Outdoor Inspiration

It’s a real treat to be able to create outside, I relocate to a shady spot at the bottom of the garden as often as possible. Inspiration is all around me and when it’s too hot to stay indoors, the shade of a tree is the perfect place to be.

On this occasion I put a few bits and pieces in a tray along with some pre-cut gel printed papers so I could put together this little gel print micro journal.

I say little, it actually turned out to be quite chunky by the time I’d added all my pages. Once I’d sewn it all together I thought it was so cute I didn’t want to cover the binding or bright print up, so left it as it was simply adding a little collaged embellishment on the front. The quote on an old book page jumped out at me and begged to be added to the front. After all it did sum up the afternoon quite nicely!

On another occasion I took out my sketching supplies and sat under the tree. I used the flowers in front of me as inspiration for this page in my watercolour journal adding doodles and paint.

I hope you have a little outside space to sit and reflect or use as an inspiration spot. It’s great for recharging the batteries.

Have a good weekend

Jaine x

Phrase Of The Year 2018

You might at one time or another find yourself overwhealmed by having  so much going on or a big project/idea you really want to put into motion but just getting started is difficult and it’s easy to become disheartened, and loose focus. Everyone suffers from it at some time or another and the easiest way to deal with it is to give up and not bother. After all, why carry on if everyone else seems to be making a better job of it?

Well, take heart in the fact that this is me most days. What am I going to do about it?  Telling you lot for starters. That’s a load off, then I’ll add this quote to my bullet journal where I’ll see it almost every day. It’ll be a little reminder in those times of self doubt that this is my mantra for the year.

The original sketch was part of a doodle challenge or in my case a sketch challenge hosted by Paper Pen and Plan on Facebook.

Once it was in my brand spanking new bujo I set about colouring it in with the watercolours which came in the January Sweet Treat box from Paperpenandplan on Etsy. I love these cards for carrying around in between the pages of my journal. They’re handy for traveling too.

I’m having a great time sketching random objects.

I’m looking forward to filling my sketchbook with more random stuff.

Jaine xx

Moving Into The Purple Orange And Black

It feels like since coming home from Ireland my life has been on full speed and in the blink of an eye Autumn is well and truly here with its colour changes and unpredictable weather. It’s a beautiful time of year though and we’re so lucky to live surrounded by forest so we can watch the changing season.

With Summer over we had our Autumn meeting of the Mosaik group and a few members were keen to make a junk journal. I put together a kit of materials and they loved it. The kit included book pages, paper bags, ephemera and patterned papers as well as tags and ribbons.

I love making mini versions too which will fit in my A6 Travelers notebook cover and they make a great place for jotting down notes or ideas on the go or somewhere for a quick sketch. This one is made using the mop up papers from my messy craft projects.

Even though the pages inside are grungy and messy it doesn’t mean the outside has to be too and of course I went mad on the decorating. I used the contents of my September box from Paper Pen and Plan and made a mini Halloween themed junk journal.

I’ve never been a big fan of the colour purple but since it’s been the most popular colour from my TN cover range I thought I’d use one myself seeing as it matches perfectly with the green and orange. I have to say the colour has warmed on me and I’m really loving it now.

The inserts are made by Ali-Beth of Paper Pen and Plan too and she makes sizes to fit most TN’s and planners.

At last I’ve found some time to fill out a page in my sketchbook from the Sketchbook project. Naturally mushrooms feature on the pages. I’ve become a bit obsessed with mushrooms from drawing them to foraging and eating them.

Finally for this week, the November issue of Craft Stamper is out and this month I’ve written the Masterclass feature. I used a stamp from my good friend Magda Polakow which I adore. If you have trouble finding a copy it’s available to buy here at Mags UK

Have a good weekend

Jaine xx

A July Update And A Look In The Sketchbook

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks here. I went into hospital for a small, quick operation by laparoscopy and came home feeling sore, more than a bit tired and as bloated as a whale but spending time in my pj’s with my feet up had some advantages.  I had lots of time to sketch and catch up with my planners and journals.

As it’s July already I even made a start on my Christmas designs too. You can never be too early!!

Here’s one which needed finishing off.

Just as I arrived home my parcel from PaperPenandPlan was waiting for me. This months box is all about Quotes and the colours are beautiful and soft with mint greens and soft pinks. As the box contains a tube of paint and a brush I’ve ended up watercolouring everything which doesn’t move, including the pages of my Carpe Diem. The paint is very highly pigmented and to be honest it could have done with being watered down a bit more but once I’ve added more to my calendar I’m sure it won’t be so ‘in your face’ so to speak.  I love the ephemera pack which contains some gorgeous die cut fairies.

The box always contains a small kit and this month it’s a tube of watercolour paint, brush and some tags for a bit of fun.  I adore watercolours so couldn’t wait to get my brush wet.  A full tutorial for this tag is on their web site at Paperpenandplan

I didn’t get to show you my pages for the June Traveling Art Journal with Canvas Corp Brands. I think this is my favourite to date.

Have a good weekend all and I’ll catch up again next week.

Jaine x