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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April Color challenge and a new edition!

Hi folks!  I can't believe April is almost over, we finally have some beautiful weather here in Minnesota, which means allergies are in full swing, but that doesn't stop me being outside soaking in the lovely weather.  It also means finals are coming up at school.  I'm working on my masters in business.  So the last couple of weeks crafting time has been a bit lacking.  But the biggest thing keeping me out of my studio is the newest addition to our family!

Last winter my hubby and I lost our beautiful pup Jewel.  It has been very lonely without the big furry lump taking up whatever available floor space there was in my studio.  So last week my oh so wonderful husband surprised me with a new puppy!  Meet Cheyenne, a 9 week old german shepherd lab mix-at least they think.  She was a rescue so we aren't entirely sure what she is, how old she is, or how big she'll get.  But she has us wrapped around her little paw already.  

Before she settled in and turned our lives upside down, I did have a chance to get the new color challenge done for Lindy's Stamp Gang.

When I was working on this month's challenge, it was cold and rainy out so the colors were the perfect pick me up and had me longing for the sunshine.  Which was the inspiration for my journal this month.

The colors this month were a bit of a challenge since I'm not a big yellow fan and found out I didn't have any yellow Lindy's.  First on my gessod journal pages I used hydrangea blue and creme brulee cream with my gelli plate.  I used the Tim Holtz ray stencil with some yellow luminart paint.  I sprayed the same two colors on torn tissue paper and glued them down using gel medium over the background.  

Once that was dried I used heavy gesso for the clouds; topped off by a couple of water colored-with a touch of white gelato-balloons and some sequins.  

Working on this spread really made me realize that I need more alpha stamp sets, I used two Lawn Fawn sets and while I like the look it wasn't quite what I had in mind.

Overall I am happy with the end result and had a lot of fun using this month's colors!  Even happier with the new little addition who's already left little paw prints on our hearts.  Thanks for taking a look!

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Lindy's March Color Challenge

I can't believe how long it has been, what a whirlwind couple of months.  Between illness, two funerals, a vacation and a huge loss of crafty mojo I haven't had much time or energy to create.  But as always inspiration struck in the form of Lindy's March color challenge.  The colors are so pretty and soft.  There were a few false starts but in the end I'm fairly pleased with how the final product came out.

The soft colors of this month echoed the feeling in the pine forest that my husband and I tromped through for the photo.  It was so dreamy and romantic that it just fit.  

After priming the canvas with gesso, I used a crafter's workshop stencil and modeling paste for some texture.  I used the following Lindy's colors on the background, A Bit O'Bubbly, Golden Sleigh Bells, Wild Honeysuckle (this has an original starburst label on it, and I don't believe it is the same color as the Wild Honeysuckle Coral-would love to see the difference between the two though!),  Frosted Forget Me Not (discontinued) and Creme Brulee Cream

To frame the canvas' edges I used the Faber Castell Gelato 'Squid Ink'; the photo was framed using some glass bead gel and built up over layers of the Pink Paislee 'Butterfly Garden' collection.  I finished off the photo with several flowers from Petaloo and a few pearls.

The title of the canvas was inspired by my husband, while I was looking through photos trying to decide which one I wanted to use, he picked this one up and mentioned the experience was like something out of a dream.  It really was a beautiful, serene place for photos, 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Paper faces on parade

It's a masquerade!

This month's color challenge over at Lindy's Stamp Gang was another beautiful palette of color.  Purples are hard for me, mainly because I don't really have any.  But that's what I love about Lindy's, I was able to blend colors to make something work perfectly.

I had an old mask that I wanted to re-do since day one and for some reason this color palette sparked an idea that just fell into place.  

After peeling off all the old hot glue and fabric from the original mask I did a base layer of torn book pages and gel medium, this helped cover all the hot glue residue I couldn't get off.  Over that I used a Crafter's Workshop harlequin stencil and light modeling paste.  While the paste was still wet I added Lindy's embossing powder in Midnight Ruby.  I let the paste dry overnight then heat embossed the powder.

 At this stage I wasn't really a fan of where this was going, the mask didn't go on as well as I had imagined, but I kept going.  I gave the entire mask a light coat of Golden Sleigh Bells and a few spots of A Bit o'Bubbly.  Over all that I sprayed, the sadly discontinued, Cranberry Mist Burgundy.

