Goodbye

There comes a time when a Design Team member feels it is right to move on
to new adventures....and today we will be saying goodbye to Shari...

Shari has been such an amazingly supportive, kind, understanding and caring team member who has always been such a complete delight to work with.

We are so glad that she has been part of Our Creative Corner and we also want to thank her for the wonderful effort she put into her job as Spotlight Coordinator for the team.

Today we are sharing with you some memories of the brilliant creations she has shared with us during her time spent at Our Creative Corner and we know that you will all enjoy looking back at her amazingly inspirational work.

Please join us in wishing Shari the best of luck and happiness wherever her path leads....

Love from the OCC Team
 xxxx

Make Your Own Expermenting Journals by Giving Old Planners a New Life!

Hello and servus!

Claudia here to bring you another inspirational post as OCC's "Resident Guest Designer"!

If you - like me - are a hopeless hoarder of notebooks and planners and - like me - can't cope with throwing away half or un-used planners from the year before, you may like this post as I am trying to give one of them a new life as my new "experimenting journal".

With "experimenting journal" I mean what it says: not use it or create in it with a finished and presentable journal page in mind but to experiment and use it as a working tool - try out new markers, paints, how one works on top of the other and such things. Do some doodling exercises. Practice drawing or handwriting skills....or simply throw on some paint, glue on scraps...just to be creatively "movin'" to stay in the flow.

I had only just received my awesome Brett Weldele "Creepy Trees" stencil (I finally managed to buy online without having to pay a fortune for shipping costs) and I knew I HAD to use that one!!!

So the first thing I did was cover the front cover with a layer of black acrylic paint. Once that was dry I worked over that with some DecoArt Americana acrylic paints  that I stippled on wet on wet and let them mix during that process.

Stippling a new colour tone over an other one that is still wet creates a lovely blending effect:

During the whole process of stippling on and mixing colours the trees stencil was being held in place firmly! As it is made from a rather rigid material I had no bending or smudging from paint creeping underneath (as it happens sometimes when using paints that are too fluid or masks or stencils that are made from softer material)!

Next I stamped on some texture using an opaque white stamping ink and an Andy Skinner stamp with a scratch pattern.

I added some finer branches using a 3rdEye stamp and black archival stamping ink to create more depth:

 Before I put on the idea-ology word stickers I also stamped on some small scrip patterns here and there. The word stickers were outlined using a white gel pen to help blend them in.

 I also drew a thin white outline around the cover's edges to repeat the white outlines around the word stickers.

Some white and orange DecoArt Media Mister paint was sprayed on to create beautiful splatters and drip lines.

 For a finish I also sprinkled on some bright green using the Liquitex splatter brush. I covered the two word stickers with paper strips during that process.

I used my fingers and the paints I had used on the cover to tone down the bright neon orange colour of the rubber band that holds the planner shut! (and as I am writing this post I find that I forgot to do so with the little ribbon that is used to mark the page you're on).

My plan with this old altered and barely used planner is to hopefully also share some of the experiments I will be making in it from time to time. I will have to glue together pages to make them more sturdier or maybe also gesso them first...but the main aim is to use this as a place where to create without the hindhought of showing (or showing off) but to discover new paths for the creative journey.


Maybe that would be something you would love to try too...and of course I would love to see part of your journeys shared with me as well ;)

Hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia 

xxx

Top Talent For 'Wish Upon A Star' Challenge

Good morning everyone, it's time for another Top Talent spot here at Our Creative Corner. Our guest today was the winner of Trish's challenge 'Wish Upon A Star' so please welcome the hugely creative:

Yulia from yuliababak.blogspot.ru

Yulia produced a beautiful star creation which captivated our imagination. Let's find out a little more about Yulia:

Where do you live? 

 I live in Russia. In the Urals. In a very picturesque place. Most of the time I spend in the village barn. Here it is insanely beautiful - mountains, rivers, lakes.

How would you describe the type of crafting that you do?

Scrapbooking to me is a vacation from work. Where you can let go of the soul and to get away from the experience. It's my salvation. I treat people and get to see a lot of suffering ... and when I do scrapbooking, all the pain that I have seen, leaves.

Name three art supplies that you could never do without.

I like to use chipboard, sisal and micro beads.
Name one artist that inspires you and tell us why.
The favourite artist I do not have. I like very many. It all depends on my mood.
Which is your favourite 'go to' technique when crafting?
Techniques such as embossing and stamping.
Which is your favourite season or occasion to craft for?
I always enjoy creating. I'd rather do it without any special reason, just for pleasure.

Yulia, thank you so much for sharing a little of your life with us. I feel so inspired by your answer to the second question. I think Yulia's answer to this question gives the reason that so many of us turn to our crafting - to escape and dwell in a world which soothes our souls, even if it's only for a few minutes at a time from our everyday lives. 

Here's the beautiful project which Yulia created for us and she says that this piece is a 'visualization of my dreams - a trip to Venice'. 

What an absolute feast for the eyes this beautiful project is Yulia! The colours and textures are superb and it is certainly one of those projects which I would love to see in real life. Wonderful close up images which give us so much detail to drink in. The opulence of the piece, the palette and that gorgeous mask just shout Venice to my mind. I'm sure that you are all delighted to see Yulia's project and I hope it inspires you in your crafting. Thank you Yulia for joining us - it has been an absolute pleasure to work with you. Please drop by Yulia's blog by following the link near the top of this post - you will not be disappointed by what you find.

Would you like to see your work showcased here in the coming months? This can only happen if you link up with us for one of our challenges. There's still time to join us for Jan's February challenge which is Sew and Sew - just click on the link and find out all the details and have a look at the wonderful inspiration from the DT.

Our generous sponsor this month is: 

 Darkroom Door will be giving our randomly drawn winner one Rubber Stamp Set 

which is valued at $31.95 AUD 

I have another wonderful Top Talent waiting in the wings for you for next month. Just pop back to Our Creative Corner on the 22nd March and all will be revealed! Thank you so much for joining us today.

 Julia xx