The Artsiders

Colour Q Card

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:43:00 +0000

What with making xmas decorations, shopping and preparing for both the seasonal holidays and a brief trip to London, I've had little time to actually make any cards or follow any challenges. However, I needed something to relax me last night, lots of stuff whirring around my head and putting together a quick card was just the ticket.

I've known about Colour Q for a few weeks and their colour combos are very tantalising. Yes it's another festive inspiration but with the addition of blue, it makes it a little more quirky and fun.

I've also bought some new stamps, Chatsworth by Papermania which I decided to open up and start playing with. Hence why I've stamped a chair three times. It's offbeat I know but I think I'm allowed a little eccentricity now and again.

London is calling so I won't be back in my craft room until the weekend. Hopefully I'll have plenty of photos to scrapbook of my cultural adventures. Oh yes and Laduree's!

How chuffed am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:01:00 +0000

Just a quickie post to let you know how chuffed to pieces I am that I was chosen as a runner up in a scrapbook LO submission competition for Ella Publishing. If you want to have a little read about it, you'll find it on their blog here

And do go and look at their ebooks. I've bought a few and can highly recommend them and no I'm not affiliated to them at all :) I'm merely a happy customer.

I just couldn't ignore these colours

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:25:00 +0000

I was on a roll last night. After finishing my Play Date Cafe card, I wanted to make just one more quick and easy card. Chiefly because I couldn't resist having a go at using the colours selected by this weeks Colour Create Challenge.

Now this was more of a make-in-minutes card. Very easy to emboss some black paper for the background. Then I punched out four squares from the blue and lilac card. I chomped off a couple of the corners on each and punched out some tiny circles. A quick stamp onto white card with a Hero Arts stamp, cut out with a circular punch then glued all together. To finish, I added one black bling decoration. Clean, simple and a doddle.

I've Relented

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:06:00 +0000

I've given in for one post only and for one challenge only. Normal Bah Humbug will resume in future posts lol. As much as I've tried to avoid making Christmas cards with all the festive red and green colours thrown up by challenge sites recently, I have relented and decided not to resist any longer.

This weeks Play Date Cafe challenge had just three colours, red, green and white. Even if I'd tried, it would still look like a Christmas card, so I didn't haha. But what I did do was technique the card to within an inch of it's creative life.

I saw a UTEE technique on Suze Weinberg this week that I wanted to try out, which gave me the texture red and green strip. The bordered edge was a Martha Stewart punch. The background to the wreath is a cut out from spellbinders nesties and then textured with cuttlebugs embossing plates.

The button wreath I saw on this blog and decided to have a go myself. I stamped the title, chomped off one corner and finally it was finished. Definitely not a make-in-minutes card.

Well if I'm only going to make one, I may as well put some effort into it haha. BTW Thank you once again for voting my card from last week's entry as one of the fab four. I've remembered to pop my entitled award on my blog this time :) I'm extremely flattered.

A simple thank you

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:56:00 +0000

I've been busy making some home decorations for Christmas which I'll photograph and upload at another time when they're finished. But it's a little on the repetitive nature. So to give myself a bit of creative relief, I made this card. I cleared away all the black and gold paint and rummaged through my box of miscellany and found this blue thank you sticker. I used this as the starting point for choice of colours and bish, bash, bosh, a card was born. Now its back to getting black paint and glue everywhere lol.

Two more challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:10:00 +0000

Time for some scrapbooking challenges methinks. I know, I'm fair getting through them this week. It's those dark evenings that motivate me. I spend much more time in my craft room at this time of year.

Another hybrid too. This one combines Twisted Sketches and Colour Q. The original sketch was a 12x12 design so I've had to tweak it to fit an A4 LO. Yup, this is my first ever A4 design. I've been gravitating over to the American Letter size this year and decided that I ought to anglicise it. It's easier and more economic to buy A4 ring binders and page protectors, so it makes much more sense.

The trick with altering the sketch to suit what is a different layout altogether, is not to make it look squashed and cramped in one direction and sparse in the other. Not always easy but this one was manageable. The colours from Colour Q were a little more tricky. Thankfully Adobe Indesign comes into its own at this point. I could play about with all the colours, deciding what went where and believe me I went through plenty of combos before relaxing and settling on this one.

