ArtyFartyAnnie

Hello! I've just posted my layout for this month's challenge on the GoGoGetaway FB page - talk about just in the nick of time! The challenge was to use paper-piecing, which is something I love to do and a great way to use lots of pretty paper scraps. Here's my page ... I decided to make a pie chart representing everything I love about a scrapbooking weekend - it's not ALL about the actual scrapbooking of course :o) The photograph was taken on the GoGoGetaway weekend in April 2017 and shows from L-R Yours Truly with Trina, Karen and Emma. One of the best things about these retreats is spending time with old friends and making new ones - this was the first time we'd met Karen and Emma, but we became firm friends very quickly and met up several times since then. If you look closely, you can see that I've added lots of stitched details to the floral paper, as well as stitching around all the pieces. This was a technique we learned at the last GoGo event ...

Hello my Arty-Farty Friends, We're into Week Three of Art Journal Summer School , but I'm kinda popping in and out, taking a dip into whatever takes my fancy whenever I have a bit of time to play. I'm having a great time, mostly working in my art journal outside in the garden during the cool of the evening. Here are my pages inspired by the lessons in Week Two. First, "Sunny Landscapes" with Marlene Meijer-van Niekerk ... We started by collaging various patterned papers, then used different mediums to add layers of colour and interest, finishing with pencils and pens to give emphasis and detail. My next page was inspired by the lesson with the creator of AJSS, Marieke Blokland, who show us how to draw "Pretty Blooms" in a loose, sketchy style which I love. We add scribbly details with pens and filled in the background with a wash of colour ... And finally, in case you haven't seen it already, here's a reminder of my AJSS kit, whic...

Hello arty-farty friends, PHew!! It's HOT here in the UK and my brain is a little melty, but doing a bit of something crafty always helps me chill out :o) This is the third in an occasional series I'm calling "Freebie Friday", where I show you how I made a project using the free gifts which come with crafty magazines. Papercraft Essentials #161 has a fab set called "Bubbles and Fizz", which includes an embossing folder, stamps and matching dies and I used it to create this magic slider card ... When you pull out the tag on the right, a secret panel slides out on the left - magic!! I've made a ten-minute tutorial on You Tube if you would like to see how I made it ... As promised, here are the measurements you'll need (in inches)... Main piece: Cut 5¾ x 12. Score at 3¾, 7½, 7 5/8, 11 3/8, 11½ Tag and secret panel: Cut two 5½ x 3½ Plastic: 12 x 2 The mechanism is clever but simple, making this a really fun project to make and ...

Hello Fellow Deskers and Blogland Mates, It will be Wednesday when this publishes itself, the day when we congregate over at Julia's Stamping Ground to show the world what's going on in our crafty spaces this week and check out what everyone else has been up to. With the amazing summer we're enjoying here in the UK, I've been doing a lot of al fresco crafting again. Here's a page in progress in my art journal, inspired by one of the Art Journal Summer School lessons ... I've just taken the picture early on Tuesday morning - it's my day off, so I had time for some cutting and sticking with my First Breakfast :o) Hopefully, the lovely Zsuzsa will spot this tomorrow and kindly link up for me (thank you Zsuzsa), if not, I'll nip over to Julia's after work - see you there! Love Annie xxx If anyone's interested to see what I made during Week One of AJSS, check out this blog post.

Hello lovely friends, This year I signed up for Art Journal Summer School at Bloknote Academy . I've been having a great time dabbling in different techniques, styles and approaches and it's worked out especially well with the unusually sunshiney summer we've been enjoying here in the UK. It's been lovely to be able to sit outside to play and quite liberating to use only what is in my AJSS kit ... I've been working in my home-made journal, which I made from a vintage children's book and watercolour paper. The lessons are very varied and inspiring and all reasonably short, so I'm finding that I dip in and out and keep coming back to work on a page some more when I have time. Here are some of the pages I made during Week One, all still works in progress ... I included some of the original book pages in my journal, because I just love the look of them. We're into Week Three now - already half way through my AJSS adventure! Thanks...

