Sketchy Girls and Journal pages

Well, it certainly has been a while since I last posted. I have been following and loving all the bits you guys have been sharing over in the Brimbles Facebook Group  but I've been a bit AWOL. I got married at the beginning of October (yay!) so most of August and September saw me working away on candles, decorations and my bouquet as I decided to undertake most things myself. Phew! It was stressful and hardworking but boy did it teach me a thing or two!

(Photo curtesy of Anna Brim. I was too busy doing the getting married bit and I've not had the professional photographs back yet.)

For a while I've been struggling with creativity and I've continuously hit a block whenever the creative mojo strikes. I've had to learn to love and enjoy the process of crafting again, sometimes working creatively for you business can, sadly, sometimes starve and taint the artist within. The process becomes clinical, and unfortunately I have lost some love for it. Since the wedding though, I feel rejuvenated and I've decided to dedicate some more time for creating just for me. I've taken a couple of weeks off, closing my shop to create purely for me and to push and explore some ideas I'd placed on the back burner.

Autumn is probably my favourite season, with Winter coming an incredibly close second (mostly because of CHRISTMAS!). It's all the magical colours, the slight chill in the air, the feel of forthcoming rain, the squash and crunch of leaves underfoot. It is like the world opens up, and comes alive, shedding itself of what has come before and preparing itself for the new beginning in Spring. I feel like my soul vibrates to a different tune during the autumn, like I can breathe again. I can feel the inspiration bubbling away under the surface.

Following Anna's Autumn Doodle from last month's Patreon collage sheets, which pictured all her favourite things about the season, I decided to fetch my stamps and felt tips and give it a whirl. It feels like it's been a very long time since I did any of this!

Using stamps felt like a good way to go, it meant I could get creating a page, building volume and content quickly. All without the fear of how it would look, once it's down, it's down, no faffing back and forth about placement.

I have quite a collection of stamps, but there were a few Autumnal activities which I didn't have an appropriate stamp for, so I doodled a few in there too!

I ended up doing a bit of ghost stamping, which came about by mistake, since I dropped my inked stamp block onto the page and a little transferred. I thought I would roll with it and turn it into a feature. You'll notice it is a little funky around the tea bag haha! I've now filled

After getting stuck in with the stamping and colouring in, the creativity just kept on coming. This little lady came to mind after looking in the mirror. I often wear my dreads in a bun on the top of my head when I'm creating as they have a tendency to fall into paint, glue, glitter, whatever it is and the result is always a mess! J made the joke once that my dread bun looks like a cross between a pineapple and a pumpkin, and he's right.

Cartoony style art is something I'm really getting into, I'm not very good, I still really struggle with the looseness of it, but I'm getting there! I used a mixture of watercolour paint and pencils to create the texture of her hair and then outlined her using a 0.3 waterfast pigment liner. I felt she was missing something so I gave her some pumpkin leaf earrings too match her hair. I want to work a little more on faces so I'm going revisit some of Anna's early Patreon content where she gave some tips and tricks for drawing sketchy girls.

I'm now off to download and play with the next lot of collage sheets! Till next time guys xx

Wave-tastic Vibes

Well no one can say that Summer isn't here, with all this...err glorious? sunshine! I'm definitely not a hot weather girl so I'm properly hermitting away in the house, with the curtains drawn and windows thrown open. I will also admit to sitting in front of the fan and producing a robot voice, on more than one occasion....ways to fill the hours, eh?

My creativity has taken a bit of a hiatus, since the construction of the cabin commenced and I'm so glad to have finally moved the motherlode of craft supplies in. I still need to insulate the roof so at the minute it is doubling up as sauna. Rather suits one of Anna's themes for this month's Patreon collage sheets, minus the beach and the sea...near enough!

(Excuse the half dead lily.....it is a victim of the Craft Cabin Sauna!)

I was itching to get creating when Anna sent over this months collage sheets, although to be fair that is true for most months, but I have a real tie to the seaside so I was extra eager! There is always such a variety of artwork and differing styles in Anna's content, something for everyone, but the beach themed sheets were calling me. 

