Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #44 - Ring in the New Year

It's time for another challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge. This month our challenge is to Ring in the New Year - anyway you like it. I decided to use new supplies on my project. We have a fun mixed media prize package for our random monthly winner.

I created an art journal page. I tore up Jane Davenport napkins into little pieces and decoupaged them onto the blank page. Then I printed out the 2018 numbers from a Word document and decoupaged them on the page. I added some shading to the letters with a gray Faber Castell Big Brush Artist Pen. Then I added white accents with an Edding White Pastel Pen and black border with a Memento Black pen.

Then I stamped the Celebrating Cat with Archival Ink and colored it in with Copic Markers. I wrote the sentiment words and cut them out and adhered them to the page with double sided tape. Finally, I added some Studio Calico star sequins and Viva Glitter pen accents around the happy cat.

I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!!!

Fat Cat #04

Do What You Love - Art Journal Page

I created a this page in my Wendy Vecchi Fat Little Mini Book. I used Distress Stains Wendy Vecchi embossing paste with a Stampers Anonymous text stamp on the background. The flower, button and heart are Wendy Vecchi art parts.  I also used some of Wendy's new Mica Sprays and the sentiment is one of her wood stamps.
Thanks for stopping by!

PaperArtsy Art Journal Page

I'm on spring break this week, and I found some time to play in my art journal with my new PaperArtsy stamps and paints. The paints are all PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk paints and the stamps are PaperArtsy by Emma Godfrey and Lin Brown. The circle stencil I used is Dylusions. Thanks for stopping by!

I took a few photos along the way.

I started by brayering on some Cement Paint

Then I brayered on some yellow that was really bright so I toned it down with more Cement.

I added some Beach Hut using a piece of Cut N Dry foam.

Then I added some Bouganvillia with a Dylusions circle stencil.

I thought it was a little bold to be a background so I toned it down by randomly patting on some Pixie Dust with a piece of Cut N Dry Foam.

These are the paints that I used.

I used a new Emma Godfrey stamp set to finish the page. Two of the sentiments are from a Lin Brown set. I used Black Ranger Archival Ink.

Art Journal Page

Here's another art journal page I made using PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Paints. The colors I used were Baltic Blue, Coral, Zucchini, Caribbean Sea and Chalk. Just quickly sharing this one. Have a great day!!

Butterfly Collage Art Journal Page

I saw a post on The Crafters Workshop Blog where Carmen made an art journal page using only one stencil. I have a similar stencil to the one she used so I decided to try it. I used a 6x6 stencil called Butterfly Collage. I used 4 Dylusions Spray ink on this page Lemon Zest, Pure Sunshine, London Blue and Crushed Grape. I was experimenting with a tetradic color scheme. It's nice, but when using nonpermanent inks you have to be carful the purple with the yellows and oranges doesn't turn brown. I also used some Faber Castell Design Memory Craft Whipped Spackle in some places. I colored it with the inks. I used my Prima stamp press to make the sentiment with black Archival ink. It was a relatively quick and fun page to make. Definitely a challenge to use only one stencil!! Thanks for stopping by.

My Top 10 Favorite Projects of 2014

I noticed that many of my fellow crafty bloggers are posting their Top 10 Favorite Projects of 2014. I thought that sounded like fun, so here are my Top 10 for 2014. I'm hoping to be more crafty in 2015 and I'm wishing that you and yours have a very Happy New Year. I think 2015 will be the best year yet!!

My favorite She Art Girl. I loved taking Christy Tomlinson's She Art Class.

A very Tim Holtz 4th of July tag, covered in Sparkle Mod Podge.

The journal page I made for the 1st Mixed Media Monthly Challenge.

An altered box I made for a challenge at the MMMC.

A card I made for the MMMC using lots of textures and Copic Markers.

A tag I made for a Prima Doll Halloween Tag Swap-
I love how the spider web background turned out.

My favorite card of the year. This card was originally a PaperCrafts reject,
but I entered it into the World Card Making Day Contest and it was a winner!!!

I love this image and sentiment by My Favorite Things.
I had so much fun watercoloring this card.  

Just a bright and cheery card made using DCWV stamps and papers.
One of the first I made in my new craft room.

I worked a long time practicing my Copic coloring on this Unity image.
I just think it's pretty.

12 Days of Holiday Inspiration 2014 - Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of the 12 Days of Holiday Inspiration Blog Event brought to you by "The Inspiration Crew".  We’re just a group of online crafty blog friends who love being creative. This time we're doing a 12-day event to provide you with tons of Holiday Inspiration.

We're making crafty projects using products we like and some of us are even offering prizes. Check each blog and the information there for what prizes are being offered and when the winners will be announced on that blog.

I'm offering a prize box, check back each day. I'll have picture of my prize posted soon!! I'll announce the winner of my blog candy on Saturday, December 13. To qualify for my prize make sure you are a follower of my blog and leave a comment. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!!

Below is a list of all the crafty ladies participating in this event. Be sure to visit all the blogs each day for loads of fun, prizes, and Holiday craft ideas.