The photos were hidden away in my 'To Be Sorted' folder and I'd completely forgotten all about them. I'm shocked and delighted. It was rare for me to let someone photograph me back then. I'm not so keen now but I relent better these days.

I'm being stretched again & I like it

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:53:00 +0000

I've said it before and so have others but when you throw yourself into playing along with challenges, especially the colour combo ones, it opens you up to creating something you normally wouldn't. I may not always love the colour choices but I love the challenge of having to use them.

This card is a hybrid of two challenges. Monday Mojo & Colour Throwdown, both excellent challenge sites. The throwdown's choice of orange, purple and green are a bit sickly for my preference but they do work well together. They are a triadic scheme which always gives you a colourful, brash pallette especially in the brighter hues. Red, yellow & blue are the same. Work well together but it's too vibrant a scheme for my liking.

Anyhoo, I gave it a go and here's the result. All made from my scraps file. I'm almost beginning to forget the last time I hacked away into a 12x12 sheet. Not good as I have just taken delivery of a Basic Grey bundle containing 70 sheets. And it only cost £15!!! Can you believe it? And they're nice papers too. Out of the whole pack there's only four I'm not keen on. Not a bad percentage. Now I just need to use them.

Adding a spot of warmth

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:51:00 +0000

I have been checking out the Play Date Cafe's challenge today. Superb colour combination. Three analogous, harmonious greens and then a complimentary contrast of orange. Three cool colours and one warm. So I kept the bluey greens as the main body of colour and accented with their contrasting opposing orange.

Oh yes and I used up another from the circles stamp set (see previous post). I mislaid one, so I still have one more stamp to use up.

Right, time to sneak this onto the PDC blog before Anne notices. Shhhh!

Uncovering Hidden Art

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:39:00 +0000

I have no problem using sketches to create my LOs although I am fussy over which ones I like. I prefer them to have the elements to be straight, not at an angle and with a nod towards Graphic Design. So I had no problem employing Lianne's competition sketch for Sarahscards blog.

My first thought was, what photograph shall I scrap? Well, last year my father & I scanned thousands of old transparencies into digital format and none of them have been used. In fact, most of them still require sorting into categories. I browsed through them idly, clicking one folder open and then the next, when suddenly I saw this photograph of two drunk guys lighting up. As the title of this post suggests, this was hidden art. I could imagine seeing this framed in a gallery as a retrospective of a famous photographer, who specialises in candid shots of real life.

Actually, it was taken at a party held by a friend of my parents, many moons ago, when they were in their early twenties. I emailed the photo to my father who filled in the details as to who they were etc.

To make life easier, in assembling it, all the papers and embellishments in this LO are Basic Greys Periphery range.

Play Date Cafe 5

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:36:00 +0000

I didn't beat Anne this week lol. She's just too good!!!! However, you must check out the Play Date Cafe's colours this week. They are truly elegant. Blue, silver, violet and white. Again I've gone for a card and created it with a simple, bold design. And yes, I've used another in my swirly circles stamp set. Only one left to use before I can say they've each had at least one passing acquaintance with an ink pad.

Oh yes, & thank you to the Play Date Crew for selecting my card in challenge number four as one of the Fab4. It is very sweet and kind of you. Once again, thank you to everyone who left such wonderful comments on my blog. Reading each one is like taking a sip from a cup of hot cocoa. Warm, sweet and perks me up.

Trying hard not to be a Xmas Card

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:56:00 +0000

I've combined two challenges for this little card. The sketch has come from the ever inspirational Monday Mojo. The second was one of my two favourite colour combination sites, the Colour Throwdown.

The colours this week are cream, chocolate, dark red & olive. The temptation, given that both red & green are in it, is to make a festive card with these two hues dominating. I thought I'd try letting the neutrals be the foundation instead, accented with the two earthy colour tones. And yes, I've used another stamp from the collection in the previous post, so that's one more notched up. The sketch itself was good for helping me step out of my current style a little. It's made up of several layered components, so you are coerced into adding paper over paper and embellishing. I think its still got a little of my essence and style in there too. Just addicted to making these fan flowers from my scraps. They are perfect for using up the long thin strips I chop off the ends of 12x12 paper.

