Washi and Some Artwork

Hi everyone, I hope everyone has been enjoying some lovely crafting time.  As for me, I have been a busy girl.  I managed to complete another page in my art journal.  As you would know from my previous posts, I have accepted the 30 Day Smash Challenge set by the Facebook Smash*aholics group.  You can read about it here.  The full list has now been posted, you can check it out here.  Kellie did such an awesome job setting the list out in such a fun way.

Anyway, I worked on the Washi Tape page a couple of days ago but had not yet had a chance to post it.  So here it is.

I could not resist the temptation to create a page centred around Washi's origin which would allow me to incorporate a geisha girl.  I simply love Geisha's.   I wanted to keep it fairly simple so that the Washi could really show through.  I don't have a huge collection as yet, so I thought this would be the best way to showcase them.

I have also been spending a lot of time on youtube lately (LOVE YOUTUBE) and since I have just started art journalling, I have enjoyed learning from all the very generous contributors on youtube.  During my search, I came across a fabulous artist (one of many) Christy Tomlinson.  For any of you that do not know about her, she is a mixed media artist who has created many fabulous mixed media works including her "She Art" range.  She also has a series of online workshops that you can undertake to learn how to create your own She Art.  I am saving my pennies for that currently in the meantime however, I decided to give it a go myself.  Over the last two days, I have now completed four canvases.  They have turned out to be not only thoroughly enjoyable but relatively easy and really quick to do.  Here are the four I have completed.

I will be making lots more of these I think in the near future.  I hope that you all enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoy making them.

As for now, its time for bed.  I have a dreadful cold and it always seems to be worse at night.

Until next time, get crafty.

Hugs,

Tash Daly

Witch Hats??

I have been having a great time today because I finally got a chance to work on my art journal/smash book (yes, I have combined them both).  I am SO loving art journalling and getting dirty with paint etc, if you haven't tried it you should...It is AWESOME!!  For me art journalling has become my new SMASH, a way of getting organic and creative yet at the same time, telling a story and documenting precious memories and capturing thoughts and feelings.  I am not very far in since I have only just started, but I hope this will be a very long and rewarding journey for me.

As I have commented in earlier posts, I joined a SMASH group on Facebook fittingly called SMASH*aholics.  They also have a blog, you can read about it and find their links here in my earlier post.  Recently they posted a 30 Day Smash Challenge, so today I decided that I would begin to work on the one of the first 10 items listed thus far.  I had wanted to work on my "All about me" page but unfortunately I was not happy with the background I had created for this particular piece and so moved on to prepare another which then had to dry.  As a result I decided to start on "My Favourite Thing".  I decided that I would make this page about my favourite thing today rather than about a particular material possession and I had one of those favourite things happen today that made me smile and was oh so worthy of a page.  As a parent one of my most favoured things is the innocence of children and their totally literal translation of everything we say.  As a result, they come out with the most fascinating and funny things!!  Today, I caught another one of these moments and I knew I wanted to capture it for future reference.  I hope that Lily, my 8 year old, will get a real kick out of reading back over this page in the future.  

Whilst driving home from my sister's shop today, we passed by some workmen on the road.  They were laying out witches hats and trying to direct traffic around their work area on the road.  A regular conversation broke out between me and her Dad over the witches hats as his work requires the use of these cones.  We made a couple of jokes and had a bit of a laugh which was neither here nor there, just stupid stuff really.  During this time, Lily was in the back of the car unusually quiet listening intently to our conversation.  After a short pause following the end of our conversation, Lily finally asked the question that had obviously been plaguing her for the last few minutes..."witches hats?? she asked, you mean as in Halloween?"  Such an innocent question but one that melted my heart and made me smile, for it suddenly dawned on me that she had been trying to rationalise the strange conversation about road works and witches hats and when I pictured what she must have been thinking it made me laugh.  

It is amazing that such precious and innocent moment can happen among the mundane hum drum that is everyday life.  I wanted to remember to stop and capture them as often as I could.

So here it is:

   

I was really happy with how it turned out since it is only my third art journal page.   I had so much fun creating this page, trying out different techniques etc and  still have SO much to learn.

