Pages in my journal

Again we have been spoilt with the artwork given via Anna's Patreon. I've managed to create four completed spreads, all with a different theme. The first spread used a lot of Anna's mixed media as they had a Feburary Love feel. I love the colour scheme used, it's not your expected pinks and reds but instead uses blues, pale pinks, purples and a complementary lemon colour. I recently posted about the Crafty Bonbons box, I used a few pieces from here with it being a box of the same theme.

 

I used a February journal card to say what I love about the month and decorated the page around it. I even got to practice some more brush lettering!
 

The second page has been inspired by the Snowdrop doodles. I wanted to use the same colours used in the flower swirl design (on the left) and keep the page fairly simple.
 

I wanted it to have a fresh, happy spring feel. Again more brush lettering has been practiced and I've used a glittery clear brush pen over the black.

 

The third page is inspired by the Ice Skating Dancers.

 

I used to attend adult Ballet classes and loved the positions of the drawings. The feel of the drawings made me think of flower sprits so I decided to sketch and combine this with Ballet.

 

I played with dresses to give them a look of petals at the bottom. I also decided to draw a closeup of a pointe ballet pump, this isn't a stage I managed to achieve due to falling pregnant whilst learning, however it's something that one day I would love to re-visit and work up to.

 

The fouth page is a swatch page. I have been wanting to do this for ages but it's one of those things that have been on my list that I'd never gotten round to. Seeing Anna's mini swatch square prompted me to have a go. I tried to extend the swatches at the end of the mini swatch and after that it was a free for all!
 

Lastly I have actually begun a fifth spread. This is using some of Anna's previous artworks and a quote from my 2017 calendar. I'm not sure how I will finish it but I'm loving how it's looking so far.

 

Thanks for stopping by,
 Kelly.

 Where else you can find me The Scrapbook Girl Instagram Pinterest Youtube

Grace's We Go Together Journal Pages

Hello everyone!

With this month's "We Go Together Like..." sticker club I was so happy that Anna made a kit that was suitable for those who like Valentine's... and also for those who do not (that would be me!).

With my stickers I decided to use the 'We Go Together' theme to do some creative journaling pages with pictures of my best friends and I. 

I have many creative journals, but as this is a super cute collection I went with my A6 size journal to do a smaller spread.

I started by painting on a thick layer of light pink acrylic paint. Nothing fancy, just a couple of swooshes with a wide brush:

The paper in this particular notebook is good quality, so I didn't bother priming the pages with gesso, which is what I would usually have started with. Once that paint was dry I added some of the washi and half box stickers:

Then backed my photos with some plain pink and blue paper to help them stand out, and started adding a few more stickers in clusters around the photos.

And some more stickers...

For the large 'XO' sticker in the centre I snipped it in half so it didn't bubble or buckle where it went over the two pages. I also used a 'We Go Together Like...' label from one of the sheets on the main photo to use as my title. Sometimes I think it's fun to use a 'small' title (if you're using one), rather than it taking up a lot of the page and drawing all the attention.

Lastly I added some doodles in a fine nib black gel pen, making a border around the whole spread and adding a few hearts. 

And there we go! I added in my journaling later on (in another fine nib gel pen) after I had taken the photos, some journaling you want to keep to yourself ;-)

And then, as ever, I decorated my planner pages. 

For my planner spread I decided to just stick with the Coffee and Doughnuts, and Tea and Biscuits stickers to have a 'Tea and Coffee' themed week. With Coffee for the Monday-Thursday half of the week (when you need it most!), and Tea and Biscuits for the weekend. 

There's a Plan With Me video for this spread on my YouTube channel, if you'd like to see the process. If you're not inclined to watching Plan With Me videos, then here are some close ups to get an idea of the process :) 

And there we have it! I had great fun with this super cute kit, and still have a few extra stickers that I think I'll use to decorate some happy mail - if I do, I'll share pictures on my instagram and on the Happy Place Facebook group, so keep an eye out! 

Thanks so much for reading :) 

Grace @ms.paperlover

Blog  YouTube  Instagram

Getting the creative mojo back!

Hey guys!

I cannot believe we are half way through February already! The past few weeks have really zipped by, I'm already behind on my daily journalling....oops!

