New Mandalas

I have been having playing with Photoshop and manipulating some personal images to create these mandalas. I hope you enjoy loooking at them as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Carving Capers!

In my enthusiasm to make a start on this crusade, I turned the studio upside down looking for my lino cutting tools - we've still got boxes that we're unpacking (nearly 5 months after moving in - you can't rush these things!)I didn't find the tools but I found some scraps of lino and decided to make a shadow stamp for my anatomy stamp - a la Michelle - I stamped the image onto the lino and cut it out using a scalpel. I inked it up, it looked ok, so I stamped it. Then I inked the head and stamped over the 'shadow', something just didn't look right. I sat and looked at the stamps and the stamped image. It took a little while for me to figure it out the 'shadow' is a mirror image of the stamp, so it has created a reverse image rather than a shadow. So while I'm back to square one, I do have a silhoutte of a head stamp!

I went into town this morning to try and buy a carving block, with no joy - This is the bit that I am finding difficult living in a small country town, 8 hours from the city - I guess I'm just going to have to order what I need online. Stay tuned for future progress.

It's crusade time again - you know how much I love Michelle Ward's GPP Street Team Crusades - This month's crusade is Cut It Out - Make a tool of your own. Michelle is challenging us to create our own tools either carving our own rubber stamps or creating a custom stencil. Now I haven't created a stencil before, so I'm looking forward to Michelle's hints and tips

I have tried creating my own stamps and lino prints before, here are some pics:

Raven

Triskele or Celtic Spiral

Phoenix rising from the flames.

Thanks to Michelle for the great ideas, I'm inspired to hunt out my tools and carve some stamps.

Here are some more Journal Pages that I have created with my journal kit. Thanks to Michelle for the great idea - I haven't had a chance to travel with it yet, but I have to travel for work in the next few weeks so it will be coming with me!

The photo didn't quite work out for this page, the frame and words came from a magazine and I used a piece of foil to create the mirror.

Don't forget to check out the blogs of other GPP Street Team members for some great journal kit and journaling ideas.

EVIDENCE

My first journal page completed with my new journaling kit. A lot of it is text, but I was brainstorming ideas for this project.

This month Michelle Ward's crusade is to create a journaling kit, so that you can journal on the go. This is a great idea for me, especially when I have to travel for work. To have a kit that I can just grab and it has everything that I need in it.

I'm using a scrapbooking tote, that I don't use for scrapbooking 'cause I have too much stuff. It's just the right size to hold my pencils, and my journal fits in it too if I need to, but it's a bit of a squeeze.

What's in the kit - a glue stick, sharpies, prismacolors, journaling words, scissors, stamp pad and stamps. I'm also checking out all the other street teamers kits for ideas of things to add to the kit.

p.s. thanks to the street teamer who explained how to use the hyperlink on blogger - it has made life so much easier!

I made a start on my altered book today - I made the front cover - it doesn't have a front door yet, Ineed a hinge to attach it. I'm happy with the progress so far.

Yes, I found the stamps that I couldn't find yesterday, in a box that I'm sure I checked about three times yesterday.

Little Houses and Altered Book

I've joined an altered book round robin with Colette and a group of other Australian artists titled Sense of Place, the idea was based on Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn's book In This House. So far I have constructed my book.

I'm not sure how I'm going to bind it yet, or for that matter how I am going to alter it. I think I am going to use the Raven/crow/black bird theme, if only I could find my raven stamps that I bought from Michelle Ward. You would think after 4 months in a new house you might be unpacked - not in this house!



Since I was playing around with the house theme - I created a row of little houses. Decorated using vintage ruler paper. It was just a bit of fun but I'm happy with how they have turned out.