Today, I'm sharing some stars made using art journal pages I made with Dylusions Christmas Stencils and spray inks. The star die is from Tim Holtz. To finish off the stars I added some white lines around the edges with a white gel pen. You can use them to decorate cards, or put a hole in them and add some twine to make ornaments, string them for a festive banner, or just pile them up in bowl for a pretty Christmas decoration. I love how bright, fun and festive these stars are. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stop back by tomorrow for Day 4!

Donna Bowman 

Rachel Kleinman

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck

My 1st Art Journal Page in a Long Time!

Since I moved in about a month ago I've started making backgrounds in my art journals again. I have a bathroom with a sink and large countertop in my new craft room and it's working out great. I can spray the journals on one side, then clean off stencils in the sink and let them dry on the other side. The only problem is I haven't had a good idea for a journal page. I haven't even made a page in almost a year. So, today I sat down and found a background I wanted to use and decided to make a page from something.

Here's what my new space looks like when in use. 

Here's what it looks like cleaned up.

I knew I wanted to use the words "create" and "evolve" but my thoughts on the graphics just didn't work out. So, I found a stamp set by SCACD that I had never used and I basically just randomly stamped all over the page. I also used a heart stamp by Unity and the letter stamps are Dylusions. The background and border was made with Dylusions sprays and stencils and Tim Holtz Distress Paints. I colored in all the images with Distress Markers. It was fun and relaxing even if it wasn't quite as artistic as I had hoped. At least it was a start. 

The Play Date Cafe #167 & 7 Days of Valentine Projects Day 5

Welcome to this week's The Play Date Cafe Color Challenge. This week our colors are Fuchsia, Canary and Sprout.  Our sponsor this week is My Creative Classroom. Be sure to check out The Play Date Cafe to see the awesome prize they are providing!!  I hope you will be able to join us this week. I can't wait to see what you make with these beautiful colors!!

Also, sadly we are saying goodbye to 2 of our awesome designers - Stacy Rodriguez and Jocelyn Olsen. We will miss each of them and their distinct points of view.

I'm combining this week's color challenge project with Day 5 of the 7 Days of Valentine Projects. I made a Valentine Art Journal Page. The background was made using Dylusions ink sprays in Lime Green and Sunshine. The heart was colored with Tim Holtz Distress stain in Pickled Raspberry.  I died the Doily and the flower trim (also Tim Holtz) with the Pickled Raspberry stain also. I drew the border with Sharpie Poster Paint Pens.

The yellow and pink fabric pieces in the heart are from Basic Grey. the larger yellow heart is a fun piece by Pink Paislee - when you color these hearts the chevron pattern comes out! The wings are colored with Lime Green Dylusions Ink spray. The buttons are from Stampin' Up. I was inspired to write a line from Alice in Wonderland around the heart. Here is the quote from Alice "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Here's a close up of the heart. The colors are so similar it's hard to see in the picture. 

Barb Murphy

Ceal Pritchett

Donna Bowman 

Jen Cuthbertson

Lalo Ik

Libby Hickson

Rachel Izakowicz

Rachel Kleinman

Veronica Zalis

Dear Santa...

Dyan Reaveley posted a challenge on her Facebook Art Journal page last week and I finally had time to make my page today. The rules are you had to use the snowflake stencil, the spray in color London Blue and the Beard stamp. Luckily I had all those items.

For the background I sprayed London Blue in the Middle, Turquoise around the blue and then Purple on the edges. When it was wet I sprayed water over the snowflake stencil. When it dried I put the stencil back down and spray Mr. Hueys white on the stencil. For the images I colored them with Prismacolor markers and blended with Gamsol. The star I cut out of another background page that didn't work out. Thanks for stopping by!

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 9

Welcome to Day 9 of The 12 Days of Holiday Projects Blog Event. Several crafty blog friends and I decided to post one holiday project a day for 12 days - just for fun.  The projects will be anything crafty like cards, ornaments, wreaths, advent calendars, etc… We’re posting projects we made using products we like and hope they will give you some inspiration for your own holiday craft projects. You will find links to all the other participating bloggers below. Hopefully you can find time to look at the other blogs and leave comments on any that inspire you. If we inspire you to make, something please let us know - we would love to see. Happy Holiday Crafting!!

For my Day 9 Project I'm sharing a Christmas art journal page. I made the background with Dylusion pink & red ink sprays. I cut the trees and stars using Dylusions stencils on tags and backgrounds that I had in my stash ready to use. I also used Dylusions stamps for the border, reindeer, ornaments and sentiment. I colored the stamped images with Prismacolor pencils and blended with Gamsol. I added Distress Stickles in Scattered Straw to the stars on the trees and a rhinestone to the reindeer's hat. I also used an American Crafts white gel pen on the border berries. I haven't worked in my journal in ages and this page took a really long time to make, but I had a great time creating it. I hope you can stop by tomorrow to see my Day 10 project. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can make it to the blogs of the other ladies to see the awesome holiday projects they are sharing with you today.

