My Month in Numbers 2012: March

Hi, hi, hi.

March has drifted by without me being able to do anything whatsoever to stop it ... which means it must be time for another monthly round-up ... in numbers ...

27 = the number of Month in Numbers posts I've written to date!

2 divided by 3 = the number of scones bought and eaten by friends and I en-route to our twice yearly crafting weekend away:

We'd already eaten lunch and all wanted to try the scones but, inexplicably, we decided against having one each. So there then ensued an impromptu Maths exam with us trying to work out the easiest way to divide the 2 between the 3!

[For the record there was no easy way to do it! Not when you just really want to eat scone, right now, so it gets cut up any which way. And then, the other 2 decided I should eat the leftover piece ... not that I put up much of a resistance!]

3 = the paltry number of stands I spotted selling 12x12 scrapbooking papers at the papercraft show we visited while we were away. And what there was was mainly old stock.  It was so disappointing.

I mean ... it was a papercrafts show ... with hardly any paper!! Someone bring me the Trades Descriptions Act ...

24 = the number of chocolate treats hidden around the cottage as part of our Easter themed egg hunt, with 3 of us hiding only 8 treats each so we could all still play along without knowing where they all were.

And, in case you were wondering, this is what a group of fully grown adults looks like while searching for 24 hidden chocolate treats:

And ... it's just possible that both Jan and I forgot where we hid the 8th one of both ours which led to some serious searching of cupboards and memories!!

40 = the number of days until Bring Up the Bodies [Hilary Mantel's sequel to the much-featured-in-2010's-Months-in-Numbers-posts Wolf Hall ] is published. Not that I'm counting the hours ...

And, speaking of books ... it reminds me that the very unofficial [i.e: non-existent] Month in Numbers book club has had its first success. Nathalie let me know she's reading [and more importantly - that she's enjoying] Andrew Miller's Ingenious Pain after I mentioned it here last month. Yay!

600 = the approximate number of paperclips in the 2 boxes I stocked up with this month. And while they may not be the most exciting buy they are necessary as I go through a lot of them when clipping together my Plundered Pages and Interesting Bits kits.

I'd asked James to bring some in for me when he went to town, which he gladly did, but not without posing the question "Who even buys paperclips?". Errrm ... me!

Approximately 50 metres = the level of visibility we had in a quite eerie-yet-magical visit to the seaside last Saturday:

An unseasonal, very thick white mist painted-out the entire coast!

You're going to have to trust me that, on any ordinary day, there should be a beach in this photo. With sea in the distance. But not last week!

[BTW:  James and I have just had a long, unscientific, discussion over how on earth I could put a figure on the level of visibility we had last week without having measured it on the day. So we've resorted to Googling the length of the pier and then analysing the photos we took that day ... like something from CSI!]

And the reason we were at the seaside in the first place ...

50 metres = the length of the Olympic-themed guerrilla knitting which has appeared on Saltburn Pier in recent weeks:

It was fabulous to see, such good fun and there was a lovely festive feel with everyone taking photos and chatting about the different knitted scenes and characters along the railing.

But let me just give you some advice ... when you're a scrapbooker who makes a deliberate trip out to take photographs of something as utterly photo-worthy as this spectacle ... make sure of 2 things:

1. that the day you decide to go isn't the foggiest you have ever seen on a beach ever in your life ever!! [I swear there were children running down to the sea who just suddenly disappeared into the mist and out of view. This completely spooked both me and, judging by how much shouting and calling out names there was going on down there, it spooked their parents too!]. And ...
2. Make sure your camera battery is charged up. Which - horror or horrors - mine wasn't. I don't know if I'll ever be able to hold my scrapbooking head high again. I had to take lots of photos very quickly ... before the battery ran out completely!

But not to worry, I'll be nipping back there with a fully charged camera soon enough because, let's get serious here ... photos of guerrilla knitting are going to be taken and scrapped come hell, high water ... or freaky thick fog!

--------------------------------------------------

So, that's how my numbers shaped up for this March ... how about yours?

If you are planning to share your own statistics, and if you'd like to take full advantage of the Pinterest pinning and the community aspects involved, then ...

