Broken Pieces Art Journal

I'm sharing a project on The Crafters Workshop blog today! Hop on over for more photos, supply list, and a video link, which I'll also share below. Happy Crafting!

Playing with Distress Crayons

Of the products that were released during this year's CHA, Distress Crayons (yes, I bought every color!) were one of the products I was most excited to try. My CHA pre-orders from The Funkie Junkie arrived a few weeks ago, and I finally had an opportunity to play with the new crayons.

Since I was just trying them out I opted to grab a tag and apply a few different colors. Here's what I found...

1) They blend better on paper with your fingers vs. a water brush. The water brush didn't really move the color around that well once it was applied to the tag.

2) Using a baby wipe gives you amazing blend-able results.

3) Laying a stencil over the colored tag and then removing some of the color with a baby wipe is divine!

4) The colors blend really well together without becoming too muddy. (You can even blend two colors together for a third color!)

5) The crayons are super creamy and applying more pressure produces deeper colors and better final results.

6) Final verdict? Super fun product, can't wait to use them in my art journals!

For this tag, I scribbled a few crayon colors directly onto the tag, and blended slightly with my finger. A laid a stencil over the tag and then used a baby wipe to rub some of the color off of the tag. You're left with this beautiful watercolor look. I then used a script stamp and jet black archival ink to add some stamping to the background.

The bird is from Dina Wakley's Scribbly Birds stamp set (see product links below), and I again used the crayons to add color to the bird, just blending with my finger.

Vintage text paper gave my bird a "branch" upon which to perch, and the sentiment (from the same stamp set) was stamped on a tag, cut out and attached with liquid glue. That teeny heart is another one of my favorite CHA releases...Wendy Vecchi's Mat Mini Hearts! Oh man, I love these heart! Super thick chipboard that is simply inked with Wendy's Archival Inks, then a hint of glossy accents added for some great shine.

Hope you enjoyed today's project...now go out and grab yourself some Distress Crayons! Here's where you can shop for these products...

Supplies:

Distress Crayons

Scribbly Birds stamp set

Archival Inks

Mat Mini Hearts

Blossom Layering Stencil

Becoming a Butterfly

 

Hi friends!  I'm back with a new canvas, based upon this month's Mixed Media Challenge from the blog of the same name.  This month's challenge is to use stamps in a mixed media project.  Since stamps are my first love, I thought this challenge was just perfect for me!

Since I can't imagine any canvas without texture, I started by applying embossing paste through a stencil.  (Product links at the end of the post)

 

Notice that I didn't cover the entire canvas with paste...just a few areas.  Once the paste was dry, I used Dylusions Ink Sprays to add color.  The ink sprays are fabulous for creating drips!

  With this canvas I also opted to embrace the white space...a practice that I find difficult.  I love white and I love color, but boy do I have a hard time doing either option half way!  (What does that say about my personality?  Yup, it's all true! LOL!)

Next I added a bit more design using another stencil and more ink spray.  See that tiny bit of bright pink...I love it...

 

Now it was time for a contrast color.  Nothing makes me happier than a burst of color from the opposite side of the color wheel!  I opted for a turquoise color from PaperArtsy.  Now...what do you think happened when I added wet paint on top of Dylusions Ink Sprays?  Yup...the water from the paint activated the ink sprays and I got a decent amount of brown.  No worries...I waited for the paint to dry and applied more paint to intensify the turquoise color.

 

More drips...oh how I love the drips!  At this point, I broke out my stamps!  Nothing finishes off a piece like adding a neutral.  I used a few Dina Wakley stamps and black Archival Ink to add another design element.  (I love that crosshatch design!)

 

And since I can't live without text circles, I added a few and then used a Stabilo pencil to draw circles around the text.  Using a waterbrush activates the Stabilo pencil, allowing me to broader the lines.  Once the pencil is dry...it's permanent.

 

I wanted butterflies to live in my text circles so I stamped a butterfly from Dina Wakley's Scribbly Insects stamp set three times on watercolor paper.  I used Peerless watercolors (have you tried these?  If not, you need them!) to paint each butterfly and then I used the She Script stamp from Christy Tomlinson to stamp, in white paint, on top of the butterflies.  I adore the white script across each butterfly...divine!

 

Each butterfly was fussy cut and attached with a glue dot.  I folded up all of the wings for great movement and dimension.  The last bit was the addition of the sentiment (also stamped and cut apart) and date stamp (ala Donna Downey...I love adding dates!)  And here is the completed canvas...

 

Thanks to the Mixed Media Challenge blog for giving a great prompt to get me creating!  I had a great time making this piece!!  Links to products below:

Supplies:

Canvas Panel

Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste (white)

Hexagons Stencil

Dylusions Ink Sprays

Textures Stamp Set (Dina Wakley)

Scribbly Insects Stamp Set (Dina Wakley)

She Script (Unity, designed by Christy Tomlinson)

Peerless Watercolors

Ranger Collage Glue Stick

Stabilo Pencil

Quatrefoil Stencil

 

Technique Tag - Love Makes the Impossible Possible

 

 It's a tag...and a technique video!  Enjoy!