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‘I Like’ Friday -the art supplies edition

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Art supplies how I love them! This week I have been using all kinds of things and I thought I would share my favorites with you.  Hopefully you can share some of your favorites or coveted supplies (I have plenty of ‘wish list’ stuff myself). Paints – I often start with a background using acrylic paints in my art journal which is a good and a bad thing. Good because I don’t have a scary white page glaring at me, and I have something to work with and on. Bad because if I want to sketch something on the page, there is no erasing, no going back.  Of course there is more paint to go over a mistake if necessary! I bought a set of pearlescent watercolors this week and I like the subdued colours and the gentle sparkle. Kind of what I aim for in life – subdued colours and a gentle sparkle!  Now I am after some metallic watercolors which look fabulous. Journals – I always have more than one sketchbook on the …

Taking Stock September 2016

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I like to do a stock take every so often, see what is going on, how it is all going.  If you fancy  having a stock take too, I have added a blank list at the end of this post.  Thanks to Pip at Meet Me At Mikes for this Taking Stock list. Here goes, digital biro at the ready…. Making : I am still crocheting my blanket, it may be done by 2020! Cooking : Burgers and coleslaw for dinner. Drinking : Lots of tea. Reading: I have just started The Girl Who Slept with God by Val Brelinski and I am liking it so far.  My library website recommends books based on what else you have searched and this came up when I ordered The Girls by Emma Cline and there is a very long line for it, so I thought I would give The Girl Who Slept with God a go and I am pleased I did. Hurrah for libraries! Wanting: The weather to cool down, I am done with hot and humid. …

Get Messy Art Journal. 10 songs, 10 minutes, 10 pages.

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Let me just clarify that I didn’t make 10 pages in 10 minutes although that sounds like a future challenge! What I did though is I loved this challenge. It was to listen to one minute each of ten songs which you have chosen (or  you could listen to random songs) and note down ideas and lyrics for a future art journal page. I used index cards for each song. As a non journaling art journaler, I don’t usually include quotes or lyrics in my pages, so I decided to embrace this challenge and listen for some lyrics to use from each song.  This is surprisingly difficult when you only have one minute of a song to draw from. So I have to admit that I cheated on a couple and had to go back and make sure I had got the lyrics correct, I mean if I am going to quote someone, I had better get the words in the right order! Some of the songs I could barely make out some of the …

‘I Like’ Friday.

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Fridays I often write about things I have liked that week, so here is what I have been liking this week. Back to school on Monday was eventful or uneventful depending on your point of view. The boys went back to school for a grand total of three hours because the power was out. However as soon as they were all leaving, the lights came on!  I think the whole school sprinted out of the doors just in case the principal changed his mind!! I like that today is Friday and I don’t have to drag them out of bed or make packed lunches for a couple of days. I very much like the fact that the weather has cooled just a little bit.  When the summer is as hot as we get it, a little temperature drop counts for a lot! Cooler mornings and evenings are the best thing. Some other things I am liking this fine Friday are – Nib pen and ink drawing. I picked up my nib pen and ink today …

Get Messy Got Messy. Art Journal Pages.

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There are strange forces at work in my world today, everything is just a little bit off.  Everything. It all started off alright, coffee was fine, walking the dog was uneventful, but the podcast I had chosen was tedious and I switched off halfway through.  I didn’t say the world had ended, just a little off. Then I moved onto the things I really wanted to do, I watched today’s Creative Bug daily art journal prompt which was nice and vague so I could do almost anything. I formed  an evil plan for what I was going to do for that. I need to write a Get Messy Art Journal post, which means I have to make some pages and I really should make the pages relevant to the current season of music. I have been enjoying the art prompts this season, but I don’t often add words to my pages, quotes and lyrics don’t do it for me. I know I am weird, but they really don’t.  Sometimes a line in a book or …

Get Messy Art Journal. Season of Introspection. Week 2.

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This week’s art journal pages are full of ink blots (I couldn’t stop!), colour, gelli plate prints, textured gesso and a little self reflection. I am getting along well with my altered book, I am finding it a good size and the pages hold up to lots of media without too much objection. Each of these pages pretty much made itself, in that I had no idea what I was going to do with them until I picked up my journal and got cracking. The bottom ‘owl’ page started as a bright inkblot I made over a week ago and didn’t know what to add at the time, so I left it.  Today I added the owl, black gesso ink blots and some gold paint to mute the whole page. The top page by contrast was never going to be an ink blot, I gessoed and added the lady, then a few days later made the black gesso ink blots.  After watching a tutorial from Carla Sonheim, I made the white gesso swirls, then I …

100 Days of Altered Cards by CatsEatDogs, Days 31-50.

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I have made it to over half way in The 100 Day Project!  Yay! I am really enjoying altering my little box of vintage playing cards, little artworks with no pressure. Well apart from the ‘one a day’ pressure of course! The first 30 cards in the project are here  and here. If you want to follow my project daily over at Instagram, my hashtag is #100daysofalteredcardsbycatseatdogs.  Happy Tuesday x        

‘I Like’ Friday. The Coloring Book Edition.

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My name is in print!  My artwork is also in print! I am so proud to have my coloring page in the new edition of The Coloring Studio by Stampington magazines. This is the second issue of the magazine (more a book actually!) and it is full of coloring sheets as well as tips for coloring and information in techniques as well as insights from the various artists featured. It is a beautiful magazine and I am so pleased to be part of this edition.  I picked up the first issue  because I was impressed with the illustrations to color in as well as the tips ideas which are not usually featured in a coloring book or magazine. So if you enjoy some coloring in, this is a lovely book to have, color and keep to admire. I hope you have a lovely weekend planned, we are heading on vacation to Cape Cod tomorrow, so we are all packing and trying to cram all kinds of goodness into our bags! Happy Friday x

Taking Stock March 2016

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Time for a litle stock take on this sunny blustery day.  If you want to have a stock take too, there is a blank list at the end.  I try and go through the list without too much thinking about each word.  If you do these regularly, they are fun and interesting to look back on. Taking Stock is the brainchild of the lovely Pip at Meet Me At Mikes blog. Making : Lots of art, I draw, sketch, paint or journal every day. Cooking : Spaghetti and tomato sauce for dinner. Drinking : Cups of tea. Reading: Bella Grace magazine. Wanting: Flowers, I can’t get enough of flowers at the minute! Looking: At the trees blooming all around, especially my neighbor’s pink magnolia tree. Playing: Swing Ball in the back garden. Deciding: Which sketchbook to use?  Grey pages or tan? Both are so effective with pencil crayons. Wishing: I had an airy studio full of light and art supplies. Enjoying: The sunshine and wind combination in the air today. Waiting: For my photos to …

Get Messy Art Journal ‘Happy’ Season.

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The weather today is pretty grey but I like to think of this page as grey sparkle rather than dull weather grey. As I splattered the background I managed to cover myself in black ink as well as the page and the floor.  Don’t worry I did the splatting outside! I did have a very nice time with my gelli plate and some pages from an old dictionary.  I used a used gift card and feathers as texture creators in the paint. I mixed some paints, but stuck to the grey theme. I also did some prints using dry deli paper for a lovely see through effect when I stick  them on my final page. It really is wonderful how many effects can be created using lots of different techniques and tools.  I am so pleased with the gelli prints on this page. All of this journal fun was inspired by the week six prompts over at the Get Messy Art Journal website. The idea was to cover the background with the same colour, so I chose …