... here's a quick reminder of the Month in Numbers 'etiquette':
If you're planning to share a post this month and you'd like to leave a link for myself and others to come and visit and/or pin please bear in mind it has a shared experience aspect to it, so [as I mentioned earlier in the month] ...

• when you swing by here to drop off a link to your post - please leave a comment for me while you're there. Not because I'm needy ... but because it feels fair. Reciprocal.
• please link to my blog in your post. As much as I'd like to think that everyone who reads your blog already knows what 'My Month in Numbers' means... the truth is, they don't. So unless you explain where the idea comes from and how your readers can join you in doing the same next month, they are none the wiser.
• Please take time at some point in the month to visit and comment on a few of the other posts too.

OK then .. go forth and share numbers! I'll look forward to reading them. 

Julie :-)

Plundering Pages for cardmaking: Fasten Your Seatbelts

Hi again.

Today's card builds on something I mentioned in my previous post [the one with the osprey illustration] that:

• many retro illustrations taken from kids' annuals, storybooks and encyclopedias are often square or rectangular in shape, making them ideal to feature on a card.
• and, more often than not, in stories from annuals in particular, they're already set out in framed scenes such as this one:

Click to see more projects featuring vintage papers

So, once I'd selected the image I wanted to use [for an especially adorable little boy's 3rd birthday] all I had to do was:

• cut around it;
• mount it on to a patterned paper;
• and add that on top of a card I'd covered with gingham paper and wrapped a ribbon around:

My finishing touches were made from some brown + white baker's twine threaded through a button and an old 7Gypsies word sticker:

So, hopefully, if you've never used vintage images before [or if your Plundered Pages are still lying unmolested in your stash bag] I hope I've begun to change your mind ... or to at least make you consider testing it for yourself! 

Make sure to let me know or link me up when you do! And if a step-by-step wouod be of any use to you ... just give me a shout!

I'll be back on Saturday with My Month in Numbers, see you then then!

J x

------------------------

Shop update:

I uploaded 11 brand new, one-of-a-kind, Interesting Bits kits to my shop today:

All of which meant I spent all day yesterday picking, packing and photographing an awful lot of paper and embellishments!!

[So much so in fact that today I had to explain that "Taking photos of things I sell online" was what it was that I do in front of the window all day when asked by the lady who lives directly opposite me!]

As I write, 2 of the kits have already sold, so clearly someone, other than me, out there thinks my bits are interesting too. You can drop by the shop if you'd like to see why!

Plundering Pages for Cardmaking: Osprey birthday card

Hi, hi, hi.

Here's another of the cards I've made using a typical 'Plundered Pages' type image as a focal point - this time a bird illustration from an old childrens' encyclopedia:

• Many of the pages I include in the packs are taken from my collection of childrens' encyclopedias and annuals and the illustrations found on those kind of pages are often an ideal size for cardmaking.
• They're also often already fairly square or rectangular so they only really need snipping around and they're ready for adding on top of all the usual layers you'd use on your cards:

If you're new to using vintage/found images on your cards then just think of using them in place of:

• large stamped images;
• stamped or digi-stamped characters you'd usually colour in yourself;
• digital images printed from CDs etc;
• layered flowers / doilies / die cuts /decoupage etc.

Basically you can use vintage illustrations in place of any of your usual larger focal points.

Meanwhile ... all the other things familiar to cardmaking can carry on as normal around it:

Just because you're putting old, retro, vintage images to use ... it really doesn't mean you need to change your entire crafting style. You really can incorporate them into your current way of working and there's always a contemporary patterned paper to co-ordinate!

I'd love to hear from you if you've used a vintage image on a card [it doesn't have to be one from my packs!]. So let me know - or link me up so I can drop by to see.

Click to see more examples

There's more where this came from ... so I'll be back very soon with another example.

Until then ... happy crafting!

Julie

---------------------------------------------------------

Shop update:

I've added 6 new Plundered Pages packs to the shop this week, the majority of which are travel / world themed so people can stock up for some summer holiday themed crafting ... and a spot of Olympic games fever sneaked in there too.