Just using 'em

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Not had much mojo or time to make any crafts recently. So in an order to kick myself up the creative butt, I dug out these stamps which I bought sometime last year. When I saw them, I envisaged them getting lots of use and you know what? They've hardly, if never, seen an ink pad. So I thought I'd rectify the oversight and make up a batch of cards which finally made good use of them. I have only managed two so far and I will make it my motivation to carry on producing more cards until each stamp has been inked up and utilised.

Have I Beaten Anne?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:30:00 +0000

The very talented and lovely Anne has each week produced a stunning project for the Play Date Cafe challenges in record time and her entry is always in before mine. However, today I'm hoping I can post my entry before she does and turn the tide haha.

The colours for this weeks challenge are beautiful and subtle. Soft muted tones of brown, yellow and green. They remind me of choc mint ice cream and toffee.

So with my clean and simple eye, I die cut three butterflies and embossed each with a different cuttlebug design. I mounted onto cream card, then attached a punched border (Martha Stewart loops) in the coffee colour. To hide the join, I attached a dark brown ribbon. All these were matted onto the green card and finally onto the cream coloured card itself.

Thank you to everyone who has left kind comments on here in the last few weeks. I read them all and they really perk me up. I do go to each and everyone's blog and look at your beautiful creations. In fact, I spend so much time looking and drooling over your blogs, I don't leave myself a lot of time to comment back. My sincere apologies and when I find a spare afternoon, I hope I can reply in kind. In the meantime, please just know how grateful I am to all who've taken the time to comment. Hugs to you all.

Playing Catch Up

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:05:00 +0000

Thank goodness for creativity! It's meditational, fun and calming. It allows the mind to focus. It's been just the tonic. Still haven't gotten around to clearing up my art room though this weekend. Well there's always the next.

So when I have been playing in my messy room, it's been making crafts for challenges. Play Date Cafe again! I love the colours that have come up so far. This time around was black, red and white. My first thought was, uh! not very original. But thinking on, the colours were influenced by a teenager and when I was that very same age, I decorated my bedroom in black, white and red. So, in fact they were an appropriate if not classic scheme. And hey, who needs originality all the time? Sometimes, going back to the classics and playing with them again is a good exercise.

So anyhow, I made not one, but two cards for this challenge. I decided to play at keeping the black dominant and switching around to white. Okay I could have tried a third with red dominating but shucks, I'm lazy haha. I also tried for minimalism too. Playing around with how basic I could get away with and still have a good looking card. The downside is that this discipline doesn't exactly use up a lot of stash. My scraps pile has hardly had a dent made in it this week.

Licking those challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:16:00 +0000

Saturday, Nick & I saw the most fascinating sculptures at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It was the last gorgeous day of the year and we made the most of it. I'll be making a LO of our day out so will post the photos then. All I'll say for now is if it's within reach, you must make a trip out there. You won't be disappointed.

Sunday was a wet, windy and miserable day. Perfect for hibernation in my craft room. Decided to use the opportunity to lick some of the challenges that have come my way whilst blog hopping this week. This is Mum incorporates the Twisted Sketch and Colour Throwdown challenges. When I think of home, is a UKScrappers challenge for the cybercrop. And this time around the overall theme is Wizard of Oz. I know, perfect for friends of Dorothy. In the allocation of teams, I find myself a Tin Man. We have been asked to create a LO on what makes us think of home. Well, for me, it's a big snuggly sofa to layabout on. Give me a duvet and a sofa and I could ask for no more.

The text on the other LO is blurred - it's not rude (like you may have come to expect from me haha). It's just that it's cathartic journaling about recent events. The colours all work well together and are fortunately colour's I associate with Mum.

Better go off and design that sculpture LO now hadn't I? haha.

