Stitch & Weave

Last month's Patreon saw Anna demonstrating the use of masking fluids and wax crayons to create resist art. Now, I haven't created anything using these techniques since I was in primary school, and only then it was with kid eat proof paint and crayons. So I was super keen to get going, so much so that I forgot to follow one of crafting's golden rules namely that of washing your paintbrush after use. So in this case washing it after using the masking fluid....something Anna also mentions in the video! So after a few hiccups and a new brush or two - I did eventually purchase a Molotow Pen which I found a lot easier to use - I kind of got the hang of it. Then I thought I'd be a little more adventurous with it. My initial experiments saw me working mostly with watercolour paints on watercolour paper, so I wanted to try using some other mediums to see what results I could achieve. Here I've used the Molotow Pen to create a couple of quick doodles of Christmassy

So recently I've had this obsession with drawing and painting lilies. I've taken it upon myself to create the artwork for the invites for my wedding next year (eeek!) and so I've been creating lily after lily. I can't seem to settle on one I like so I've just kept going....at some point I need to make a decision as I really should get them sent out to people, but the perfectionist in me won't let me settle on one, but for the moment I'm happy prattling away lol. I've still got time! Also with the colder weather drawing in and the darker evenings on the way J and I have been enjoying more cosy nights in, in front of our new log burning stove. I grew up with a log burning stove in my parents house so I'm massively excited about the winter ahead! A year or two ago we purchased a hand smithed fire poker, we've now decided we'd also like a companion set for our fire and I've been spending time looking into blacksmiths and ironmon

Hi guys! It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and I'm feeling a little rusty! Today I thought I'd catch you all up on my progress with Anna's fantastic Adventure Journaling course. Just a little bit about the course before we get started, for those of you who may not have seen it. Anna takes us through what adventure journaling is and what it can be, quick jaunts out to the park to fabulous holidays away. Anna shares some great tips and tricks from which supplies to pack to how to create beautiful pages documenting the things you have done.  What is adventure journaling to me? Well, because I journal most days, about the day to day goings on in the household I tend to view adventure journaling as something separate. Adventures, for me are any event or occasion that removes me from my everyday routine or where I find my myself in someplace new. Sometimes, that'll be something big like a family holiday but mostly it's when my partner and I

 Below is my first post on Dream Create Journal - The blog can be found here . It is a collaborative blog with my wonderful friends Geraldine and Kelly .  Please feel free to come over and join us! Hi guys! A bit of different one today, Kelly and I thought we'd share with you another area of our creativity one beyond getting messy with paints and charcoals. The world of Crochet, Yarn and Knitting!   (currently work in progress, a virus shawl) My crochet (and knitting) journey began when I was around 12 ish. It's a skill that has been passed from mother to daughter in my family across several generations and my mum decided that that summer would my turn to learn! Off school for the summer I was bored and complaining at my mum that I had nothing to do, so she took me to the local craft shop (which has since gone!) to purchase me my first set of knitting needles and a beginners kit. I still have my wonky scarf, oh the joys of picking up stitches from nowhere – but

Below is my fourth post on Dream Create Journal - The blog can be found here . It is a collaborative blog with my wonderful friends Geraldine and Kelly .  Please feel free to come over and join us! My post this week really follows on from Kelly's last week and the question she posed right at the beginning; what does 'Self Empowerment' mean to me? If I'm honest I'm not sure I truly know the answer to this. I am both strong, powerful and independent, but I am also self critical and self doubting to the point of self destruction. Is this the flip side of strength and confidence? Or is my self empowerment a veneer for something more troubling underneath?  In my previous post I mentioned my struggle with my creativity, more specifically my art. There is always some darkness to what I create, I'm not good at creating things that are light and fluffy. I'm just not made of the rainbows and unicorns type of stuff. This has been a cause of of much inner

As I'm writing this blog it is pouring with rain outside and is starting to feel a bit nippy. That means it is nearly Autumn!! As soon as Anna posted a sneak peak of her watercolour Fox from this months Patreon and Mrs Brimbles Sticker Club , I knew exactly where he would go! My latest obsession - I have many, I am one of these people who become consumed by new things and spend hours researching it - is traditional or perhaps I should say more traditional forms of book binding. I have just finished learning the Kettle Stitch technique and so made a textblock with Tomoe River Paper (yes I jumped on that bandwagon too!). I had a rummage about in my random bits drawer and came across some very autumnal looking ribbon which was wide enough to cover the spine of my journal. Perfect! Now just to make the inside as beautiful and autumnal as the outside! Pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin! Completely inspired by Anna's watercolour pumpkin I decided it would be the perfect opening for my

Now I'm not really one for Summer but I do have a real love for all things beach and ice cream *insert childish excitement here*. You can keep the hot weather though! So I was rather pleased when Anna shared August's Patreon  content and collage sheets. I had on the reverse of one of my pages watercolour swatches I'd made in attempt to create a skin tone for my vintage girls from last months patreon content and I was undecided as to whether I was going to a)leave them and move onto another page b) gesso over them or c) include them somehow in the next piece I created. I figured they looked enough like sand so I thought I'd just roll with it and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I added a couple of bits from the collage sheets - cannot go wrong with some ice cream or flip-flops. I love the simplicity of it, I'm usually one for adding faaaar too much to a page and I'm quite pleased with my self restraint! ....having said that....this is

Below is my third post on Dream Create Journal - The blog can be found  here . It is a collaborative blog with my wonderful friends  Geraldine  and  Kelly .  Please feel free to come over and join us! Trigger Warning Please note that I refer to and talk about depression throughout this blog post. I do not go into specific detail but the post does make mention of negative feeling and emotion. I've tried to keep it as non triggering as I can whilst still talking about the subject matter and how Art helps me through. I completely understand should you wish to stop at this point. If this blog post helps you in any way then I'm glad to have posted it x. You always get a sense about how an artist is feeling when you look at their work, be it happiness, frustration, anger or sadness. For many like myself art has an incredibly powerful influence over the mind, emotion and wellbeing. It allows thoughts to be voiced and expressed when words alone cannot suffice. A safe and i