Collage Flower Art Journal Page

Well it's finally Autumn, my favourite season, but that's no reason not to still create pages with hints of Summer right? The collage sheets from Mrs Brimbles Patreon are stunning and allowed me to do just that. I have created a page by cutting up her artwork collage sheets that she created originally for canvas work. I must say I love the final result of the art journal page.

Creating the page:

The page I have created is for a Travelling Art Journal Circle over on my Facebook group Kerrymay._.Makes a Mess. I was sent a stunning book from the person before me in the circle (Sarah Gamble), I was really scared of ruining the page and paper. I applied a thin layer of red hued acrylic paint which I added to the page using a brayer roller. I went over this with white acrylic paint to dull down the colour and allow the background of the page to peep through. I then used a stencil which came free with a magazine and applied heavy texture paste to create small flowers.

Next I used some homemade spray inks over the flowers and to the right of the page to give it texture and shine. I think the gold spray in particular looks lovely and really makes the page pop. A little gem was used in the centre of the two mini flowers for added sparkle.

Next I used a stamp pad and stencil/mask to add more texture to the page. Now came the fun part: adding the collage sheets. I printed off the canvas artwork sheets then put them all together and held together with a paperclip. I then drew a flower petal shape on the top layer and cut this out so that I had 10 cut out pieces all identical. I then arranged and glued them in a flower formation to the left side of the page. I added detail using a standard black and purple felt tip and then added some gold glitter glue blobs to add a bit of bling.

Finally a circle vinyl sticker for the centre of the flower was added and I used individual letter stamps with black ink to add my caption to the page: 'You Are Blooming Amazing'. I love the way the collage sheets really bring out the colour in the page, they look so textured.

The final page looks lovely in the book I was given to create the page. I hope the recipient likes it.

In addition to the lovely artwork collage sheets, Anna has provided a multitude of other stunning collage sheets using her own artwork. There are the beautiful Autumnal animal paintings that you may have seen on The Happy Place... I am saving these for my next post though as I plan to do a spot of Autumn creative journaling and dashboard making.

Thank you for reading, do check out the amazing collage sheets and videos at Anna's Patreon here.

Kerry xxx

You can find me on my blog; http://kerrymaymakes.weebly.com

and on my social media below: ​ ​Instagram | You Tube | Pinterest | Twitter | ​ ​​FB Art Journaling Group

I'm taking part in October Daily

I realised how much I loved doing a daily memory keeping project in December last year and that I couldn't wait to do it again this year so to bring it forward a bit I am taking part in October daily. Here is my vlog talking about it.....

Monthly planer pages

Hello all!

It's Chloé here on the blog again today, and for this month's post I thought I would show you how I've used my September sticker kit to decorate the monthly pages of my planner. I'm currently using a mini happy planner cut and punched to fit a personal-sized filofax, and I found the stickers really versatile!

I always keep my monthly calendar pages quite simple; I like to include university lectures, work-related events, big life things, blog posts and youtube videos. Normally, I write down exactly what I want to post/upload, however I wanted to keep my videos for October a surprise! Because I include so many things, I like to just write it down with a simple colour code and not decorate at all normally!

The Brimbles sticker kit for September included these beautiful, understated florals, and I thought they'd complement the colours already printed onto these pages. I layered up some of the washi strips at the bottom of the pages, and created some embellishment clusters in the corners using the decorative elements.

The functional sheets of stickers were perfect for my monthly calendar too; I used the bin icons to show when our recycling days are, some flags to mark my main bill days, and a little pound sign for payday. Perhaps most exciting of all, I could use one of the half boxes to mark in my trip to Brussels for Planner Con Europe!

I was also super excited to mark half term in with that little grey arrow!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing what I did with some of my September sticker kit, feel free to follow my social media for more photos and craft projects!

Chloé

Youtube | Instagram 

Pink Cats Planner Pages

Hello, fellow planner fans! 

I'm back with some more planner inspiration for you this month, this time featuring the awesome black and white cats from Anna's Cats in Bloom collection.

I knew as soon as I saw the cats that I wanted to use them in a layout on their own, with a pink theme, because I'm a sucker for all things pink and white and black.

