Art Journal Page

Working in an art journal is a wonderful way to relax and play around with ideas.  I did this page with inspiration from a magazine for the paper pieced heart.  The quote comes from the internet after doing a search for art quotes.  As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the right one for this page.

I love using metal in my art work.  I got the fancy clock hands from a gentleman that was selling a whole little drawer full of them for $2.00 so, you will probably see them pop up now and then in my work.

The background is done by gluing down some music themed tissue paper.  When that was dried, I used gelatos and smoothed the colors in by wetting it with a baby wipe.  The edges are a darker brown and the middle is the same color only applied much lighter.  I also added a little orange under the heart.  I still wanted the edges darker so, at the end, I used a slight bit of black.

The piece is finished off with fiber around the heart, a metal circle embellishment lace, heart die cuts and Inka gold paint applied around the heart and on the stars.

I continue to try to improve on my lettering.  I used a Speedball pen and nibs dipped in Indian Ink.  It's a little nerve racking because the ink is very permanent and does not erase for mistakes so, you are stuck with what happens!!

Wrapping up the year

I've been doing ATC's lately and enjoying that as usual.  I'm also starting to gear up for next year where I will be doing a challenge of creating a small piece of art each week.  For some, that would be ATC's but, I think I will do either 3 x 5's or 4 x 6's.  I've already been cutting some paper to get ready.  I'm very excited about that and will post what I come up with.  Here are some ATC's done in the last 2-4 weeks.

Enjoy your holidays!

Altered canvas with Julie Nutting stamps

Here is another altered canvas I did.  I used my Julie Nutting doll stamps on this one.  These are a blast to make!  This one is a 12 x 12 canvas which I bought at Walmart.  If you are interested in buying the canvas, to give this a try, they were a little under 6 dollars a piece.

To make this canvas, I'm working on the back side of the canvas.  I cover the edge where the canvas meets the wood with modeling paste.  I also cover the staples.  After that was dry, I covered the sides with musical notes tissue paper.  I applied the tissue with medium gel then, let it dry.  It's wrapped around all of the edges and extends slightly on the back.  The green color was obtained by using gelatos.  I "colored" them on roughly then using a baby wipe, worked it into the tissue paper. The back of the canvas starts with a piece of scrapbook paper in a beige color with some Christmas trees on the left.  I sprayed green and red Dylusions sprays on top of it, let it dry then stenciled on bubbles.  The dolls are attached with pop up glue tabs.  The final touch was a few more embellishments including crafting tinsel which is hot glued around the inside edge.  To complete it I covered the back with a piece of Christmas scrapbook paper.

Art Journal snowman

Here is a page I did because I wanted to try a snow scene

After I finished it, I felt there was something wrong with the composition so, I went to a group of artists and asked for feedback.  It's such a great way to get help on your art and my experience has always been positive and supporting.  The biggest thing everyone noticed was the large amount of white space on the right.  I did two things to change the layout.  I added a picture (a winter scene back from the 60's) and enhanced the "Brr" lettering.  I also added a little glitter on the snowflakes.  Here is the final version:

It's a bit more balance now and I am much happier with it.  So, don't be afraid to ask for feedback.  It was very helpful for me.

Art inspired by shopping??

I am a tall person so, shopping for pants is always a challenge.  They are often too short or, if I shop in the tall girls shop, they are way to long.  That experience gave me the idea for this piece but, I think that anyone who has a challenge getting a proper fit for pants knows the feeling.  The saying on the piece is "Shopping for pants suck".  It is 3 x 5 inches.

 On my base, I painted it using 3 different colors of blue/green combinations.  After that dried, I stamped it with the tiny little circles stamp.  I just randomly applied them.  The next layer was a stencil with squares in it.  I mixed modeling paste with acrylic paint and applied it to the bottom and top of the card at an angel.  The final base layer is some dabs of Inka gold watercolor paint dabbed here and there for fun.  The other pieces are the saying which I printed out, colored with markers, glued and outlined in black.  The gears are wood pieces colored with distress inks.  Cheese cloth was glued down, with the gears on top and then the final layer was the stamp which is made by Stampotique and colored with markers.

Christmas ATC's

I've almost always have some ATC's going in my art room.  Here are some I made for Christmas

Watercolor

Stamps from a couple of different sets.  The moon and background are watercolor.  The trees are embellished with gel pens

Collage with layered papers, sprays and ink.  The background was made with the sheet music issue paper that was glued down then, I applied gelatos over that rubbing in a green and brown color with my finger.

