Mixed Media Home Decor - Joggles & Frank Morrow Promotion

Oh my, crafty friends I am so excited about today's project! Joggles has just received a shipment of Frank Morrow metal embellishments and they are to die for! These are heavy duty metal pieces, and they are huge...perfect for art journals and home decor projects. I had such a blast creating with these pieces and I can't wait to share my project video, which you can check out below. Once you watch the video, be sure to head to the Joggles blog to see the all of the art created by the design team. Enjoy and happy crafting!

Inspiration Wednesday - Week 7

Hi kids! Sharing my next Inspiration Wednesday creation! I actually have last week's to share as well, but I'm running painfully behind on my posting. I've been spending my days getting ready for our move back to NH, which has kept me busier than normal. Yesterday I packed up all of my craft supplies and I don't expect to see them again for 2-4 weeks, insert sad face, so I prepped a bunch of projects to share over the next month or two...this is the first!

This project was from a few weeks ago, as you can tell from my date stamp of 4/3. And while my last IW project didn't thrill me, this was made me do the happy dance! It's really such a simple project, comprised of bits of collaged paper, including designer paper, tissue paper, and vintage book text, along with my favorite products..embossing paste and stencils.

The best part of this layout? Glazing medium and umber paint...oh man, this is nothing better than the vintage look that these two products create. I just love the look of the embossed, aged letters...swoon.

I also really loved working with the kraft tissue paper, which is a left over from my store ownership days. The color of the tissue paper provides a wonderful contrast with the white paint, and because it's so thin you end up with wonderful crinkles that translate into texture you want to reach out and touch.

This little bit of script text on the inclusion may be my favorite bit of all...Overall, I had a great time creating this piece, and it will no doubt serve as an inspiration for future projects. 

Happy Crafting!

Inspiration Wednesday - Week Four

Welcome to week four of Inspiration Wednesday! This week's lesson focused on keeping things simple, and this has to be one of my favorite layouts to date. I adore the white text surrounded by little bits of gold...it's the perfect accent to the one colored pages. Divine... (If you read the text on my pages you'll see it's from an old history book on China, the Soviet Union, and other nations. It's probably a fascinating read...and no doubt makes for strange crafting materials! LOL!)

I started by attaching my book pages to my art journal with matte medium. I then created a whitewash, using gesso and water, to brush across all of the pages.

My next step was to apply gold paint, I used Dina Wakley's Gilt paint on these pages, to all of the edges. I also went over all of the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

The small mailing tag is one that I had in my stash and I simply added a date stamp, inked the edges, and attached some twine and a heart. The tiny heart is from the new Wendy Vecchi Mat Mini - Hearts collection. Her mat minis are shapes die cut from an extremely strong chipboard that can handle paint, ink, heat embossing...anything! I just cover this one with gold paint, applied with my finger, which gives it a nice textured look.

The gold letters were in my stash, and following a tip from Donna Downey, I painted the sheet of letter stickers with gesso and then gold paint. What do you know...gold stickers! What a great idea!

I decided to include a photo this week...call it a combination of scrapbooking and mixed media art journaling! This is a photo I printed out a few years ago and it's just been collecting dust waiting for me to use it in a project. I can't think of anything better than including my sweet Bean in an art journal spread. (You know what's funny? This photo is from a mini golf course in CT..not far from our new home. I can't believe we ended up moving to the same town where we took a vacation three years ago...Crazy!)

This week's lesson included lots of layering, which is love, and so I added lots of layers behind the photo. This is a great way to use up paper and ribbon scraps, pieces of tags, tissue paper, and I even threw in some punchanella that I found in a bin. The little forever banner was a paper banner that I painted with more gold paint. I stamped the word on using tiny alphabet letters. My last step was to add just a few gold paint splatters...'cause every good art journal pages needs paint splatters!

Happy Crafting!

Inspiration Wednesday - Week Three

Greetings all and welcome to the next installment of Inspiration Wednesday! I have to tell you...I love when each new lesson rolls around. I love watching Donna's videos...she's a hoot...and this week we got to see her struggle with what steps to take next in her journal. Maybe some people enjoy a very polished video, I adore seeing her creative process played out on the screen. For me, it's encouraging and inspiring!

This week's lesson had us playing with lots of paint, more glazing (love that stuff), and stencils. The triple threat...some of my favorite supplies! (You can see a list of all of the products I used on my project at the end of my post)

When I first created my background, with just a yellow and blue band, I was really hesitant to add the pink, which was added using a glazing medium. However, once it was finished...swoon...love those pink accents. Totally fun!

