Category: Friday in the Studio

normal is boring

Normal can be a blessing after a period of upset and stress, however just doing one little thing out of the ordinary every now and then peps life up and keeps things from becoming stale. Well that’s my excuse for straying a bit away from the norm sometimes.

I’m back in the studio after a period away and very keen to get the paints and pens out again. I find comfort in these things and just having my supplies around me brings me joy. I also think that starting in a small way is easier than trying to complete a big project right from the get-go! This is why I was pleased to see a couple of tags in this month’s Sweet Treat Box from Paper Pen and Plan and a challenge to create a tag book with them.

Without a clear plan of what I would end up doing, I decided to start with a little abstract watercolour on the tags using a lovely gold watercolour paint I bought recently and hadn’t yet tried out.

A Prima text stamp added a bit of contrast and extra texture. The lines just happened naturally which I was surprised about to be honest as I usually go for circles, anyway it was quite appropriate that the text should also be placed that way on too.

Using the tag as a template I cut several more from odd bits of paper, brown paper, bags, book pages and gel prints.

I’ve seen this binding method in several places recently and it seemed like the most simple way to bind the pages together. Handily the box also came with the washi tape so of course it was obvious I’d use it here. I taped the pages together in pairs.

Then glued the pairs together back to back. A strip of fabric covered the spine and added a pretty bright splash of colour to the front too.

It just took a stitch stamp and a couple of stickers (also in the same box) to finish the front. I added a thin smear of gesso to the pages so I could add paint to them and tested out the first page with a few watersoluble crayons and more stickers. Anything but boring I think.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and I’d love to know what you’re up to as well.

Jaine xx

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introducing the Micro Photo album

I’ve discovered that in fact the smallest of the interactive album family is the most fun to put together and my personal favourite.

It measures 10x10x6cm’s so is small but chunky. It sits on a shelf perfectly due to the wide spine but don’t be fooled by the size. It has 24 square pages giving you plenty of room for photos and perhaps some text. I like to use black as the base because it makes any colour on top really pop!

This little chunky has been filled with arty/mixed media designer papers and to be truthful it’s so cute it would be a shame to cover them up with anything else!

It’s so colourful, full of fun and definitely quirky.

This next one is equally as colourful but in a much more controlled, scrapbook style.

Mostly yellows, orange and dusty blue shades, it has a more graphic style.

Both have twine around the spine which can be used to hang a small charm so lots of opportunity to make this even more personal.

Both these finished albums are in my Letzshop store here and to have a bespoke micro album made just visit my shop here. At just 30€ they would make a wonderful and personal gift for someone either to fill with photos or already filled with memories.

Have a good weekend

Jaine xxxx

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my journal inspiration

I think in a previous life I must have been a magpie or something because rarely do I come home from a walk without a few leaves, a stone, bit of rusty metal or stick in my pocket. I may be a little obsessive about it even to the point where I carry a little bag with me just for that purpose!

These things usually end up on my inspiration shelf until a time when I might use them in some project. Alot of the time I might photograph them or scan them into the computer to keep as collage images, especially if they’re fragile like leaves or obviously bulky like wood. I take lots and lots of photos when I’m out too, mainly of trees and things from the forest floor, or like here, mosses or rusty posts.

All of these things can become colour schemes or shapes and patterns.

I use these as inspiration for colours or themes in my journals and sketchbooks.

For example, I took the little collection above and created a colour palette with my watercolours.

Another thing I like to do is create collage papers to use in my journals too either using the scanned images or the colours as inspiration. The collage papers are made from tissue paper, brown paper, book page, anything really which I can paint on and is thin enough to use on a journal page. This idea isn’t mine I have to add, I’ve seen lots of people on the internet do the same thing so I can’t take the credit for this one! For example check out the work of Laura Horn on Instagram or Pinterest as I love what she does.

I really like the colours in these two mossy photos. When you look closely enough you don’t just see green but pinks and purples too. If I was smart I’d have a colour generator app on my phone perhaps to make the process faster. I’m sure it must exist?

I work abstractly most of the time and the journal page below is an example of how I’ve taken inspiration from the mossy photos above.

I decided to go with more of the pinky purple tones and use the green as accents which is the opposite of the photo. I added my collage of papers, cut some of the photo into thin strips and the washi tape ended up being a perfect match not only in colour but after tearing it up I found it almost looked like the moss, happy accident!

So inspiration is all around you, all you need to do is look.

Have a great weekend

Jaine x

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From masterboard to mini abstracts

I think as time goes by, the way I work changes and evolves and the things I used to hold on to as my foundations have been overtaken by other ideas.

It took a visit to a very good friend to remind me of the love we both had for creating masterboards. We used to create these magical backgrounds regularly and I think I even gave a workshop based around one at some time in the past.

It was a visit to Lena’s last week when she produced a big sheet of 50 x 70cm white card and challenged me to make a masterboard from it. So challenge accepted, I took it home and took out the acrylic paints. I rolled, smeared and scraped three colours plus a white randomly over the surface, then used a stick to scribble black ink. Masterboards always get to a point when you think, what the heck am I doing? but you have to push on knowing that the end result will be all worth it.

Once dry, I cut the whole sheet into 10cm squares. Immediately you can see these mini abstract works start to look like masterpieces. I had some left over to cut a few ATC’s too.

I took the squares back to Lena’s this week and added the torn book page and copper paper strips. I mounted some of my favourite ones onto a strip of white accordion folded card and immediately they started to sing to me.

It’s such a satisfying process. It takes a leap of faith to firstly, stick with it and carry on regardless of what sort of a mess you think you’re making and secondly to cut up the finished artwork into smaller chunks.

Thank you Lena for the inspiration and card. Same time next week then?

Jaine x

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