Another fun Stampotique stamp.  This piece has multiple layers of paper including corragated paper.  I used a little bit of white acrylic paints.  The elf is colored with markers and then and embellishment was added.

Index cards continued...

Two postings ago, I showed you a 3 x 5 Christmas piece that I made.  I enjoyed working with that size so much, I made some more.  I also did a little research on this to see how many other people use this size and I saw a number of videos on Youtube where folks make these into art journals.  What a great idea!

Here I am using one of my stamps from Stampotique again.  This is the Angel Kate stamp.   I am enjoying them so much that I may order some more.  This is a 3 x 5 card.  I did lots of layered of papers, embellishments and a little spattering of paints in the background.  The circles are made with punches I have.  I have a round punch 1 3/8 inch and one that is 1 1/4 inch so, I just double punch the same are and get this little leftover ring.  You just never know what you can do with some of your little scraps!

Mixed Media Angel Image

I found an image of a little angel girl on The Graphics Fairy site.  I fell in love with it right away and knew I wanted to make something with it.  Here is what I came up with:

If you are interested in trying this.  She is in their Christmas angel collection along with several other cute ones.  For this piece,  I started with a paper that looks like sheet music.  I glued that onto the base then sprayed it with Dylusion sprays of 2 shades of blue and some linen white.  Once dry, I glued on some cheese cloth to the bottom third.  The image was fussy cut and glued on over the cheese cloth.

For the next steps, I applied glass beads mixed with gel medium where her arms rest, I outlined her in a brown watercolor pen and went over that again with a clear water brush.  I think the image pops out more doing this.

The top half is a star stencil applied with modeling paste, silver and white ribbon in the corners, blue flowers glued onto the ribbon and the word banner in the middle.

For the word banner, I hand drew it on watercolor paper, and using light blue, dark blue and some black, I painted the image.  I hand wrote the lettering, applied pop ups to the back and put it in place.  To apply the lace, I used a glue gun with a long thin tip that got under the banner.  I placed the lace flowers by pushing them under the banner with the tip of my scissors.  The final touch is light ink around the edge.

3 x 5 trading card

I made this Christmas mixed media.  This size is sometimes used for trading but I may use this piece as a base for a card.

The stamp is a digital stamp I bought off Etsy.  I went to my file so I could tell you the Etsy company but all it says is the name of the stamp which is Gift wrapping.   I colored it with Prisma colored pencils and fussy cut it out.  I added some gel pen accents to the presents and the wings.

The base starts with cardboard and is covered on the front and back with Christmas themed scrapbook paper.  There is a second paper on top of that cut 1/2 inch smaller.  I had some tissue paper sheet music so, I cut a small piece of that and glued it to the front.

The large snowflakes are stencils filled in with modeling paste but, prior to adding those, I put a piece of dark red lace ribbon along the back.

The finishing touches are the words, printed on the computer, cut out and outlined in black, a snowflake metal charm with fibers tied in the hanging hole, gesso painted randomly to make it feel somewhat snowy, the stamp glued on and glossy gel with glass beads dabbed along the bottom for snow.

Greeting cards

I use to be fairly good about sending greeting cards out for birthdays etc but, I have not been doing it very much the last few years.  I miss doing that so, I started making cards again today.  I got 6 of these done.  I design the first one and once I like it, I make it in multiples.  This is for Christmas cards.  When I do Birthday cards etc, they are usually just one of a kind cards.

 The basic steps I took are

Using beige card stock, I folded it and partially stamped the front with a word stamp in Stazon Brown Ink.  The stamp is cursive lettering in french and is made by Stampendous.  I inked the edges with brown ink also.

I used 3 different types of Christmas cardstock cutting each one about 1/4 smaller than the prior one and stacked them.  Prior to gluing, I used Tim Holtz brown distress ink around the edges.  The base was a green and red print, the inner layer a red print and the outer layer a beige word print.  The papers were from a coordinating pad of Christmas papers.

I then placed the stamp on the card.  Its a stamp by Stampotique and I stamped it on white card stock, colored it in colored pencil with some gel pen accents and cut it out.

For the finishing touches, I wanted to add some texture so, using the same circle stencil from the last project, I placed some circles at the bottom left and the top right using modeling paste.  Once it was dry, I used chalk pastel on top of it in a matching green shade  I dabbed it with a wet water brush to spread the color around the circle.  A little bit of washi tape was applied to the bottom right.

The inside is empty but, I will use that to give me personal greetings.  I like to make Christmas cards in November so, I can have them completed and ready to mail in early December.  If I actually wait until December they never seem to get done!