So I've been struggling a bit lately with my creativity, I've not journaled properly since Christmas. I've kept a log of what we've done, in a really informal, unattractive way. So if I feel the urge I can go back and journal, but at the minute I just keep thinking '...Nope'. So I've been exploring and doing other things which involve some level of creativity. I've spent a few hours (read that as days) playing on The Sims4 and doing some Tumblr ish type DIY projects with Anna's Patreon content for this month. I just can't get enough!

Our house has been in a perpetual state of undress for the last five years, we've been slowly, and I mean slooowly doing it up. I've put so many things on hold, kept things in boxes waiting. It has frustrated me to no end, as I feel like I never properly moved in and that the place doesn't feel quite like home. We've recently had the builders in to sort our front porch extension and it has pushed me to open these boxes up and get stuck into the projects I've put off for so long.

I have a real passion for photography and where I can I try to display my own work (vain much haha!) but I also love seeing generational gallery walls. You know the ones that show you from a chubby baby, through the goofy school years and finally to that awful graduation photo! My parents have one on either side of their stairs, us toothy grinned offspring and family from a bygone era. I would love just sitting on the stairs and looking over their faces as a kid and m any a time you'd hear guests make it only half way up the steps, a picture having caught their attention.

I've hoarded frame after frame and printed many a photo in preparation for my own wall, and I'm now almost there! So with a rather good looking Mancunian builder giving me a rather peculiar look, I took some frames I picked up from a poundshop and spray painted them using some spray paint from my stash. I could have gone with and kept the black frames but I felt since these were going to be arty type prints I wanted something to distinguish them from the awkward (but amazing) family shots.

         

They are currently drying as I'm writing this, so fingers crossed they'll be okay out there! Otherwise they may have some interesting smudges, or flecks which if I really hate I can always cover over with another coat. Woohoo for spray paints.

Whilst waiting for them to dry I picked out some of my favourite pieces from this month's patreon and did some editing on the computer to add some phrases. I'm not the best with digital editing but I think they came out okay, good enough for me anyhow. I then printed and cut them to the right size. I will re-esemble them once the paint is dry....*waits*.

In the meantime I turned my attention to my other project, a fabric TN. Some lovely canvas with one Anna's Dirty Pours (I still can't say that without cringing lol) printed on to it was THE thing.

I teamed it with a turquoisey blue interior, I did consider a black fabric but I think the blue was the better choice. I'm over the moon with how it turned out, it looked amazing just as a fabric print but seeing it made up as an item it is just incredible.

It now houses my affirmations journals, which are full of swirly whirly watercolour pages. Perfect Match!

Well that's all from me this month. I've had fun finding other avenues for my creativity and I feel less guilt for not creating. I'm not the only one that suffers from this am I? I'd love to hear the ways you get yourself through the creativity slump :)

Till next time peeps x

You can also find me on Instagram and on my blog

Grey Scale Animal Watercolour Bullet Journal Page

​Yay, Hello February, finally the January blues are gone and we can all look forward to the rest of the year. This month I have been watching a lot of Anna Brim's (Mrs Brimbles) patreon videos on creating watercolour animal paintings using watercolour. You can join in here on Anna's patreon page.

My first attempt at painting a watercolour animal

Anna painted a stunning grey scale giraffe, so hesitantly I decided to give it a go. I honestly never thought I would be able to paint an animal, but finally I have mastered controlling the watercolour and brush to get the effect and shading I wanted.

I didn't pencil draw the giraffe first, I just did a loose outline in a light grey wash and then started filling in the facial features first before moving on to the body patterns. Finally I added a touch a black pen to define the outline of the pattern and it was one... first attempt! I know I was gobsmacked too!

I didn't really know what to do with the finished giraffe, so eventually decided to cut it out and use it in my bullet journal. It's perfect for my Hello February page and now that I was on a roll with being able to control the watercolour I even attempted a touch of hand lettering using the watercolour brush. I have tried brush lettering before with brush pens and I really can't do it. I found it much easier using a water brush dipped in to paint. Not a bad attempt for my first try.

To finish the page I added a few leaves using a green posca pen and a fitting quote 'Rise Above' and a bullet journal list of aims for the month. I am so happy with the overall page. I can't wait to see what else I can paint. There's no stopping me now!

Visit my blog: kerrymaymakes.com
​
Follow me on  social media:
​Instagram  |  You Tube  |  Pinterest ​
Art Journaling FB Group

Hi Everyone!

 As it's 'love month' I thought I would create something in my journal using the Twinkling H2Os using pretty cute valentinesy colours.

