According to my spreadsheet — yes, I keep a spreadsheet listing all the cards I make and who they get given to, how else am I supposed to keep track? — according to my spreadsheet, this is handmade card number 600 🎉 I have been doing this since 2014 so that's averaging around two a… Continue reading Junkyard robot
Series: Artful Academy 2020 journal #7 I like the background — made with my ivy stencil and layers of paint and pen — and I like the foreground. They just really don't belong together. Maybe if I'd made the background more green than blue, using the complementary colour of red, it would have been better.… Continue reading Artful Academy journal – June
This is literally junk. Or at least it was before I got my black paint out. I'd been using cotton buds to put blobs of colour on the top of some acrylic paint bottles so I could quickly see which was which. And then I'd wiped the excess paint off onto a piece of card;… Continue reading Abstract negative painting
The last three years I have made "clever" cards for my other half's birthday — twist and pop, interactive, and tunnel — but nothing had inspired me for this year. I had a hunt around Pinterest and really nothing was sparking any ideas. So I had to go back to basics. I've had the Lucy… Continue reading Voyage to Venus
Series: Artful Academy 2020 journal #6 May's prompt was "quotes" so I really couldn't avoid using words on this one. Trying to find a quote that wasn't over-used or twee or without any meaning for me was difficult though; I have a few collected in my notes, but nothing was speaking to me. But there… Continue reading Artful Academy journal – May
I like subscription boxes. As long as you can find one which is consistent in quality and matches your general taste without becoming predictable. A few years ago I regularly got the CraftBox subscription and it filled up my stash with embellishments and ephemera beautifully, then the style of it changed and I cancelled the… Continue reading Pastel cormorant
A new grand-nephew for my other half gave me the perfect opportunity to use the baby bunny digi from Lee Holland Art. Colouring the bunny went smoothly, but I really struggled with the blanket. I've coloured loads of images with fabric folds with no problem whatsoever... this blanket though... this blanket took forever to get… Continue reading Baby bunny
Series: Artful Academy 2020 journal #5 Prompts that are abstract concepts rarely provoke an instant idea for me; I either go blank or completely overthink it. The only thing I can practically do is go away, do something else, and let my brain ponder it in the background... To be fair, I do that with… Continue reading Artful Academy journal – April
I've only used Stampbord once before, to create an alcohol ink butterfly. That is still one of my favourite things and it lives on a shelf in my room. (There is a small element of "how do you store small things without losing them" as well, but it's mostly because it makes me smile.) Do… Continue reading Stampbord owls
It was time to make cards for my other half's twin nieces again. Although they no longer live at home together, I carry on the tradition of making an almost matching pair of cards for them. Almost three months into lockdown and I really wasn't feeling like doing a lot of colouring and I was… Continue reading Butterfly trellis cards
Series: Artful Academy 2020 journal #4 The theme for March was home and it was time to get the stencils out again. I'm following the themes and the basic techniques used, but varying some of the elements and ideas in each lesson: there is no point (for me) in just recreating what the instructor demonstrates,… Continue reading Artful Academy journal – March
A few years ago I bought a lucky dip bag of SnipArt and in among all the flat patterns and feathers and such like was a kit for this little (about 3 inches wide) trellis planter. I had no idea what to do with it. I probably could have used the individual pieces as texture… Continue reading Mini trellis planter
When it comes to greetings cards this year, I have really only been making the ones that I absolutely have to. My energy levels weren't that great at the start of the year and, let's face it, no-one's energy levels have exactly been boosted by subsequent world events. So, I was originally thinking about skipping… Continue reading 80th birthday
Crafty Rat 