Enter the torn tag...but the bottom part instead of the top. I think you'll see, in the lower right hand corner, where the bottom of the tag came from. *wink* All of the pink numbers and quote were created with Wendy Vecchi's embossing paste (the best out there!) and the glaze. The stencils are almost all from Donna Downey.

Isn't this a fun stencil? Like script writing, but I didn't have to do the writing myself! Love that! I used Jet Black Archival Ink to add all of the stencils. I also added some very small white splatters as a final touch. Kind of looks like the night sky...

Final page with a tag, some random numbers, lots of layers, and small words. Oh, and tiny pieces of washi tape. Another fabulous week completed! Links to where you can purchase products below. Happy crafting!

Supplies:

-Golden Fluid Acrylics (Paynes Gray)

-Distress Paint (Fossilized Amber)

-Dina Wakley Paint (Magenta)

-Liquidtex Glazing Medium

-Donna Downey Stencils - Mini Numbers Repeat, Scribble Script, Count Downey

-Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste

Live Beautifully

Hi all! Today I'm sharing a completed art journal spread that was created during my "Art Journaling Made Simple" class, which took place at my house a few weeks ago. (Be sure to sign up for my newsletter, link on the right hand side of the blog, to receive class updates!)

During the class we focused on creating three unique backgrounds. I managed to fully finish two art journal spreads...the third one still needs finishing! (We're planning a round two of the class to complete our pages)

This was a really easy page to create and most of my details were added with Faber Castell Big Brush Markers. (Link to products at the end of my post)

I started by covering both pages with Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap (we worked in the small Dylusions journal) using Matte Medium to adhere the pages.

The next step was to cover the pages with a combination of Distress Paint colors. I used Evergreen Bough and Weathered Wood.

Once the paint was dry, I used an older Prima stencil, Floral Rose, and embossing paste to add the flowers and small white dots. (I confess that I got a little crazy with the tiny dots on this layout!)

When the paste was dry, I used Dina Wakley acrylic paints to color in the details. You'll notice that I colored a complete flower, not just the areas with the paste, which is what is seen using the stencil. The purple sitting on just the paste didn't look right so I filled in all of the flower areas. I loved the end result as the flowers look more dimensional.

I create a lot of shading using Faber Castell Big Brush Markers and more paint. As a final tough, I went around a few of the paste spots with a black Stabilo pencil. Using a waterbrush, I went over the Stabilo pencil to blend the black and create shading.

The quote on the right was part of the stencil so I just used black paint to stencil the letters. I did go over the letters with a black Sharpie to beef up the width of each letter. The tiny black dots are from the Tiny Circles stencil from The Crafters Workshop.

I hope you enjoyed today's art journal layout! I'll be teaching an art journal basics class next Friday (October 23) at the Michaels in Epping, NH. Details can be found here. 

Supply List:

Small Dylusions Journal

Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste

Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap

Distress Paint

Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint

Stabilo Pencil

Tiny Circles Stencil from The Crafters Workshop

Floral Rose Stencil from Prima

Never Forsaken and Class Details

Hi folks! I'm back with a quick photo tutorial of my latest art journal layout. At the end of today's post is more detailed information about upcoming classes so be sure to read or scroll to the end for that information!

I started by covering an already painted art journal spread with a sewing pattern. (Sewing patterns make great art journal coverings!) I just used Matte Medium to adhere the pages.

Like many of my art journal pages, they start with a basic idea of what I want to communicate. This page was on my mind during an entire day as I thought about recent unsettling events. My husband got laid off from his 17-year job back in March. It's been almost six months and he's still unemployed (thankfully, we still have severance). It's been a stressful and emotional time as we consider all of our options, which include moving to another state, selling our house, severely downsizing, me going back to work full-time, etc. To be honest, my faith has been challenged....will I trust God even in the midst of a great trial? Granted this isn't the greatest trial a family could face, but things feel much more daunting when you have young children who need and depend on your care and provision. If my husband and I were without children, we would have already taken this adventure on the road in our RV! LOL! So with so many thoughts weighing heavily on my mind, I was greatly encouraged by a hymn we sang in church, and I wanted to capture a line from that hymn in my journal.

Next I added a few shades of Distress Paint, one of my favs for creating backgrounds because it remains slightly transparent, unless you use multiple layers, and blends wonderfully.

I also used Wendy Vecchi's embossing paste and stencils from Donna Downey and Tim Holtz to add another textual layer. PS - I LOVE embossing paste...I know, you knew that already, didn't you?

I then added some Dylusions Ink Spray, this was Crushed Grape. To be honest, I kind of wish I stopped right here because what I did next added to many more layers and work. However, this was a great experiment in persevering and continuing to work until I was happy once again with the results.

