#lovesummerart

Hi everyone

Today I am sharing the tutorial I made for the #lovesummerart collaboration.  Until a couple of days ago I didn't know anything about this but thanks to Theresa one of my lovely YouTube subscribers I met a group of creative YouTubers who had got together to bring even more arts and crafts to the wonderful world that is YouTube.

Cinnamon Cooney aka TheArtSherpa and her friends started this movement and it is set to happen on a regular basis.  This month the theme was summer and we were given a posting window of 17 - 20 July which I think I am going to make!!!  I thought I was going to be late but I was running a day ahead of myself ;-)  Usually it is a day late!!!

So if you want to explore this first offering of videos the all you need to do (after you have watched mine of course!!!) is put #lovesummerart in your search engine (google) and you should see a whole host of arty videos appear then off you go.  There are offerings from all kinds of artists and YouTubers from newbies to the more established channels.  Don't forget if you find people you think are inspiring then press the subscribe button, like button and share button  to support them in their efforts.

So enough of the preamble what am I bringing you today?  Summer says beach to me, not that we are having very beachy weather where I live!….and beach brings to mind pretty beach huts all in a row!

In the tutorial you will find out how to turn boxes (mine are the insides of Tim Holtz shadow boxes) into cute little beach huts…..but there is more.  Behind the doors are secret mini albums where you can keep photos of those treasured holidays or days out on the beach…….and of course there is plenty of room to display the beach combing treasures you found there.

Once you can make these it won't be long before you can convert larger boxes to go with you little beach huts!

Hope you agree this is a fun way to keep those treasured memories safe.  Enjoy the tutorial and enjoy exploring #lovesummerart.

Thank you for popping by X

I am feeling a little Drippy today!

Hi everyone

I have a new video for you today.  This is all about experimentation.  You may remember I started and experimental art journal and I am having fun trying new things in it.  This time I decided to try dripping!!

I must admit I am a little uncomfortable with anything that is a bit out of control and drippage certainly is that but the fun was seeing how the page took shape in such a random fashion.

Here is how it turned out.

I even came up with my own quote!  Green is my favourite colour so I loved working with it to create this page with a touch of bling.

Watch how my page took shape on my video tutorial.  I hope you find some inspiration within.

During this video you will hear me mention a new feature available to You Tube Video makers called 'Cards'.  Today I tried them out for the first time.  I think they have worked and I checked them out on my iPad and the links work too!  I had no idea that all this time the annotations I have been carefully putting at the end of all my videos didn't work on mobile devices!!!!!!

You should see towards the end of the video little messages appear at the top right of the screen along with a letter i.  If you click in this area it will bring up a series of 'cards'  These cards will give you links to other places you might like to visit or to other videos or playlists you might like to watch.  I hoped there would be a subscribe one but I need to go and look for it again - it might appear later if I find it.

Clicking on any of the cards you see will open up a drop down list of all the cards on the video which will take you to different places.  If you haven't seen these before either it is worth having  quick explore and to know that whenever you watch a video and you see a little message appears top right of your viewing screen that it is an interactive element that has been added for your enjoyment or further interest.

You will notice on this photo that I have used my lovely Rubber Dance Diamonds background stamp.  Click on this link and you can see more gorgeous stamps from the lovely Bibi over in Norway.

…….last but not least I am sharing a photo I took a couple of weeks ago when my Irises were looking blooming' marvellous!

Nature is the greatest painter of all don't you think?  I was really impressed by the quality of this photo (if I do say so myself ;-)) as I took it on my phone!!

Don't forget to hit subscribe if you like what you see and are new around these parts!  Welcome and thank you for popping by X

Rubber Dance Tutorial - Sneak Peek!

Hi everyone

You now have proof I am not 'dull' over on the Rubber Dance blog where I am featuring today with a brand new tutorial and a brand new set of stamps from the lovely Bibi.

Check out my post and the tutorial over on the Rubber Dance blog by following this link.  Be prepared to get inky!  To see how my crafting journey took on a life of it's own watch the tutorial.

See you over there and thank you for popping by X

Antique Botanicals Gatefold Card Tutorial

 Hi Everyone

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine wherever you are in the Crafting World today!  I am just posting this before I pop out into the garden to finish off jet washing the patio.  I end up looking like the mud monster when I have finished!