Birthday Card for Alison

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:30:00 +0000

My lovely friend Alison has a spooky birthday but does she tire of all the Halloween references? Absolutely not! She has a wonderful spirit always planning, looking ofr and joining in and creating fun and adventure. There isn't much of an age gap between us but boy she makes me feel old with her youthful energy haha (then again a fusty octgenarian would make me look old!).

And this is the card I made for her special day - all fresh light greens, yellows and blues. Hope you had a fab day hun :)

How on earth did I get so soppy

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:21:00 +0000

I've seen this style of two-fold card several times and fancied the challenge of making one myself. As experience has taught me, making these card variations is relatively simple. It's the decorating of them that can sometimes prove to be the stumbling block. It took mere minutes to make the card base itself with its cut out window. Then another hour faffing around trying to put it together with various design interpretations. I added something, then took it away. I added something else, then took it away. And so on and so forth. Finally I ended up with a soppy card. How on earth did I let that happen???? Haha.

Play Date Challenge 2

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:41:00 +0000

I enjoyed last week's Play Date Cafe Challenge and was delighted by some of the new blogs it directed me to. So, I've decided to play again. Three colours this time, all autumnal hues and shades that I like. It's an analogous palette plus a neutral so they harmonise together. I've opted for another card as these are the quickest to make. And look, yes I know, another flower! Cuttlebugged to within an inch of its life but a flower nonetheless. I included a ribbon and debated about whether it needed a bow but I've been adding those a fair bit recently. I need to break out of it and try something different. So for this card its left as it is. Less is more as they say, especially if you want to have more visual impact (mind I can't help but feel it looks like a garter belt. Trust me to give it a kinky undertone. Very DH Lawrence - flowers and garters haha)

Finally getting it out & playing with it

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:55:00 +0000

I've had a pack of grunge paper sitting in my craft room almost since the moment it hit these shores and have I done anything with it? Have I eckers like. So I did a little search on the Internet and found some tutorials on making flowers with it. It's been a while since my hands were covered in ink and paint. Even my craft sheet came out once I blew the dust off it.

The rose I haven't done anything with yet, I'll save it for any future project which requires such an adornment. The flatter flower was more suitable to go on a quick project such as a card. And as I haven't joined in with the Monday Mojo challenge, I went and had a look at their blog & decided my embellishment could be incorporated perfectly. I chose lighter colours such as yellow and pale orange so that the flower would stand out in contrast, keeping it as the focal point.

Yes the flowers were fun to make, yes the craft room looks like a bomb hit it (& so do I come to think of it) but will I find them addictive and carry on making them? Difficult to say. At the moment, I'm thinking no but I always find myself eating my words haha. Time, as they say, will tell. Now I wonder what else I can make with grunge paper?

Loving London and its Cultural Collections

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Back in August, Nick & I took a mini tourist break in London to soak up some of the culture. On my return, I knew that if a reminder of the holiday was ever to be made, it had to be soon. Leave it for a few months and suddenly, the album would be yet another one on my "Someday Maybe" list.

I dug around to see what blank albums I already had (given that I seem to have collected a fair few over the years) and came across this spiral bound one, which seemed just about the right size.

Again, I opened up my InDesign software and placed photos and text together. There's no journaling in the layouts as I have kept it simply as a pictorial reminder. No need for thoughts, feelings or even factual snippets. The art, my dears, simply speaks for itself haha.

I set the printer to work, printing out onto the requisite papers, snipped, chopped, hacked and glued. Added some postcards I'd bought (where photos hadn't been permitted) and there we go. Another holiday album to join the stack. And though it took a fair amount of time and effort to produce this, by keeping the LOs similar, it cut it down immensely. The task of a whole 24 page album each with it's own uniquely designed page would be way too much just for recording a weekend away.

Mmm the simple pleasure of Mini Books

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:54:00 +0000

The fabulous goddess that is Kirsty Wiseman, bowled me over at the Harrogate show a few weeks back when she produced a handmade pressie just for little ol' me. I absolutely loved it. Simple yet very effective. Two leather coasters, holes punched into them with co-ordinating paper all bound together and voila, a gift for me to turn into something of my choosing.

