Misted Ink Background

There's something really satisfying about making different backgrounds for your projects. There's a quick and easy background that you can make as easy, or funky as you'd like!

Simply draw squares in your journal (I used the small Dylusions journal block as  I like the wavy lines). It should look like this - don't worry if, like me, you need to go over a few lines!

Add some stencilled shapes. I used circles with a stencil like this one.

Then the fun starts! Fill a water brush with Black Marble Dylusions Ink. Colour in the background on one square and the shapes on the next, making a chequerboard effect. It's very therapeutic!

This is the finished effect.

You could leave it just like this. But knowing the ink reacts beautifully with water then I just couldn't help misting the page until the ink started to run.

You can, of course, use any combination of colours you like to make the background. Also, don't just do squares, you can use stripes or any other shape you like!
To finish this off I used the new Darcy stamps for PaperArtsy. I added a few gold lines and white painty circles for added interest.

Thank you, as always, for popping by

We can't all be kings!

Hello! I found a fabulous quotation and wanted to make a quick journal page to use it! I sprayed Fresh Lime and Cut Grass ink sprays. I then used a stencil and sprayed water and let it dry.

I added a number stamp and a dots stamp in Shabby Shutters to complete the background.

I stamped out three circles, a border and a crown and used Shabby Shutters to colour them. I left the crown uncoloured to stand out in the final piece.

I added the pieces to the page along with a Paper Doll. I typed the quotation We can't all be kings...someone has to clap when I walk by on my trusty typewriter and cut them out. The circled then become bullet points.

I hope you find a quotation that inspires you to make art.

Gabrielle x

Final Postcard ideas

Hello! It's the last day to enter the Postcard challenge on our challenge blog and in case you need some final, speedy inspiration I have three quick ideas you can use. Each postcard took less than 30 minutes so you'll have an entry in no time! There is some typing on each postcard - I have an old typewriter that I used but you could use a sentiment stamp or alphabet stamps for your sentiment.

Let's take each one in turn!

For this postcard, add paint to the postcard for the background (I used Bubblegum Pink and Vibrant Turquoise) and then added White Linen, Lemon Zest and Black Marble paint through some stencils. It really doesn't matter if it looks messy - you'll cover it up!

Then stamp your images - I coloured in a few areas so the white was a counterbalance to the crazy background! When it was assembled I drew some lines from the shape to the scalloped edge so that they look like they are hanging.

The second postcard features a flamingo from Dylusions. The heart is from the Creative Dyary Stamp Set 2.

I used Distress Inks (Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Gathered Twigs) for the background and leaf stamps - the centre of the leaf stamp was inked with Dylusions Fresh Lime ink.

A tip for difficult to cut out images... cut across an area that you can easily glue back together - I regularly cut off the heads from stamped images!

For the third, and final idea I sprayed a stencil with Vibrant Turquoise and then covered the card with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to give it a vintage colour palette. I then stamped lots of images on the background from an old Tim Holtz set. Then I stamped lots of Darcy for PaperArtsy images on card and coloured them in.

I hope you join in with this month's challenge!

Gabrielle

October Dyary Page

I am very much enjoying creating a weekly page in my Creative Dyary. I don't get as much time as I'd like to to be creative each week (working full time gets in the way!) however ensuring I do something creative at least once a week is very satisfying! The Dyary has a week planned out on the left page Monday to Sunday but there are no preset dates/months so you can start your Dyary at any time. I started mine in February and haven't missed a week! On the right side, some pages are preprinted with black and white drawings, some with coloured backgrounds. Here I've adapted one of the coloured backgrounds.
The backgrounds are pretty fabulous and really need very little work but of course I just can't help myself...! This was the background before I meddled!

Add Lemon Zest and Bubblegum paint to the page through a number stencil and then Squeezed Orange through a dots stencil.

Dylusions have bought out a fab set of background stamps where you get a stencil and a matching stamp. There are leaves, brickwork and cobwebs in either 9 or 12 inches to match your projects.The idea is to stencil the background and the stamp the detail in the foreground. Now, it's a terrific idea but don't feel limited to use these in one way - you can try this idea! Lay the 9" leaf stencil upside down and the wrong way round (so the word 'front' is showing like in the picture)

Use Fresh Lime paint through the stencil - try to have different lengths of leaves to create a bit of interest.