Meanwhile No.6 is completely different .. and was a lot of fun to compile!

 They are:

1. 'Travel. Holidays. The World';
2. 'Wanderlust. Travelling ... and returning.'
3. 'London, England';
4. 'Maps. Charts. Cartography. Globes';
5. 'Maps and Charts' [small pack] .... and ...
6. 'Steampunk'

 :-)

Plundering Pages for cardmaking: Semaphore card

Hello hello.

Or 'Hi, hi, hi' as I can often be found greeting you with round here.  Which is an appropriate greeting for the card I've got to share today:

It's another card showing a way to use vintage/retro/old papers in regular modern-style crafting, combining them together with fresh up-to-date patterned paper ranges.

To make this mini 3"x3" card:

• I used a small section of plain text as a backdrop.
• The only thing to be careful of at this stage is making sure you read exactly what the text says before using it;
• [I speak from experience ... I once found an old novel which I was about to cut up and happily sell in my Plundered Pages packs ... until I began to read the pages. I then discovered that the female central character was -  how shall I put it? - quite free with her 'affections' and, after a quick online search I learned that, in its day the book had been banned for obscenity!! Lesson learned!]

Anyway ... after making sure the text I'd chosen was safe for public consumption:

• I stuck down 2 strips of pompom trim across the card;
• then layered on a rectangle of Studio Calico chevron print paper over the top, raised on 3D foam pads;
• I then pushed a long decorative pin down through the layer:
• The main focal point was the section cut from an old book featuring the alphabet in semaphore which I trimmed around and mounted on 3D foam too;
• And as it spelled out 'Hi' already, I thought it would make for a nice general greeting card:

 I really like how this one turned out ... and I'd have liked it even more if I hadn't torn that page right across the focal point too!

---------------------------------------------------------
 Supplies:

• The pompom trim and the bobbly pin are both from The Ribbon Girl.
• Studio Calico paper from Sarah's Cards
• Similar vintage text and unique imagery can be found inside my Plundered Pages vintage paper packs via my Etsy shop.This is part of my Plundering Pages feature and you can click below for more old-with-new papercrafting project ideas:

I hope that somewhere along the line I can offer up a few ideas to show that old paper and ephemera can be used on all kinds of fresh and interesting projects.

I honestly love working with old papers because of their unique, one-of-a-kind, no-one else-will-have-quite-the-same-item, qualities but that certainly doesn't mean I only use them on vintage style / 'Heritage' projects. Because, to be honest, I don't really make anything in that style anyway!

I think I'll share a few more of the 'modern cards made with old papers' this week just to back up what I'm rambling on about!

I hope this is the start of a great week for you.

Julie :-)

One of those blogging things, with photos.

Hi, hi, hi.

I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself for one reason or another today [let's just say that week-long colds and discovering the domain name you wanted is taken don't make for a happy Julie].

However, I remembered that Caroline of 'Scraps of Us' tagged me with a 'Sunshine Award' [a bloggy meme type thing] and I think I've been wooed by the 'sunshine' part of it [you know what I'm like] and I've given it a go.

 I decided to use photos and keep words to the minimum because frankly ...the way I feel, the less I talk, the less chance there is of me coughing or complaining [and by 'complaining' I mean 'swearing in frustration'].

Aaaaannnywhoooo...

Here are my responses - the word prompts from the meme are in bold:

Colour: white ...

Animal: bird ...

Non-Alcoholic drink: Tea. Please. No sugar, splash of milk.

Facebook or Twitter: Twitter ...

Getting or giving presents: Giving [but don't think that means you can forget my birthday]:

Flower: Rose. Predictable, but a favourite just the same ...

Pattern: Any and/or all. I'm addicted ...

Passion: New ideas ...

Number: 1 ...

Now ... I think I'm meant to pass this on to 5 more bloggers, but I'm not very good at following instructions [and I don't know who to pick] so I'll leave it there for today.

Normal service will resume shortly ...

Julie :-)

Introducing ... my 'Interesting Bits'!

Hello, hello.

