Anyone else need cake?

Hi there you.

As someone wise once said: 'There is always room for cake':

And so say all of us, no?

Well, that's the message behind my latest - and last - post as a DT member on the Banana Frog blog today [click the photo,or here, to go to the post].

After 2 fantastic years I've decided to move on. I simply need to borrow back the time for myself and my other creative work.

It's all part of one of the goals I mentioned in my weekly Art Journal last week:

It's the one that's taken up much of my brain this last few weeks. It's number 3 on that list.

• Learn the difference between 'can' and 'should'.

Intellectually I know the difference. Hell, I've got a first class English degree, if I didn't know the literal difference it would be a poor show wouldn't it? But I really need to start putting it into practice.

Even though I'd like to do everything and am able to turn my hand to quite a few things. Time won't allow me to. So I need to prioritise.

It's all led me to thinking [so what's new?] about what it is I really want to chase after ... so I can then lace up my boots and start running in the right direction.

Knowing me, I'll probably trip and fall along the way. Or someone else will trip and fall and land on me and I'll get scraped knees along the way ... but that's nothing new ... and it's what sticking plasters were made for.

Oh and cake always helps too ...

Julie x

Art Journal Challenge - Week 2: Gifts

Hi, hi, hi.

In my post yesterday I shared you my response to the weekly art journaling challenge over on the UKStampers blog and teased you about why the theme of 'Gifts' for this week was especially apt ... more on that in a moment but first ... here's Week 2:

One of the ingredients we had to include this week was 'recycled packaging' so my first layer was a striped paper bag I'd had saved for months from one of my favourite shops plus ... a snippet of wrapping paper torn from an early birthday gift a friend gave me on Saturday.

Then I softened the rest of the page with my latest favourite colour acrylic paint [DOCrats' Artiste in 'Tea Rose' and 'Canary Yellow'] before adding bits from my bit bag, stamped images and a definition of 'gift' from an old children's dictionary:

How could I not use a snippet from a dictionary that involves 'Bill' and 'Ted'? [If you don't see the significance of Bill & Ted then firstly - shame on you! It's the only film I've ever seen twice at the cinema! And secondly - take a look here if you're still none the wiser.]

As for the significance of the 'best gifts' I've journalled about well ...

1. the blackbird was my amazing Christmas gift last year from James [as blogged here];
2. the chocolate buttons were an unexpected gift from a grateful student a few years back. I'd supported him while he took a summer class at Uni and on his last day, over our lunch of sandwiches and gentle conversation, he produced a packet of large chocolate buttons from his plastic carrier bag and told me he couldn't have done it without me. I thanked him, held it together for the afternoon ... then cried on the way home. That packet remains one of my most precious gifts ever. Ever.
3. Lastly the 'card with sunshine' ... that's another one of the triumphs-of-James ...

For years he'd heard my tale of the hardships of being a January baby ... - never having the time, after the Christmas deluge, to work out what you'd actually like as a birthday gift. No time to even want anything to put on a 'birthday list'. Often getting something - anything at all - that people had simply found in the post-Christmas sales and bought as a 'made do' a present. But ...

... but ... most especially he'd heard, time and time again the tale of woe over how I'd never in my life had one single outdoor party due to the lack of sunshine!

So one year ... he gave me a card with a big sunshine on it. To make up for all those sun-free birthdays! I still have it in a box somewhere. But more importantly ... I still remember opening that envelope, and how it felt to know he'd not only listened to my ridiculous complaints ... he'd actually tried to remedy them!

And by the time you read this ... he'll have given me yet another year's birthday card ... and I'll let you know if today's card manages to top his past success!

Have a great day yourself,

Julie x

Art Journal Challenge - Week 1: Goals

Hello there.

How's Sunday going? We began the day with me getting excited to see glimpses of the prodigal sun and racing to take photographs of my latest projects while it was shining. Then we [ie: 'James'] manouvered the van on the thickest, clearest layer of ice we've ever seen on our roads. Then we ate a lovely apple and plum crumble. Then someone tweeted me a smile, and an 'awesome', and then someone called me 'eclectically wonderful' on their blog. Which was awesome. And I smiled.

Then someone ...

OK, you probably don't need every detail of my Sunday ... especially when it's this page from a new journal which I actually logged on to share with you:

It's for the Weekly Art Journal Challenge I'm taking part in over on the UKStampers forum .

Each week throughout 2011, Effie [of Efemera Ink] will set the topic and add in a few ingredients to be included on the pages and all you have to do is interpret this in your own style and share your pages in the gallery.

I really think this is going to be the structure I need to get more art journaling done this year:

And, as with all important things in life [and also for the unimportant, the casual, the fripperies, the nonsense etc] I already had *just* the journal in stock and ready to use:

When I say 'in stock' ... I mean 'in stock on the shelves of the shop-of-Julie'. Which is in my craftroom ... where all those blank notebooks live ... with their clean white potential just laying in wait for me.

Don't pretend you don't have a similar collection! I know you do!

This one was from TKMaxx which had a great range of these beautifully bound books filled with lovely, absorbent, handmade paper pages:

It was one of my 'I've bought this for myself, would you like to buy it off me and give me it for Christmas?' presents. And very lovely it is too.

I can't wait to fill it!

If you'd like to join in the challenge just drop by journal thread in the 'Weekly Challenge' area of the UKStampers forum. The more the inkier.

Check in with me tomorrow when I'll have Week 2's page - based on the theme of 'Gifts' to share.

Funnily enough, 'Gifts' is a really rather appropriate topic for tomorrow ... for some reason or other ... I'm just saying ....

Julie x

While Shimelle's Away ...

Hi, hi, hi.

You know Shimelle, right? You know how she's travelling around the world [almost]? Well, in between her 'Notes from the Road' posts she's having some crafty-type guest bloggers too.

And today is my turn. [If she know's what's good for her I think she might have put all the breakables out of reach on a high shelf and hidden anything sharp before letting me roam around in her abscence ... ].

Anway, please do hop over there and check out the projects I made for the 'Five Ways With ...' segment:

... if only to find out what it is I did in five different ways.

And if that doesn't tempt you to go and look here ... then I don't know what will! ;-)

Julie

p.s: those collages I mention toward the end of the post are now on sale in my etsy shop ... and I'm working on more. I'm thrilled with how they're turning out and really hope they're well recieved ... so I can make some more!

Tutorial: Printing a full A4 page in Picasa

Hello, hello.

How're you?

It was my first day back at work today. Well ... I say 'work'... I only had to attend two lectures one of which was all about 'Kitsch in art' ... so it wasn't exactly a chore!

Anyway, I'm back home now and wanted to point you in the direction of a step-by-step photo-tutorial I've posted on the 3DJean blog 'Scattered Scarlet' today.

If you're someone, like me - without Photoshop - who wants a simple [and free!] method of printing out a whole sheet of A4 paper completely filled with photos or images ... then this is the tutorial for you!

Here's the latest sheet of images I've printed out using the techniques from the tutorial and the 3DJean 'Vintage Labels' Image CD [which is available here]:

And here's a sneak peak of what I went on to make with some of those label images:

So, if you've been looking for a paper-saving way to print then do give my tutorial a go ... and then let me know how you get on!

Considering I take notes for a living - often on techniques and processes - ... it's always good to know whether people can make sense of them ... ;-)

Happy rest-of-Tuesday to you.

Julie x