Happy days!

Yes, days that are filled with laughter, friends and creativity are definitely happy ones. It was a very busy weekend but all of the above made it worthwhile. On Saturday morning it was my Introduction to Art Journalling workshop and we made some backgrounds, altered magazine images with Gesso, painted and drew. There was so much that we could have done and so little time! Hopefully we will be able to fit another workshop in before long so that we can work on some specific pages, but I also hope that everyone felt inspired and more confident in their ability to put pen to paper and create something special. Here's one of mine that shows my impatience! I used a magazine image for the head and torso of the mermaid and Gesso for the background, her hair and tail. I stamped in the Gesso, added paints and some collaged images. All went well and then I added my words (which I wasn't happy with - they look too heavy, but hey ho!). Unfortunately, I thought that everything was dry when I closed my journal but, mmmm, seems not! So my poor mermaid now has blue squidges all over her! I may have to turn them into rain drops, or I may leave it as it is to remind me to wait! This next page is just a fun one that I did to show everyone in the workshop that, even if you think that you can't draw, you can create a piece of original art! It was great fun to do - another of my drawn and coloured with Promarker pages. The sentiment is true for me...I refuse to grow up and I love having that inner child alive and well! The last page has a mix of techniques and I'll give a quick run through of them specially for the ladies on my workshop! I stuck torn out book pages to the blank pages in my journal and then Gessoed over the whole double page spread...I made some areas very thin, some a little thicker. Once dry, I then swept Paint Dabbers up and down the text areas, adding various colours to build up the effect. I wanted to still be able to read some areas. I cut out various images from magazines and papers and stuck them down using Multi Matt Medium, creating the main figue from four different images collaged together. I coloured the pink edging using a Memento brush pen (rather like a Le Plume pen but with a slightly larger nib)...the Gesso texture shows up well as darker and lighter shades of pink. I drew the toadstools in with a black pen, colouring them with brush pens and a white Inkssentials pen. I painted the simple grass effect with acrylic. I added the words and the teensy spiders and finished by adding some shading on and around the characters with Promarkers. Hope you like them.David joined in with the Journalling workshop and I will post pictures of what he did as soon as I have taken them...need some new batteries! We were all impressed! However, a loose lid on a jar of Gesso caused uproar when David picked it up and the contents went flying....most of them over poor Chris! David was mortified and he and Chris spent quite some time cleaning up her bags, clothes and the table. Only later did I discover that I had a white leg and skirt as well! These things happen and thank you Chris for being very good humoured about it all. It was great to see Gez there as she has been having a terrible time suffering with vertigo - her journal pages are gorgeous. I was lucky to get gorgeous ATC's from Chris and Gez and a beautiful tag from Sheila - I'll post piccies of them soon. Thank you ladies.

Now, speaking of good humour, the afternoon workshop was an absolute hoot! We were making a plaque and two cards. The plaque had Gesso on it, to simulate snow. This caused great humour as it was variously referred to as Gessop, Gello and other strange names. Marion put her letters on back to front, so "Joy" became "Yoj" leading to more giggles, especially from the delightful Cynthia and Sharon who lit up the afternoon with their laughter. Here they are - promised I'd blog you girls!Sheila was having fun with the MS punches that just would not behave for her. So much so that David made a special notice for her...... ....thanks for being so good humoured She, you know we love you really!!! Having said that, the sign did move around during the afternoon!After making a card using MS punches and Best Creations papers we finished the session by making a secret message card (sorry, no photo of this one yet either) that opens up in different ways. This caused a few puzzled expressions but as I said, don't worry how it works, just enjoy the fact that it does!

The workshop ended and then Kath and Elaine produced a bag from under the table which they said was for me. As it wasn't my birthday or anything I was somewhat surprised to say the least! I let Kath open the carefully taped and wrapped box as they had said it was fragile....everyone was very eager to see what was inside! When I opened the tissue and carefully drew the creation out we were all amazed and I was thrilled.....it was the most beautifully decorated Goose Egg adorned with delicate fairies with shimmery wings topped with sparkling crystals and sitting on top of a gilded stand. A tiny switch lights up the egg from inside to give an even more magical effect. Absolutely stunning and made with Kath's own fair hands. Here are Elaine and Kath with me and the Eggstraordinarily generous gift they presented me with! It is something that will be treasured and the fact that it came so out of the blue made it all the more special. Thank you so much, I cannot tell you how grateful I am. Again, because my camera is "powerless" I will post a close up of this beauty very shortly - watch this space!

David and I have said many times that we have met so many wonderful people over this last two years, it's been a very heartwarming time and helps to counteract those days when one feels down.

On Sunday I was back at Dawn's studion to demonstrate for the day. I was using some of my wooden backed rubber stamps for a change and they were mostly my whimsical designs. I was challenged to combine "cute with distressed" by Karen, and my Leaping Robins were chosen as the stamp for me to use. I made this quite simple tag by inking the background and stamping the robins with Archival black. I then bleached them with water so that I could colour them against the dark background using more Distress inks. A bit more faux bleaching and an alcohol inked ribbon was the last touch. Sheila and Joanne had come along to my demonstration and everyone gave a thumbs up for the "distressed cute combo"! Now, of course, if Joanne was there then you can bet that the phantom cat burglar was there too! (For new blog readers, it's a standing joke, Terry - Joanne's lovely husband - isn't really a burglar!) Just look how shifty he looks here...did he really think he could get away with my Tim Holtz paper stashes? Oh, and is that a MS punch I see there as well?! Good try Terry! Lol! As I said, such a fun weekend, I was hoarse from laughing. I shall also be posting photos of the ATC's I got on Sunday too...blinking batteries, gggrrr! I'm ending with a picture of my littlest best friend Alicia, who is just adorable. You may recall that I mentioned a few weeks ago that Alicia had seen a "tap" being made on a tv programme, and was convinced that I could make one. None of us had seen the tap, so we were a bit clueless really. However, I managed to track down what it was and made the basic tap for her on Sunday morning. It was made from paper cups and cardboard, but look what Alicia showed me at the end of the day..........she and Rena and Gill had gone to town with the decoration and had added silver leaf and ribbon etc. Lovely! Look at that big smile - makes it all worthwhile doesn't it?

I'll post again as soon as I have the batteries in the camera and can show add the other piccies. Lindsay