Miniature Journal Round Robin

I was invited to join a private Miniature Journal Round Robin through Teresa (Treez), who happens to also be a member of the Advanced ATCs UK Yahoo Group.  The participants of the round robin are:  Alison Brandist (UK), Valerie Brincheck (USA), Joni Owens (USA), Suze Urquhart (UK), Sandra Zengler (Scotland), Treez Malyon (UK) and of course myself all the way Down Under in Australia.  The journal is the smallest canvas I've had to work on to date, with a tiny size of approximately 2" x 2", with another inch as the border.

I managed to finish all my pages this weekend, so they will be sent all over the world tomorrow and here are the themes and the person I'll be sending my page to:

MY THEME IS CHILDHOOD

Each participant must create their piece with a picture of at least their head as a child.  My piece has a picture of my head as I sleep.  The background is a scrap piece of baby wipe with leftover paint on it ... I love it when I can recycle items.

VALERIE - BIRDS

I received the background piece of a dictionary or encyclopedia page with definitions of the Eagle from someone I traded with in the past, I used Tim Holtz stamps and added the image of a bald headed eagle and a feather attached with a small stapler.  This is quite a simple layout, but I just love it.

ALISON - PAST TIMES

Ali wanted her Past Times theme in Tim Holtz Style.  Now I don't know Tim Holtz' style very well, so I figured if I use Ranger products and stamps, I'd be on my way.  The image is a real tin type gem photo that I picked up on eBay recently.

JONI - BEACH / SEASHORE

The blue background is a leftover piece I created using the credit card technique and I think the vibrancy of the colour is just perfect for this beach scene.

SUZE - WINGED TIME

I have wanted to use this paper with the clocks all over it and Winged Time was the perfect medium.  Again another simple layout, but I felt if I added more to the piece the simplicity of the message would be overpowered.

SANDRA - CATS OR DOGS

I decided to use a picture of my beautiful Beau when he was a little puppy for Sandra's theme.  I adore my pooch and he's still just a cute, just a lot bigger.

TREEZ - OLDE WORLDE

A treasure map where the X marks the spot with a pirate, is pretty Olde Worlde.

When I've received all the pages for my miniature journal and I've finished the cover, I'll be sure to post again to show you how everyone has interpreted my theme.

"No matter how small and unimportant what we are doing may seem, if we do it well, it may soon become the step that will lead us to better things."
~Channing Pollock, Actor, Writer and Composer~

Magazine Reduction Challenge

The uber-talented Jade Adams ran a challenge/trade on her blog for players to try a technique created by Vivian Young McDonald called Magazine Reduction.  I decided to play and here's my creation and Jade's piece.  I learned a few things, like, more ripping, less glue and I had to be careful not to go through the final magazine page layer ... it was fun though and I can now use it as a digital background for something else I create in the future.

Rouge Reduction - Magazine Reduction technique by Diana.

Sea Magazine Collage - Magazine Reduction Technique by Jade Adams.

"We turn not older with years, but newer every day."
~Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, American Poet~

Arting, crafting and getting away ...

I don't know how you all do it, I've been working full-time for the past 2.5 weeks in a temp contract after not working for 3.5 years and I honestly believe you need to build up your stamina to work full-time ... so I decided to let the agencies know that I wasn't available for 2 weeks, 'cause I needed 2 weeks to recover ... LOL!

Anyway, there has been some arting and crafting in that time, I just haven't posted about it all, so I'll start with my latest ATCs and then I'll finish with the fantastic weekend I just spent in Hervey Bay ... so grab a cuppa, this post might be a long one, but I plan on adding pictures more than words.

These ATCs were made for a local swap in Helensvale where we meet face-to-face at a local shopping centre.  Usually a theme is set and also no theme.  Last month's theme was Vintage Baby and I didn't make them so I did for this month's swap.  This month's theme is Winged Things and the Double Trouble ATC is for the no theme component of the swap.  I didn't actually attend the swap, so the lovely Kyla swapped my cards out for me.

Double Trouble, inspired by Jade Adams with the doodling around the images and the images from Itkupilli.

Winged Things ATC, image courtesy of Valerie Brincheck.

Vintage Baby ATC.  Kyla and I got the matt-board frames made ourselves by our local framer, how cool is that.

The reason I didn't attend the swap on Sunday is because I'd booked in to do a Journalling into Fun workshop with the gorgeous Nic Hohn who I met at the Creative Soul Retreat in March this year.  I decided to make a weekend of it, so on Friday after work, my husband Ferg and my pooch Beau jumped in the car and made the 5 hour journey from Brisbane to Burrum Heads (near Hervey Bay) with one pit-stop for food and for Beau to stretch his legs too.  Our little apartment at Burrum Sands was approximately 20 steps away from the beach and it was the most perfect quiet place to bring a dog away for a holiday.  On the Saturday we went for a 3.5 hour walk on the beach and boy did my calves feel it the next day.

The beach after high-tide as it's going out.