I drew round the leaves roughly in white ink, but of course you could use black!

Then, using the bottom portion of the leaf stamp, add some leaves in black ink.

Using Black Marble ink in a water brush, colour in the stamped leaves.

I added some stamped details from this fabulous Zinski Art set. I stamp the larger images because there are details that are hard to cut out! 

This is the finished page with a small sentiment from a terrific Emma Godfrey Halloween set.

Thank you, as always for joining me! If you'd like to see more of the Dyary pages I've created this year - please click here.

Gabrielle x

Spooky

With the start of September and more Autumnal weather, my thoughts have turned towards Halloween and using the Halloween themed stash I have. I try not to limit Halloween or Christmas goodies to just those holidays because it seems a waste to leave them sitting on the shelf for a year but inevitably we do. So, time for me to dust them off and ink them up!
I started by spraying a page in my Small Creative Flip Journal with Pure Sunshine ink. I love this colour!

I then added a border for the bat  and spider to hang from. The spider's body was coloured with Squeezed Orange ink decanted into a water brush. By stamping the bat on the page you retain all of the little details that would be really difficult to cut out. I also stamped him (and the chap from the stamps set) on card to colour and cut out.

I then added some Speckles using Black Soot Distress Ink.

I stamped out some accessories and die cut them. I should have coloured them before cutting them out (which is what I usually do) as the broomstick in particular felt very delicate! Always learning!

The sentiment was stamped with alphabet stamps (I LOVE these!) and some additional word stamps by Emma Godfrey. The washi tape is from the Aristocrat set. Some white circles (made with an old lid) and gold painty lines finished the page off.

Hope you feel like dusting off your seasonal stamps too!

Gabrielle x

Forgotten the words

I recently bought a new Dylusions a small Creative Flip Journal. This page was one of my first experiments in it!

I started by spraying the pages with Fresh Lime (my very favourite colour!)

Then I added areas of Calypso Teal and used some kitchen roll to mop up the ink

Next I added some diamonds using a stencil and Slate Grey ink. Again I used kitchen roll to mop up the ink.

Finally I added some Picket Fence through an alphabet stencil

Using a leaf stencil I added Dirty Martini ink (decanted into a water brush). I wasn't super careful as I wanted the ink to bleed a little under the stencil as it looks like watercolour. When the ink was dry I used a black pen to drawn the leaves in. Notice how the green ink highlights the Picket Fence beneath - gives your leaves a really lovely extra detail

I added some tape for my Zini to stand on and stamped the Zini on the page and on some white card. There are some lovely details on the stamp that would be really difficult to cut out so if you stamp the image on the page then you don't have to worry about those additional details!

Then it's a matter of adding the extra images and sentiment. The arrows are from this Emma Godfrey for PaperArsty set and the spider is from this one. The bird is from an Elenazinski set.

The birds on this page are from these stamps sets (Set 5 and Set 8). The text stamps are from the Emma Godfrey set above. A few white paint circles and Black and Gold lines using an old lid and gift card.

I hope you like the journal pages. I love making them!

Gabrielle x

We are a normal family

I have been using my Dylusions Creative Dyary every week since February and have occasionally shared my decorated the right hand page. I thought I'd share my process in case you have a Dyary too!
The next page in my Dyary is this purply one. I have masked the left hand page so I don't get any ink on it but of course you can decorate both pages if you'd like to.

I started by adding a thin layer of white paint (Snowflake) to the page using a plastic card.

I sprayed Slate Grey Dylusions Ink through a stencil.

This is what it looked like after I removed the stencil and before I dried the ink.

I then added Crushed Grape Dylusions Ink through a numbers stencil.

Not sure the next stage will show up on the photos but I misted the page with water and allowed the ink to run slightly.

I added some white paint stars and some black stamping.

I then added some Chatter tape and stamped two characters for positioning when the page was compiled.

On a piece of white card I stamped four characters (one was stamped twice as I hadn't stamped it evenly). These stamps are: Zini 11, Zini 12, Zini 13 and Zini 15

Colour the characters in however you prefer and adhere to the page. I wanted the page to have some whiter areas (as the background was quite dark) so left some white areas on the stamped characters. I added a sentiment and some white and gold painty marks.

Thank you, as always, for joining me today.

Gabrielle x