 

 I wanted to do something that was akin to a gratitude type journal and came up with the idea of 'I'm loving' which is part gratitude and part 'currently' which is a big trend with a lot of memory keepers.

You can see how my page was created in my video below:

I hope you enjoyed this!

Much Love

Anna x

A different way of working

Hello!

This month I decided to try something a little different with Anna's Patreon artwork. I've had my iPad Pro for a little while as well as the Apple Pencil. So far I've used it for creating some clip art, technical drawing and gaming. The first thing I thought when I saw some of the artwork was that I needed to use it as a digital wallpaper! Some of Anna's artwork is lovely as it is. This is my lock screen on my iPad. Up until this point I was using the screen savers that came with the software. I've used this yellow 'Life' mixed media piece as I find it visually upliting. I love the depth with the different medias used. Everytime I look at it I feel like I see a new piece of it. I play the piano so seeing the sheet music in the background makes me happy.

 

As well as the above piece, I've used Anna's drip style artwork for my home screen wallpaper. I get lost in the swirls and colours. These particular colours, the blues, greys, whites and greens remind me of the ocean. I find them very peaceful.

 

I then had a play with the artwork in Procreate. This is an app in which I have been creating clip art and sketching but I haven't really created from a mix media perspective. Procreate offers a whole range of brushes with more that can be downloaded. My favourite have to be the artistic brushes. When combined with the Apple Pencil it's so satisfying seeing the textures that can be produced. The pencil is touch sensitive so I can vary the pressue on how the brush reacts on screen. Don't get me wrong, it will never be the same as actual mixed media play. It's completely different in that sense. It's instant, it's tidy, you can add layers and have different versions, you can take away bits you don't like, you can make multiple versions. However, you cannot feel it, smell it, get the confidence to make a mistake but carry on and make it work. In that sense it's slightly less creative and more technical. So what did I create? I was immediately drawn to the black, white and yellow artworks Anna created. Look how nice this start image is...

 

I had to work with it. As I loved how it already looked, I didn't want to create over it. Instead I decided to extend it. This is where I really got a feel for these artistic brushes. I found that they were very similar to the paint style used. This is where layers works well in Procreate as I could build the image up in stages. Firstly I played with some stars and text.... 

 

* Please Pin me on Pinterest * Then I tried an image with stars and a sketchy fairy... 

 

* Please Pin me on Pinterest *

Lastly I decided to combine these images, they were originally two separate artworks. I love how they look together, I used the same brush style technique to blend them into each other. I then added a random little cat drawing, for no reason ^__^ 

So that's what I've been up to this month. It's a very different way of working, from a journal perspective you don't quite get the same therapeutic feeling you would with a hands on creation. It's never going to be the same as that. It works well if you're wanting to get a feel for some artwork, you can come back to it at different points, add and delete. 

 Thank you for stopping by, 

 Kelly xx 

 Where else you can find me 

  The Scrapbook Girl Instagram Pinterest Youtube

Pipstickers Stickers

I was very kindly sent a pack of stickers from Pipsticks to share with you all! Please do go and check them out: https://www.pipsticks.com/

PLEASE NOTE: I was given this / these product(s) in exchange for my honest review and opinion, the fact that I was given these does not alter my opinion in anyway. This review is my own personal opionion on the product / company, given in good faith and has not be sponsored or endorsed. None of the links are affiliate links. Unless otherwise stated, all photography is my own.

Plan with me - Love month!

Hello, planner friends!

An unfortunate series of circumstances saw me digging into my stash of Mrs Brimbles goodies this month, to an old - but very much loved - sticker kit: the love bug stickers. I have loved this set every since Anna released it ages ago and I may have been unintentionally hoarding it for the perfect layout!

Well, I dragged it out and had a lot of fun putting together a February spread to celebrate the month of love.

This layout includes the love bug stickers, letterbugs ephemera, and ladybug paper, all of which is still available in Anna's store!

I wanted to create something that was Valentine's-esque without being super-Valentine's-y. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I loved layering the different elements together to build something that is pretty and functional.

Check out my process video below to see how it came together:

Here are a few close up photos, too!

As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask - I love talking planners and all things crafty. In the comments, let me know about your February spread. Do you like to have a theme? If so, what did you go with this month?

If you want to connect with me on social media, you can find me on Youtube and Instagram.

Have a wonderful February!