Christmas Card Challenges #49

It's time for this week's challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges. This week our Challenge theme is everybody's favorite again - "Anything Goes". Get a head start on your Christmas cards and come join us this week. Thanks for stopping by!

For my card I used the new Brett Weldele stamps from Stampers Anonymous. This snowman and sentiment is from the set called Blizzy the Happy Snowman. I just couldn't resist this cute guy. I made the background from Ken Oliver Color Bursts. Then I used the Brett Weldele stencil called Creepy Trees on the background. I sprayed the stencil with Dylusions White Linen Spray. I colored the snowman with Copic markers and stamped the sentiment with Black Ranger Archival Ink. To finish it off I added some snowflakes using a Viva Clear Glitter pen.

Dylusions Christmas Art Journal Page

I'm sharing an art journal page I made using Dylusion spray inks and stencils. I colors in the stencils using Pan Pastels and Gelatos. I was inspired to make this for a challenge on the Dylusions Facebook Challenge Page. This month the challenge is to use the Dylusions star and non-traditional holiday colors. I find it so relaxing to work in my art journal. This one was really fun to make. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you and yours have very Happy Holidays!

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

Christmas Card Challenges #48

It's time for another challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges. Our challenge this week is everyone's favorite - Anything Goes. The background of this card was made from my Gelli Plate. I just got it a few weeks ago and I've had so much fun experimenting with it. I used some Dina Wakely paints and Dylusions Christmas stencils on this background. For the words I used Dina Wakely White Paint and a Tim Holtz Stencil. Then I added some Prima Wire Thread with three little bells from Stampin' Up.

***Also, Christmas Card Challenges is holding a Design Team Call. Just add a link to your blog if you are interested. Click here for more details.***

I'm excited to see what you come up with this week for this fun challenge. Thanks for stopping by!

The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #1 - Spray Inks & Mists

Click here for my Christmas Card Challenges post.

It's finally time for our first challenge over at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog. I'm hosting the challenge this month and our challenge is to use Spray Inks or Mists on your Mixed Media Project. I made an art journal page using Dylusions Spray inks. To see how I created this page check out my tutorial over on the MMMC Blog.

Our sponsor this month is Inspiration Emporium and our Guest Designer is the fabulous Shelly Hickox.  Be sure to go check it out and I hope you will play along with us this month. You have until June 30 to enter.

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 #192

Welcome to this week's color challenge at The Play Date Cafe. Our colors this week are Black, White and a splash of Neon Yellow. For my cards I used paper from my Studio Calico Card Kit, and Couture Stamps from Dylusions. I used a stencil with Dylusions yellow spray ink and rubbed the excess ink on a clean page. Then I stamped the dress on the neon yellow design I created and cut it out and attached it to the card with pop dots. The words are from Tim Holtz. Thanks for stopping by and we hope you will join us this week. 

7 Days of Easter Projects - Day 6

Welcome to Day 5 of The 7 Days of Easter Projects Blog Event. Several crafty bloggers and I are posting 1 Easter project a day for 7 days - just for fun. We’re posting projects we made using products we like and hope they will give you some inspiration for your own Easter craft projects. You will find links to all the other participating bloggers below. Hopefully you can find time to look at their blogs and leave comments on any that inspire you. Happy Easter Crafting!!

I can't believe it's already Day 6!! Today I'm sharing an Easter tag. I used some new stamps I got at the local Stamp & Scrap Art Show last month. They are Dylusions new Alphabet stamps and Tim Holtz new Blueprints stamps. If you follow my blog at all, you know I always have these tags around that I've made by swiping up excess spray inks and that's how the background on this tag was made. I liked it because it was mainly pink with a little orange - good Easter colors. I stamped with black Archival ink and added some Tim Holtz Autumn Tinsel on the top of the tag. 

This would be cute on a basket or Easter goodie bag. I hope you find some time to visit the other girls today and don't forget to come back tomorrow for our last day!

Angi Barrs
Barb Murphy

Ceal Pritchett

Donna Bowman 

Lalo Ik
Libby Hickson

Rachel Kleinman

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!!

Dreaming is Free

As some of you may know, I go to the gym a lot. I don't really lose weight (I wish), but I do try to work out enough to at least break even. I normally go from 5am-6am when I have to work, but now that school is out I try to stay for 2 hours starting as close to 5am as I can get there. This means I'm spraying my art journal pages around 4:30am - I know - there is something wrong with me.

Anyway, the other day I was finishing up my hour on the elliptical and one of my favorite songs came on my iPod Shuffle and helped me finish strong. It was "Dreaming is Free" by Blondie. I just love Debbie Harry. It's an oldie, but a goodie. I really wanted to sing it out loud, but since I was in public, I didn't. I've been thinking about making a journal based on that great line since I heard it and I finally did today. 