Along with the stickers, I pulled some washi tape from my (admittedly, very old now) stash of tapes and used my Micador Stylist Brush Markers to create this cat-tastic layout. 

I hope that you're having an amazing week, wherever you are in the world, and that your planning is going well! I'm always happy to talk planners and decorating with everyone - you can catch me on youtube and instagram!

Stef xx

Painting the Sacred Within - Book Review

I recently purchased a book - Painting the Sacred Within and I thought I would do a review of it. If you are interested in the book I mentioned here is the link for it (Please note the link is an affiliate link, you don't pay any more for the book but I do get a very small % from it. You don't have to use this link but I very much appreciate it if you do):

PLEASE NOTE: I PURCHASED this / these product(s) with my own money. The author or publisher did not know that I was doing a review. This review is my own personal opionion on the product / company, given in good faith and has not be sponsored or endorsed. Unless otherwise stated, all photography is my own.

Autumn art journal pages

I have loved the artwork Anna has given us this month. The style is very much aimed towards Autumn, yey! I decided to create two spreads, it took me a while to work out what I wanted to do. I always look forward to seeing Anna's mixed media work, this month featured one of my favourite colours, purple! It has depth, there's splashes of gold to give it a rich feel and it HAD to go into my art journal. I teamed this page with a similar background featuring a Badger painted at the front. I've looked closely at the Badger and love how Anna has used different textures in the facial area. Once I had these stuck down, I remembered I had some Recollections washi tape that would match perfectly. I wanted to finish the page but not use washi that would distract the eye. At this point, I didn't really know what to do. I didn't want to add too much more as I liked it how it was. However I need pages to have meaning, although the page looked lovely, it had to soul. So I had it open on my desk for a good week. After a while I started to recognise the Badger as a character. He began to have personality. I've now come to the point where I would love to write a Children's story based on the Badger. This sparked the title on the opposite page of 'Tea with Mr Pottinger". I have the story in my head, or at least the bones of it and that is where it will stay until I get it on paper.

 

I then created a second spread. There were so many beautiful elements, I needed to use them! I decided to create a spread dedicated to Autumn and being cosy. Anna's large half mug of tea became the focal point and everything else worked around this.
 

I used watercolours to create a movement background, to feel like leaves in Autumn. I then added little messages about what I love at this time of year.
 

Happy Autumn! Kelly xxx Where else you can find me: YouTube Instagram Pinterest Twitter

Sketchy faces art journal spread

I don't know about you, but the bit of chill in the air in the morning now is putting me in the Autumn mood. I'm looking forward to warm jumpers, hot chocolate and art journaling with a fragrant candle burning nearby.

My little girl has a few disabilities that make her different from her friends and now that she's starting to notice them, I've been working hard on helping her to see that those differences are part of who she is - a funny, affectionate and clever little person.  Creating a page for this month's blog was perfect for helping me to work through my feelings about it all as well.

I have used Anna's Sketchy Girls Patreon tutorials to draw my people on the right hand page. I wanted to keep them looking quite simple and plain, in contrast to the face on the left hand side. For that, I stamped a face using Jane Davenport's face stamps, coloured it in quite simply and cut it out. I used Brusho powders in 3 colours and sprayed them with water to create her hair and then stuck the face on top. I stamped out the quote using some alphabet stamps and that was that.

Don't forget to check out Anna's Patreon and you can find more of my art here, or on my blog, or on Instagram.

Managing Mischief Planner Stickers Haul - September 2017

I was very kindly sent a pack of stickers from Managing Mischief to share with you all! Please do go and check them out:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ManagingMischiefCo
https://www.instagram.com/managingmischiefco/

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.By submitting an entry to this giveaway you agree to the following Terms & Conditions: 

• Your email address will be added to my newsletter database - I will not sell this to anyone else nor will I constantly be spamming you and you can unsubscribe at any time! 
• Open internationally
• You must be over eighteen years of age or have parental / guardian permission.
• The prizes stated above are the only prize(s) - no cash alternative.
• One winner will be chosen at random and notified by email. Winner(s) will be announced on this page on the rafflecopter widget after the closing date.
• If the winner(s) do not respond to my email within 48 hours a new winner(s) will be chosen

a Rafflecopter giveaway

October Photo Challenges!

