Today Is a Good Day

There was another beautiful month of inspiration over at Lindy's Stamp Gang.  However a difficult one for me.  I have several Lindy's colors, but I guess I need a wider variety in my color options! I didn't have a green that would work well for this challenge, and I have no purple at all, so to get the colors I wanted I used a mixture of Yellow Rose of Texas and Hydrangea Blue the resulting green is so beautiful!

I didn't have a green that would work well for this challenge, and I have no purple at all, so to get the colors I wanted I used a mixture of Yellow Rose of Texas and Hydrangea Blue the resulting green is so beautiful!

Normally I just use texture paste and shading instead of three dimensional embellishments in my journals to keep the bulk down, in this case I used microbeads mixed with softgel and one of my favorite Finnabair stencils, but I loved the little bird cages with this page.

Since I don't have a purple in Lindy's I used alcohol ink which I then gesso'd over to tone it down a bit.  I really liked how the alcohol ink mixed with the gesso to give that really soft purple color.

While I can no longer fully close my art journal, I really love how this spread turned out.  

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Happy NSBD!!! (A bit late...)

I hope everyone had a fantastic National Scrapbook Day!  We had a parade for the Renaissance Festival then I worked in the afternoon, so I had very little time in my room.  But I was still able to get a few projects done for a couple challenges over at Scrapbook.com.

The first was for their Pet challenge, and I decided to use the last photo I took of our dear Jewel who passed away a couple of years ago.  While she isn't actually in the photo, it commemorates the spot that she passed away-her favorite spot in front of the couch.  

The second is for their color challenge, I think the colors lost something in translation, but it appeared that they were pink, light and dark purple, and green.  I decided to do a spread in my art journal.  

I used modeling paste as well as soft gel mixed with silver micro beads for some texture.  I love how the color mixed with the soft gel and micro beads.

My final project was one I had the most fun with, for the mixed media challenge.  I really wanted to see how colors react on black, and to channel my inner Finnabair-such an inspirational lady!

Stay tuned for a full post on this in the next few days!

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Every Artist

Today I have a project that I've been working on for awhile, it was inspired by the beautifully talented Gabrielle Pollacco.  There is a quote that I wanted to put in my studio for ages, but I wanted to do it justice.  I had just started my journey into mixed media and was certainly scared about it not working out.  But when I saw this video tutorial it was the kick I needed to get started.

When I first started it I was terrified about where it was going.  I didn't like the texture and the colors weren't looking the way I wanted them.  So after sticking it on a shelf for a good 6 months I finally had the confidence to finish it.

It has been so cloudy lately that I had to use my gross lights in my studio, so please pardon the glare.  The quote reads 'Every Artist was first an amateur'

I colored the gems with alcohol ink and used perfect pearls to create a halo around them.  So much sparkle on this project!

I used Lindy's Magicals on the flowers to add even more shimmer-super bright and pretty in person.

Overall I am extremely happy with how it turned out-while I closely followed a lot of Gabrielle's ideas it was a great way to stretch my creative legs and gain more confidence in my own work.

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Love is...

Hello dear friends!  I've been in a funk lately, but the amazing race challenge has gotten the juices flowing, and I was able to create a few new pages that I will share over the next week or so.

I have been watching a lot of Marta Lapkowska's videos lately, as well as Vicky Papaioannou, and while they have two completely different styles they both have so many amazing tips and are so inspiring.

I have been using lots of Lindy's and Faber Castell, and I love all the texture and looks that can be achieved.  Especially mixed with layers and stamping.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

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A trip to China

I have recently joined in Irreversible Moi's Amazing Race art journal challenge over on Facebook-and I have found it is a great way to stretch my creative legs.  There will be several stops long the way as well as a few detours thrown in.  We began our journey in China and while I always enjoy seeing Chinese art in museums, I never thought about using it for inspiration.

My first page I used some of my favorite symbols from Chinese art, Koi and cherry blossoms, I wanted to make it look a little more antiqued so I did a tinted gesso wash on the background.  And while I have discovered I need a lot of help with my kanji-I am very happy with the overall results

Our first detour also came in China, the detour was either draw a dragon and use it in an art journal spread, or try your hand at Chinese kanji.  Since I am lacking drawing skills I decided to try Kanji.
I covered the entire background of the page with kanji before turning right around and covering it up again, but some still shows through the edges.

Again, there are a few changes I could have made-the branch for my bottom bird disappeared into the background so he looks like he is just hanging out-and the phrase on the right should have been centered a bit more-but overall I had a great time creating this!

Please stop by and join us for the challenge-a lot of great ladies and beautiful art!  Next stop France!

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Hope

Hopes have been high around here these last few months.  We hope to have good news about a new home in the next couple of weeks-a process we've been going through for several months.  While plans have been in process for that I haven't had much crafting time-but I decided I had to make time when I saw this month's color challenge over at Lindy's Stamp Gang:

I loved the colors and it fit so well with a little project I have had in mind for awhile.  Last year I created a canvas for Lindy's March challenge using one of my favorite wedding photos (see the original post here) and I decided I wanted to make a set of three.  The colors in this challenge fit so nicely with the same embellishments I used last time this canvas came very easily.

For this canvas I used Lindy's in the following colors, Creme Bruelee Cream, Bodacious Blush, Time Travel Teal-one of my absolute favorites-and Cattail Copper Brown.  

Here are a few close ups.

Don't forget to hop over to Lindy's to take part in their challenge!

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When I see you again

For this month's color challenge I had a very special photo that I wanted to use, we got it in a Christmas card from the family of my husband's childhood best friend who was killed in a car accident.  I never showed Coby the photo, I wanted to do something special with it for him for his birthday.  This month's color combo over at Lindy's color challenge was a great starting point.  

I wanted to frame it for him so I opted to work on an 8x10 surface.  I started using a 12x12 piece of patterned  paper.  I used a light coat of gesso texture paste, for color I went with Hydrangea Blue, Silent Night Silver  and Clam Bake Beige.  After my background dried I cut it down and edged it using a gray gelato.  I used the scraps to create more texture on the background, also edged in gelatos.

 The title came from the song 'When I See You Again' from the new Fast and the Furious movie, it really hit home with Coby and made him think of David quite a lot.

The photo was layered with several bits of ephemera some twine and a few bits of metal jewelry colored with alcohol inks.  I added some mica flakes using soft gel. 

I think Coby was happy with the outcome, I certainly was.  Thanks for taking a look.

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