I’m very pleased to let you know that as of today I have a new store open at Plain Digital Wrapper. To celebrate, I’ve set up a coupon for you so that you can pick up anything you may have seen at SBG but didn’t get a chance to nab, with a bit of a discount.

By the way, I’ve already sent a discount to my newsletter subscribers, and it’s BIGGER than this one. They always get the best deals, so if you haven’t subscribed yet you really should Box up top left is where you do the deed. It doesn’t hurt, honest.

Anyway, you can visit my new store at:

http://www.plaindigitalwrapper.com/shoppe/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=110

Use the coupon code RRBlog1003 at the checkout to take 15% off any purchase over $4.99. It’s good for the rest of the month, expiring 31st March, and is a one time use per person. Feel free to share it with your friends too if you like, the more the merrier.

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There were so many ways I could have interpreted the colour prompt, and I spent quite a while deciding what to do. In the end I decided to go with this treatment.

Over twenty years ago I was an art student at college, more interested in the social opportunities of student life than the academic side. I routinely was late for, or even missed altogether, classes. One day I had missed a class but I knew we would have an assignment for the following week so I asked a classmate about it. ‘Self portrait’ he told me. So I spent my studio time that week creating a stylised self portrait in the Paul Klee style, to reflect the many dimensions and facets of how I saw myself at that time. I handed it in on time, and was disappointed when I failed the assignment. Turns out my classmate should have mentioned it was a ‘realistic drawn or painted self portrait’, not a free piece. Anyway, I always felt it was a more honest portrayal of my self image than any drawing or mirror painting I could have made, and I wanted to do it again for this page.

I started by compiling a digital background using items from my Nat IV kit, Page Stamps Bundle and Double Doodle Alpha, all available here at SBG, and printed it out. I then did the text work using a quotation from Jean M Auel around the edge. I chose this quote because it speaks of the irrelevance of colour, which I enjoy as I am both obsessed with colour (artistically) and colour blind (racially), and also refers to being surrounded by people who are ’significantly different’, which is a very polite way to describe my family.

Finally, I coloured the central image with pencils. Terrifically simple execution, but I am pleased with the result. What fun to do!

Materials:
Nat IV Altered Art Kit (the Yellow background, and the dots stamp), Double Doodle Alpha (the word ‘Story’),  Page Stamps Bundle (the face outline); Pigma Micron marker; Prismacolor coloured pencils

I decided to work a page on the prompt ‘What is your favourite time of day’. For me, it’s the night-time. I’m a night owl anyway, and at this time of year (winter in the Northern Hemisphere) I love the sound of the cold wind, the twinkling of the stars in the black sky and the roaring fire in my studio that remind me that the world is asleep and I am the Queen of all I survey through my garden window.

For this page I started by compiling a digital background using scrapbook supplies by Catherine Designs and Createwings, employing blending modes to make it blue and yellow, and printed it out. I then did the text work, using a quote that sums up my feeling about the night from Lemony Snicket, and the famous line from Hamlet, which is my attitude once I have resigned myself that it really is bedtime.

I drew the moon and coloured him in on plain white paper, and then cut out and adhered to the page. Finally I added details using white and silver markers. The parts that look pale blue on this scan are actually shiny silver in real life.

Materials:

Scrapbook items from Catherine Designs & Createwings; Prismacolor coloured pencils; Pigma Micron black marker; Uniball white marker; Pilot silver marker; Glue stick

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Newsletter subscribers get an additional 10% off their purchases of the new items, so if you’re a subscriber check your email for your coupon. And if you’re NOT a member, why not sign up so you don’t miss the additional savings on new products from now on?

New in store at SBG today, and 20% off til Wednesday.

This Native series kit is designed for your altered art creations beyond ATCs and into art journalling and larger pieces. It contains everything you need to start creating unique and extraordinary ATCs (artist trading cards), altered artworks, illustrated/art journals, hybrid projects or phenomenal scrapbook pages from a wide selection of doodles, drawings, ephemera articles, altered pieces and much more.

Includes:

16 12″ papers (also available separately)

One Alpha with upper case letters, numbers and symbols, plus one alpha with upper & lower case letters, numbers and symbols

72 unique elements including altered bits, ephemera, butterflies, stamps, paper cuts, doodles, and much more.

Also new today:

Twenty-four overlays to help you make terrific backgrounds for altered art, art journals, ATCs or cards. Can also be use for masking, texturising and many other purposes in scrapbooking. Add styles, colours, blend modes, papers or whatever you like to produce quick and easy yet individual and unique backgrounds whereever and whenever you like.

Each overlay is US Letter size (easily resizeable to A4 without loss of quality), and you also get a set ready-resized for ATC use. 300dpi PNG files with transparency.

Contains all four of these packs (which are also available separately):

Licensed for Personal and S4O Use, the EULA (TOU) for all these products can be found here: http://www.rubyrynne.biz/blog/eula-tou/

Hope all is well with you and yours, see you soon

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I put off doing this page until almost the last minute because I was struggling with what to take from Gennine’s gorgeous work. In the end I decided to go with the obvious 7 day format, but I also took a stab at creating a bird like her beautiful art.

