Bold & Beautiful Art Journal Page

Hello lovelies!

I was going to post a step-by-step tutorial for this art journal spread, but I was so in my element creating it, that I totally forgot to take photos! Sorry about that! However, you can still follow the process in my video here:

Happy Sunday 💕👋

Run forever free, Leo ♥

It's been four months, since my darling Leo passed over to the other side. I still feel the loss acutely. Leo came into my life in the summer of 2012. At first, I thought he was a "she", only because he was incredibly shy and wouldn't let me come close. He seemed to be a wildborn cat, barely a year old, who had survived the streets until he found my home. 

It tooks weeks of patience and dedication to build trust with Leo, and it was going to be on his terms. Usually, he would appear at dinnertime , wolf down the food I had put out, and then run away into hiding. After about two months of this ritual, I noticed that he chose to linger just a little longer at dinnertime, eyeing me from a safe distance. I used to talk to him in a low voice, reassuring him he's safe with me. Then one day - I couldn't believe it - he came up close and very slowly I reached out with my hand and he rubbed his big, furry head on it. I was overjoyed!

From this day forward Leo accepted me as his friend and never strayed far from the garden. In fact, over time he became "King of the Garden" as I joked with family and friends. He absolutely loved it here. In later years he would come indoors for a bit, especially in Winter, but he was still wild at heart and preferred the great outdoors, no matter the weather conditions. We had built him a little wooden house with a snuggly blanket inside, which he slept in on the few extremely cold days. In Summer, Leo enjoyed lounging on the warm terrace tiles, only getting up to chew on some grass and lapping at the fresh water bowl. He spent hours snoozing and I spent many happy hours watching him.

Leo had a sweet personality. He was always friendly and sometimes reminded me of a lap dog - cute and cuddly and very layed back. It has been a great honor and privilege knowing him and more so, since the "wild" part of him had never really left and yet he chose to trust me completely.

His death came suddenly and truly shocked me, as only a week before we played hide and seek in the garden and all seemed normal. I tried everything to help him in his final moments to no avail.

I will never forget you, Leo. Say hello to Muffin, Samson, Beauty, Sammy and Sumi from me, if you see them.

DIY - Easy Valentine's Day Gift Tag

Hi everyone!

I'm back with a cute DIY idea for Valentine's Day. For me, this day has always been about spreading kindness, joy and love to all my family and friends. It's never been about just couples. While I endeavour to be kind all year round, I like the idea of a day dedicated to love. If you are thinking of gifting the special people in your life, why not embellish your gift with a handmade tag? Here's how:

Gather your supplies. You'll need a piece of white card stock or mixed media paper. The size depends on how many tags you intend to make and the type of tag punch that you may have. Alternatively, you can simply cut rectangular tags to your preferred size. Mine are 2.5 " (6,3 cm) wide and 4.5 " long (11 cm)

You will also need:

• a heart stencil

• super heavy white gesso

• a scraper (or old credit card)

• red acrylic ink

• spray water bottle

• alphabet stamps

• red stamp pad

• red ribbon

• scissors

If you have a tag punch, go ahead and make as many tags as required or alternatively cut rectangular tags. Next, line up your stencil on the bottom part of your tag and using the scraper thinly apply the heavy gesso. Make sure the hearts are filled in. Carefully lift off the stencil. This needs to dry completely. It will take a couple of hours, but you can use a heating tool to speed up the process.

 

Once dry, add a couple of drops of red acrylic ink onto the raised hearts and spray them with water. Move the tag from side to side to make the color spread. I placed some used copy paper underneath, so as to not get any paint on my table. Mop up any excess ink with a paper towel. Then set the tag aside to dry.

Now grab your alphabet stamps and red stamp pad. I have a set of silicone stamps, which I use in many of my mixed media projects. I placed my letters on acrylic blocks. If you have wooden stamps you can forego this step. I chose to stamp my word three times to the top part of the tag.

And finally, cut a piece of ribbon and loop it through the hole in the tag. If you have cut your tag into a rectangular shape you will need to punch a hole with a regular hole punch first. And now your tag is ready to attach to a gift! I hope you have as much fun to make these as I did ♥