As soon as I saw the girls and ice creams I knew exactly where I was headed with them. I have (well now did have) a framed photo collage above our bed that I made back many moons ago of J and I's first holiday away together as a couple. We stayed in my cousin's holiday house up in Thornaby. With Redcar beach about a 15 minute drive away we spent much of the holiday at the beach, chilling in the day and misty walks in the evening. The photograph is of Redcar beach, facing towards the town of Redcar, if you face the opposite direction you look at a Redcar Steel Plant. Quite a juxtaposition.

I decided since it is beginning to look tatty I would repurpose some of the photos. I still have the negatives so I can always have them reprinted if I miss them....haha! 

I began by pulling Anna's artwork into the Silhouette Studio and set about resizing them so they would be roughly in the proportions I was after. A bit of grumbling at my machine and an emergency ink cartridge change and ta dah!! Ephemera appeared!

I also cut out the journal tags Anna added in this months sheets. I'm so happy she included them as I do love to layer them throughout my journaling but they also work as fantastic prompts for layouts. When I'm stuck for inspiration I'll flip through my phrase ephemera and usually something will jump out at me. They can really change the direction you thought you were going in!

I try to keep my ephemera and bits and bobs I'm looking to scrap or journal with in a pot next to me, as far too often they end up mixed with the offcuts and scraps headed for the bin. Cue frustrated searching and much muttering. I clearly didn't follow my own method below...and ended up with a pile of rubbish and ephemera. 

I pulled out my latest 12x12 paper acquisition, the Beach Life Collection and saw how perfect Anna's artwork looked alongside them!

I spent some time pulling out other bits that fitted with the layout I was going for. As it has been such a long time since I last sat down to scrap a 12x12 layout it felt a little daunting. I felt like I didn't have enough things, so there was a lot of rejected items (which I've still actually resort and put away ha!). I also wanted to include some of the buckets, starfish and clams from the other papers, so took some time fussy cutting a few out to dot around the page.

I cut a strip of the beach huts from one of the papers in the pack and placed it towards the bottom of the page. I took this as my line from which to build. I backed my photo on yet another paper from the collection. I wanted something bright to contrast with the green woodgrain effect as without the backing the photo felt a little dull and lost. 

I sat moving the pieces around the page trying to find a natural fit. It is quite different working on a much larger scale again, kind of awkward. When I was happy with the visual I took a quick snapshot on my phone, so that once I started moving pieces off to stick things down I wouldn't forget where I put them. 

To further pull the photo into focus and add some depth I stuck it down on foam tabs. This, however meant my original plan had to be altered slightly to accommodate the additional height. Both the bucket and the girl's legs needed lifting, so I cut small slithers of foam and popped them up to the same height as the photo.  

I LOVE how this little guy looks, he is from Anna's mermaid ephemera pack from the Mermaid Waves collection back in May last year I think? I knew he would be perfect so out he came. I made two small snips into his claws so I could slip the ice cream and ice lolly pieces in, giving the illusion that he is holding them..or running off with them I'm not sure.

The title is a bit of a hit and miss for me. I'm happy with the wording but not necessarily the alphas I chose. They could do with being a tad taller and maybe not glittery! Although, in saying that they do remind me of funfair lights you sometimes see on piers. I think the pearl dots help some with that too!

It's not too bad a layout to say I've not scrapped in about five or six years...there's a few things I might tweak. The bottom half I'm pleased with, but the top right hand corner and title I'm still undecided. I think I'll add a smidge of journalling in and see how it looks!

So that's me for this month, I've really enjoyed working my way back to scrapping again and in time hope to improve. Anna's artwork is so versatile and easy to use, it piques the creative in me and I find myself working away on something before I know it! 

Till next time guys! x

Jeni

It's like greeting an old friend: Getting back into Creative Journalling

Hey guys!

I've been on a bit of a creative spurt since coming back from Cambs Planner Con. I'm not sure whether it is being in a room full of creative people or having spent time with amazing friends surrounded by like minded individuals on a mini holiday from normality. Once the post planner con blues have passed I'm left feeling rejuvenated and inspired!

For some time I've been in a creative lull, my journals both my art ones and my documenting ones have been left pretty much untouched since mid December (I've still not finished my Dec Daily!!). I've been creating, in the sense of dying leather and creating beautiful (if I do say so myself) planners for other people, but I've not created anything just for me.

