Bloom at More Than Words

 Hello again! The brand-new Mini Challenge at More Than Words is to use the word BLOOM on your card, tag, postcard or ATC. 

I created my background with a geli-print, stamping and stenciling then layered my ArtStacks flower, butterfly and quote on top. Easy!

I hope you can join us. You'll find the challenge here.

Happy creating!

Heather

Be Inspired by Fruit!

Well the challenge over at Kraft + this month is different - you need to be inspired by fruit! And don't forget the kraft of course.

I remember when my kids were little I did a whole series of projects using fruit as inspiration - the kids eating watermelon or grapes or picking cherries. I went hunting through my photos but couldn't find any recent fruit-themed pics at all! Then I remembered another page I did years ago - it was called "Under Blueberry Skies". I had plenty of photos of gorgeous blue skies from our Queensland trip so I scrap-lifted myself and went with that.

I had this part of a pianola roll sitting on my desk for a while waiting for the right project. I love the vintage feel and interesting shape it added to the page. It was a bit awkward trying to keep the original items on the paper exposed (the printing and the stamp) but I got there.

My title and the heart (which is actually the leftover piece from a flourish) are both from The Dusty Attic. The flowers and butterflies are from ArtStacks.

I hope you can join us at Kraft + this month. You can find the challenge here.

Happy creating!

Heather

Thinking of Florals

 Hello!

The new challenge at More Than Words is to be inspired by the word 'Florals' and to use stenciling on your art journal page. This one is easy!

I love the bright red poppies over at ArtStacks and had been thinking for a while about using them on a bright blue background. I wanted an ombre effect on my background and had a rough idea how I was going to do it, but then I remembered seeing Vrushali's backgrounds and realised that her style would work perfectly with what I wanted to do.

Firstly I painted my background. I'd never done this before and was quite please with the result.

I then stencilled some leaves and butterflies. I added the poppies, the quote and a border and that was it! It's the fastest page I've made for a while - lol.

Will you join us in this easy challenge? You can find the details here.

Happy journaling!

Heather

Dreaming of Travel

Welcome back!

In case you haven't already heard, the challenge at Kraft+ this month is Dreaming of Travel. Have you managed to get any travelling in recently? It's so difficult to plan anything at the moment so, even if you're just dreaming of travel, I hope you can join in the fun. And don't forget the kraft!

We were lucky enough to squeeze in a trip to Queensland last year. It's such a wonderfully different world there compared to the southern part of this country. I took sooooo many photos so I decided to  see if I could get a lot of them on this page. I got 21 photos on! 

The photos are backed by digital ArtStacks leaves that I printed straight onto my own geli-prints. I'm not sure it was good for my printer but I love the effect!

You can find details on the challenge here. I hope you'll join us!

Happy kraftin'!

Heather

Start the New Year at More Than Words

The first Mini Challenge word for the year at More Than Words is START.  You have to create a tag, card, ATC or postcard. What will you create?

I made a tag:

I used ArtStacks images to express the feeling of freedom that can come with a new START. I used a geli print as a base and all the green papers are from a gorgeous printed tissue that was wrapped around a Christmas present I received. It was love at first sight!

I hope you can join in the challenge this month. You can find it here.

Happy arting!

Heather

Time to Reflect at More Than Words

Hi! 

The challenge at More Than Words this month is to be inspired by the word REFLECT and to use DOODLING on your art journal page. How cool!

The focal point is a large gingko leaf from ArtStacks. I find I use these a lot!

I realised that I don't reflect often enough so this page is about making sure I do it more in the future.

I used doodling in many places - around the title, on the background and I partly used a stencil to help me doodle the large flourishes.

Will you join us this month? You can find the challenge here.

Happy journaling!

Heather

Delightfully Difficult at ArtStacks!

Ohh, I've been having fun! I could create with Lorraine Haight Moraine's Altered Ancestors every day. I love her sense of humour. Her clever quotes and funny figures always make me smile.

This is a fairly simple piece. Here's how I made it:

1. I used a favourite geli-print as my background, adding a bit of stenciling, stamping and outlining.
2. I cut out one of the gorgeous gingko leaves from the Trees & Leaves stack from ArtStacks. I use these a lot - they're perfect for providing that extra something in the background.
3. I also cut out the man and chair from Lorraine Haight Moraine's CoreStack, inked all the edges in black, and added them to the page.
4. I added the tissue-paper quote using gel medium. Dina Wakley's soft gel matte medium is the perfect combination with the ArtStacks tissue. The tissue disappears completely into the background, making it look like the quote is typed directly onto the page. (Note that neither myself nor ArtStacks have any affiliation with Dina's products. I just love this particular product!)
5. I finished by adding a stitched border, some messy stitching and, surprisingly for me, a cardstock border!

I made this for a swap with my online friend, Carolyn S. Nehring. I saw a piece of hers online that I loved so we did a swap! Here's the gorgeous piece of Carolyn's.

Thanks for the swap Carolyn!

These pages are so much fun and not difficult to make at all. If you make something similar, I'd love to see!

Happy craftin'!

Heather