2016 Topic 8: White Space Kasia Krzyminska Well hello everyone, Darcy here with a brand new topic for 2016. Easter is behind us and we are moving forward at a pace toward summer. Many people take this time to spring clean and declutter, and so this next topic is very fitting. White space is where a portion of the project is left plain, often totally unmarked. However this space does not need to be 'white' it can be any colour. The space though, should be clearly defined in its own right, it is, after all, part of the design. Often white space is called 'negative space' , and is the area left behind in relation to the focal image. But negative space done cleverly and with careful colour choices can become the more prominent of the two, when it forms an interesting or artistic shape, it does not simply have to be 'background'. Bronwen Vaughan-Evans Before we start, let's see who won the Topic 7: Resists Challenge... Oh lots of interesting resists from the past 2 weeks, pops of backgrounds showing through and a huge variety of techniques used. Relatively simple but so effective, I hope you will continue to use the techniques explored. The winner of Resists is .... Challenge entry number 7: Lesley from Crafty love and hugs, you can see her entry here where she uses a rub-on, Hot Picks stamps and Golden's tar gel combined with inks to create a lovely tag! Thanks Lesley, and congratulations on your win! Email Darcy to claim your prize. [email protected] When you think about it, negative space supports everything else. Where would our typing be without gaps and spaces between paragraphs. Without white space the text would be crammed together and difficult to read. Take a look at advertising, the more expensive items will have lots of negative space, it is the illusion of class and opulence... less is more, and indeed costs more. The same applies to music, when there is a pause, this can be referred to as negative space. It helps make sense of the main elements. The use of equal negative space, as a balance to positive space, in a composition is considered by many as good design. This basic, but often overlooked principle of design, gives the eye a "place to rest," increasing the appeal of a composition through subtle means. Brendarose I found this quote, which to me sums up the importance of white space perfectly. 'Look beyond the obvious to see what is left behind, and find beauty in that' {The Drake" by Dick Sproul} In ancient Japanese white space or negative space is know as 'Ma', this is the gap between two structural parts. It is best described as a consciousness of place, not in the sense of an enclosed three-dimensional entity, but rather the simultaneous awareness of form and non-form deriving from an intensification of vision. To put that in normal languague, 'ma' is how you interpret what is NOT there while also contemplating what IS there. 'Ma is not something that is created by compositional elements; it is the thing that takes place in the imagination of the human who experiences these element'. Hasegawa Tōhaku So that is the how and the why and a little history, so now let's look at some examples. You are all familiar with journal pages so we shall start there. I find it really difficult to leave white space, I always feel I have to fill the whole page with colour, but these are beautiful examples. San-T This page is striking in its simplicity. IYA This page by Mary Brack at first glance seems to have a lot going on, but the spaces suspend the focal images so serenely, it truly is a calming layout. Give your whole journal an air of tranquillity, begin with the front cover like this one from Kasia Minimal cards always look so elegant, these are often called CAS, clean and simple. Bianca This one from Heather shows perfectly that white space does not have to actually be white. You might think that white space can only apply to flat projects, in books or on cards. However even 3d items in home decor can have white/negative space elements. Kat Grieve This piece has natural beauty in the wood, a simple addition of the gold bird is all that is needed. No need for layers or embellishments. Ashley These tree bowls from Barry Guppy make perfect use of the negative space, it has become such an important art of this design. How about snuggling up under this beautiful quilt, the minimal use of colour really pops against the white background. Rachel Griffith Let's check out some larger pieces of art. Faces are particularly well suited to this technique, leaving areas that only suggest features. Anajarockz This one from Beverley Shiller could not be simpler, there is more white space than ink and yet you know exactly what this image is, it is truly amazing how the brain fills in the missing parts. I love this