Klimt in the garden with Rumi : October Gratitude

Full of gratitude today cos it's a bonus day off in New Zealand ♥ Despite waking with a migraine, I had my whole family home and we went out for a lovely lunch together. I also had extra time to myself today which I used to create this month's art card. First my gatherings and the Rumi quote for October. Quite often my cards will also reference or be inspired by the art I'm currently creating. I had some serviette left over from my last art journal spread, and loved the pinks and gold I used there. The little cardboard bird element also references that page. This fabric was on the top of my Klimt fabric pile from my gatherings last month which I did with my eyes shut and then used the selvedge only. Meant to be used this time I think. Effy used a goblet for her main image and that's also inspiring me as a starting point. 

Began with those gorgeous colours but using my Dylusions sprays - trying to encourage in a Summer Vibe....feels a long way from here on this wet and wild morning!

It worked - by the time we came back from lunch it was a lot warmer and the rain had cleared. This is trying first positions of elements and a goblet shape. I've torn my quote apart for more flexibility - something different from my other cards but it felt too much of a block the way I'd printed it initially.

I wasn't enjoying this so moved to a champagne flute shape - wanting to include that stencil somewhere. 

Initial machine stitching with purple metallic thread and paper elements glued down. Love that texture at the bottom

Added gold through that leafy stencil and also through punchinella for champagne bubbles

I always like to add some hand stitching as well - the x kisses are a common element across the series  

I decided to switch up to gold metallic thread to echo stitch the flute and for the edge stitching

The cards in this series are all backed with suitable toning fabric. This hides most of the stitching, although you can see I decided to echo the flute after doing the edge stitching. It's not too obtrusive

And here's the finished card for October

I took this photo of my other cards in this series last month. 
Click on it to see it larger.

See detail of each in my blog posts HERE.

Dream in full colour

I've been loving my last few journal pages because they've evolved from my #arteveryday practice of doing a little and often, listening to my instincts of what I feel like I want to add next rather than following a particular lesson plan. There will always be a place for online art classes, but I'm loving what's been happening this month in my original art. This time I started with a base of paper collage

Day 1

Love these inspiring found words in the background which I have highlighted with Stabilo pencil to be the start of the story

My first roses are starting to bloom at my house. This is the climber "Compassion" - taken on a wet day when I really needed reminding that Summer is going to come

They provided the inspiration for my first layer of colour this week, as well as the use of my next serviette layer

Day 2

Have you used serviettes in your work? I began with this floral one that was gifted recently. Most are 3 layers and you need to remove the back plain layers

Then use a small brush dipped in plain water to outline your chosen piece and lift it out before gluing to your background. 

Add your gel medium to your base page, then put the serviette on top and smooth out with your glue brush

Day 3

Next day I saw where to add my face - I am loving using inky Stabilo pencil for my first lines

Day 4

And I thought I would like a hand to hold something - again in Stabilo which can be erased with a wet wipe...This is in fact what happened next day as you will see - but this sketch was enough to tell me I was on the right track

Day 5

Face now complete with paint and pen detailing

I don't often use birds in my work, but this cardboard collage element was perfect. I smudged the white edges with purple pitt pen to make her blend more and I'm happy with this effect. 

Then I just needed to add some gold around the page

And here is the spread finished (Day 6)

I will definitely be trying to #arteveryday in my journal again this coming week. See all of my art in my altered art journal from this year in my Flickr album or by clicking on the label below.

Believe in Magic

Another journal spread at last. I've been busy since I last shared with you. Will go into detail in my October monthly review but believe me, I haven't been idle!  This spread began by challenging myself to scrape on some colours that are not my usual

Then I felt moved to add some feather stencils in gold

Another several days passed wondering what I wanted next... I decided to try Effy's latest lesson in Moonshine - creating a 'lip up' face

and then I quickly moved on to adding more stencils around 

I sprayed her face with workable fixative to set the Stabilo pencil. Once dry, I was ready to start adding colour - I'm liking the dappled evening feel and think that apart from her face we'll just need some white/light highlights and words to be done. Let's see if that happens. First I needed more gold stenciling to blend out those hard lines of dark blue... which in turn led to gold highlights on those feathers (click on any photo to see it larger)

The dragonfly and words came to me next

Then the face....I've not tried to make her perfect. She's a bit raw - a bit fierce ♥

Once again I love all the stencil layers and textures. Although I tried to start in a different place with my colours, somehow she ended up back in my comfort zone. I guess that's my own style coming through. And here's the finished spread

The photo really doesn't pick up all the gorgeous glimmer from the gold - it glows over the dark behind it. Wishing you a creative and happy week. If you want to see the rest of my art in this altered book, check out my Flickr Album.

Book of Days : Texture love

Inspired by this month's lesson by Cristin Chambers in Book of Days this spread began with luscious modeling paste texture spread through stencils

I added my own style of face next (very influenced by Effy Wild's teaching) using a Stabilo All pencil with a combination of blending stump and water. Remember this is VERY water reactive so needed to spray with fixative before moving on

Although what I create is way different than Cristin, I love her style of teaching and enjoyed using inks around the page next

OMG the texture! Click on any photo to see it larger

Next day more stenciling in different colours - need to add more darks/lights for contrast but I'm feeling really happy with the direction this is taking

I love taking process photos so I can also see her face changing as layers are added ♥

Loving her. Thinking about what to add on the left, to add dark, and thinking about my style and wanting to include a NZ something led to the dark fern stencil

then repeating that colour a bit in the background before adding the stars

which led back to the star in her hair...and the found words came last. I think she is my favourite spread in my art journal this year ♥

You can still join us in Book of Days 2019 HERE and check out what's happening in 2020 HERE (excited!)