Tuesday 10 July 2012

WOYWW - Back in Rainy Wales !

Hi there - missed you all last week as was away in Spain - 35oC & sunny all week !
on the Well didn't miss my friend Jan as she lives there & this time last week we were having a fun BBQ at ours - 16 of us in shirt sleeves 'til midnight !! Not much chance of any of that in Wales !!

Anyway if you can see the top one of the pile of my photos which I've printed out to scrap at Scrapclub Wednesday night - Jan is on the left in the black top ! Hope you get to visit her blog too this week !!(Jan S).

Anyway as I only got back on Sunday my desk is full of projects in progress & things to get round to !

My new Summer Distress Inks had arrived when I got back - I was surprised how vivid they are in comparison to the older colours ! Waht do you think ?
I have labelled them & done the swatches of colour I do for my little home made book which I use as a reference guide when I'm working on a project - that's them drying on my desk !
I have also printed some photos out on my Pogo - the colours are a bit random but they will be fun enough to play around with in my journal.
To the left is a great book I read on hols - Personal Geographies by Jill K Berry (available on Amazon) - its all about creating art with maps of you & your life - there are some great projects I'm dying to have a go at !
Do check it out for yourself if you get a chance ! More info here http://personal-geographies.com/

Also a new DVD about travel art journals which I hoped would come in time for my hols but didn't - so still to be watched !

I did do some practising of my drawing & water-colouring whilst I was away - a couple of pictures here - still only doing plants !!! Need to get some tuition on how to do scenery !!!


I am really enjoying the Watercolour Pencils class I am taking on the Joggles.com website & even just doing the basic exercise on creating a set of colour swatches proved really useful - I could take the swatches to the plants & choose the closest colour to match - which made the pictures look more realistic (well I hope so !!). Just need to keep practising & practising !!

Oh & the funny green thing in the middle was a spoon/fork thingamajig which came in a pack of Kiwifruit in Spain - I thought all those grooves would make it a fabby thing for making textures in paint for projects & journals !! Either inspired - or I am an inveterate hoarder by nature (or maybe both !!)
So have a great week & looking forward to seeing your crafty places & projects this week ! Ali x

26 comments:

  1. At least you were able to get a little sunshine, I'm getting bored with all this rain, had enough now. I love the summer DIs, so bright and, as you say, very different from the other DIs. They shade down nicely as well. Your colouring is coming along well, keep thinking I will do a class but so much to do.....
    Ann B
    #56

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  2. Great desk with lots to see. Love the butterfly stamp - great to make cards with :-) And the DVD about art journals sounds very interesting. Love the sweet plant paintings. I think they are looking very realistic now. Thanks for sharing and have a happy WOYWW. Bye, Franka #44

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  3. Busy desk!!! I bet its a bit of a shock coming from Spain to all this dreadful rain!!! Trish #68

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  4. It's raining loads here in Surrey if that makes you feel any better - LOL. I just LOVE the Summer Distress colours and made some ATCs with then. Your drawings are super. BJ#80

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  5. Sorry its still raining Ali, melting here still.
    Your watercolour paintings are amazing, think you´ll have to use my easel and go out on the campo next time to paint some of the wild flowers. Jan S 111

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  6. Lots to see in your crafty world this week! Returning from vacation is a shock even when it's not raining! Have a great Wednesday!
    Sandy
    #122
    sandy's crafty creations

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  7. It has been raining here every day for days with not much end in sight. Nothing better to do but stay in and blog hop. The dvd sounds interesting. Hope you get to watch it soon. Dani 31

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  8. The watercolours are delightful. Thanks for a peep at your workspace. Hope you have a good week - Hazel, WOYWW #124 x

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  9. Spain sounds a treat, and your pages are lovely!

    :)trisha, #36 this week (link)

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  10. Thanks for visiting me. Your art is really excellent. Now a follower. You are welcome to follow me too ;-) jenx 135

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  11. Welcome back! Looks like you had a great time in Spain. I love your flowers and foliage drawings so I don't mind if you never get around to learning scenery. My bougainvillea quite making its bright pink flowers and got very pale all over. I dumped a load of fertilizer on it and it is greening back up. No hint of happy pink flowers yet. I hope they come back soon. I have another bougainvillea that's doing great, maybe I should drag his pot over to the other one so it can give it a talking to.

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  12. Aw Sunshine! All day Sunshine! Oh how I wish!! Even my chickens are learning to quack! No chance of anything but rain in Wales ey!
    We are going to have to meet up at some time! What do you think? Don't worry about my desk being too tidy - I am sure it will be messed up before the week is out!

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  13. Ooh, love your aloe vera drawing! Can't wait to see what you turn out with the funny green spoony thing...sounds very intriguing. :) Love that your desk is showing the signs of creative works!
    Thanks for stopping by my workspace and leaving me a lovely comment...I did respond that TH is short(a.k.a. me being lazy) for Tim Holtz. lol
    Deeyll

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  14. Thanks for stopping by our blog, we thought we would come and see your desk too, it's so interesting with lots to look at. Simce starting an art journal we've been hoarding things that 'might come in useful' too. It's amazing how you look at everything differently when journalling.

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  15. Ali, your watercolours are heavenly - really beautiful! And I love how you think outside the box, with the green scoopy thing to use for making textures! A woman after my own heart lol!

    Thanks for your lovely comment and your good wishes for Shoshi's Blog Shop - I'm really hoping it does well as Etsy was a complete let down!!

    Happy WOYWW,
    Shoshi #4

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  16. Beautiful watercolours Ali.
    The white boxes at the back of my desk are full of buttons. I must take a pic of them for next week.
    Thanks for stopping by,
    Have a good week
    Laura

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  17. I like your green spoony-forky whatsit! May it provide satisfactory textures for your artwork :)
    35 degrees....sigh....we can always dream.... glad you had a fab holiday!

    Have fun doing your LO with the photo - nice memories there!

    Hugs, LLJ #57 xx

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  18. Late, but at least blogger let me see pictures this week!! Lovely art work and fab load of crafty stash!
    Happy WOYWW...a bit late!
    (Lyn) #25

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  19. Your drawings are incredible. Really beautiful. And of course you can barbecue at midnight in Wales; you just need a lot of umbrellas!

    Happy WOYWT (What's on your workdesk Thursday!) and thanks for visiting me.
    cheers, rachel #11

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  20. Happy late woyww, sorry its been a busy week here.Looks like you have some great projects lined up. great water colour pics you have done
    mark

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  21. Wow, you have so much creative stuff going on! I love your drawings and that book sounds really interesting, I may well look into getting that. Thanks for the recommendation. :)

    Thanks also for your comment on my doily disaster blog! :lol:

    Ali #87

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  22. No it wont ever stop raining! I sure am lusting after some of that marmalade, it looks delish!

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  23. If only you could send some of that rain over here--we're asking, "Will it ever rain again?"

    That marmalade sounds wonderful, and I can see why you like the watercolor pencils so well!

    :)trisha #153 this week, showing two desks!

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  24. It's crazy how imbalanced the weather is around the world. But there is something about too much rain that is quite depressing.

    But look at all the goodness you produced in the meantime. I love love love the plant drawings. So pretty. I wish I could draw.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Belinda (39)

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  25. I just took a class teaching watercoloring I think I'm going to love it your's looks awesome

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  26. Right I am back to the one I should have been commenting on lol, WOW those drawings and watercolouring are amazing, you are doing great, I can't imagine any class I could take would get me to be able to draw any more than a stick men!!! lol. Glad you had a fantastic time away. Happy woyww :-) Kerry x

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