Barb Murphy

Ceal Pritchett

Donna Bowman 

Jen Cuthbertson

Lalo Ik

Libby Hickson

Rachel Izakowicz

Rachel Kleinman

Regina Hardy

Veronica Zalis

Flowers in a Vase

I made this art journal page based on a video I watched by Christy Tomlinson. Here is the link to her blog post. She made a canvas with her monthly mixed media kit - I didn't buy it because I already had about half the things in it, but it's a great kit. I used Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions ink sprays and stencils, a very cool Unity background stamp called Worn Stars, and craft ink to make the background. I actually finger painted a lot of it - just like in first grade! So much fun.

I loved how she cut the vase freehand from a 6x6 piece of striped paper. I used a piece of paper from Hero Arts Life of the Party 6x6 paper pad. I also used Sharpie poster pens, craft paint, a Pearl Pen and a black pen to doodle all over the vase. It's kind of hard to see all the details in the picture. I was excited that when I cut the vase it almost looked like one - maybe a little too wide, but this is for fun!! I spray painted some Stampin' Up Flowers and added some cool Girls Paperie brads to the centers. I thought the background was a little too bright so I watered down some white Gesso and painted over it to tone it down. I really like how this turned out. I think it might be my favorite page ever.

On another note, if you watched Craft Wars (there are video clips of the show at that link) on TLC this week, Christy Tomlinson was on it. She's the one who made the school bus play house. I'm excited to see more episodes of the new "crafty" show. She did a great job and it was fun to watch her in action. I love her She Art stamps and the video she made for this project blew me away. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Dream With Your Heart

I had a skin cancer removed from my shoulder today. Just a Basil Cell Carcinoma - nothing that spreads. But, I have lots of stitches and can't pick up things for a while. As I sat on the couch feeling mellow from the pain meds, I really felt the urge to work in my art journal. So, I got up and made this simple page. No intricate details, just some stamping. I really like how it turned out. With the awesome backgrounds you can make with Dylusions spray inks your images don't have to be complicated. I just love these new stamps.

Lately, I've been spraying backgrounds for pages with my Dylusions sprays before I got to work so they will be dry when I get home. If I do them when I'm ready to make the page, I have to use the heat gun and they get a little wavy and curled. So, I've got several backgrounds ready to go and I decided to use this one today. I used the Squeezed Orange, Crushed Grape and Cut Grass ink sprays. The stamps are from a new Ippity set by Angie Blom for Unity Stamp Company called Angie Girl: Dream With Your Heart. FYI - My Ippity Chick is JenMarie Taylor and she is the best. Thanks for stopping by!

*Scroll down to the previous post to enter to win the June 1 Giveaway*

I am an artist?

I'm not sure I would call myself an artist. But, Dyan Reaveley says if we make art journal pages we are artists! My brother got all the artistic and musical ability in my family. He can draw amazingly well and can stun people when he sits down and plays Mozart on the piano. Me - not so much. And of course, he spends all his time at a swimming pool! I wish he could just give me little of his artistic ability, but I guess it doesn't work that way.

Anyway, I'm on a Facebook group called Art Journaling for Women. Dyan Reaveley is very active in the group and she made a journal page that said I Am An Artist. And, I think other people started posting pages that said I Am An Artist. So she asked us to make pages that say that and e-mail them to her and she is going to blog about them. So, I didn't have a lot of time to make this very intricate, but I made this page today. For the background I used Dylusions Spray Inks in Bubblegum Pink, Purple, and Lime and a Dylusions stencil with acrylic ink for the border. I drew the letters with oil pastels and outlined them with a Sharpie Paint Pen. Once again, it was fun and relaxing page to make. Thanks for stopping by!!

Another Art Journal Page

I finally got a chance to work on this page today. I've had the background for awhile. I just got this fun SheArt stamp and thought I would use it. The other stamps, stencils, and sprays are all Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions.

I colored all the images with PrismaColor Colored Pencils and blended with Gamsol. I doodled a little on the leaves and I used a white paint pen on the flowers on the bottom. I think the birds might be a little too big for the page, but it's just a journal page - I'll work it out better next time. Thanks for taking a look!

My 1st Art Journal Page & Good News!

For the past few months I've been checking out bloggers who make art journals and watching Dyan Reaveley create awesome pages with her Dylusions stamps, spray inks and stencils. So, I've been collecting some Dylusions stamps, ordered all the sprays and some of the stencils. It just looks like so much fun, but for some reason I just felt like I didn't know where to start. So, today I just said I'm going to do something and I made this page. The background is made from Dylusions sprays - I love their bright colors and how they blend together. The stamps are also all Dylusions. Today I finally got in my full set of Tim Holtz distress markers so I couldn't resist trying them out on Doolally Dorris and these little houses. Love them!! I also highlighted some areas with a fine point white paint pen.

Part two of my post is for anyone who gets The Stampers' Sampler Magazine. In the new April/May/June issue I have a 3 page feature article called Striking Strips and I also have 3 cards in the Different Point of View Section! I was so excited to see my cards when I got my copy yesterday! Check it out if you get The Stampers Sampler.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!