inky, painty, journal tutorial....

At Play Day, yesterday, I was mucking around in John's Art Journal and decided to use some of the new Graphic 45 release...Halloween in Wonderland.  This is how far I got..

I,ve still got loads of doodling and the journaling to do, but I am really liking it so far.

So I thought I would do you all a step-by-step, along the same lines, but with one of my inky, painty backgrounds. So stand by your beds and here we go.

 I started off by babywiping Lettuce and Espresso Adirondack dabbers over the pages.

I then added acrylic gesso in "the Dyan wiggle" using a Splodger.

Added Gesso rings using the dabber lid.

I then had a break for a late lunch. How gorgeous does that look..???  A little treat from Our Ben....

Its from the new cafe that,s opened up just below us. This is their sweet potato, feta cheese salad. Get in there.!!!

Anyway, to continue.....I then sprayed Pomegranate Altered Originals ink over a chipboard stencil and blotted with a kitchen roll.

Flip the chipboard over to create a negative image

You can make your own masks from your used sheets of Alphabet Grunge board. If you coat it first using Gel Medium, it will seal the Grunge enabling you to use the reverse as well.. My inks are really vibrant, but if you want a more muted effect, spray the colour (lime) and then immediatley spritz Granite over the top to tone it down.

Thats a cool colour isn't it...??  See..... two for the price of one!!! You always get brill value with our products, lol

I then mixed some of my Altered Original inks with some of my Blonde Moments Pearl Pigments, topped up with water in our large spritzers, to give you a shimmer spray.  No need to have to splash out on ready made ones, just make up what you need, when you want it.

The shimmer gives a stunning contrast on the matt paint. I then sprayed the ink directly onto the pages and let it slowly drip down.

As you all know, I am a massive doodler, so this was the next obvious step for me.

I then sprayed the Granite inkthrough a chipboard stencil at the top of the page, blotted it dry and doodled.

When I get to this stage I can't help but sit there and stoke it, lol. I absolutely love backgrounds, can't get enough of them, and would quite happily make them all day.  But a background on its own is no good, so onward and upward.

Onto the papers.http://shop.afth.co.uk/halloween-in-wonderland-collection-415-c.asp We ordered double the normal quantity, and they are skidoodling out of the door faster than you can say "white rabbits"....!!!!  They are sooooooo lush, and I love the fact they are not just the "normal" Alice drawings, but have injected a unique twist into them. Don't be put off by the word Halloween in the title, as this is Halloween unlike any other.

When I have cut out my main elements, I always lay them down onto the pages. I don't stick them straight away, as I invariably move them around completely. I then stick all the elements down with gel medium. This is a fabby substance for sticking as it isn't actually sticky, so you don't get yourself into a right old 2 and 8...

Then, yes you,ve guessed it, more doodling. I like to draw outlines on any hand cut elements, and I also like to outline them completely. Never neatly mind you, I prefer the slapdash look myself, lol.

The bird cage was made by covering a sheet of Grunge Paper with gel medium and sheet music. I then ran it through the Big Shot using the Tim Holtz die. It was then given the doodling treatment and inked with Crushed Olive Distress ink.

I thought it would be funny to put the Cheshire cat in the cage and have it dangling down.

I then gelled a butterfly image to the Grunge Paper and cut it out.

I bent it around my fingers to make the wings curl, added some d/sided tape just down the body stuck it on Alices head. The image will flatten when the book is closed, but spring back out when open. You gotta just love Grunge don't you..???  I cut out two of the quotes from one of my Altered Originals Download sheets, and combined them together on the page. Added the ubiquitous doodling, of course...

I added more butterflies and insects to the pages, and journaled with a white souffle pen. One of my favourite pens in the whole world, you may remember. Along with the clear, black and white Glaze pens.  It doesn't take a lot to please me, does it..???

And here we have it ....the finished piece.

I really friiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkkkkkiiiiiiinnnnnn adore it..glad this one is in my journal and not John,s lol. Is that bad thoughts..?? lmao. Heres some close ups.

                                   

                                     

Hope you enjoyed this and that I have inspired you to have a go....

Enjoy xx

Yayy, in Our Ben's good books..!!!

Well I've finished it..The Altered, Altered Book, and I just frikkin lurve it..!!!

It's full of Lots of Grunge elements....

Distress inks...Gorgeous metal feet...(oops forgot to take a side view, will do it tomorrow...)

Shabby Chic finishes.....

And of course it wouldn,t be complete without a couple of my little tag hiding places.!!

To book your space, you need to go HERE..

While your at it, pop on over to the bubblicious DT member Kirsty's blog and see what she made out of the packaging we sent her inks in... Cool or what..???

Had a brilliant Play Day today. We had a full house.. Sexy Susie came to play, so we had to have big slices of chocolate birthday cake all round.  Don,t worry there was no calories as I had cut it up so that they fell out..!!!! Can't tell you how old she is but its somewhere between 39 and 41...lmao..

I got a fabby book from the lovely Anne, it is full of 20's fashion. Bugger..!!! forgot to take a photo, another one for tomorrow, lol.

The gorgeous  Sandra was here as well, and was delighted to tell me that her hubby, the gorgeous Andy, has a new nickname for me... Apparantly he took one look at that photo of me yesterday and said

"blimey look at DVC..!!"