one, it really appealed to my penchant for recycling. The artwork is technically brilliant, but the background of ordinary cardboard adds so much, a lot more than you might think. Never overlook those PaperArtsy delivery boxes! Jason Ratliff In this piece from Megan Wells, the central are is unworked and is therefore the negative space, but in this case it is also the focal image by default as all the colour work is around it. This one by Kit Sunderland is similar, with the enhancement of the music paper as a background. Remember white space does not need to be white, or totally plain. A lot of you will have had a go at scrapbooking, did you manage to conquer the 'white space' treatment like these pages. Peppermint Such simple elegance, hardly anything there but still so effective. The white space draws you in and leads your eye to the focal image. Julie A final layout, again showing how well the negative space works to draw you to the main image, aside from that how gorgeous do those powders look against the black! Let's finish with a few fun and funky ones.. Hands up who remembers string art? JennMarie Can you see the legs, my brain is telling me they are there even though they are not! Susan Cutts Perhaps you would like to have a negative space manicure. i am a little baffled by this one, I sort of like it but I am not sure why lol ( I thought I had stumbled upon a one off, but no, this is a real thing, there are lots of negative manis out there) If all else fails you can always go for an 'inside out clock' Gilt I hope that has given you some ideas of how to make the most of your white-but not neccessarily white space. Have fun over the next 2 weeks. Don't forget to follow Leandra's pinterest page if this topic pushes your buttons, you will see plenty more examples to whet your appetite there! I am really looking forward to seeing what you create over the next 2 weeks! Darcy Topic 8: White Space PaperArtsy Blog Challenge We'd love you to share your ideas and link up your creative response to our current blog topic. Take a minute to read the challenge guidelines below. All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The White Space link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, May 1st 2016, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00. 1. The challenge is a for you to show how you are inspired by the current blog topic. Your entry should contain: - a mention of which post inspired you and why, and - a link in your blog post to that original post on the PA blog. The whole concept of this challenge is 'play along with us'. You are encouraged to put your own twist on ideas you see on our blog, do your own thing - whatever grabs you! 2. The link you put on our linky page must lead directly to the specific post on your blog where you have explored the technique/ idea mentioned in point 1 above. Don't link to the home page of your blog. 3. We prefer your challenge blog post is created exclusive to our challenge, but if our topic fits perfectly with another challenge, then you may link to both if appropriate. 4. You are most welcome to use stamps/ products/ substrates you have to hand from a variety of companies, we do not expect you to exclusively use PA products - it's lovely when you do though! 6. You can enter as many times as you like. We don't want to restrict your creativity! NB. Link closes at 17:00 Sunday May 1st (London Time) 7. The winner of the random draw will receive a £50 credit voucher to be redeemed on the PaperArtsy Website. The credit voucher includes VAT and postage. We request that one of your purchases is an A5 rubber stamp. You can add any other items to your basket, but the final total should not exceed £50. 8. Each fortnight on Sunday, the winner will be announced at 19:00 (London time). In the same post, the link for the next fortnight will be posted. 9. It's your responsibility to claim your prize coupon from Darcy. email: [email protected] Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Have you ever wanted handcrafted, luxury editions of your favourite books? At BindABookGifts you can choose from 3 unique cover designs and a variety of cover and foil colours to create a luxury edition of any book. Please write the book of your choosing in the personalisation box with the authors name and quote or message*. The book selected does not have to be a book displayed in the listing and can be any book you wish . BuildABookGifts will acquire a copy of your chosen book and create your selected style of book cover within 1-2 weeks. All book covers are handcrafted to order so please allow for 1-2 weeks for the book cover to be created before they are dispatched for delivery. *The back cover can feature a custom message or quote up to 15 words in length.