I was going to blog about my Interesting Bits this time last week before I went away for the weekend ... but then most of them sold straight away and I had nothing really to show you.

But now I'm back ... and so are my Bits! The latest are in the shop now:

So, what exactly are Interesting Bits? Well, as I say in the product description:

*INTERESTING BITS* are a range of eclectic, carefully curated, colour co-ordinated, creative supplies for use in your papercrafting, collage work, art journaling ... and more.

They're a lot of fun for me to put together and I hope that this carries through to custmers who can then enjoy using them.

What they are:

• Each pack contains a mix of co-ordinating papers of all kinds, ranging from patterned, branded papers, to speciality sheets such as handmade paper, vinyl and foil.
• There are a whole host of embellishments packed inside and I've loved combining a multitude of .. well ... interesting bits in there!

What they can be used for:

• They'd be great to take to a crop as all you'd really need to add is blank card/s and adhesive and you'd be good to go!
• They're perfect for a quick burst of inspiration as there's so many intriguing, out-of-the-ordinary, bits and bobs in there.
• They'd make a great starting point for a set of co-ordinating cards or for a mini-book or a small shrine type project as everything already works well with everything else in the pack:

The entire contents of each kit features in the product photos - which is time consuming - but hopefully worth it, I like to think people will spot something in there that they just simply CANNOT live without.

Like yellow googly eyes, purple feathers ...

... or a fluorescent cow.

If oyu'd like to get your hands on my Interesting Bits ... swing by my shop by clicking any of the images in this post.

------------------------------------

Before I leave the hard-sell for another week ... if you've been waiting for me to add some new Plundered Pages [and I know some of you have ...]:

• I've put together 6 new themes - 5 of which are travel related [in time for the upcoming summer holiday scrapping and journaling]. 
• They just need putting into packets and photographing ... which I'll do as soon as I've typed this and then I aim to get them uploaded this weekend.
• There's also a new listing in the shop detailing how to arrange a custom pack of your own - which you can read here. [I have a very interesting theme to go and seek out for one customer today ... I love it when I get a challenge like that!]

-------------------------------------

OK then, I'll be back soon with either a card or a scrapbook page to share. Have a great weekend.

Julie :-)

Layout: Earning my Stripes

Hello, hello.

Come on in. No need to wipe your feet.

I'm back home now from my long crafting weekend and, coincidentally enough, my 3D Jean Design Team project for today just happens to be based on the first thing I see when I come through my front door ...

 ... my stripey hall and stairs carpet:

The journaling on this one is self-explanatory:

Fortunately I didn't need to redorate as we found a carpet we liked which co-ordinated with the existing grey paint and wallpaper.

It has been said that, as I wear stripes quite a lot, if I laid still long enough ... I could actually camouflage myself in the hallway ... maybe I'll give it a try ...

Thanks for visiting me today. Come back soon.

Julie :-)

---------------------------------------------------

Supplies

From 3DJean:

Spotted paper: Infocrea Edition Speciale 'Fashion' 12x12

Collection's Elements Chipboard Hearts

Other:

Retro design paper: American Crafts 'Chap' range

Journaling blocks:Fancy Pants

Fabric tape: Studio Calico 'FabRips'

Mix of October Afternoon; Sassafrass Lass alpha stickers

Metal embellishments and striped paper courtesy of my friend Janet - thank you!

Overheards: File Under 'Ironic'

Hello, hello.

This is the first 'Overheard' post of 2012, but fortunately I've been building up a bit of a new crop of them lately. So it won't be the last.

[If you're new here and you want to catch up on some of the gems of conversations I've deliberately strained to listen in to accidentally overheard over the years then do drop by the full overheard-so-far  list here].

Now on to the latest ...

Two male students were working on a presentation on a computer opposite mine and as a lecturer passed by, he stopped to chat with them about their work:

Student 1:  What was that term you used, in the lecture? About customer retention? You said there was a specific term involved but I can't remember. What do you call it again?

Lecturer: Oh, you mean "Top of the mind recall"

 © Julie Kirk [For similar collages see my shop.]