As usual, the background was made from Dylusions Spray Inks (probably Blue, Orange and Brown) and was one of the ones I had on standby in my art journal. Then I stamped the border with a stamp from the Dylusions set called Further Around the Edge. I colored in the border and letters with pastels and doodled with my new Sharpie Poster Pens. I finally found them at Michaels and they work great. So much better than my regular paint pens. Thanks for stopping by!!

Until You Spread Your Wings...

I made this tag for the current Cupcake Craft Challenge #195 - Tag You're It. I'm so glad to be off for the summer and be able to play at CCC again. For my regular blog readers, you know whenever I use my Dylusions Ink Sprays to create backgrounds in my art journal, I wipe up the excess spray on tags. This is one of those tags. I really like the background so I just stamped with images that you can see through and didn't color them in. All the stamps are Dylusions. The twine is from Lawn Fawn. I have some pictures of the tag from start to finish. Thanks for taking a look!!

Here's the original tag. 

Then I stamped some of my favorite images.

And here's the final tag. 

Art Journal With a Tag

I haven't done anything in my art journal for a while, so I wanted to make a new page tonight. Since I've been making backgrounds in the morning before I go to work, I already had the background sprayed and ready to go. It was done with Dylusions spray inks - but since I made it last week, I can't remember the colors! The stamps around the edges are Dylusions and the pretty lady in the middle is from Unity - Ippity - Angie Girl: Dream with Your Heart. I colored in the leaves and flowers roughly with oil pastels.

When I make my backgrounds I spray on a plastic sheet so any ink that gets on the edges can easily be swiped up on my stash of tags. This tag was made from the overspray of inks when I made one of my backgrounds. I have tons of these tags now and they are all so pretty and unique. The twine I used on the tag is from Lawn Fawn. I made the tag from a Tim Holtz Die and an old manila folder. Thanks for taking a look!

Sprinkle Love

I made this tag for the Tim Holtz Compendium of Curiosities 2 - Challenge 3 - Marbled Stains at Studio L3. The sponsor for the challenge this week is Eclectic Paperie - a super online store that I buy from frequently and highly recommend! This technique is described on p.46 and it's very easy and fun to do. To get my marbled stain background I used Spun Sugar, Milled Lavender, Tumbled Glass, Faded Denim and Dusty Concord Distress Stains. I also used Dyan Reaveley Dylusions stamps - Bags of Bunting, Birds on a Wire, and Ruby Rainbow.

I thought the background of blues & purples looked like a rainy day sky so I decided to use a "rain" theme. I stamped the raindrops in Memento ink in London Fog. The raindrop is from a Paper Smooches stamp set. The twine is Wisteria Wonder from Stampin' Up. The words are from Tim Holtz Chit Chat. I colored the images with PrismaColor pencils and blended with Gamsol. Thanks for taking a look!

Ruby Rainbow's Page

Yes, I'm getting a little addicted to art journaling. It's just so fun and relaxing! I've started spraying the backgrounds before I go to work and then they're dry and ready when I get home and I don't have to use the heat gun which can warp the pages. I've also started doing only one page instead of the two page spreads because I can do them faster and fill the space easier.

The background on the this one is made from Dylusions Ink Sprays - London Blue, Vibrant Turquoise and Fresh Lime. To blend them use lots of water. The stamp sets I used are Bag of Bunting, Ruby Rainbow, Birds on a Wire, Right Up Your Street and The Right Words. I colored the images with colored pencils and blended with Gamsol. I've been asked what Gamsol is. It's odorless mineral spirits and when you put it on areas you colored with pencils it blends the color and makes it a little more vibrant. It's one of my favorite ways to color images now. Thanks for stopping by!

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!!

She Decided to Leap - Art Journal Page

I wanted to use my other SheArt stamp - She Decided to Leap - and I colored her in colors I don't use much. Then I looked at her for a week or two. I finally made the background before I went to work yesterday using Dylusions sprays in Cut Grass, Fresh Lime, Lemon Zest and Pure Sunshine. Today I stamped on the background using stamps from the Dylusions sets Background Love and Further Around the Edge. Then I added some accents to the borders with Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Mustard Seed and Rusty Hinge. I colored in the SheArt stamp with Prismacolor markers and blended with Gamsol which is now one of my favorite ways to color - it's so fun. I had a few other images to add, but I decided this was enough for now.

So, here's a page outside of my usual colors and I really like it. If you haven't started art journaling yet I suggest diving right in. You can do whatever you want and you don't have to worry about deadlines or contests or anything. No rules, just what you feel like when you have the time and energy for it. I find it very relaxing and gratifying. Thanks for stopping by!

Live & Learn Journal Page

Today I was talking to my friend at work about something that happened and I said "I guess I just have to live and learn." So, I felt like making a journal page about this today. I used Dyan Reavely Dylusions Spray Inks in Crushed Grape, Bubblegum Pink and Vibrant Turquoise and lots of water on the background. Then I used her small Chequered Dots stencil and water to finish the background. I made the words and doodles using oil pastels and a White Out pen. 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!