A few of my favourite things...

Hello all!  Alison (butterfly) here to share another journalling page with you.  This one centres around a vintage photo and one of my favourite Katy Leitch flower stamps.  Cups of coffee at the ready?  Let's dive in...

I started by layering torn book pages and heavy gesso into a kraft-paper journal (still working through the pages carved out of my candle niche!).

The next step was some stamping... the Encyclopedia Botanica flower and one of my favourite Calligraphy Mats, number #4, stamped in Sepia, and with clear-embossing for the flower to give extra definition.

I then started playing around with ephemera and embellishments and it all came together without me really thinking very hard.

This wonderful young woman from the Darkroom Door Photobooth sheets was really the catalyst.  (Since I'm having to be patient about getting my hands on the new Tim Holtz Photobooth release, I'm playing with these for now!)

The determined set of her mouth and the humorous gleam in her eyes drew me to her at once.  Here's someone setting out into the world with her head screwed on straight and ready to pursue her desires.

She's layered up over some Tim Holtz ephemera, some shabby lace and some stained calico from when I did my last rusting session (a long time ago... there needs to be another one very soon).

The journey she takes will undoubtedly be full of twists and turns, but you can bet your bottom dollar she'll grit her teeth and come out smiling in the end.  This word from Journalling Words #2 seemed the right one for her.  The layers here include some more of the rusty calico as well as some tea and coffee-stained tissue paper.

You'll recognise the book page Frameworks Trellis pieces (they put in an appearance on my New Leaf tag as well as my Russian Love Is In The Air hanging)... 

Here they've had lots of shading (with Inktense pencils and a water brush) to embed them in the page.

I found when I was looking at some of the photos that I couldn't make my eyes see them properly - they kept either sinking in to the page or sticking out - a sign that the shading for dimension is doing its job, I suppose.

It was while I was creating the shadows around the Frameworks and the other ephemera - with various blue and grey Inktense pencils - that I decided the flowers might look good with some "sky" around them.

I'm really pleased with how it makes the image pop.

The other elements which made an early appearance in the plans were the wooden butterflies.

I already like them in "naked" wood, but for this page I decided they should be crackled.

I used the Croco Crackling in White again (as on my last journalling page here).

And then added splodges of Black Soot, Gathered Twigs and Vintage Photo Distress Stains, wiping back and adding more until I was happy with the grungy look.

The little wooden buttons I did leave naked - though they did get caught in the splatter fire!

You'll have spotted the metal accents - some Idea-ology pieces that worked with my young woman... business-like cogs and paper clips, and the Muse Token which is definitely hers by rights.  I sanded it back to give it an extra burnished glow.

So that's today's bit of fun.  The journalling does seem to have taken hold, and I'm enjoying the freedom it's giving me to play.  I'm hoping you're still enjoying the results!

Thanks so much for stopping by today - it's always lovely to hear what you think.  Oh, and there's still almost a week to come and play in our New Beginnings challenge... hope to see you there.

Ingredients used:

Artistic Stamper stamps: Katy Leitch - Encyclopedia Botanica, Journalling Words #2, Calligraphy Mat #4

Archival Ink - Sepia

Distress Stains - Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs

Idea-ology Findings - Muse Tokens and Gears

Viva Decor Croco Crackling Colour - White

From my stash: gesso, wooden butterflies and buttons, book pages, rusty calico, tissue paper (plus tea and coffee), lace, Sizzix Frameworks Trellis, Tim Holtz Ephemera (but there are similar things here), Inktense pencils

Faux Dichroic Glass Domino Book by Alison Hall

Hello Stampers! I have a little domino book to share with you today, & I used a fabulous faux dichroic glass technique by Julie Dandy of It's a Scrappy Life.

Ingredients...( I used a LOT of stamps!)

Jumbo Bouvardia, Encyclopaedia Botanica, Garden Plate 1, Botanical Plate 2, Botanical Plate 3, Free as a Bird, Insects and Butterflies No. 1, Gibson Girls 002, Journaling Mini Words, Dragonfly Words, Butterfly Words

Dominos x2

Owl Charm

Vintage Ribbon

Viva Croco - Gold

Alcohol Inks - Stream & Pesto

Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black

Versamark Embossing Ink

Ranger Mini Mister

Craft Mat

Heat Gun

Matte Medium

White Card

Clear Embossing Powder

Extra Sticky Double-sided Tape

Post-it Notes

Copier Paper

Glass Beads

Instructions...