The image of the witch is from The Greeting Farm called Hallo Witch and is a digi, I chopped off her hat and placed it below her on the road and gave her the other type of witches hat instead.  I hope you like it and that perhaps it may inspire you to give it a go.

Please if you any tips or a blog with all your art journalling goodness I would love to know about it and check it out.  Until then have a SMASHing time!!

Hugs,

Tash Daly

A Craft Lovers Heaven!!

Today, whilst picking up some things for Lily at the shops, I was fortunate enough to have been spoilt with a few little pressies myself! They first, I scored whilst browsing the isles as the local "Dollar Store".  My daughter Lily spotted a cute little trolley that she decided would be great to store all her art supplies and goodies... When I finally caught up with her she was happily showing her Daddy and pleading her case as to why this trolley would be such a useful and practical purchase, as 8 year old's do.  Whilst initially not convinced they were both quick to point out that it was an excellent idea and felt that I was in desperate need of 3 or 4 of them myself!!  Well I did not get 3 or 4 but I did get one and after dinner I dutifully got to task on organising my art journal supplies which where currently stacked up in little boxes all over the kitchen table.

I must say that once I started filling my first little draw I began getting more and more excited as I saw the table clearing and all my beautiful little supplies fitting nicely into happy homes all over this little trolley.  I am  now so thrilled with this little trolley, that words can not explain as only pictures do.  The best part is that it is on castors so I can roll it from room to room as I see fit.  Combined with my little fold up table I am fully mobile and can set up anywhere in the house now, yipee!! And here it is:

I was totally surprised over how much stuff this poor little trolley could hold and I am almost half expecting that I will venture out into the family room tomorrow morning to find that the poor little trolley has collapsed under all that weight.  Here are some little close-ups:

All my pens and glue's and taller bottles in my pen caddy.

More pens and brushes and other bits and pieces.

I LOVE my Distress Inks as you can see.  

Here are my Tombows, Prismacolor Pencils, Water Soluble Crayons , Inktense Pencils and Water Colors.  Plus a couple of my mica powder pots.

Some of my mediums and my paints.  I was lucky enough to have been allowed to buy a  Crackle Medium and 8 new  paint tubes today.  So, so spoiled!!

More Mediums and all my Glimmer Mists and Stickles.

The bottom drawer contains my journals, sketch book and watercolour pads and my Art Journal.

Hanging my Washi Tapes, Decorative Duct Tapes and my Colour Swatches allowed me to free up some room in my drawers and I love the way it looks.

I was also lucky enough to come across a local shop carrying Washi and Decorative Duct tapes, I could not believe it as it had been under my nose all this time. It was probably just as well if the truth be told, hehe!  I was further spoiled however and scored SIX new washi tapes and 5 deco duct tapes (which were on sale).  I told you I was in crafter's heaven today!!

And on the other side, my rags, more paints (they have little hanging tabs) and my favourite brushes.

I am sure that you will agree, that it is an awesome little trolley and just stores so much stuff!!  And to think....I owe it all to my little girl...well spotted darling!!  I really was so spoilt and I am so excited to put all my new goodies to use ..... if only I could get some time to myself, heehee.  Since its school holidays though I doubt it will be too soon :-(.  Looks like it's going to take some rain and indoor craft weather before I will get a chance...lucky for me, we have been getting a lot of that recently..mwuaahahahaaahaaaaa!!

Until next time friends...I hope you are as blessed as I am and happy crafting!!

Hugs,

Tash Daly

Baby Steps.....the Art Journal Journey!!

Hi all, as I mentioned in my previous post I have been sticking my fingers in a lot of pies lately and have been working on all kinds of fun and interesting things.  I must say, that even though I have been looking at people's art journals for ages and in particular Julie Balzers blog, I never really got it till now!  Lately, I thought I would give it a go and have been having so much fun.  I only have two complete pages so far (pictures to come in a later post) but today I am writing about me first real drawing!!!  Eeeeek, I am so excited to share this with someone...anyone really.  