So I went ahead and chose the topic, simple pleasures. I brainstormed a whole list and went on a google hunt for the images. I came up with a layout using Indesign, wrote out all the text - printed out all the pieces, grabbed my pattern papers and then, in a blur of glue and scissors, I had my complete creation. A perfect coffee table book from coffee table coasters.

Blame it on the Doctor

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:00:00 +0000

That's Doctor Eileen who is responsible in part (actually no, shall we blame her entirely haha) for this layout. The wonderful crafty GP was recently sat next to me at an extended get together and in the process of putting together some very arty mini books, turned to me and showed me her Basic Grey set of rub ons. Eyes were literally on stalks when I saw this American word for spirited and feisty. I just had to have it and the good Doctor prescribed me hers, which was incredibly generous and I am deeply in gratitude for.

I knew exactly what tale it would be perfect for. It's a little bawdy, a bit risque but not overly rude. Mainly funny but not quite for all eyes, so I've censored a teeny bit. Anyways, that's not the bit you should be admiring. You should be looking at how the dramatic colour combo works together or lusting after my newly acquired Martha Stewart Loops punch (which isn't easy to come by in the UK, let me tell ya!) that I just had to use. All put together in my typical graphic design led style. Hope you like it Eileen :)

Now I Definitely Wouldn't Choose These

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0000

I'm grateful to Ann's blog for directing me to a new challenge site, The Play Date Cafe. As chance would happen, I'd already started a card, when trying out my new Martha Stewart punch. I'd stuck the grey patterned Anna Griffin paper onto a white card and there it stayed waiting for me to complete. When I saw that this part-made project had two of the challenge colours, I decided it was perfect to use. I ferreted through my scraps and found some orange and browns and with the help of some nesties dies and foam pads, I created the focal piece with sentiment. To add the finishing touch, I dug out some black ribbon and placed the bow under the sentiment to keep the balance.

One of the rewarding aspects of joining in on colour challenges is that they make you break your patterns and create away from your safety zone. Which is exactly how I feel with these. Three neutrals and an orange, they should gel but I can't quite get used to them being placed together. It doesn't feel right to me and that's okay. It means I'm trying something new and that I'm just not used to it. Maybe seeing the other entries will help persuade me or open my eyes more. One thing's certain, I'm looking forward to the next challenge posting.

Do you remember way back when

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:55:00 +0000

and I used to blog the LOs I'd made. Nowadays, its all cards, cards, cards. Fear not! I have actually been doing some scrapping but with an album created for a recent cultural trip to London and several LOs on the go - I've been waiting for an opportunity to sit down with friends at a get together to take my mind off the tedium of trimming a gazillion photos etc. Now that they are all cut down and ready to go, I've been getting on with finishing them. Here are four to be going on with for now. The London Album isn't quite finished yet. I'll blog that in due time.

Anyways, they are all self explanatory as each one captures a day out that I've shared with Nick. We've both been pretty busy this year and so at weekends, when the two of us find ourselves with free diaries, we've been taking off on little jaunts. This has included cycling around Derwent, Cakes at the Manchester Monastery, the Aston Engine Museum (which is much more fascinating than I first gave credence to) and lapping up Liverpool's summer of colour festival.

It should be made law that everyone must own an item that's flocked

noreply@blogger.com (Paul B) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:58:00 +0000

Mmmmmm I have goosebumps go right through me whenever I see flocked paper. I know you can't see from the photo but the top section of this card, the black flourish pattern - its all flock baby. All the card used in this comes from DCWV La Creme collection and half the patterns contained within the pack are flocked.

Flock seems to be everywhere in the world of interior design and long may it continue to be fashionable. As for the card I've made here, I've kept it clean and simple. No colours, just neutrals. The previous card I posted was a lot busier with more layering. However, if forced to choose, I have to say I prefer this one.

I'm lapping up the minimalist movement. Same goes when I'm at my art appreciation course at night school. I'm discovering that I prefer my art to be uncluttered and displaying only the pertinent details. I feel part of me tense up inside when our tutor puts up an image on the slideshow with yet another busy painting of all these extraneous characters and images crammed into a small space.

Okay, deep breath. Vein on my temple is about to explode haha. Anyway, ahem, hope you like the card.