There's surely nothing else I can do but file that one under the 'Ironic' folder! Surely?

I'll be back wiith more treasures form all my ear-flapping soon.

Julie :-)

Enjoying the Journey: cardmaking + pondering

Hola.

I'm not here.

I know I look like I am, and I know you can read these words, which I typed ... but honestly Im not here. It's just an apparition. A hologram. [Oh OK then, it's actually a post I've scheduled in advance .. but you take the point ...] .

What I'm saying is - I'm not at home because I'm on the first of my twice yearly 'crafting-in-a-cottage-with-friends' breaks.

I wouldn't say we go on a 'retreat' ... because that sounds far more restful and serene than what actually happens on one of these weekends. I mean ... a 'retreat' doesn't sound like the kind of place you:

• eat your own bodyweight in cakes;
• descend en masse - locust-like - upon unsuspecting craft shops where you scrutinise every shelf as if you had no supplies to your name;
• and where to take your life in your hands by using a craft knife under the influence of Prosecco.

And we've never once all managed to go on that head-clearing 'brisk walk' we're always threatening to attempt!

So, I thought I'd share an appropriately themed card while I'm off on my travels:

It's a leaving card I made for a friend and colleague who just left his job on campus for a travel-oriented job:

The greeting is from the 'Vintage Aviation' stamp set by Creative Expressions.

The last time I saw him we had lunch with our wonderful mutual friend who regaled us [and anyone else nearby who could hear!] with a hilarious tale of taking her new cat for a walk on a harness ...there was a fence involved ... it was a long and oh-so-funny story.

And since then I've been thinking how your work colleagues are a lot like your family ...


You can't pick them. You don't get to decide who else is employed with you. And, unlike with your friends, you don't get to select them based on your shared hobbies and lifestyles.
Yet fortunately ... sometimes it doesn't matter how different you initially think you all are.

Your ages, your life experiences and your interests may greatly differ ... but somehow you find something in common [for eg. G and I bonded over our shared ignorance of what a tambour unit was ... while B and I are both suckers for waifs and strays] and suddenly you really start to enjoy having them around.

So, here's to good times and good cakes with good friends and colleagues ...

... and to all the good stories you're storing up to remember them by.

Julie x

March 'Month in Numbers': a reminder + a request

Hi, hi, hi.

Welcome to your local friendly reminder that if you're planning to blog your Month in Numbers for March ... we're halfway there already.

Although, having said that, just because I blog mine on the last day of the month - it doesn't mean you need to. In my eyes there's no such thing as being 'late' to post your numbers. They're yours to do with as you wish. Anyway ...

At the last count 23 of us summarised our February in statistics and, once again we all took a different approach to presenting your numbers; from layouts and digital images, to text-only posts it's great to see the individuality coming through. [If oyu missed them you can catch-up on all the posts I was able to pin to the Pinterest board here - or re-visit the original post here.

Things which struck me from February's posts:  

• I was particularly touched by the stories of personal sadness, loss and difficulty documented by several of you last month. I truly hope March is treating you more gently.
• Lots of your posts reminded me that we'd had snow early on in February ... a memory I'd apparently completely suppressed until I saw your photos.
• Several of you try out new recipes each month. Which is something I rarely [if ever] do. you know how some men treat instruction booklets? [i.e: they can't be bothered reading them and would rather just get on with what they know?] Well that's my relationship with recipe books. But your numbers suggest you're far more of a domestic goddess than I am! [And if we ever have a Month in Numbers party ... I'm coming to you for the catering.]

And, while we're at it ..

• we can probably start a Month in Numbers Ten Pin Bowling league judging by the occurence of bowling nights we had in Feb's stats! [But, trust me, you won't want me on the team!]

The Month in Numbers-blogging 'community'
I hope you've been enjoying the increase in bloggers taking part in Month in Numbers as much as I have and judging by the comments I've seen dotted around, it's clear many of you are helping foster the community spirit. Which makes me happy, because that's really what I've been trying to do; create a fun, useful and shared experience.