You know the feeling when you try something you really thought you would be no good at so you head off into the big unknown with little expectations other then having fun experimenting rather than really really trying?  Well that was me tonight.  So far my journal has really only consisted of a bit of experimentation with backgrounds, colours and wording and a kind of a play on the whole SMASH book thing but with my own handmade backgrounds really, but I have long admired those beautiful art journal pages with the hand drawn and painted images of pretty girls with their hair blowing in the wind....GORGEOUS!!  Well this afternoon, as I sat down to watch the "Ellen" show to begin unwinding after a long week hahaha, I decided that I would give this whole drawing thing a go.  

In the past I have note that I had some basic drawing ability, but believe me nothing that would have me jumping to the rooftops and shouting "I can draw, I can draw".  That being the case however basic drawing is one thing, but drawing a face which one would considered to be cute rather than some nightmarish thing that could only be described as a poor attempt of Picasso's Weeping Woman was going to be a challenge for me.  This my friends was challenge enough but to actually add colour by way of paint was likely to be a total impossibility.  Besides the feeble attempts of painting in High School, the painting of walls in a number of renovations I have not really undertaken any other painting activities.  I was surprised however, to discover that some of those useful layering and shadowing techniques that you pick up in using copics could be somewhat applied and in the end I am absolutely tickled pink with my result.  I never in a million years could have imagined that I  would be able to pull off the little piece of art that I did and am totally chuffed!!  Of course she is in no way perfect, her eyes are mismatched, her nose a bit weird and of course the poor little thing is just some floating head with no body to speak of because THAT was just going to be even more of a challenge than I was prepared to bargain for but all that aside, she is rather cute.  

Before I share my little creation, I should apologise that the photo is not that great since she had only just been sealed (since she is going to be layered into my art journal) and as such there is a bit too much gleam on the picture.  Unfortunately, I am not the worlds best photographer either and despite having an automatic camera I think I have accidentally changed on of the settings on my camera because it just does not seem to take the same kind of quality photo's as it used to but I do not have the foggiest idea on how to fix it.  Something else to learn in time....its seriously never ending!!  Anywhoooo......here she is!

Ok so maybe her eyes are quite mismatched but nothing is going to take away from how not so secretly pleased I am with the result.  Unfortunately the background pages she is going on are only in their early stages on account on having to wait for them to dry more thoroughly, however, I look forward to sharing my progress with you as the page develops, since I have no idea what I am going to do yet.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share my joy in my little accomplishment with you, I really appreciate at least being able to share it with someone even if this post just disappears into cyberspace.  Should anyone however actually read this post, I would be so interested in hearing about your art journalling stories or to share in your work, so please leave me a message letting me know where I can find you as I have so much to learn.  

I should say that for anyone looking to perhaps starting an art journal or even interested in scrapbooking and papercraft in general you really should check out Julie's blog which provides so much inspiration and great tips for those starting out.  A good place to start is here.  I hope that anyone who decides to undertake this venture finds as much joy in it as I currently am.

Until next time, happy crafting!!

Hugs,

Tash Daly

Long Time No Post.....

Well it has been a really long time since I made a post, but then it has been a really really long time since I have undertaken any scrappyness.  After a long bout of depression, I have finally started getting crafty again and I have lots to show you. 

Lately I have been trying something different.  So yes....like everyone else it seems I finally succumbed to the world of SMASH.  There is a fab group that I joined both on Facebook and Blogger dedicated to all SMASHaHolics!!  Feel free to join the "Smash*aholics" group on facebook here or their blog here.  


A couple of weeks ago they had a weekend challenge, since I had never started a Smash book, but have been looking to perhaps start one, I thought this would be as good an opportunity as any to have a go.  I don't know that my pages could be called true SMASH pages as they still appear to be to uniformed and formal....more like mini scrap pages but then what do I know...I am no expert.  In any case, I had fun joining in and attempting my first lot of Smash pages.  


Well, time to show you what I came with:

As a long time sufferer of Depression, I have decided to dedicate a journal to my journey overcoming Depression. 

For challenge One: we were required to include something handmade.  I included a little pocket I made out of a doily and some little flowers I crocheted.

For the second challenge: we had to ensure that we used photo's.  The cute Bingo card was given to me by my lovely friend Julie (aka the paperbag lady) so thanks Julie...I got so many comments on that!

The third challenge called for the use of washi tape, a tag and a photo:

This was also my first opportunity to make an charm made up of a picture inlaid in a little frame and then sealed with gloss accents.  Unfortunately the picture is too small for you to see, but it is hanging on the large tag.

