Outdoor Inspiration

It’s a real treat to be able to create outside, I relocate to a shady spot at the bottom of the garden as often as possible. Inspiration is all around me and when it’s too hot to stay indoors, the shade of a tree is the perfect place to be.

On this occasion I put a few bits and pieces in a tray along with some pre-cut gel printed papers so I could put together this little gel print micro journal.

I say little, it actually turned out to be quite chunky by the time I’d added all my pages. Once I’d sewn it all together I thought it was so cute I didn’t want to cover the binding or bright print up, so left it as it was simply adding a little collaged embellishment on the front. The quote on an old book page jumped out at me and begged to be added to the front. After all it did sum up the afternoon quite nicely!

On another occasion I took out my sketching supplies and sat under the tree. I used the flowers in front of me as inspiration for this page in my watercolour journal adding doodles and paint.

I hope you have a little outside space to sit and reflect or use as an inspiration spot. It’s great for recharging the batteries.

Have a good weekend

Jaine x

Moving On

This week has been difficult to work through but I’m forced to accept the changes which will now inevitably happen!

I’ve been a reader of Craft Stamper magazine almost since its beginning. It was unique, full of wonderous mixed media inspiration, unafraid to be different. Imagine my absolute delight at having one of my pieces of art published on its pages as a reader. Discovering that my work was thought of in the same way as some of my crafting heroes gave me the boost to send in more work which paid off when I was taken on as one of the full time contributors. My first article was published in 2012 and from there I went on to write articles for Scrap 365, Sewing World, Beads and Beyond as well as a couple of overseas magazines.

When Trish asked me to join her as Assistant Editor of Craft Stamper it was a dream come true. To be on the team responsible for putting my favourite magazine together was an absolute honour and seeing my name on the inside cover each month made me fill with pride.

So it’s with huge sadness that this week we’ve officially had to put it all to bed with the closing of Craft Stamper. Another victim of the times and no doubt not the last. I’ve made some wonderful friends over the years through the magazine not least Trish who has been an amazing mentor and inspiration to me.

I have to move forward, keep up the momentum and see what comes next.

Jaine x

Summer Vibes

I feel like I’m back in the swing of things again and the journaling vibes are flowing nicely. I decided to add another page in my Mixed Media journal and use a new product to me. In the recent package sent by Clare at Paper Pen and Plan, was a little jar of Texture Powder by Prima. I say ‘little’ it is in fact quite substantial and if I’m careful will last me a fair while. When added to another medium it creates a texture paste.

I started with a base of acrylic paint and texture added with the texture tools. It didn’t worry me that it was the backside of the page with stitching as I could just cover it with something else.

I mixed up the Texture powder with Unicorn Acrylic paint. It was just a matter of finding the right consistency myself, the Unicorn paint is already creamy so it didn’t take much powder to turn it into a useable paste.

It went through a stencil perfectly and I can also say that the colour wasn’t diluted at all by the powder.

Once it was dry I added a few scribbles and a few collage bits then had a flash of inspiration and went out to cut a couple of pieces of lavendar from the garden.

The texture is just great and again the pages of the journal stood up to it all with no trouble at all.

For Prima products and more go to Paper Pen and Plan on Etsy and get 10% off with the code JAINE10 too!

Jaine x

Art Journaling Again

It’s been a long while since I did any proper art journaling and to be honest I think I may have been in a bit of a mixed media fog for a while now! I just needed a little nudge which came in the form of a parcel from Clare at Paper Pen and Plan containing a few Prima goodies. A Mixed Media Album, paints, brushes and texture tools waiting to be opened.

I spent twentyfour hours with it all on my desk while I had other things to get on with, all the while itching to make a start.

Eventually I cleared some space and started to lay some paints on a page to overcome that first page anxiety. The pages are thick enough to stand up to my Impasto paints and that’s no mean feat either! Using the Prima texture brushes I could spread paint where I wanted and create some cool textures with the combed ends.

I decided on adding a collage over the painted base and using the Prima butterfly stamps to complement the large moth image from my collage stash.

The feather was one I’d picked up somewhere and had been longing to use on a project for ages. Stuck on with some gel medium, I tacked it down further with some machine stitching then added a bit more here and there – just because I could!

I finished off with a smear of sparkly Unicorn paint and black Raven paint also from Prima to contrast with the paleness of the page.

I love it. I’m delighted at how the journal pages stand up to all the different materials without any warping or buckling, and the spiral binding makes it easy to lay flat or push a page under the sewing maching needle.

I think this has been the kick start I needed to get me creating journal pages again.

Jaine x