Penny For My Thoughts

Hi there! Two posts in a week is a rare event for me but I'm excited to get going with the planner/journal I created with the lovely, uber-talented Kate Crane last weekend at the Ministry of Mixology event organised by Di Oliver and her husband from Tando Creative Crafts. For those of you who know me and/or follow my infrequent blog, you will know that I'm a great fan of Kate as I love her painting and teaching style. So, I didn't sign up to learn anything new but the chance to coincide another class with Kate (I've done several) use some unfamiliar (DecoArt) products, together with a weekend break with my lovely friend-in-crafting, Linda Reagan, was too tempting to resist. It was a good weekend overall. I much preferred the workshop with Kate to the Andy Skinner class we took on the Sunday which I found slow going. Having said that, it did help me to understand different ways of using a lot of my Golden/DecoArt products and I learned some new techniques which is always a good thing. So, why am I rambling on about a weekend class I took? Well, in order to make myself post more regularly, and hopefully gain a few more followers, I've decided to post the process of further developing the planner/journal we (Linda and I) started in Kate's class. The kit was especially made for this class and comprised a front and back cover and two tabbed inserts made from the fabulous thick grey board that Tando are famous for. Two rings are used to bind the covers and inserts. Kate also provided zillions of  different 'pages' for painting and journaling on. I'm afraid I didn't take a 'before' picture but these Kate Crane kits are available from Tando to buy so you can see them on their website: www.tando-creative.co.uk. (Sorry, haven't learned to hyper-link yet. Working on it). But, here they are painted along Kate Crane guidelines comprising my favourite colours, lots of layers, stencils, stamps and doodles. I love art journaling and this is where I'm most confident in my art work. Thankyou Kate Crane for your continued inspiration! Some of the class managed to paint the reverse of their covers too but I like to spend a lot of time on layering and blending colours so was happy to take my time knowing I can easily complete these at home.

Thus, the reason for this blog post. It will be fun to show and explain how I continue to add to and develop the covers and inside pages over a series of posts. As DecoArt were sponsoring this event, we used their products throughout the weekend. I like them. They come close to the quality of Golden paints/gels which are my absolute preference although I have a wide selection of Amsterdams, Fresco chalks, Kaisercraft, Liquitex, Daler-Rowney, Ranger: Dyan Reavely's, Dina Wakely's etc. The colours used here, if I remember rightly are: Quinacridone Magenta, Transparent yellow iron oxide, medium grey and touches of cobalt teal hue. Black and white has been added too.  We were given a mini circle stencil to add layers, keeping to the same colours. I then used a variety of Kate's hand cut stamps and Paperartsy minis which are always my go-to stamps. I keep them with me wherever  I journal. But it does mean they crop up regularly on my pages. These took me almost all day! But I'm always in a happy place when I journal in this style. In the last half hour we created some backgrounds on some of the inside paper/card Kate supplied us with. Can't wait to add to these. This was a simple, time-worn process of placing small dabs of acrylic paint on the craft sheet, squirting water into the paint and swooshing the paper/card through the watery mixture. Delicious results. But this is as far as I got on Saturday.  

The photo above is a double page spread, where one side has been cut down to create a pocket page. But more of that still to come! The cute stamp in the corner is a new one designed by Kate for Stampotique. Her new range will shortly be available to buy from www.afth.co.uk This is a signature image for Kate so it's no surprise to see it transformed into a stamp. A must have! 

So, what have I done since returning home? Very little actually. I did buy another two tabbed page inserts from Tando so I have gessoed those. I have also collected various pieces of recycled card and cut them to size to create different surfaces to work on. I'm also intending to add more flaps and pockets as I go along. 

Here is what it looks like at the moment when I combine the pages and before I develop it any further.

I do hope you like what you see so far and might be interested in following my progress as I develop and transform my little journal (Kate made hers into a planner) with a variety of mixed media. It's title will be: 'Penny For My Thoughts'. I would love to know if you stopped by. Please leave details of your own blogs so I can return the visit!