The Mrs Brimbles October Daily is back for 2017 but with a difference...

So this year I have come up with two challenges. The first one is Autumnal themed and the second is Halloween. Hopefully there is one for you there. Here is the thing... you can do one, both or a mix and match! Interested? Read on...

REMEMBER as with all of my daily photo challenges I have designed the prompts to be interpreted in a way that suits you, loosely based on the things that I love: Planners (and planner decoration), Stationery, Journals, Art, Books, food, the season etc. You interpret them however you like but most importantly have fun with it. They are just prompts to help you. Ideally I would like to see the Facebook group filled with seasonal photos of your planners and journals more than anything though! Take them literally if you like or be imaginative. Use them as photo prompts or use them as journalling prompts. Anything goes! It's totally for fun so just share a photo every day. You don't have to enter to win the prize, you can just play along with the prompts for fun, entirely up to you, the more the merrier! 

If you want to play along for fun then start posting your photos now. Remember to use the hashtag: #mrsbrimblesoctdaily or #mrsbrimblesboodaily so that we can find your photos and see what you are up to. You can post anywhere on social media but if you want to be in with a chance of winning the prize it needs to be on instagram or in the Mrs Brimbles Happy Place group on Facebook (or both of course). If you are playing along with this in order win the prize please do make sure that you read all guidelines on how to enter and the rules below oh and if you want to be in with winning the prize you will need to register on the giveaway widget below too! 

What is the prize? £20 store credit for www.mrsbrimbles.co.uk/shop

So for the prompts...

Please do feel free to share the above photo on instagram, Pinterest, your blog etc or print out to put into your planner or journal.

Please do feel free to share the above photo on instagram, Pinterest, your blog etc or print out to put into your planner or journal.

The Rules for the instagram challenge... 

I know, so boring that there needs to be rules but there does so that everyone is clear on what they need to do and to keep it fair to everyone participating!

• You must post all 31 photos on instagram using the hashtag for the challenge you are taking part in. You may also want to use #mrsbrimblesOCTdaily2017 (although not compulsory) as the challenge is now in it's 4th year!
• You need to be following me on instagram: @mrsbrimbles please do not tag me in your photos as I will get lots of notifications. I will see your photos on the hashtag!
• The prompts are just that, prompts, interpret them as you will, or if you are stuck for inspiration just post a photo anyway! If it is easier you can do a different prompt on that day as long as by the end of the challenge you have done all 31. Do two on one day if you need to, don't worry about missing days as long as you post all 31. Have a break, come back again. You just need to post 31 photos in the time frame given.
• You have until 7am GMT on 5th November 2017 to register for the giveaway on the widget below AND to complete the photo challenge on instagram.
• If you haven't registered on the widget you won't be elligible to win the prize so you will just be doing the challenge for fun which is totally fine with me if it is with you.You can register at any time from now but photo posting on instagram and in the Facebook group starts on 1st October 2017.
• You DO NOT have to post everyday but you do have to post all 31 photos by 7am GMT on 5th November 2017. You DO NOT have to post in numerical order, you can post any prompt on any day and any number of photos on any day.
• Once the competition has closed a winner will be drawn by random using the giveaway widget, and emailed. I will ask you to confirm / prove that you have posted all 31 photos in the time frame 1st October - 5th November 2017, if not another winner will be chosen. The winners name will appear on the giveaway widget once closed.
• The winner will be emailed by me to arrange receipt of the prize. 

By submitting an entry to this giveaway you agree to the following Terms & Conditions: 

• Your email address will be added to my newsletter database - I will not sell this to anyone else nor will I constantly be spamming you and you can unsubscribe at any time! 
• Open internationally
• You must be over eighteen years of age or have parental / guardian permission.
• The prizes stated above are the only prize(s) - no cash alternative.
• One winner will be chosen at random and notified by email. Winner(s) will be announced on this page on the rafflecopter widget after the closing date.
• If the winner(s) do not respond to my email within 48 hours a new winner(s) will be chosen

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Colourful Cosmic Crafting

Hiya folks!

Can you believe we are half way through September already? Just six days and it will be autumn! I am so busy doing all sorts of creative projects these days that the time has flown by so quickly and deadlines are looming. One of those deadlines is this blog post for dear Anna (oh no!) and another is a paper crafting workshop that I must plan for next month.