I started by creating a digital background, mainly black with borders put together from my Native kits here at SBG, and printed it out. I outlined and doodled on the background using white marker, and laid out the 7 day week and dates.

I filled in the text, and used coloured pencils to shade, decorate and colour-enhance the background, including over the black areas.

I drew the bird on a piece of paper, and scanned it in. I used a background paper and blend modes to turn it into a blue and gold embellishment with white outline, and printed it out on gloss photo paper. I then coloured around with black marker before cutting it out and gluing it to the page.

I would thoroughly recommend trying coloured pencils on a black background, it was really good fun and I will certainly try this technique again, I think it has a lot of potential for interesting effects.

Materials:

Background and border elements from my Native kits
Pigma Micron black markers
Uniball Slingo white marker
Prismacolor coloured pencils
Glue Stick

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I started by compiling a digital background using papers from some of my kits at SBG and the Big Backs Bundle and printed it out.

I cut the arrows, letters, heart strip and flowers from pieces of K&Co scrapbooking paper that came free with a magazine subscriptions, and added details and shading to them with markers and coloured pencils.

I then worked the text onto the background using the Pigma markers, embellished with a white marker, and shaded the background with coloured pencils.

I drew the picture of Frank Lloyd Wright using a photo I found on Google Images as reference, and shaded it with markers and pencil.

Finally I attached the cut paper pieces to the page with a glue stick.

Materials:
Background papers from my kits at SBG
Pigma Micron black, and Edding 780 white, markers
Prismacolour coloured pencils
K&Co patterned paper
Leeho glue stick

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I did my first journal page yesterday, not too thrilled with how it turned out, but since it’s the journey (and not the destination) that really matters, I’m OK with it. I’m looking forward to Friday now, to get another ‘permission’ to do a page. I’m almost afraid to make pages anyway, in case I inadvertantly ‘use up’ a theme. I should relax about that, since I can always do another page if the theme comes around again. Chill Ruby, chill.

The first theme was a word. Choose a word that will serve as your destination for this year. I chose the word ‘Act’.

I chose ‘act’ as my word, because I spend a lot of time thinking and dreaming and always feel like I am waiting for the game to begin. This year I want to wake up, realise that this IS the game, and the only way to make things happen is to just DO it.

I compiled a digital background using various pieces by Irene Alexeeva, and printed it out. I then added the text using Pigma Micron markers, and embellished it (and the background) with an Edding 780 white marker, and Distress Stickles glitter glue. Finally, I added some depth and shading using the Micron markers and watercolour paint.

This has turned out more structured (not relaxed) than I intended, and I don’t know if I like it at all. But I decided to just call it finished and post it rather than get trapped in a never-ending ‘it’s not perfect’ circle. Next one will be better (or at least, different).

If you haven’t joined the Caravan yet, you really should look into it. I’m seeing so many amazing journal pages and artworks in the Caravan gallery at SBG, it’s truly inspirational. Feels so good to be just creating for it’s own sake. You should definitely try it

Find out more here.

I hope the holidays were peaceful and happy, and wish you and yours a very happy 2010.

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I’ve gone with full size background/papers this time, you get 16 in all. This really was inspired by Tangie Baxter’s Art Journal Caravan. I know a lot of you, like me, have signed up to do this fab project, and will be needing bigger scale backgrounds for your journal pages. You can still chop the papers up for ATCs though, of course

Also in store tonight are three new background bundles. Again, I’ve gone for journal page size (US Letter, but they are easily resized to A4 without losing any quality), but I have bundled in ATC size versions as well, so you get both. You can overlay them, blend them, mix and match them, clip them to paper… Endless possibilities!

These are all 20% off until Wednesday as well, or you could buy the bundle with all three packs in it and save a little more (The bundle isn’t discounted, but it’s still cheaper than buying the three individual packs separately).

I hope you’re all geared up and ready for the holidays, I plan to have a little gift for you at the weekend, so do check back

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Click the image to go to the full size version and download that. DON’T use this thumbnail!

You can sign up for a free account (and get a ton of free printables) at Artscow.

PS They are offering a deck of 54 custom cards (all different) for $8.88 with FREE SHIPPING til 31 Jan 2010. Coupon code PPC888.

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Native Too

Grab it now at Scrapbookgraphics, where you can also see the alpha and backgrounds in preview.

Also new in store tonight is this great double alpha (you get TWO sets of lower case letters so you can mix and match), because I just couldn’t stop with the doodling:

Double Doodle Alpha

And just in case you need a little more stash for your ATCs and card making, how about these background stamps/brushes:

Background Stamps

And all 20% off til Wednesday. I think I may need to go and have a lie down, I haven’t made so much new stuff in such a short time for ages. I hope the ‘Spain effect’ holds out for a while

Happy Black Friday weekend everyone!

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November 2009 sees the Scrapbookgraphics designers team up with The Queen of Quirk, Meredith Fenwick, Janet Phillips and Amy Wolff to raise money for ‘Toys for Tots’, an initiative by the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in local communities.

You can help support this very worthy cause by purchasing the Toys in the Attic kit for $8 at Songbird Avenue.

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