• I visit each link left for me as I'm always interested to see how an idea I had a few years back - to round-up my month's experiences in a fun simple structured way - has been endlessly interpreted by others.
• I get so excited when I read how someone's not blogged all month, had no inspiration, and then has dipped back in just to blog their numbers.
• I love it when someone new joins in after seeing it on one of your blogs, and they recognise how the structure could work for them too. 
• I aim to leave a comment on everyone's post.
• And, recently I've been pinning posts to Pinterest [leaving full named credit for each individual post] to make it easier for everyone to see - at a glance - who else joined in that month.

No one makes me do it. I know that. I do it because I want to, because I like to connect with others ... however ...
I ask that if you are submitting a link for both me and others to come and visit and/or pin please bear the shared experience aspect in mind before you do.

By which I mean:

• When you swing by to drop off a link to your Month in Numbers post - please leave a comment for me while you're here. Not because I'm needy ... but because it feels fair. Reciprocal.
• Please link to my blog in your post. As much as I'd like to think that everyone who reads your blog already knows what 'My Month in Numbers' means... the truth is, they don't. So unless you explain where the idea comes from and how your readers can join you in doing the same next month, they are none the wiser.
• Please take a little moment of time - at some point in the month - to visit and comment on some of the other posts too.

When someone drops by, pastes their link and then leaves without another word it feels a little like someone pressing a scrap of paper into my hand with their home address written on it but then ... when I turn up at their house later ... they don't speak to me.

So, please, speak to me! I'm usually quite nice. And the more mutual hopping, reading, commenting and sharing the better for all involved.

I hope this doesn't put you off joining in, because that's not my intention. It just means that now I've said what I wanted to say... I can get back to fully enjoying My Month in Numbers.

I'll now get back to my counting for March starting with ... 1 = the number of awkward blog posts I had to write ...

See you soon.

Julie :-)

Submit creative work: 'The Road Ahead' [plus a wild goose chase]

Hello, hello.

I thought I'd give you a quick update on how things are going over at Featuring Magazine [where I'm part of the team for this new print magazine venture].

• The debut issue is set for launch towards the end of next month [April 2012] and the store is now up and running to take pre-orders.
• You can pre-order the 1st issue - or just read more about the pricing etc here

Also ...

• If you're an artist, blogger, creative etc etc who'd like an, affordable, small ad in the magazine there's a chance to purchase an inch of space of your very own on the back cover. You can read the full details of the Inchies here.

But what I really wanted to remind you about was the fact that the magazine is open to submissions of your work in several ways.

Firstly:

•  you can submit general ideas for future articles or features you'd like to contribute - to do this you'll need to read through the guidelines before approaching the editor with your idea.

You can come up with your own ideas for this OR fit them into one of the existing categories such as:

• 'A Picture's Worth': a photograph accompanied by your poetry or text;
• Joint Projects: where you can share any collaborative creative work you've been involved in;
• 'Our V.I.P. (Very Important Project)': any creative project which has special significance and meaning to you [I have a scrapbook page in the VIP section of Issue 1]; and
• 'Creative Spaces': where you can share your craft space / workshop / creative cupboard etc

Just click the image below to read through the complete submission details:


Click to view submission guidelines.

And also:

• the Theme Gallery is now open for submissions for Issue 2!
• The theme this time around is 'The Road Ahead' - a theme which you can interpret in any way you like;
• Plus, you can interpret it in through any medium you like too; eg: a journal page; collage; photograph; painting and so on ...
• Just hop over here for the full details of how to submit - you have until May 31st to get creating.

----------------------------------------------------------

As I didn't want to be left out [that's what you get when you're the baby of the family] I thought I'd join in here with my own take on the idea of The Road Ahead ... which I'm calling 'The Wild Goose Chase' ... because it was:

James and I were driving home from a day out in York last weekend when this pick-up pulled in front of us:

The sharp-eyed amongst you might have already noticed what I noticed ...

It was a moment which caused me to first laugh .. and then reach for my camera. Because, while I've been on many a idomatic, metaphorical one ... I think this was the first time I'd ever been on a real, live, Wild Goose Chase!