1. Spread a layer of gold Viva Croco on the smooth side of the domino, about 1 mm thick. Allow it to dry & crackle, or use a heat gun to speed things up. You'll get better cracks if you let it dry naturally, but I was impatient! Lol!

2. Apply alcohol inks to the Croco, leaving some of the gold showing through. I also inked the domino edges & other side.

3. Press the crackled side of the dominos into embossing ink, then apply clear embossing powder and heat. If you use normal clear powder, you may have to do 3 or 4 layers, but with ultra thick, 2 layers should suffice.

4. Cut a piece of white card, 7 ins x 1 7/8 ins, then score & fold every 7/8 ins. 

5. Swipe Vintage Photo Distress Ink on the craft mat, mist it with water, then dip the white card in it. Dry & re-dip until you are happy with your background. Do this on both sides, then ink the edges & all of the folds with the Distress ink pad.

6. Use the black archival ink to stamp your chosen images, masking each segment as you go. Stamp both sides, omitting the edges you will stick to the domino. Stamp & cut out the phrases on copier paper, ink with vintage photo, & adhere to the pages.

7. Use extra sticky tape to adhere your domino covers to the little book.

8. Stamp the words from Journaling Mini Words onto copier paper, ink & cut out your chosen words, then use the extra sticky tape to adhere them to your front domino cover.

9. Thread ribbon through the owl charm, tie it around the book, gluing the owl in place with matte medium. Finish off with some contrasting glass beads.

I hope my project inspires you to make a little domino book of your own, they're a lot of fun! They also make lovely gifts for arty friends :-)

Alison xxx

Cry Me A River

Hello everyone, Alison (butterfly) here with a hanging icon to share with you today.  It all started because I wanted to play with my new Croco Crackling Colour, and ended up taking on a musical twist... singing the blues again!

I guess my Our Creative Corner challenge to use a song title or lyrics has infected me more than I'd realised!  Part way through, the project just started to take on the flavour of the brilliant Cry Me A River (sung by the extraordinary Julie London in the link I've given you).

I began by smearing the Croco Crackling onto opposite corners of the hanging board with a palette knife.  Mine's white to start with, though it also comes in gold.  I left it overnight to crackle, though I don't think it needed that long - but I had several other things on the go at the same time, so there was plenty to be getting on with.

I love the chunky crackle effect - I put it on quite thickly to get this, and I didn't intentionally create that river flowing down the centre, but that's what it turned into once it was blue!

Once it was completely dry, I added various colours of Distress Stains, all shades of blue, over the top, blending with an occasional spritz of water as I went.

The woman is one of my favourites from the Faces No.2 stamp plate.  She's stamped in a combination of Cobalt, Cornflower Blue and Hydrangea Archival inks, and inked with at touch of Faded Jeans Distress Ink, so as to tone in with the Distress Stains.

I mounted her over some swirls of white water (otherwise known as cheesecloth), frothing as it charges downriver.

And the chains of grief still surround her, echoing the path of the river of tears (those would be Idea-ology Lace Chains of grief).

The Idea-ology Enamelled Tag is adorned with some Tim Holtz rub-ons.  The eye was a must, and some of the damask flourishes seemed to work well with the whole look of the piece.

And the words...

... the pay-off line of the refrain...

... always with me the words!

Everything pours over the edges, of course - you know me! - so the swirling waters continue in three dimensions.

So that's me for today - singing the blues (though that's not necessarily a sign that I'm unhappy - I have an ex-boyfriend who used to complain that I sang sad songs when I was happy and when I was blue, so how was he supposed to tell?  What can I say?  I like sad songs!).  I hope you like it.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Don't forget, there's still almost a week to join in with our Embossing and Texture challenge here at The Artistic Stamper - hope to see you there!

Ingredients used:

Artistic Stamper stamps: Faces #2

Papier Mâché Icon

Croco Crackling Colour in White

Distress Stains: Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, Broken China

Idea-ology: Enamelled Tag, Lace Chains from my stash

Archival Inks: Cornflower Blue, Cobalt, Hydrangea

Distress Inks: Faded Jeans