I used the same colors on some prima leaves then inked the edges with an eggplant chalk ink.  I just used the Cranberry mist on a feather spray that I salvaged from the original mask.  The gems were also salvaged from the original mask.  The flower is a Maya Road that matched perfectly.  

This time I am much happier with how my mask turned out and have no intentions of another re-do!

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As Sure as Sun Turns to Moon

I've mentioned before how much inspiration I draw from music.  I have a whole stack of lyrics that I want to use at some point in time, and I finally used one of my favorites.

I love broadway and musicals, they just make me happy and want to sing out loud.  So when I see a new Broadway soundtrack I don't have, and when that soundtrack is on sale for $2 I just have to snatch them up.  Several years ago my darling hubby found me Tarzan the Broadway soundtrack on sale.  It had just come out on stage-and it was a flop.  But I loved the Disney movie and thought I'd give the music a try.  The music made up for the shoddy costumes and scenery I'd heard so much about.

One song in particular really jumped out "As Sure as Sun Turns to Moon", it is such a sweet song.

I had so much fun creating these pages.  I knew I wanted to use lyrics from the song, and I had just spent a day organizing all my colors. I was intrigued by the idea of mixing various brands of mists and inks to see how well they would play together so I pulled out a variety of blues and golds in mists and paints from Lindy's Stamp Gang, Shimmerz, Tattered Angels, October Afternoon, Heidi Swapp and Tim Holtz and started spraying.

The sun was created using paints from Shimmerz and Twinkling H2Os to build up the color.

I loved how the October Afternoon spray left the small white 'stars' as I was spraying.  I'm not sure if it was a reaction to some tattered angels I had used, or if it had something to do with the gesso'd surface of my journal-either way I loved it.  The moon was a combination of Heidi Swapp and tattered angels spritzed with water for a mottled look and the clouds were created with white faber castell gelatos with dry burshed gesso on top

Overall I love how this turned out and the only thing I would add is maybe a black boarder of gelato to frame it in.  Next time...something to help me warm up in this frigid weather!

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All is Bright

I have always loved the Lindy's Stamp Gang monthly color challenges, but for whatever reason I found that the month would just slip away from me before I could finish anything for the challenge.  But after seeing this month's colors I knew I had to find time for it.  It is just such a happy combination.  I have been waiting for a sunny day to come around to get the best photos, but unfortunately we haven't seen the sun here in the last 15 days and I'm running out of December to get these up.

I used Rudolph's Nose Red, Hydrangea Blue, Delphinium Turquoise and a moon glow starburst spray, Wild Honeysuckle from ages ago, it has one of the original labels on it.  

I used some of my favorite Christmas wash tapes to create a collage after spritzing my background, and a vellum tag for the title.  I just loved the subtlety of the snowflakes and how they added a little texture to the page.

Keep your fingers crossed we get some sunshine here so I can get a better photo..eww!

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Live Life Dancing Through the Rain

Last week we had the most amazing rainstorm here, and I just love being outside in the rain.  Well most rains.  This was the last rain of before temperatures dropped and we got our first 6 inches of snow.  It was so peaceful watching it rain from my studio window.  It also reminded me of a phrase I read on a piece of patterned paper from My Minds Eye, so with all that inspiration I pulled out my art journal and got started.

I realized while I was working on my background that I didn't have any mists that were the right shade of blue for the whole page so I used my gelatos and a baby wipe.  I did spray first using a darker blue but the baby wipe blended a lot of the drops with the gelatos.

The figure is a stenciled image done in black acrylic paint-I don't actually own this stencil, I borrowed it at a friends house and used it a few times on a piece of vellum.  I fussy cut this one out for my journal.  It was adhered down with softgel and then outlined using a white signo pen.  

I used homemade texture paste but before I removed the stencil I spritzed with Mister Huey's in Seafoam.  

I stamped with bubble wrap and gesso before splattering the whole page with watered down silver acrylic paint.  I pulled out my rusty cursive for the title and highlighted that with a glitter pen. 

The perfect rainy day project!     

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