Right then ... I'm going to leave you now. I have to go bend over backwards to find a needle in a haystack, while the bird in my hand barks up the wrong tree.

See you very soon.

Julie ;-)

Scrapbook layout: Somebody To Lean On

Hello, hello.

I don't know about where you are but we're currently in the grip of what can only be called 'glorious weather'. Sunshine, blue sky, open doors, fresh air. So I haven't yet quite got around to finishing off the 3 scrapbook pages I started at yesterday's crop. But here's one I made earlier ...

I seem to say this quite a lot in relation to scrapbooking, but yet again ... this page started with a photo I'd printed off simply because I liked it.  Nothing more. No idea what the page would be about. No grand occasion to document. No great artistic photo skills to show off.

Just one of those everyday 'almost-up-the-nostrils' shots of a girl leaning on her boy's shoulder:

Although ... when I say there's no grand occasion here to document I might be wrong ...

... because James [he of the shoulder] actually took the photo while we were queuing to go down a drift mine, just right before they issued us with hard-hats. Which, believe it or not, isn't exactly an everday occurrence round here ...

[We were at the Beamish 'living museum' in case you were wondering. Or maybe you were just thinking 'Well, she is from the North, they all go down't pit don't they?'].

So ... getting back to the shoulder ...

The journaling block is cut from a Fancy Pants paper and the adorable bunny is part of a hybrid kit by Kirsty Neale:

That's why I liked the photo enough to print it out, and to scrap it.

The papers I used are from the Basic Grey 'Olivia' range, which came complete with the pre-doodled doodling.

I have a bit of a renewed love for scrapbooking at the moment, [not that I ever went off it] so no doubt I'll be back soon with another page.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.

Julie :-)

Art Journaling: 'Family of 2' plus Heat-Embossing rehab Pt2

Hi.

I'm back today with a second journal page  to accompany my latest Art Journey tutorial over on the UK Scrappers forum. Again, like the last page, it's began life by taking a number as a starting point ... and here it is:

The double page spread has two focal points - the first being the collaged elements:

• The illustration of both the bird and the man - chosen for their matching colour schemes -were cut from old children's encyclopedias [see my Plundered Pages vintage paper packs for similar items.];
• Then I gave the man a pair of Art Chix wings ...
• And found some appropriate wording, cut from the same encyclopedia page where I found my bird:

The rest is a mix of scrapbooking borders; stickers; a ticket and ephemera cut from clothing catalogues:

• The inky background began life as a 'mop up' page;
• Previously I'd pressed stencils and masks down, sandwiching them between two pages, to absorb excess ink from earlier pages in the journal;
• The colours are a a mix of Shimmerz and Crafty Notions sprays and some yellow Brusho sprinkled on andthen  spritzed with water.

The second focal point is the number which started the entire page. The number 2:

If you missed my attempt [in yesterday's post] to woo you on behalf of much-overlooked embossing powders of the world then you might want to hop back there at some point.

In that post I listed more examples of the types of art mediums you can use with embossing powders but, for today's page, I used a large number stencil [part of a set I found in The Range] and a gel medium from the Claudine Hellmuth range:

Then I simply shook away the excess and heated it to melt the powder as normal .

[If you're trying this yourself - at the point where you start melting the powder with the heat gun - be careful ... becasue it is possible to get carried away watching it bubble up and blister ... so please don't leave it so long that you end up setting fire to your journal!]

You can see from these close-ups how much texture is created by leaving the gel medium quite lumpy and uneven before pouring the powder on top:

Finally I doodled around the edge a few times to settle the number down on to the page, so it wasn't just floating out there, unanchored.

And here's the final result again:

So, what do you think? Does it sound like something you can see yourself messing about with [and mess-ing is a rather appropriate word for it!].

There are even more ways of making embossing powders work in your messy inky crafting ... but I'll save those for another day!

Thanks for dropping by today.

Julie :-)

------------------------------------

Whether you've purchased a pack of Plundered Pages [try saying that fast 3 times!!] from my Etsy shop  or whether you have an existing collection of old books and ephemera - click the image above for more inspiration and examples of how to introduce them into your regular papercrafting.