Secret Swappers Art Journal cj

I'm taking part in my first ever proper art journal cj with the Secret Swappers group on UK Scrappers. my theme is that there is an envelope of prompts for you to choose from to base your entry on. I chose the prompt to describe yourself in three words which was harder than i first thought. I eventually plumped for loyal, chatty and creative. I built up my background with layers of acrylic paint, stencilling and stamping. I coloured in the Stampotique minky girl figure and stood her on a collaged trip of patterned paper and washi tape. I cut round a photo of myself and collaged it on to the heart and finished with some marks from the edge of a credit card and bottle top on paint and some oil pastels. I stamped the sentiment on white tissue paper, tore round the edges and adhered to the page with gel matte medium. I was pleased with the way it turned out and can't wait to see how the girls interpret the rest of the prompts.

Rocking your World Friday - 11 October

hello and Happy Friday everyone. just a brief one from me today and as usual I forgot to take photos! some scrapbooker I am eh! it's been another one if those weeks very busy and work and at home as Im trying to get ready for my bi annual trip to Lochhouse Farm near Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway with the girls for some crafty time away. Im no where near as organised as I should be so Im grateful that we arent going till Monday so I have the weekend to rush around like a headless chicken ramming stash into bags and boxes. I'm very grateful that despite my Mums bad fall the other week there doesnt seem to be any lasting damage and she is now moving about a bit easier. Im grateful thst the horrible cold has finally gone and.I'm feeling much better for the first time in around two weeks As ever I am grateful for my lovely daughter who dyed her hair pink and stood tall even in the face of a shall we say less than enthusiastic response from one half of the family.

I'm grateful for the support my lovely boss Mo has given me over the last five years I have had the pleasure of working for her. She left last week among many tears from us all to take up a new fabulous positon. We have really missed her this week. I am grateful that as from Monday I am off for for a whole week and will be among the best bunch of girls ever having an entire week - yes you did hear that correctly - we have upgraded our usual weekend for a full week of crafty scrappy, inky, painty fun, laughter, tears, chocolate and wine. Hopefully I will find my creative vibe again and be back with all outstanding projects finished and some fabulous bits and pieces to show off on my blog. I'm just sorry that Heather isnt joining us this time. It will be a funny one for me being there without her and our room in the cortage wont be the same. If you want to know why Im sharing my gratefuls this Friday then hop on over to Virginias and see what its all about Back to the packing now girls lol

Ten Minute Tuesday - 8 October

Hello there. After nursing a hellish cold for the last ten days and really struggling to do anything much in the way of anything at all never mind creative I finally feel better and raring to go. One thing I did manage to do recently was prep my blank art journal for a new cj Im taking part in with some of the Secret Swappers girls on UK Scrappers. As I was using a blank cheapo moleskine type book the inside front pages did look a bit on the boring side so I got out the paints and made a background using the paper artsy fresco paints. It took me several ten miute bursts over the course of a few days to get it the way I wanted it. I used some of Kate Cranes hand carved stamps. These stamp really well with paint and Im very happy with them. I also slipped in a couple of torn pieces from one of Julie Kirks fab plundered pages packs. I used some pages from a book about calculus - I thought it suited the dont over think it theme of the page. The wording on the page is a message to me and to everyone doing an entry in my journal "Dont over think it Just create" I do haope I can take my own advice as I spend more time fussing over what to do rather than just getting stuck in and getting on with it.

I will blog my own entry for this cj later on in the week If you fancy joining in with Ten Minute Tuesdays then hop over to Vicki's to see what its all about.

Rocking Your World Friday - 27 September,

Hello fellow Rockettes. Im on a roll as Ive remembered to post this for the second week in a row yay!! I just wanted to thank everyone for their lovely comments on last weeks post. I have drawn a line under all the negatives and have had a positive week Firstly I am grateful for our crop last Saturday, all the girls proved very supportive and have all agreed to help so that I am not left running the crop on my own. I always said what a great bunch our crop girls are and they have sure proved me right this last month or so. I had some fun doing a demo for Angela (Angel Crafts) of the lovely frantage products - I could get quite addicted to these. Heres a few of the tags I made for the crop.

These bad boys arrived from Amazon - Carmen recommended them as as they were only a couple of quid I thought Id give them a go. I havent tried them yet but will do so soon and let you know how I get on with them.

I am very grateful that despite a rather nasty fall at the caravan this week whilst trying to climb up to see over a wall if you dont mind!!!! My Mother (well into her seventies) escaped with some nasty bruising on her back and the back of her head having to be glued back together. It could have been so much worse and although she is going to be sore for a while it looks like no major damage has been done. I will leave you with a wee face that never fails to cheer me up. Maisie Moo thought the new pink flamingo bag I got last week from Asda was a perfect place for her. She does love her a bag that kitten!!