Hello crafty peeps! This is the second in an occasional series I'm calling Freebie Friday, where I show you what I've made using the free gifts on the front of crafty magazines. Today I have a clever idea to show you - when you open the card, a shadow box pops up, but the whole thing folds flat for posting ... I followed a tutorial on You Tube by the lovely Jennifer McGuire - check out her channel for LOADS of inspiration - and I used the freebie stamp and die set from the front of Papercraft Essentials #160 . It's a really fun project and much easier to do than it looks - I enjoyed it so much I made three! Here's a ten-minute tutorial on my You Tube so you can see how it was made ... I hope you enjoy watching and have a go at this yourself - there are so many fun variations you could try :o) Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon! Love Annie xxx

Hello!! The mid-month Case File is open over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration ... I love this illustration with all those hand painted summery elements, and the colour scheme lends itself very well to nautical/beach themed pages or perhaps layouts about your 4th July or Royal Wedding memories.  To crack this case, you can either draw your own ideas from the inspiration image, or pop over to the CSI blog to see the full Case File, with all the clues you need to follow and lots of beautiful pages made by other CSI Detectives.  Here's how I solved the Case ... This is a picture of Yours Truly, taken by my then Fiance on a day trip to Wells-Next-the-Sea in 2011. I went old-fashioned (as usual) and followed the traditional clues - Scheme : All colours are there. Evidence : Nautical element (boat), animal (red octopus), wet medium (paint splatters), something grainy (glittered word). Testimony : my journaling is handwritten along the torn edge...

Hello Fellow Deskers and Bloglanders! It's Wednesday, time to link up for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday over at Julia's Stamping Ground and see what everyone's been up to in their creative spaces all over the world. Mine's a bit different this week. I've signed up for an online course called Art Journal Summer School - the idea is to pack a limited amount of art supplies into a small bag to take on holidays with you, and then over the course of six weeks, there will be lessons with different teachers to inspire you to work in your art journal every day. I'm not actually going anywhere this summer, but I loved the idea of being able to work outside in this gorgeous weather we're having in the UK right now, with an easily portable art kit. So here's mine, all ready to go, on a table under a shady tree in our garden ... To the right you can see hubby's crossword and orange squash - he will be glad when I join him outside instead of...

Hello! I have some fun ideas for using up paper scraps to share with you today, with a video tutorial and a sneaky peek at a project I'll be making with some friends later in the year when we get together for a Craftathon for Breast Cancer Care in September. The kit I put together to make a mini album included 18 sheets of double-sided patterned paper and I ended up with one full sheet and quite a few small scraps left over. Here's the prototype mini book, with some DIY photo corners, pen clips and paperclip flags I made with some of the leftovers ... If you would like to see how I made them, check out my YouTube video ... I'll be doing a tutorial to make the mini book a bit later, along with some instructions and templates you could download if you would like to make the mini book. Maybe you would like to join us for the craftathon - check out the Facebook page to find out what it's all about. Thanks for visiting me today, see you again soon! Love A...

Hi Everyone, The latest Case File #257 went live yesterday over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration ... I love the combination of pastels, zingy yellow and black/white patterns and there are lots of fun details to pull out of this inspiration image to create a scrapbook page. Hop over to the CSI blog to find all the clues you need and see how the CSI Detectives and Guest Designers cracked this case.  Here's how I did it ... The photo shows my gorgeous niece, Alice, who is ten going on fifteen, very beautiful and growing up so fast, but still a little girl who loves to play. I was so lucky to capture this brief moment during our holiday in Cornwall a few weeks ago.  I used all the colours in the Scheme, from the Evidence I chose several items (leaves, glasses, black/white pattern, stripes) I also pulled out some tiny poms and instead of tiny brads I used enamel dots - I loved the contrast in texture between the fuzzy pompoms and the shiny dots. My jour...