 

All of my problems dissolved when I saw Anna's September collage sheets on her Patreon. Check out this Mrs Brimbles video if you want to see the cute critters and gorgeous abstractness. I love that there is an autumnal theme with some of the elements but that there are some pieces that are not specific to a season, and it was to those that I turned for my project this month. Much of my workshop planning has consisted of basically making different paper flowers over and over again. Oh what a chore - said no crafter ever. For the early makes I used paper from my stash with one colour, pretty but plain. During this process I narrowed it down to two possible projects, a rose and a pinwheel. Then I began to make some with the collage sheets and I absolutely love how scrumptious they look.

 

Anna painted a beautiful painting on canvas recently that was snapped up as soon as it was listed it in her shop. How lucky are we that we get to print out the image of that very piece of art work, cut it up and use it? The other designs are dreamy too.

 



For the pinwheels I like the idea of sticking fun things in the centre like buttons and die cut circles from a map or newspaper. Instead though, I have cut circles from one of my watercolour paintings and a bit of scrapbook paper.

 

However, I have toyed with the idea of using these fun die cut pieces I have been hoarding from the March 2017 Brimbles Box. That shooting star! Love it :)

 

I am quite sure these examples will inspire folk at my workshop just as much as the collage sheets are inspiring me. Thanks for reading.

Until next time...
Steph x x x

PS. I will be completing the project by making the flowers into brooches. Keep an eye on my Instagram for a selfie of me wearing one.

Christmas Planning 2017

I have started my Christmas planning for 2017 so I thought I would share my first video in this years series with you!

September Art Collage Sheets

Have you ever wondered what my Patreon is all about and what I create over there for my Patreons?

Like a lot of artists, part of my Patreon package is collage sheets and I thought I would show you the collage sheets that my Patreons will be receiving in September so you can have a look, see what I have been creating this month and if this is the sort of thing that could perhaps be for you (please bear in mind that the art in the collage sheets and the number of collage sheets vary each month but this is fairly typical).

If you like what you see why not join in the fun or just follow me on Patreon for my Patreon only updates (updates are free).

You can find me at: https://www.patreon.com/mrsbrimbles

Thank you to my current Patreons who are supporting me as this helps me to be able to create more content for you free on my YouTube channel. Big, Big love xx

Grace's September Planner Pages and Bookmark

It's September! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! 

I love autumn so so much. And the colours and florals of this month's sticker club are the perfect transition from summer to autumn. Like last month, I decided to do a variety of projects with my stickers, instead of one 'big' one.

First was a planner spread. So far I've used my sticker club stickers to decorate my personal size, but I decided it was time to change things up a bit and so decorated my A5. I don't use any particular inserts in my A5 - just dot grid paper, meaning I can change the layout every single week - and this is how it looked with the September Garden stickers:

Now usually I would show you how it looked at the end of the week too - but due to the timing of this post it's not all filled in yet! But if you're interested there'll be pictures of my spread on my instagram (which will be linked at the bottom of this post). There is also a Plan With me video which you can watch here if you'd like.

My next project is also planner related. I used another of my dot grid pages to create a bullet journal-esque month at a glance. 

My favourite part of this page is the page flags in the top right corner which I doodled on to make them into a banner.

It's such a simple but effective little technique (for which I can claim no originality whatsoever, I've seen it many times on instagram!). 

My last project was this bookmark:

It was really simple to make, I just took some white card and cut it to size. I found a quote about reading online and wrote it on the card in pencil. Then I put the stickers down, and then went over the pencil with a .38 black gel pen. For the top I simply used a hole punch for the hole and threaded some ribbon through it. I actually wanted to use black ribbon but turns out that I don't have any! So I went with pink organza instead. 

And there we go! I still have a few stickers left, some may end up on my planner pages towards the end of the week to fill in any gaps, and the rest will probably end up in my journal for light decoration. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you have a great September!

Grace @ms.paperlover

Blog  YouTube  Instagram

September flowers planner & scrapbook page

Well September is finally here!!

Finally my little munchkins are off back to school and i can finally get back to feeling some what human again and get some crafting in.

If you could see the state of my desk, you would know i have been busy, and my first point of call was the September Brimbles sicker club.

