Cath Sheard Art

Blog

  • Hiding the details

    When I journal, it really is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Currently I’m using a Dina Wakley mixed media journal, which I love, to “download my head”. If you’ve been foll wing me a while, you know I’ve had weight loss surgery and as part of that journey have faced up to my food addiction, abusive first marriage, miscarriages etc.

    All my feelings get poured out into my journals, and I share all my pages, but some of that I don’t want others reading – and don’t even want to re-read myself because the psychologist think that creates a ‘loop’ in your head.

    How do I write down the hard stuff, then share it safely?  There’s a number of things I do:

    • Cover the writing with a light coat of gesso or Tim Holtz Distress Paint
    • Put it in a sealed pocket or enveloped attached to the page
    • Cover it with printed tissue paper, such as the Tim Holtz range
    • Use scribble writing – this is my go-to

    I did the background with Tim Holtz Distress paints and StencilGirl stencils, and the tag with Andy Skinner stamps using Stampin’ Up ink and a red Tombow, then wrapped some red cotton round it. I used a thick black Pilot pen for the journaling and added some messy burgundy and red cotton under the tag with Tombow glue to ground it a bit.

    technique

    This page talks about some hard stuff we’re facing at the moment, and how I feel about it. It’s personal and involves other people – it’s not just my story – so I needed to think about their privacy too.

    fragile 20190512.jpg

     

  • Crafty housework

    I don’t treat my art supplies like precious items – for me, they’re tools. My favourite brushes sit in a container of water on my desk 90% of the time. I don’t clean my stamps except for a quick swipe with a baby wipe (sometimes…). Sometimes I wipe my stencils as I use them, sometimes I don’t clean them until the finer details start to get lost. They’re tools so use ’em.

    Today I decided to clean my fav Dyan Reaveley red rubber alphabet because I felt I was losing some details. Might also be just my imagination! Anyway, I used StazOn cleaner, then wiped them with a baby wipe. They’re not spotless, but way better. And that’s enough crafty housework for one day…

    stamps.jpg

  • So handy!

    I love people’s hands, and am always checking out people’s rings, nails and so on – not in a judgemental way, just curious. This was done in my small Dylusions journal.

    Paints: Ground coffee, Laidback lilac, Vanilla custard. Stencils: Sugar lumps, Blocks, Modern script. Stamps: Dy’s alphabet. Other: Distress ink, Stampin’ Up ink, white gel pen. Pitt Big Brush pen.

    hands 20190508

  • Broken bits

    Still recording the lyrics I love. Pink’s songs really speak to the part of me that’s a bit broken – the food addict who now knows she used/uses food to smother her emotions. The spot on her chin is from my mucky fingers! (oops…) This was done using Dylusions products, which are some of my all time favs.

    my attic 20190508

  • Inner thoughts

    When I’m getting ‘stuff’ out of my head I often use this Dina Wakley journal – it has 4 different types of media in it and I really like it. The writing on this is about my weight loss, the ongoing struggle to be in the right head space, and the reasons I eat as an addict.

    caged bird 20190505.jpg