"The Queen of Everything"

I have been admiring stamps by Stampotique for awhile.  I love their quirky style.  I decided to purchase some since I kept going back to them.  I could not wait to try them out the second they arrived.  The first thing I did was an art journal page.  This is done using their Chandelier stamp and their Queen of Everything stamp.  To start with, I pulled out my Dylusion sprays and using a combination of yellow, orange, blue and pink I came up with the base.  Some areas were a little dark so, I sprayed on some white before it dried.  I also cut out some triangle shapes from paper in my stash and strung them together with a colored pencil.  I outlined them in orange with black on top to make them pop out better.  The black is an ink pen.

For the next step, I used a stencil and modeling paste and placed the circles randomly on the page.  I did avoid the areas where I knew the stamp was eventually going to be placed.   The white paste automatically absorbs some of the color from the dylusion sprays but, I did add a little white wash paint on top to help them pop.  I added some painted circles using the top of a bottle which is twirled in paint and finally the stamps.  I think I may use her next in some ATC's.  Here are some pictures from the in between steps.

 These pictures are all taken at different times of the days which makes the colors seem either lighter or darker.  The best picture of the original color is the one with the stencil on top of it.

Altered Canvas

I heard a new term this last week which was "Altered Canvas" art.  In researching it, I see that it is interpreted many different ways but, my favorite was using the back side of the canvas instead of the front.  This is what I ended up with:

 Here are the steps that I took to get me started:

Christmas Paper by "Paper Studio", I cut out just the Santa

Coated the whole back, including the wood and staples with Gesso

Covered wood with modeling paste (to even it out and cover the staples)

Using Gel Medium, glued tissue paper music paper

Applied paint using light beige, red, and brown.  After that dried, I sprayed it with a white

Using modeling paste and a snowflake stencil, I applied some texture to the side then, glued down Santa

For the final finish, I used a brown distress pen around Santa to make him pop more from the background.  I used cheese cloth saturated with gel medium placed along the bottom.  While it was still very wet, I sprinkled glass beads onto it.   The "Happy Holidays" is a Tim Holtz embellisment.  I used a stamp for the saying and it is placed on with brads through the back.  The upper portion of the frame is some fiber with plastic "bulbs" for clear Christmas lights and I twisted a shimmering fiber around that and glued it in place along the top.  A picture hanger is nailed onto the back

I'm debating about adding some jingle bells in the upper right hand corner.  I think I may do that.  I also already have some ideas for the next piece!

 

UPDATE:  I decided to add the jingle bells and I think it does add a special touch to the piece and helps to balance out the bright red color of the word "Believe"  Here is an updated picture

Mixed Media art journal page

I had started a page in my journal and got several layers of the background done when I lost my inspiration.  I put it aside and then came across an artist who did a youtube video that inspired me to finish the page.  I don't have the same supplies she has in the video but used her ideas and how she drew the dragon flies to complete my page.  I'm putting a link to her video at the end so, you can enjoy that also.

Here is my page:

I used sheets of printed tissue paper by Tim Holtz, multiple different stencils where I painted some and used modeling paste on others.  There is a variety of inks, acrylic paints and stamps.  It was fun to do, which I think I say a lot but, when it comes to art, that's what I feel!

INSPIRATION VIDEO FROM YOUTUBE:
Artist:  Niki in Wonderland

Witch girl

Sometimes when I get in a creative rut, I just pull out paper and a pencil and start drawing.  That is how this witch girl started.  I started with the head and after a few erasers marks ended up with a witch girl.  She is on Strathmore 140lb watercolor paper.

Watercolor witch girl

 Here is a picture of the supplies I used:

After my pencil outline, I used a waterproof pen (micron 005) and outlined pencil lines in ink.  I filled in the hat with stars and outlined those also.  

The stars were filled in with a glitter gold gel pen.  Do that prior to the watercolor because some of the glitter comes off and goes into the hat which I really liked.  I used Neocolor Watersoluble pastels to paint it in.  Using a brush filled with water (the green one in the picture), I apply the wet brush to the pastel and then onto the paper.  Neocolors produce a really nice vibrant color.

For the neck, I used a marker which I forgot to put in the picture.  It's a waterproof marker.  I then used a graphite pencil on the side on the neck to make it look 3D.  The very center of the neck has some white gel pen to bring in a highlight.  The face is done with colored pencils and I did some blending of the colored pencils using a colorless blender by prismacolors.  The color pencils were also prismacolors.