"DVC..??" said Sandra

"yes, Dyan Von Cleavage...!!!"...

Hilarious or what..??? Mind you I still can,t work out where they've come from... Answers on a postcard to the usual address, lmao...

Enjoy xx

Boobylicious...!!!

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Summer workshops are now online.....!!!You can book them HERE.

Heres a few piccies of some of them

For more details and to book any of the above workshops go HERE.

The weekends Ranger techniques workshop was a great success, I had to prise them out of their seats on the Sunday teatime...!!!

 Heres Lou (who was almost as barking as me..!!!) and Alison.

Chris and Emily

Laura and Sue

And Barbara and Melanie

Barbara is an absolute darling, and has adopted me, lol. She came back on the Monday and cleaned the Studio for me...how nice is that..???  I recieved a gorgeous email off her this morning and felt I needed to share it with you all..

Hi gorgeous

Thank you soooo much for a totally fantastic weekend. I didn't want it to end!!
If you get to your premises one morning, and fall over what looks like a pile of junk, well that would just be me.
I am about to haul myself up the ladder into the loft to see if there is anything up there that would make a warm sleeping bag.
Seriously, I just didn't want the time spent on your amazing lesson to end. DYAN ROCKS, OK!!!! I have started the countdown to October.
You won't get rid of me that easily!!
Don't let ANY b...ard grind you down. You want lights punching out? Then let me know!!! [only joking about Grommit, he has a lovely face].
Take care and keep smiling
Barbara W xxxx
 
How nice is that..??? Oh and yes she met the lovely Grommit when he popped in to give me a run down of the Northern Soul weekender that I missed out on..!!!
 
Next is a picture of the tags I made for a swap the gorgeous Kirsty Wiseman was hosting. As per usual I was last minute...oops. They have gone Kirsty honest..!!

Just look what flew through the door yesterday...I am soooooo excited..!!!! It is the latest collection from Graphic 45 and it is firkkin fantabulous...!!!  Its Halloween in Wonderland...

heres a few snippets

You can order it from our website HERE

I need to warn you though, its flying out the door as we speak. Luckily I snaffled all mine last night after Our Ben had gone home, lmao....

Remeber I showed you the photo of the Union Jack chair, and I said it had my name on it..??? Well ||I got a phone call yesterday from the lovely Sue at Craftwork cards, to say it might well have my name on it but it actually had her Ass on it..!!!lmao. Yup its actually her chair and is gracing her dining room as we speak..!!

Ha ha my name her ass..!!!

Yup thats Richards ass as well...a mighty fine ass, but I,m a bit dubious as to wether it will fit in there..!!!  lmao....oops thats me in trouble again..!!!

Talking about them leads me onto The Great Northern Papercrafts Extravaganza (GNPE) which is always held twice a year at The Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate. This year it is a little earlier than usual, Sat ?Sun 11th 12th of September. You can pre order your tickets HERE  As usual I will be teaching a breakfast workshop. We will be getting a bit lairy with my new spray inks, no doubt..!!! Keep your eyes peeled for when they get released as I normally sell out pretty quick, lol.

Right I need to go and chase up some more of those gorgeous, gorgeous inks of mine, as yet again we have sold out..!!! You are going crazy for them and I really don't blame you as they are fabulous, even thoughj I say so myself, lol...!!!

Oooh nearly forgot, this photo came from the lovely Sandra, one of my good, Northern Soulie mates. She was taking a photo of me cradling my inks , for her blog, and she got rather more than she bargained for..!!!!

Well...at least I won't drown..!!!!!lmao

Enjoy xx

This and that...

Hi there chickettes, hope you are all feeling fantabuloso...!!!  Big thanks to everyone who came along to the studio for preview day, and yes, for all you doubters out there, most of the projects were finished in time....just the odd one I ran out of time for, lmao...

Its also the Ranger 1 techniques weekend here and we are having a ball. They are a brill bunch of students and they seem to be on my wavelength, which is always a bit worrying, lol....Unfortunately, scatterbrained as usual, I forgot to take any pictures (dohh!!)...will try harder in the morning, promise.

Recieved these pictures today of the lovely Heidi and daughter Katie hard at work in the sunshine. Well the remains of their work, lol. They decided to spend a bit of time playing with the inks and it turned into quite a few hours, lol.

We have had full restocks of the inks and Our Ben can,t get them packed quick enough!!!  They have definitely gone down a storm. I have a bit quieter week next week, so will make time to do some how to,s and step outs. You never know I might even throw in a litlle You tube clip, lol.

For some goygeous samples get over to Kates blog where she has examples , here, here here , here, here and  also here...!!! Why so many..?? well she is on the Altered Originals design team. Plus shes on there because she loves the inks and downloads, not the other way round, and makes fabulous art.!!!

To grab your sets of the inks go Here and make sure you don,t miss out...

Thought you might like to see this picture of one of ny great mates Sandra and Lyn from The Craftbox, Elsecar, fighting over this gorgeous chair. Jude - look away now honey, for your own sanity...!!!  I don,t know about you , but I,m sure it has my name written all over it, lmao...

And lastly tonight need to show you this gorgeous pic of a retro swimming costume...I just adore it, and now I,m torn about my Vegas, bucket list, wedding outfit.... Red spotty corset or this..?... red spotty corset or this?...red spotty corset or this..??? Decisions, decisions, lmao...

Enjoy xx