Find out to use journaling to help you forgive and let go of old grudges. Become a better version of yourself one day at a time to feel happier and fulfilled.

Mickey Memories Monday Each Monday we will be giving you tips on photography and scrap booking to make magical Disney memories. I found this scrapbook page online. It is a great idea for park maps.

I have gone back to book formats in my newest work. It will be on show for the first time at our Open Studios event next weekend.

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all! As you know, I love Bible journaling, and I love God's Word. In months past, I have collaborated with other bloggers to bring you free devotions and coordinating Bible journaling printables. This month, my friend Jennifer Hayes Yates--Christian devotion writer and blogger at One Thing--asked me to write a devotion as part of a three-week series on her blog all about digging deeper with God. I was so excited that she asked me to write something because I have been wanting to write more lately, and her request was just the push I needed to finally do it. The topic she gave me was worship, so I set aside a few days to study what God says about worship, and I wrote a devotion entitled "Whole-Hearted Worship." When I was studying worship to write this devotion, one of the verses I found inspired me to do an entry in my journaling Bible. You might have seen the page I illustrated on Instagram. A post shared by Bethany (@pitterandglink) on Jun 25, 2017 at 2:52pm PDT Because people seemed to like the page a lot, I decided to use it as inspiration for some FREE Bible journaling goodies that coordinate with the "Whole-Hearted Worship" devotion. Of course, I had to use pink in my designs, but this time I added purples, blues, and greens for a bit of a different color palette than normal. And because some of you enjoyed the traceable from my last Bible journaling set, I added a microphone traceable to this set, along with the usual journaling cards, tabs, circles, and itty-bitty words. Download the FREE Bible journaling printable HERE. You'll need the devotion to go along with the Bible journaling goodies, and you can find that on Jennifer's blog, along with a little bit of background to the devotion. Click HERE to go to Jennifer's blog. While you're there, check out the other posts in her Digging Deeper series and subscribe to her blog for weekly encouragement. Also, I highly encourage you to check out the Bible study she wrote entitled Let's Run. You can find it on Amazon via my affiliate link. Once you download both parts of the "Whole-Hearted Worship" devotion set, it's time to dig deeper in worship! I pray that God uses the words that I wrote to help you develop a closer relationship with Him through worship. As usual, if you use the printables in your Bible and share your page on social media, please tag me so I can see! God bless! Related Posts: "Two Days" Devotion + Bible Journaling Printable "First Love" Devotion + Bible Journaling Printable "Bending the Bow" Devotion + Bible Journaling Printable

Breathe a little life into your bullet journal with bullet journal headers. You know, those page titles, dates, banners, or collection headings.

An unusual color to add to your bullet journal, so these creative Brown Bullet Journal ideas will really inspire you to use this underutalised

Hello! On Wednesday I shared with you the first pages of my SMASH words book, inspired by word prompt flair from {a flair for buttons}. You can see that post here. Today, I am sharing the rest of the "loving..." pages: I went with an orange/navy/pink color palette for this page spread about Spring. Not typical Spring colors, but I still love the combination. I used a die-cut card by Dear Lizzy as the focal point on the left side. The right side features a glassine bag by SRM Stickers, as well as some SRM sticker sentiments. I added bits and pieces to the outside and placed my photos inside the bag. The next page has a very different color palette - light pink, teal and tan. I wanted this page spread to be especially girly. I used some things I'd been hoarding in my SMASH stash, such as a clothing label, vintage wallpaper, and a paint chip: On the other side I wanted some semi-private space for journaling, so I adhered a card that you can open to read. This beautiful flair is by {a flair for buttons}. I thought it was a perfect match :). I'm adding more close-ups and views of these pages to my flickr photostream here. Join me next Sunday for more pages. I haven't decided which book I'll be playing in this week, but I'm itching for some SMASHing time and will definitely have a lot to share. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

There really is no right or wrong way to go about it. Find strategies that work for you. Here are a few bullet journal ideas that you can try out:

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all! It's been a while, hasn't it? I have been super ...

Artist Ekaterina Panikanova creates densely layered paintings across large spreads of old books and other documents, resulting in artwork that blurs the lines between painting, installation and collage. Born in St. Petersburg in 1975 Panikanova graduated at the top of her class from the Academy of Fine Arts and was subsequently given a studio to work from for five years. She now lives and works in Rome. Much of what you see above was from her second ever solo show Un, due, tre, fuoco at z2o Galleria earlier this year. More

I have gone back to book formats in my newest work. It will be on show for the first time at our Open Studios event next weekend.

Looking for self care journal ideas? Find in this post 15+ self care bullet journal ideas to inspire you to add a self care routine to your journal today!

Like a traditional sculptor carving away at a piece of stone, artist Alexander Korzer-Robinson eviscerates text and whitespace leaving only the images. In doing so he creates entirely new narratives using only the pre-existing illustrations, charts, graphs and other visual elements printed inside of each book. Of his work he says: By using pre-existing media as a starting point, certain boundaries are set by the material, which I aim to transform through my process. More

Ready for a cute Spring time Bible Journaling Printable? Check out our collaboration with Hillary Krippaehne, from Creative Faith Co.