For this next layer, I mixed one part umber paint (Dina Wakley) with one part glaze, and then covered the entire piece with this mixture, let it set for about a minute, and wiped away the excess with baby wipes. This technique, which I learned from Donna Downey, really adds character and age to any project. I'm in love with the way the glaze sinks into all of the cracks and crevices. Dreamy... The only problem is that now my heart kind of disappeared into the background.

Before I started messing more with my heart, I did add some Glass Beads (Liquitex) and Glass Glitter (Finnabair) to three sections of my heart. The glitter looks amazing and the beads can be painted to blend in with the background, while continuing to add texture. Oh, and a bit more stencils, with a chevron pattern from The Crafters Workshop, and Distress Ink, as well as the addition of some stamping in black. The cracked glass stamp is from an older Tim Holtz stamp set. Now let's get on with the ugly...

By this point I had added my quote, using two different stamp sets from Tim Holtz. However, I still wasn't happy with the heart...so I added hot pink paint...ummm...no...

Gesso to the rescue! And I don't mind that the pink is not entirely covered...at least the white allowed the heart to stand out more. I should also mention that I sometimes take photos of my project as I'm working on it. The photos allow you to see more detail, especially after you've been staring at the same page for a few hours. One of my earlier photos included a color scheme that I really liked so my goal was to get back to the former look. Gesso was just the first step...PS - I LOVE gesso too!

Here's after reworking the heart. I added more of the background paint color and used more Dylusions Ink Spray. I also needed to reapply some of the chevron stenciling. I was almost happy at this point, but those letters in the heart needed to stand out more...

So...I added just a hint of white, gently rubbing gesso over the raised areas. That helped to bring the letters forward while the rest of the heart remained embedded in the background. This is the entire finished spread (forgive my glare...I really need to find some diffused light! LOL!) I love how the glitter and beads are now part of the background of the heart instead of appearing to be separate elements. I never would have achieved that look had I not added more layers. So...the moral of the story? Don't give up! Not on your art, even if you don't like the way it looks the first time around, and not on trusting the One who holds the future securely in His hands...even if you don't know what that future is yet...I guess more layers still need to be added to our lives...

And now...Class Updates!

1. I am now officially a new Michaels instructor! And my first FREE class will be on Monday, September 14 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. The free class is an opportunity for me to meet some of the Michaels customers and to learn the ropes of teaching in the store. 

         The class will be focused on using Faber Castell Gelatos. During the class we'll create          eight swatch pages and them combine them into a swatch journal. Fun! Everyone is              invited so if you have time, please stop by for a free demo and to say hello! I'll be at              the Michaels in Epping, NH. The following products are required for the class, and                may be purchased at the or brought with you to class:

• Faber Castell Designing with Gelatos Kit
• Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen
• Faber Castell Gel Medium
• Recollections Scrapbook Paper - Book Print
• Artist's Loft Plastic Pallet Knife Set
• Artist's Loft Pallet Cups

1. My first home class with by on Saturday, October 3 from 1:00-5:00 pm. The topic with be "Art Journaling Made Simple." Cost will be $50 and I'll have a more detailed description of the class next week. If you're interested in signing up for this class, held in Fremont, NH, please email me at ksdm@comcast.net.

Thanks so much and I hope you enjoyed today's project!!

PaperArtsy Challenge #16 - Circles

Greetings crafters! Today I'm sharing a project that I created for a PaperArtsy challenge, which was to use circles in a project. 

Circles are a favorite design element for me and one that shows up often in my art journaling projects so I couldn't wait to make something for the challenge! I even took a few photos of the process so you could see the steps I took to make my page.

My page actually started out as a gelli print. This was a print created with the new 6" Gelli Plate and a variety of texture sheets. This might have even been my scrap piece of paper that I used to clean the gelli plate....all I know is that it's been included in my pile of "partially completed art journal pages" for months!

I then added a whole lot of stenciling! I used paints from Dina Wakley and PaperArtsy, along with Jet Black Archival Ink. Stencils are from The Crafters Workshop and Donna Downey. The goal of creating this page was to use a lot of color and pattern...I think I accomplished that goal! Normally my backgrounds would be a combination of colors that are closer to each other on the color wheel, for example, blue and green tones vs. the combo that's on this page. There's a method to the madness!

Next, I used a Stabilo pencil to draw circles all over my page, making sure the circles were different sizes and drawing some as only half circles. Yes, you should always have a portion of your design flowing off of the page, 'cause that's what Julie Fei-Fan Balzer told me...