Ten Minute Tuesday

Hello there. Despite my best intentions I've been missing in action for the last couple of Tuesdays but as things hsve calmed down somewhat I'm back this week. I really haven't been up to much on the crafty front so thought I'd share with you a couple of backgrounds I've done in my art journal. At our crop on Saturday Donna lent me her paper artsy chalk finish paints. I've been having a wee play with them and they do behave a bit differently to the acrylics I'm used to but after several sessions and a lot of layering I finally got two backgrounds I'm happy with. The colour palette is a bit more pastel than I'm used to but they do have a lovely soft finish and I broke out my fab new Kate Crane stamps, to use and I am totally in love with them.

That's all from me so why not pop on over to Vicki's to see what Ten Minute Tuesday is all about

Rocking your World Friday 20 September

Hello everyone. I've been missing in action a bit over the last couple of weeks and I'm sorry theres been nothing of any great interest to share with you. This was due to events completely outwith my control which once uncovered just seemed to spiral into ever more of an increasing nightmare. So sorry I havent been round to comment on all your lovely blogs either but I will put that to right this week. I'm pleased to say that I'm pretty confident everything has pretty much been resolved now as best as can be in all the circumstances but I have been left pretty much knocked right down by them. There's nothing worse than being let down and betrayed by someone you counted as a friend but I guess as usual you live and learn. It was made all the more difficult for me as folks who know me will know that after my husband of 20 years fell for and subsequently married my former best friend it took me a very long time to build up trust in anybody again and to have done thst and then find yourself betrayed again albeit in a completely different way has hit me very hard. I think what is worse too is that this person comes from the crafting world and up to now every crafter I have met has been just so lovely. I have worked alongside this person setting up and running our local crop for the last couple of years and to find out that all sorts of what can only be described as nastiness and deviousness has gone on behind my back has really sickened me to the core. this was made worse on Sunday night and Monday morning by a completely unwarranted attack publicly on me out of no where by a team member on an online forum I'm part of.

Anyways enough of the negativity, this week at least there have been things which have at least given me a reason to post my rocked my world post. Firstly my lovely daughter, who stood by me while things crumbled all around. She is a very loyal and very strong young woman and I am immensely proud of her. she is the one in red, her best friend Jade in black.

Secondly, look at this this funky little bag from Asda, with pink flamingos on, it was designed by Julien McDonald for their Tickled Pink campaign and with a proportion of the price going to breast cancer charities it would have been rude not too. Its going to hold some of my crafting bits and bobs for taking to crops.

Then last Sunday I had a lovely lunch out with my Mum and Dad at our favourite local deli and a glass of two of rather delicious merlot just might have passed my lipes!!! Well I deserved it.

This little package of stampendous encrusted jewels embossing powders and fragments arriving in the post from Angela (Angel Crafts) for me to play with in readiness for giving a wee demo at our crop tomorrow, I got to pick the colour (teal) and its gorgeous!

And looky looky at these little beauties - stamps made by Kate Crane from her Etsy shop which I was lucky enough to be ab

le to get a hold of - cannot wait to get these little beauties inked up. FInally, good friends both old and new who have really come through and rallied round with support during the aforementioned horrible time. The level of supoort and friendship has been astounding and I'd like to thank then all for being there for me. Im looking forward to reading all your Rocking your World posts and if you are not sure what this is all about then hop over to Virginia's place and take a look. Hoping to regain my creativity at my crop tomorrow so might have something new and crafty to show you.

Ten Minute Tuesday - 3 September

Morning folks. Ive been having a bit of a time of it lately and I missed completely joining in with this and Rocking your World Friday last week. I really havent had the time or the inclination to do much crafting but I did make a start at the weekend on a wee project but that is for the UK Scrappers End of Summer Blog Hop so I cant show you that yet. Come back on Monday 9 September when the hop goes live though and join in with us So the only bit of craftiness I have managed is to continue with my Intentions page in my Art, Doodle, Love book. Its getting there but its still not quite finished. Id like to completely fill up the whole lot before I move on from that to another page. I am still really loving picking this up and having a wee doodle although I do have a way to go compared to others I have seen. I started off using the Feber Castell Pitt pens but i kept ruining them writing on top of paint so bought a couple of the Pigma Micron ones and I must say that for doodling they are my new favourite. I have yet to try them over paint though lol. The colouring in has been done with Derwent Coloursoft pencils and I do love these, they are soft and blend easily and there is a fab colour range.

Well thats all for me today. Hop over to Vickis to see what Ten Minute Tuesday is all about. Im not sure if she will have a post today or not as her kiddies might just be going back to school but theres always something lovely to look at on her blog.