Now the rush of stock making and creating for Cambs has finished I've had time to sit down and just create, and create, and create! Not only have I been involving myself in new areas of creativity (Mermay & Kerry's Monthly Challenges) I've also had a breakthrough. I've started working my way through alllll the pretty ephemera and papers I've hoarded for years. It is a turning point for sure!

I've two creative journal spreads to share with you today. The first documenting my trip with J to the cake baker for our wedding.....a rather tasty trip!! I thought this spread would perfectly suit Anna's 'We go together' Collection. The second documenting my time away for Cambs Planner Con 2018.

We go together like...

Often when the vellums (this one is from Filofabulousss) I use in my actual planning planner become too tatty or torn from use I'll include them in my creative journals. This insert is one I made especially for this entry as I thought the gorgeous teacups suited the theme perfectly, although I didn't have tea at the tasting, boo! Tea and cake, mmmm!

I began with a gentle water colour wash, I tried to pick out colours which complimented the teacups. I didn't want anything too bold or strong that it would overshadow the rest of the page. I then tentatively used my heatgun to quickly dry the wash....the thing still scares me!

Whilst I deliberated which pieces from the 'We go together' Collection I wanted to include, I used my  Canon Slephy to print off the photos. I will often print more than I use, so a) I have more choices available and b) I'll print other photos from other days so as not to waste the paper.

Space can be a bit of a premium for me at times, I like to leave a lot of white space, for my writing, which often navigates around the photographs and any bits of ephemera I've included. So using a journal card washi'd (is that even a word?) down as a flip out window really helps free up some of this real estate. I've also recently adopted Anna's style of adding a tab, which I came across in one of her DecDaily Youtube Videos. The tabs really do add that little bit extra to the window, gives it a bit more purpose, I think. 

Next played around with some 12x12 paper scraps I had left over from making this insert. I had a bit of mishap with the double sided tape and ended up ripping up some of the paper underneath. I need to  be a little more brave about just going with where I've stuck something down. In the end though I managed to cover it up with another sticker. When we travelled that morning the air was incredibly misty or foggy? Either way, it was pearly white and it always made me feel so nostalgic. Like I'm a kid again embarking on a new adventure.

I'm quite pleased with how the pages turned out. I decided to put the date on the vellum, I wasn't sure at first but I felt it needed to be tied in to the spread a little more as initially it felt like it was kinda just plonked there. A bit of layering and more washi and I'm a happy bunny. I'm really drawn to layering at the minute which you'll see in the next few pages I did documenting my trip to Cambridge for Cambs Planner Con 2018.

Cambridge Planner Con 2018

Whilst I was creating the above spread I decided to watch Anna's latest Patreon videos where Anna explores and demonstrates how to create your own ephemera. It got me thinking about how I would document Cambscon. The colour scheme Anna chose for this year was spot on! So bright and colourful, it sparked so many creative ideas for me. 

It has been an awful long time since I've made my own ephemera and journal cards, I tend to stick to scrapbook collections, and honestly I'd forgotten just how fun it was to make them myself. I didn't have to search through all the little bags of ephemera looking for the right colour or theme. I could just make them to fit exactly what I was after. 

I wanted to follow the bold and bright colours Anna chose for the event. So I grabbed out some of my acrylic paints and set to work. I tried to mix the colour palette in a way I wouldn't usually, for instance I tend to shy away from putting pink and green hues together. But here I decided to just have fun and try something different. Pushing away my usual creative lines. 

I really love how this page turned out. At first I wasn't sure how I was going to tie all the aspects together as  I just wasn't feeling it. Once I had added a few more layers and some phrases to the photos it began to feel more cohesive. I love the contrast of the black washi against the bright green and yellow acrylics!

Here I totally stole this idea from Anna's patreon video! Shameless but it is such an effective way of adding lettering to your page as well as creating interesting visuals. I had some left over bits from the ephemera pages I made, so I used a paper punch to punch the circles and then used a Sharpie Fineliner to add the letters. I'm definitely going to use this more often in my pages!

I'm not too keen on the black border on the yellow piece of ephemera I made, so I decided to hide it as much of it as I could...haha. A couple of stickers added and it softened the harsh edge a little more. I've also left quite a of white space as I have one or two more photographs to add, but, unfortunately I ran out of paper, so I'll stick them in when my new batch arrives. I have just clipped in the photo at the top for now until I can work out how I want to place them. 