This kit was just simply gorgeous, the colours in it where brilliant and the mix of black , grey,green and pink are not a colour palette i would necessarily put together yet seemed to match perfectly. i did a unboxing of this on my channel if you wanted to take a look.

Obviously the first thing i thought was Planner spread, i did film a plan with me for this. i really loved how this come out.

As soon as i see the decorative sheet in this kit i instantly thought of a scrapbook layout i had been planning to do for a while.

The layout was of a photo of my children Mia and William at my wedding last month. They where playing around and having fun behind the photographer and having so much fun.

i firstly fussy cut the flowers from a scrapbook paper i had, then used some of the beautiful stickers from the decorative sheet and intertwined them in so they looked like wild flowers and they also added some extra colour and depth to the layout. I did film the making of this layout if you wanted to take a look.

I really loved this kit and am looking forward to the next.

where to find me :

Youtube    Instagram      Blog

It is almost Autumn!!

As I'm writing this blog it is pouring with rain outside and is starting to feel a bit nippy. That means it is nearly Autumn!!

As soon as Anna posted a sneak peak of her watercolour Fox from this months Patreon and Mrs Brimbles Sticker Club, I knew exactly where he would go! My latest obsession - I have many, I am one of these people who become consumed by new things and spend hours researching it - is traditional or perhaps I should say more traditional forms of book binding. I have just finished learning the Kettle Stitch technique and so made a textblock with Tomoe River Paper (yes I jumped on that bandwagon too!). I had a rummage about in my random bits drawer and came across some very autumnal looking ribbon which was wide enough to cover the spine of my journal. Perfect!

Now just to make the inside as beautiful and autumnal as the outside!

Pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin! Completely inspired by Anna's watercolour pumpkin I decided it would be the perfect opening for my new Autumanl Art Journal.

I'm really pleased with how this little one turned out! I'm another to jump on the Tomoe River Paper bandwagon after hearing so many good things about it....especially the crinkle! It certainly takes some getting used to as the water and paints don't necessarily behave how you expect them to. I saw it mentioned on one of Anna's posts in the Mrs Brimbles group about being more reserved with the amount of water and paint, so I followed that advice.

I began with a base layer of watercolour and slowly built up the colours. I decided to just get stuck in with it and forgo sketching or swatching. I just went with what happened and moved forward from there. The result is certainly not the traditional watercolour style but I'm happy with it :) would certainly recommend giving the paper a go. I really saturated it with water when I painted the foreground, to the point where I thought it would struggle to maintain it's stability as paper. But to my surprise it withstood it and has dried with such a lovely wrinkle. My heart is now all a flutter when I turn the pages.

Moving away from the art stuff I've been busy back journalling since the weather has started to turn. I find my creative journalling can be quite cyclical, I tend to quieten down over the summer months, I journal and document less only to suddenly pick up again with such ferocity by Autumn. I'd love to know if anyone else experiences similar patterns in their creativity?

I began with creating the background with watercolour, splodging it about not too carefully. I left the paint quite concentrated and then washed over with water and let the pigment settle where they chose. I was aiming for enough colour to provide something to look at but for it not to be so strong it became the focus of my page. The photos are a little hodge podge and from over a couple of days but to me all signify the onset of autumn, misty mornings, long walks and seasonal house decorations.

At first I wasn't sure about adding the gold washi, I restricted myself to using it in a couple of places as often I have little restraint and have tendency to go overboard with sparkly things. I was aiming for just enough to compliment the warm earthy tones of the orange background - hopefully I did that!

I carefully cut out the Anna's watercolour animals from the collage sheets as I wanted to use them like emphera pieces - it was more fiddly than I thought it would be but totally worth it! I did however chicken out of trying to use my craft knife on the deer - I think she would have ended up antler-less!

I spent quite some time fussing around working out the placement of the photos and the other bits and bobs. It's one of the reasons I now tend not to stick everything down straight away as I have commitment issues and end up pulling them back up again. No more sticky glue marks or torn paper! Eventually I settled on what you see now :) 

That's all from me for this week, thank you for reading!

I hope you are all are looking forward to Autumn as much as I am!

In a bit guys x

You can also find me on my Instagram and over on my own (neglected) blog