ArtyFartyAnnie

Hi everyone, A couple of weeks ago on Wanderlust (or probably longer than that; time is FLYING this year), Kasia challenged us to work BIG - on a bigger surface that we would usually work on. I didn't want to do a canvas, and I didn't have time for a messy session in my craft room this weekend, but I decided to challenge myself to work in a different scale from what I'm used to, and fill a whole page of my A4 art journal with something small ... It was indeed a challenge, but a thoroughly enjoyable one. I used only coloured pencils, so it's not at all mixed media, but it was really good exercise for my observational skills. After nearly giving up on it a couple of times, I was eventually happy with the end result. Makes quite a contrast to all the miniatures I've been making recently :o) Thanks for visiting my blog today, see you again soon! Annie xxx

Hi Everyone, Week 23 of Wanderlust 2017 was a fabulous lesson with another one of my mixed media heroes, Vicky Papaioannou . I've spent many hours watching Vicky's inspiring tutorials on YouTube, so I was very excited to try this lesson. Here's my result ... Vicky had loads of tips and techniques to share, and I enjoyed trying them all out. My page turned out very differently from hers, but it makes me happy because it reminds me of the colourful jumble of summer flowers in our garden at the moment. First, we gessoed the page, then we did some stencilling with modelling paste, allowing it to dry before adding diluted acrylic paints with a sponge to create a quick base layer. Then we used a brayer to add more layers of colour from the same palette - Vicky shared some really useful advice on colour theory when choosing colours for backgrounds and focal points. Further interest was added with some stamping, then a contrasting paint around the edges to frame the page....

Hi Everyone, What a beautiful Flaming June we're having here in the UK - it's like Abroad!!! :o) Just finished my page for the GoGoGetaway June Challenge. Here's the challenge - And here's my finished page, including ELEVEN of the twelve elements (if you count thread as twine) showing a fun picture of me with my niece Alice and grand niece Leila on a day out in Cornwall last summer. We were messing about, doing three monkies ... I was feeling inspired by the amazing Missy Whidden's You Tube process vids while I made this - she likes to start with a colourful painty/inky background, often using the "packaging technique" which I really enjoyed trying out here. She also does a lot of layering of patterned papers and vellum, fussy-cut pieces, ephemera and embellishments, she often adds stitching and tangles of thread and finishes with splatters of ink. I really haven't done justice to her at all here, but I find her uniquie sty...

Hi everyone, One of the many new techniques I tried out at the Ministry of Mixology event in Coventry back in March was reverse painting on clear acrylic. I bought a pack of the acrylic pieces so I could have another go at home. Here's my first go - not perfect, but it's a start which I can build on ... It's a bit tricky to get your head around the idea that you're working from the back, so the first layer you paint or stamp will be the foreground and then you add layers, working towards the background. So when you turn the piece over, the bit you painted first is in the foreground - if that makes any kind of sense at all?! In this example, I starting by stamping the houses in blue Stazon Ink, then filled them in with white acrylic paint, leaving spaces for the windows and doors. Next came a layer of gold acrylic paint to colour the windows. Then I stamped the text in black Stazon Ink, followed by acrylic paint in royal blue, ivory and buttery yellow which I ...

Hi everyone, We had a lovely week away in Derbyshire and Notts - lots of sunshine, interesting places to see and delicious food to eat - perfect! But we also love to come home to our little cottage in Norfolk and of course I couldn't wait to get into my craft room and play :o) Yesterday I caught up with week 19 of Wanderlust 2017 - this was a class with the wonderful Kate Crane . Here's my finished AJ page ... Kate showed us how to create a patchwork of squares and rectangles, gradually building up layers and treating each little square as a separate area, but bringing them all together to form a cohesive composition. She encouraged us to just have fun, play and experiment - and this format did make it really easy to do just that. I decided to add the black "suture lines" to mine for a bit more definition against all the bright colours. This was such an enjoyable and easy process, I think I may try another one in a really grungy style next .... Thanks ...