Take your water brush and go over all of the Stabilo lines. For those of you who don't owe Stabilo pencils...go get some, like 10 or 12 of them...you can't live without them...seriously, coolest pencil ever! You can purchase them at MisterArt. Now here comes the scary part...

Cover your entire background with a dark paint! AAAHHHH!!! This is the scariest and best part ever! I took a Julie Fei-Fan Balzer class last year and she encouraged this kind of crazy behavior! I accepted her challenge and I've never looked back! WooHoo! This is pure magic...I am crazy over the look of the purple paint (Blackberry Violet from Dina Wakley) in contrast to all of designs peeking through the black-lined circles. It's drama, baby!

I added some circle images from the Don't Forget to Fly stamp set, designed by Finnabair, stamped in white ink, which looks fab on that dark background. I aged a small manila tag with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, added a cardstock circle, surrounded by more Stabilo and some black thread, and the sentiment (also from the same Finnabair stamp set). The butterfly was stamped on designer paper, fussy cut, and adhered with a glue dot. I added some glass beads (from Liquidtex) and glass glitter, also from Finnabair (glass glitter ROCKS!) The metal pen nib is from Timmy (Holtz, that is).

I hope you enjoyed today's project! Be sure to check out all of the other wonderful creations posted on the PaperArtsy blog!

Oh, and the entire eclectic Paperie store is 50% off today! Use code BIGNEWS50 when checking out!

Gelli Plate Printing

I'm sharing a Gelli Plate project over on the eP blog today...Hop on over and check out all of the details!

Choose Joy

 

I spent part of the weekend with some of my favorite art supplies...Wendy Vecchi embossing paste, stencils (from Donna Downey and Seth Apter), and Dina Wakley paints...and I created a fun new art journal page.  To start, I picked up a Donna Downey art journal before Christmas (Merry Christmas to me!) and I love it...check out the pretty fabric cover...

 This is a small journal...around 6x9...and I love the smaller size; feels much more manageable when creating vs. tackling a 9x12 or larger piece of paper.  Also, the inside pages are super thick and sturdy and each page has an inclusion.  I'm really happy with this journal and imagine I'll be purchasing more of them in the future.

 A few weeks ago, Donna included a photo of one of her projects in a recent email blast about her new Inspiration Wednesday videos.  I loved the texture of her piece so I set out to create something similar.  I don't know how Donna created her piece, but these are the steps that I took to make my pages.  

I started by using a palette knife to add embossing paste over the entire background of my page and the inclusion.  I allowed this to dry overnight (it was thick!)  I then went back and used stencils and more embossing paste to add a second layer.  Allow to dry overnight.  Next, I gesso'd over all of the pages and paste.  Once that I was dry, I added my paint, starting with Dina Wakley's Night.  Once the first paint layer was dry, I mixed Dina's Turquoise paint and glazing fluid together (equal parts) and applied the paint over almost all of the Night painted pages.  Allow the Turquoise to sit for about a minute and then use a baby wipe to remove some of the Turquoise paint.  (This is a technique I learned from Donna Downey)

 The last layer was a combination of Dina's Tangerine paint mixed with Golden's Burnt Sienna.  This layer was lightly brushed on and then I used a baby wipe to blend.  The last thing I did was add a quote (from a Wendy Vecchi stamp set) and date tag, ala Donna Downey.  (I have to share that I love adding those dates tags...it is so much fun to go back through your journal pages and see what you were creating on a certain date.  Very cool way to see how your art progresses.)

When I finished both pages I thought, "hey, this looks like a Seth Apter page!"  Just goes to how we're influenced by the artist's work we most admire.  This ended up reminding me of the 52 Card Pick Up class that I took with Seth...very similar colors...and the texture is all Donna Downey.  And I love all of the texture...embossing paste to the rescue, that stuff is AWESOME, thank you Wendy Vecchi!  Now that my first pages are done, it's time to get to work on the rest of my journal...

Chirp

 

A quick and easy tag I created when Dina Wakley first released her new paints and those sweet Scribbly bird stamps, which are nearly impossible to find now.  Darn!  They were big sellers!  Dina demo'd a tag in a video and this was my take...

I created the background by using a brush and a combination of Turquoise, Sky, and Night paint to color the background.  I then used my fav Classic Words stencil, from Wendy, to add another layer, along with a spritz of Dylusions White Linen through the Canvas stencil.  The birdie was stamped on a separate piece of cardstock and colored with paint.  The text created a branch for the bird to stand on; this kept him from looking like he was floating.  I then just added the tweet and chirp and a few more text circles.

Enjoy!