Hey, y'all! I'm so excited to be sharing another Bible journaling freebie with you! Every other month or so I love to collaborate with another blogger to bring you a set of awesome free tools to study God's Word through creativity. This month I have teamed up with Hillary from Creative Faith & Company. She is sharing a devotion she has written for y'all on her blog, and I'm sharing printable journaling goodies over here. Hillary actually reached out to me about collaborating, and a subject she mentioned that she had on her heart was waiting. Y'all, I feel like I've done nothing but WAIT over the past few years, so I thought that was a perfect subject for the devotion. Let me explain... A little over nine years ago, my husband and I decided to grow our family. We realized a couple of years into the "trying to grow our family" process that something wasn't right. I'll gloss over all the details (if you want to read more detail, check out this post), but let's just say one endometriosis diagnosis, two surgeries, three failed IVF cycles and one more surgery later, we were no closer to having a child. We were both emotionally drained from the whole process and decided to just let everything be. Until the end of this past November when we both decided it was time for us to pursue adoption! So after all that waiting, we are now waiting again. But this time I finally see light at the end of the tunnel. And you know what? I realize looking back that God had a purpose for all of our waiting. He was preparing us for this next step in our lives where we will adopt the child He has had planned for us all along. Hillary's devotion contains some great verses on waiting and hard times, and it may be just what you need to read at this time in your life. You can download her "Two Days" devotion here. When Hillary sent me the "Two Day's" devotion, I used her writing as inspiration for some fun journaling printables for y'all so that you can get creative in your Bibles while studying what God has to say about waiting. Download the "Two Days" Bible journaling printable here. This time along with the tiny words, tabs, circles, banners, and journaling cards, I included a clock traceable. Sure, you can color it and use it in your Bible, but you can also trace it onto one of your Bible pages and use your favorite medium to add color to it! I hope that God uses Hillary's devotion and my freebies to speak to your heart. If you are inspired by the devotion to get creative in your journal or Bible, please share your pages with us on social media using the hashtag #TwoDaysDevo. I can't wait to see what you create! Related Posts: Free Printable Journaling Cards Free Printable Traveler's Notebook Cover + How to Free Printable "Like a Tree" Devotion + Bible Journaling Printable Free Printable "First Love" Devotion & Bible Journaling Printable

I've been meaning to share this tutorial forever and am finally getting it done because I accidentally ran across the instructions last week. The tutorial is an altered book project that I did for the "yellow" month at a Year-of-Color....

Hello! I started a new portfolio. I bought another pink Pretty Style portfolio and have made it my quotes book. I collect favorite quotes in notebooks, art prints for my home, and on my Words board on Pinterest. I decided it was time to house them in a SMASH book, too. So, last night after Addie went to bed, I made a few pages: First up, this colorful page. I just reorganized my SMASH book cart (the raskog IKEA cart), and I realized just how many die-cuts I have. I decided to use up some by creating a grid of die cuts at the top of this page. The die-cuts are by Basic Grey and DCWV. DCWV needs to put out a package of just typewriter die-cuts. I think I'm all out now :(. Some of my favorite parts of this page are 1) the paint chip, 2) the polka dot bag, 3) the orangey-red woodgrain washi tape with hearts (Freckled Fawn). My next page is this mosaic quote page made with Love My Tapes washi, fabric and lace tapes (plus a couple of other washi tapes I had in my stash): You can read more about this page on the Love My Tapes blog today. The third page I made is one of the bird pages in the book. I instantly thought of one of my favorite quotes about flying, which led to a quote about challenges and the sticker quote about dreams. I left spaces for more quotes to be added later, as I find the right ones. The birds on a wire are cut from a piece of a Hambly transparency. I am hoarding the last bit of that sheet, as well as some others. I'm so sad they aren't in business anymore. I saved the gold floral die-cut from a project I did several weeks ago. I punched birds from the same gold foil paper (Chickaniddy Crafts) and placed them in the glassine bag. On the opposite page, I used the negative from punches. You can see more photos of these pages in my flickr photostream. Thanks for visiting for SMASH Sunday! Tessa

Headed on vacation? Or reminiscing about one you just went on? Want to save the picture and memories in a totally awesome way? Welcome to the VACATION SMASH BOOK! A smash book is a totally awesome twist to a traditional scrapbook. Think scrapbook except quick, easy, unique and with a twist of messy. And below you’ll...Read More »

Becoming a better you is the goal of every high-achiever. Come and join me for 365 questions for a better you, the January edition.

This layout was the featured BAP (Build a Project) over at Creative Kuts last week. I love this and think it would showcase that special Gr...