Beau can play ball forever.

A little downtime under a mangrove.

Low tide ... where's all the water gone?

Burrum Sands view from the Beach.

Nic in teaching mode.

My Creative Footprint - my first ever journal page ... I love it.

The facing Page.

and here's the real thing ... the foot that is.

Splat Girl - paint and magazine images.

Created with marbles.

Hard at work.

The lovely Nic and me.

All of us with our gorgeous art journals.

And to top of the most perfect weekend, Nic presented me with a handpainted canvas as a gift for travelling to her workshop .... Paper Bag Angel ... and I just adore it.  A big thanks to Nic for not only being a fantastic teacher, but also for sending me some photos through for my blog ... my camera ran out of battery

The End!

"Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it."
~Jesse Owens, 1913-1980, Gold Medal Track Athlete~

The week that was ...

We've had quite a week in Queensland, on Wednesday a dust storm that smothered New South Wales made its way to us. We were hit with strong winds and low visibility on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane. On the roads everyone was driving with their head lights on as if there was a big storm or misty.

I was reading in the newspaper that on a normal day we might have around 10 micrograms of particles per cubic metre of air and a bushfire might generate 500 micrograms. The levels on Wednesday soared to 15,400 micrograms per cubic metre of air in some areas ... that’s just incredible. The Bureau of Meteorolgy said the storm in NSW was the worst in 70 years, if not the history of the state. It’s all due to the fact that we just haven’t had much rain in the last 6 months, so the drought ravaged country areas have been really affected by these fierce winds.

I have received some cool photos of the dust storm via email from my sister in Sydney and also some from our local area, so check them out:

A picture of the Sun when I was in Underwood, Brisbane.

The M1 freeway travelling back from Brisbane to Gold Coast.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

A view of Kings Cross, Sydney.

I have made a couple of ATCs for two local swaps this week. The first one is for the Addicted to Scrap swap and the theme was Italian Renaissance, so I used up a stamp I had in my stash that I hadn't used before. I love the quote on this stamp by Da Vinci "Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful more simple or more direct than does Nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous."

Leonardo da Vinci

This ATC was made for a face-to-face swap and I've used the images from Itkupilli Etsy Shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7021557 - I picked up this link from Jade Adams who made an ATC using these creepy doll images ... I think they're divine. I think I might choose a new backgroud from Itkupilli for my blog ... I'm off to check them out now.

"All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them." ~Walt Disney, 1901-1966, Cartoon Artist and Producer~

Happenings and creations ...

My love affair with paper started when I was quite young (I much preferred stationery as a gift than toys or clothes) and then after years of studying and working, it was rekindled again when I discovered scrapbooking 8 years ago. This love affair has evolved into anything mixed media and the last 18 months has seen me use more products and techniques than I ever imagined possible, in making ATCs.

Last weekend I went away for a crafty / arty weekend and for the first time in ages I was back in the swing of scrapbooking. I still go to my local scrapbook shop at least 3 times a month to do a scrapbook class (so I get through my photos) and the last year has seen all the layouts piling up because I haven't added photos, or a title, some embellishments or journalling ... so it felt really really good to finish a bunch of layouts from a holiday taken overseas in October 2007. I'm still not completely done with the whole trip, but I feel organised and have printed all the photos and now just need to complete the finishing touches.

So here are some pictures from the weekend ...

Here I am doing some scrapbooking.

We awoke to a cool misty morning Saturday.

I shared a cabin with Sandra & Jill ... same one as last year.

A local deli ... my coffee saviour over the weekend.

I left early on the Sunday to attend my niece's 3rd birthday party, but on the way home I couldn't resist the "markets" sign and had to stop in. They had loads of stalls with vintage pieces and I bought this old Italian book and ruler.

My niece Alexis, 3 years old, with her Barbie birthday cake.

Me and Alexis.

My nephew Harry has to get in on the action too.

Here's my latest ATC creation for the Fan Swap through Advanced Artist Trading Cards UK Yahoo Group. I've scanned each individual blade before I put the whole thing together and added embellishments. The theme for this piece is the "Evolution of Life" and it encompasses major experiences in one's life such as birth; education/attainment of knowledge and skills; sharing of life with a significant other; acquisition of a home, car or even having children; then the end / a funeral. I am sending my creation to Suze Urquhart in the UK.

The beginning / birth.

Attainment of knowledge / skills.

Sharing life with another.

Acquisition of house, car or having children.

A funeral / the end.

The fan all together.

A close up of some of the detail.

I received my fan from Heather Fenn-Edwards also in the UK and it's just fantastic. Heather hand made the dragonfly embellishment and is going to be published with this beautiful bead-work, so I'm one of the first to see it.

ATC Fan by Heather Fenn-Edwards.

The amazing dragonfly.

Beautiful bead-work ... a skill that escapes me.

Lovely fibres and beads.

"Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities - always see them, for they're always there."
~Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, 1898-1993, Author of The Power of Positive Thinking~