Saturday, June 30, 2012

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

Friday, June 29, 2012

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

Monday, June 25, 2012

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 :-)