing in the morning lol

The other page is based on the prompt, 'my past' ..

Again I had a background already done.. 

Then I printed off a photo of me from when I was 6 or 7. At this age I was taking dance classes 4 times a week. 

The dress had a lemon yellow underskirt made of net, the top part of the dress was white with sheer sleeves. I was wearing my Grandmother's necklace and bracelet.. I still have those. Oh and the shoes were silver. 

I also had ringlets in my hair, created by sleeping the previous night in 'wrapped rags'.. gawd I hated those things. 

So I applied Mod Podge to my image and attached it to the page. I brayered it to ease out any air bubbles and left it to dry. 

We danced to many types of music in the classes. I took Ballroom, Latin. Modern Sequence and Disco classes, so there was a huge range of music. However the only one that has stuck in my mind is 'Save all your Kisses for Me' by Brotherhood of Man. So I wrote the lyrics out onto the page. 

This was a quick and simple page and definitely from my past as i don't dance at all these days lol Though a few years ago I began tap dancing, the class is just too far away to get to.. I should look for another one. 

For someone who doesn't dance I do have 3 pairs of dance shoes!!! I really should get back to classes . 

Darcy x

Wanderlust Journal pages 3 and 4

I am behind... always, but it is nice knowing I have something ready to dip into whenever I have time. So here are a couple of catch up pages for my Wanderlust book. 

This is week 3. This started on a background started a long time ago, I have no idea what is on this background but I am guessing it is Neocolor II crayons and acrylic paint. 

I added book page, and grunge paste. 

I then dripped Dylusions inks. 

I finally added my text using a white posca pen. 

Week 4 again started as an old background. I added stencilling using my new stencil PS031

I bumped the stencil and added the bamboo tree from PS030

I then went back to my very first set of stamps EDY01, all the shading is done with Pitt pens. 

I am enjoying this book not feeling too pressured, I had decided right from the start it was not going to be a pretty and perfect journal. This is one just to play in. 

Darcy x

River of Bling

Here is another page that I have done for the Wanderlust class. This time just a single layout. 

As I said in the first post, I am doing these pages in an old journal, so this page started out with stuff already on it. I added a coat of gesso. 

I took a black posca pen and drew random shapes. I wasn't inspired or influenced by anyhthing I had seen, and even the prompt didn't factor into it at this stage. My only , self imposed , restrictions were that I wanted to use some old discontinued paint.(PaperArtsy Fresco paint) These were colours that had come in sets and had never really been used. 

The four that i chose did not go together so the best way to use them was to separate them.. hence the random lines. 

I added the colours, and then added gel medium between each block. 

While this was still wet I added some really old chunky UTEE in Pewter. Then I heat set it, UTEE really bubbles up, even more so when it is on glue, gel or paste. I love to watch it, it's a bit like molten lava. 

Close up of the scrummy texture. 

I then found a poem online that covered what i wanted to say really well, in relation to the prompt . 

It isn't easy to get a good photograph because of all the UTEE bling, but you get the idea. 

I am running a couple of weeks behind with the course, but I have been SUPER busy.. 

SECRET THINGS  are coming, very soon!!!

Darcy x

Let the Arting Begin

Happy New Year everyone, I hope that your 2016 has started well. 

I decided a while ago to join the Wanderlust online course, this is being run on the Everything Art ning..  and is hosted by Jamie and Kasia from Artist Trading Post. 

The course has just started, but only just, so you still have time to join up. You can find out the details HERE. 

There are several parts to the course, one being an art journal. 

This is my first page. 

I began with acrylic paint over a double page that already had some colour in the background. I have decided to use this square journal that I began in 2010 and though I got a few backgrounds done I didn't get it filled. So I shall be working over previously started backgrounds. 

At this point I really like the texture that was appearing. 

I added stamping, stencilling, sprays and chipboard. 

Though I am not a huge fan of the chipboard elements, I think it is looking ok at this point. Weirdly tropical?

I added some hand made fibrousy paper type stuff.. 

and then added lots of shading using Portfolio pastels.. 

Finally I added my journalling by hand.. I did this with a cartridge pen by Lamy.

on the other page I added my chosen word stamped onto book text and mounted on colourful tissue paper. 

Keep going, keep trying, keep hoping, keep doing, keep arting, keep on keeping on. 

Darcy x