I did mention in this post that I had a lot to show you and that I do, however, for me I am afraid it is bedtime and this post would otherwise take a looooong time!!  So I will need to continue tomorrow.

So until next time, happy scrappin/stampin and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Tash Daly :-)

Blog Hopping With "THE GREETING FARM"

Hi everyone, Tash here and welcome to Two Scrappy Ladies.  Today I am joining The Greeting Farm's 3rd Annual Customer Blog Hop, Yipeeee!!!

To join the blog hop we had to create either a Holiday or Non-Holiday themed project.  For this blog hop I have chosen a Non-Holiday themed project by introducing you to a fabulous little Birthday gift project that I have been working on for my 13 year old niece, Larissa.  Since she just turned 13 and we know how much little Misses love to record all facets of their life at this age I decided to create a junk journal for her.  Larissa LOVES 'The Greeting Farm' stamps, in particular the 'Creeper Crew' so I have incorporated all sorts of Greeting Farm characters into this journal on to journalling tags.  I have left the tags very plain so that she can colour in the images (which she loves doing) and add her own artistic flair.  Anyway, I think it is perfect for a teen Miss, but I will let you decide.

I used a thick chipboard as the front and back covers which I covered with layered papers which I sewed together before gluing it to the chipboard.  The inside pages are a mixture of blank white pages, stripped white pages and designer papers as I wanted to leave room for her to illustrate and journal as well as leaving room for photo's.  I also tried to incorporate different mediums including acetate sheets and a felt page which was perfect for some stick pins.

Little booklets and post it notes add a fun yet practical elements to the book.

As you can see, there are lots of tags used throughout the pages which can be moved around as she likes and a acetate sheet with a 'creeper crew' character provide the perfect base for a dress me up sticker set.

I also included other stickers where I could which she can use to further express her emotions throughout.  I thought there were fun and would provide examples as to the sort of things she can add.

And of course, no book of her's would be complete without the token "Edward" images...heeheeheee, so I made sure to include a few of him also.

Well bloggers, that's it for my project I hope you enjoyed it.  If you get lost be sure to head back to the TGF blog by clicking here, however you can go directly to Thahn's page here.  Don't forget that there are prizes up for grabs which include two Grand Prizes for participant's creations and also a random hopper will ALSO win the ENTIRE upcoming January Release!! The only way to win is to participate in the hop so if you are only starting here go to the TGF blog and get hop, hop, hopping!!

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest project.  May you all have a fabulous Christmas/Holiday season  full of family, joy and peace. 

Until next time, happy stamping/scrapping.

Tash Daly

Rapunzel, Rapunzel....Let Down Your Golden Hair!!

Hi everyone, Tash here with yet another creation this time for Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog.  This weeks theme is Fairy Tales and therefore I have decided to go with this little beauty!!!  Her name is "Tressa, A Princess" by super talented artist Krista Smith.  Krista is the artist behind the Simply Sassy Stamps and Saturated Canary.  She now has digi's available through her Saturated Canary Store on etsy.  If you would like this gorgeous stamp you can get her now here.  When I saw this image I straight away thought of Rapunzel and was therefore perfect for this challenge.  Now onto my card:

I love how it turned out and here are the details as to what I used to create it:

Paper: 149201, (My Memories)

Stamp: Tressa, A Princess, (Saturated Canary Digi's)

Punch: Fiskars/Christina Ricci collection

Ribbon/Lace: Both from my stash, however gorgeous seam binding in various colours is available from 

"The Paperbag Lady" on etsy. 

Seam binding has been coloured using Rum and Raisin Glimmermist (Tattered Angels)

Flowers: Purple Iris, (Prima), others are from my stash

Pearls: Ice Green I think, (Kaisercraft)

Die: Mistletoe Doo Hickey die (Magnolia)

Glitter: Crystalina, (Kindy Glitz)

Copics: E50,51,53,31,33,35,43,21 (Skin/Hair); R02 (Blush/Lips); YG00,03,06; V000,04,06&09 (Dress/Flowers); BG10, G02,21,05 (Background)

Hope you all enjoy my card.  Until next time, happy scrapping.

Hugs,

Tash Daly