Today's tutorial is for a pretty gatefold card using the Rubber Dance Antique Botanicals stamp set.  I love how they look against the book page background papers I decided to use.  As usual the inside matches the outside which is particularly important in a gatefold card as you can see the inside of the card when it is displayed.

The Happy Birthday die cut is from Tattered Lace.  It is a recent purchase and I thought I had lost it!  I spent an age rifling through the debris on my desk and in my bins only to realise the die was safely stored on the magnetic sheets on the back of my craft room door where it is supposed to be!!  ;-)  I know you know the feeling right???

The card dimensions for this card:

Burgundy Card Base - 11 1/2" x 5 3/4" scored and folded on the left and right sides at 2 7/8" to form a gatefold card.
Cream Card Inner - 5 1/2" square
Book page strips Inner - 5 1/2" x 3/4" (Cut 2)
Book page panels Front - 5 1/2" x 2 5/8" (Cut 2)

Here is the finished card.  I have used water colour pencils to lightly add colour to my flowers using a slightly heavier hand for the decoupaged flower in the centre.

So without further ado here is the tutorial so you can see all the fun I had creating this card.  I hope you like it enough to try it for yourself.  There are lots of colour combinations you could use and if you want to check out those gorgeous stamps over at Rubber Dance then here is the link!

Until next time - an art journal page - thank you for popping by X

Rubber Dance June Colour Challenge

Hi everyone

Today I am sharing how I made my project for the June Rubber Dance Colour Challenge.  The colours definitely pointed me in the beach direction which is perfect the optional theme for this challenge is sand and sea and as you can see and I had great fun turning a frame into a frame with a difference.  I hope you like it.

The colours for this months challenge are Ocean Blue, Lush Green and Sunny Yellow.  I used stamps from the Retro Beach collection to turn my frame into a unique way to display some beach photographs of my son Callum trying out surfing last year in Cornwall!

You can see in this close up that as well as using the pegs to display photographs on my frame I have also layered those beautiful shell images so I can tuck little photos in behind them too!  This was my second attempt at bringing this idea to life and I am really happy with how it turned out.

Please check out my tutorial to see how you can create a frame like this on to add to your home.  It is a great way to display your beach holiday photographs.

I really hope I have inspired you to pop along to the Rubber Dance blog to see all the other projects for this month's challenge and to join in with the fun by linking up a project of your own.  Click on this link to get there and don't forget each month there are fabulous stamps to be won!!!!

Phew three videos in a row from me this weekend…..I may need to go and lie down for a while now!!! ;-)

Thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2015 - May

Hi everyone

Today I am sharing my May tag and as you can see I had fun with a red, white and blue theme!  Well I suppose strictly speaking it is red, cream and blue ;-)

Tim used a heritage photo on his tag with burlap and tiny tattered flowers.  I chose to use denim and a photo of my two lovely boys and made teeny tiny pom pom flowers which looked fab and added great texture to my tag.

I also made my usual sampler square ready for framing at the end of the year.  Can you believe next month we are half way through already!!!

Please check out the video where you can see all the fun I had getting from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation.  I hope you are inspired to join in with this fun challenge or at least follow this link to check out the huge variety of tags this challenge inspires!

I wonder what June's tag will bring - I hope it has sunny warm weather attached ;-)  Hope you are having a fun weekend.  I am off to crop with my friends today so much chatting and coffee with cake for me!!!!  Maybe the odd scrapbook page too ha ha!

Thank you for popping by X

Alcohol Ink Ombre Effect

Hi Everyone

It is my day to feature on the Rubber Dance Blog today and I have posted a tutorial to show you how to create a lovely ombre effect using your alcohol inks.  Here is the sneak peek:

So without further ado …….please click on this link to hop over to Rubber Dance to see the cards and the tutorial.  I hope you give this technique a try as this card design is perfect if you need a card in a hurry!

Whilst you are over there don't forget we are having and anniversary blog hop to celebrate one year in Blogland and there are stamps to be won!!!!  Click on this link to find out more - grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the hop.

If you are popping by from my YouTube Tutorial then this link will take you where you want to go!!!!

Have a fabulous weekend and thank you for popping by X