I got a little carried away with the alpha stickers and realised I'd left very little space for me to add my writing, however, I love how this page turned out. To me it represents perfectly the excitement and buzz I felt just before everyone came through the doors. I did catch the 'Awesome' sticker as I was peeling it off the backing and the white layer underneath was showing. So I covered the worst parts with the gold stars and actually I think it looks even better for it. A happy little accident! 

Another flip out window tab thing (I'm still not sure what I want or should call it!). Initially I was going to add this to the acetate but I didn't like the way the sticky tape showed on the reverse so I opted for the good ol' washi trick. I've left it a fairly blank so I have some space to write! I get so carried away I often forget this part, haha. 

Here I've included some of the journal spots/ephemera pieces I created with my Dylusions acrylics, layering it behind the group photo. I then went with some contrasting alpha stickers, I love the way the word stands out. I even love how the word 'family' looks, as after I'd stuck down the F and A I realised I'd run out of M's and I's, so had to revert back to the silver alphas. I also really love, love, love all the bright colours and layers I have going on in this part of the spread! I'm all about the layers!!

Lastly here is a picture of my desk, just because, and also Anna has several desk avalanches in her video! A common occurrence for me too, haha. This, for me, is tidy! 

So that is all from me this time. After a rather brief time of short and sweet posts from me we are back to the long essays!....Sorry!

I would love to see everyone's desks mid creating, and to know if there is anyone who doesn't create mess as they create beauty?

In a bit x

You can also find me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook. 

Getting back into the swing of things

Hiya Brimblers!!

Phew! The last couple of weeks have been so hectic for me, for one reason or another and sadly I have all but abandoned my art and journaling and if I'm truthful I haven't been doing much planning either!

It is true what they say about the imagination/brain being a muscle, in that if you don't use it, you lose it. I've been slowly getting my paints, papers and brushes back out but I'm feeling uninspired and very rusty, even several hours lost on Pinterest haven't helped much. I've mostly been reference working and failing to produce anything original. It'll come in time I hope!!

That said I have been making good use of the travel journal I commissioned from Steph at Scurry and Peck. It's just the perfect size for sticking in my handbag and whipping out whenever there is lull in goings on. A couple of weekends back J and I took a round trip from Manchester down to Aylesbury for a wedding cake tasting (omg so good!) and we pulled into the service station for a quick stop to refuel the car and ourselves. Whilst J stretched his legs I took the opportunity to get my journal out, there happened to be a bush in front of where we parked and I loved the textural differences so I tried to capture it.

Back in February in Anna's 'Doodling about you' Patreon video she explores the use of placing colour and building a piece around it. Well I took the fluidity aspect and sort of a spun it a little. I'm usually a stickler for painting within the lines and emphasising structure and realism. I find it quite difficult to be loose and flowing in my art, and so it feels alien to just slap dash watercolour everywhere haha. I couldn't quite keep to one or two colours but I'm happy with it!

This little guy is a reference to my nephew's 2nd Birthday card. It had a really adorable little robot holding a balloon, and I wanted to remember the day in another way than just my creative journalling. Funny, I tend to keep the two distinct and separate, I've not really considered that till now. Maybe that's something I need to work on! This time I plopped down the blue pastel watercolour (from my Prima Pastel Dreams, which I am LOVING!) first and then doodled on top. I worked over him with my waterproof pen, I missed a few joins and then got annoyed so I attempted to cover them up with some shading. It kinda works.

Lastly, since I've not been journaling/arting much recently I decided to use March's Patreon Collage sheets to create my monthly spread for April and also a weekly spread in my Erin Condren. I mostly use this planner in the house and for the stickers, haha.

It doesn't have a huge planning purpose, other than for household bits, as at the moment my planning is minimal and sticker free. I am in love with the bunny and had to use her as much as I could!

Well, that's all from me this month peeps, I hope my post next month won't be quite so light on the creative content. I'm currently cramming my time with Cambscon Stock, but I hope to be able to dedicate some more time to my creative pursuits and getting my 'creative mojo', as Anna calls it, back!

In a bit xx

You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest

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