The Happy Halloween is from a TJ Designs stamp using their Halloween set.  I have gotten a lot of use out of this set.  I have used it many, many times.  Here is a link if you are interested:

http://www.tweetyjill.com/store.html

Thanks for looking at the blog.  I'm still in a Halloween mode and am working on some ATC's now

Halloween tri-fold - home decoration

I have collected a lot of cute little Halloween things so, I decided to bring some of it together by making a decoration for my mantel or one of my shelves.  This is made from a heavy duty cardboard that came with a shipping package.  I saved it and left it the height it came with but changed the width to 12 inches.  I then scored it at 4 inches and 8 inches.  Now, it neatly folds enough for it to stand on its own.  The back is simply painted and I did not fuss with it since it will not be seen.

 The front is made with a painted base color of pumpkin orange (acrylic paint).  I then covered it with a Halloween napkin that had a multiple skull design.  Only small parts of that peek through in the overall design.  I used medium gel to apply the napkin and the did another coat on top.  After it was dry, I decorated with layered papers, inks, and Julie Nutting stamp with a hand drawn frankenstein type stitching in the face.  I also used inches from a swap, die cuts and ribbons.  The final touch was some glass bead medium gel around the inches and several other places to add some texture.  It was so much fun to put this together.  Here are some close up pictures.

Trouble with rub-on's???

I have this really cool set of Halloween rub-on's that I got last year but I could not get them to rub off!  I put so much pressure down that it gave my projects indentations.  I pulled the set out again this year and since they were fairly useless I decided to experiment with them.  I used Elmer's Xtreme glue stick to the back of the rub-on after removing the protective white sheet.  I then placed it on my project and voila!  They came right off and stuck to my art beautifully.  So, you may want to give it a try if you are having the same issue.  Be sure to test it first on a waste.

I also wanted to talk about the Fiskars Amplify scissors.  I got a pair last year from Santa Claus and I love them!!  I cut a lot of cardboard and I either use my paper cutter or these scissors.  The Amplify scissors cut it with no issue and without making my hands sore from putting pressure on scissors to get them to cut.  So, if you make a lot of ATC's, pull out your coupons or start your Christmas list.  They are a great addition to the craft room.

Here is my latest ATC creations for Halloween.  For these, I started with a white card stock, sprayed it with Dylusions sprays in brown, orange and red.  After it dried, I used a yellow gelato to bring in some brighter color.  That was randomly put through the centers and spread around a little using water.  I then used a word/sentence stamp in brown ink, topped it with other Halloween stamps in black ink and added either ribbons, papers or pearl drops for embellishments.  I love using sprays and they make the backgrounds much more interesting over a flat color.

Glue used to help rub-on stickers "rub-off" and stay in place plus, my Amplify scissors

Halloween ATC's

Pocket Letters

If you enjoy art swapping, you have probably heard of pocket pages.  Pocket pages is like having a pen pal but, it incorporates crafting and art fun.  The idea is to buy a set of the plastic protective sleeves used to store trading cards.  There are 9 slots per page and each one is filled with something decorative on the outside.  Tucked behind the outside decoration are small crafting or other goodies that you send your pocket pal friend.  In addition, at least one slot is used to insert a letter from you.

The internet is full of ideas to decorate your pages and there are many places to swap.  There is a group on Facebook and in addition, the Swap-Bot trading site offers opportunities to trade.

Here is a pocket page I am working on for a swap that I'm in so, this one will be sent off to a friend.  She will be doing her version of one and sending it to me.  I still need to write and insert my letter and finish filling the pockets.  This is for a Halloween version of pocket pages.

Take #2

Did you ever do a picture and you like it at first but then later think it needs something more?   That's the way I felt about this pencil whimsical picture.

I liked the face but decided the background was very boring and that the quote didn't quite express what I meant.  This is when I decided to try a second take.  The first one is made with colored pencils on the face and markers for the hair.  On the second one, I cut out the girl and placed her on a mixed media background.

Now, I feel like I'm getting closer.  I want to embellish it more but the bad part is that I have packed away about 1/2 of my supplies because we plan to move in the near future.  I'm going to put this piece on hold until after my move and do what hopefully will be the final take!

For the background, I painted heavy paper with purples, covered it with a printed tissue paper, then sprayed blue and purple inks on it.  My next step was a stencil and I filled it in with modeling paste.  The paste picked up some of the ink colors so it blended in nicely.  I used gelatos around the head and up through the middle, added an embossed bird stamp, stamped letters and some paper punches.

It goes into storage for what hopefully will be a short period of time and then I will do the final stage.