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

If it doesn't challenge you...

Hi friends! I have a fun 8x10 canvas project to share with you today. This was a very simple project that came together in about an hour...grab your stamps and paint, and let's get started!

First, I want to share that I created this canvas piece to be a journal cover for my very first junque journal. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer teaches an online Junque Journal class, and I signed up for it last week. If you have tons of half painted papers hanging around your studio, you MUST sign up for this class! I was able to bind together almost 100 pieces of random papers into two journals. This is an amazing class given by an amazing teacher...Go sign up, just do it!

OK, back to our regularly scheduled program...

I started with a canvas panel from Dick Blick (you can buy these in bulk for short money, click here for the link), two Distress Paints (Wild Honey and Ripe Persimmon), and a water bottle.

I painted the top portion with the Wild Honey and the bottom with Ripe Persimmon. Then the entire canvas was spritzed with water (start at the top of the canvas). The Distress Paints react with water and beautiful mixing will take place...yummy. (I'm not sure why there are small open areas, where the paint didn't seem to cover completely, but I don't care...love the look!)

Next, I stamped this stunning, gigantic poppy image, from Donna Downey (You Are Important), on the canvas using VersaMark ink and embossing with Black Soot Distress Powder. Donna's stamps are perfect for art journaling and canvases because they are HUGE. This stamp is approximately 7" tall!

I painted the poppy image with more Distress Paint (Festive Berried and Abandoned Coral). I used a paint brush to apply the paint and then spritzed the still wet paint to get it to run outside of the lines of the flower. (Tip: When Distress Paint is dry it is permanent, it will not react with water so if you want the paint to flow, you must spritz while the paint is still wet.) After the paint was dry, I used a paint brush to outline the flower. Since I did the outlining by hand, vs. re-stamping the image, I got a nice painterly look. And now, for an important public service announcement...

I've taken countless classes with Tim (Holtz), and during every class he reminds attendees to NOT squeeze the paint bottles. "Don't squeeze the bottles, don't squeeze the bottles..." And every time, someone squeezes the bottle and paint goes all over the place. I teach classes, and shoot videos, all the while saying, "Don't squeeze the bottle..." Guess what I did tonight? I squeezed the bottle... Don't be like me...and do not squeeze those darn bottles!

After I cleaned up that big 'ol paint mess, I added some stenciling to my canvas. (I used Wendy Vecchi's Archival Inks for all of my stenciling.) The leaf stencil is from Wendy Vecchi, Lovely Leaves, and the number design is the Mini Number Repeat from Donna Downey. 

For the final step, I added more stenciling, using Wendy's embossing paste and the Believe Script stencil from The Crafters Workshop. I stamped the sentiment, included in the You Are Important stamp set from Donna Downey, and added a touch of Potting Soil Archival Ink, using a blending tool, to the edges. The sentiment is a bit further to the right than normal because this is going to be a journal cover and the binding will cover up a portion of the left hand side of the canvas. As soon as I get the journal together, I'll take a video to share the goodness! Oh, and I did add just a few tiny splashes of Festive Berries paint to the entire canvas!

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!!

Sweet 'n Sassy Tutorial

I have a photo tutorial, demonstrating how to create the 3-D butterfly, posted on the Sweet 'n Sassy blog today! Hop on over and check out all of the details!

Life Book - Lesson #2

 

 

 This week's lesson was a fairly simple one; create a tag!  I have a ton of unfinished tags in my stash, left over from many days of demonstrating techniques (not never finishing a project), so I simply found a pre-inked tag and added all kinds of goodies!

The background was created with Distress Paint and then I added stamping and tissue wrap, which looks amazing on top of painted surfaces...transparent, but an obvious extra layer.  LOVE!  I then added the photo (from Tim's Found Relatives Cards) and embellishments.  There's washi tape, filmstrip ribbon, chipboard letters (covered with some white paint), metal embellishments, and my reminder to "show kindness everyday."  The word GRACE at the bottom is my word for 2015...

Enjoy!

The Journey

 

I had some time in the studio this weekend...creating a video for a customer who wanted to know more about how Distress Paints work for creating backgrounds.  I mixed Distress Paints and lots of yummy Wendy Vecchi products to create my project.  You can see the full video below, along with some more photos of my finished tag, and links to where you can buy products.  Enjoy!!

 

 Here's the video and product links!

Supplies:

Distress Paint

#8 Manila Tag

Gelatos

Wendy Vecchi Products:

• Vintage Mesh Background Stamp
• Dots and Dashes Background Stamp
• It's Face Art (can't find anyone who carries this so let me do some more checking...)

Amore

First things first...I have to just share this...I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my art journal!  Creating in it is seriously one of the most fun things ever!  I  am having a blast!  If you think art journaling isn't up your alley or that you're not very good at it...then this post is for you! 

Today's post is all about how I transformed two blah pages into something that I "amore!"  I even created a quick video, showing the steps, which I'll post at the end of the page.  But before we get to the finished product...let's see what I started with...

Here are my ugly pages...in all their glory!  LOL!  OK, maybe they're not ugly but it might seem obvious that this is one of my first attempts at art journaling.  I didn't really know how to work well with ink sprays, as evidenced by those big blue spots (lack of water and blending).  My color choice is well...a bit lacking and I'm not even sure where I was going with any sort of design.  I was basically trying out a bunch of products on these two pages; stencils, embossing paste, and ink sprays...and I wasn't very happy with the results.

My new design all started with this month's challenge on the Wendy Vecchi fan board...the challenge was to stamp through a stencil or to use a stencil as a mask.  I knew I had these pages, with that sweet stenciled heart, already sitting in my studio but what to do with the pages and how to make it work with the challenge.  As I sat staring at my pages, I spied a photo of Wendy's projects on the page that comes with her stamp sets, and one of her projects included a pretty cream-colored heart.  That was all I needed to get the wheels turning!

I grabbed my acrylic paints (since I needed good coverage) and got to work!  You'll see all of my steps in the video but I basically covered the entire piece with dark blue acrylic paint (I'll link all of my products at the end of the post) and started over...adding new stencils, colors, and a quote (this made me think of my sweet hubby...who really is better than what I ever dreamed a partner could be).  Once I finished covering the pages, I finally pulled out the large heart stencil, to use as a mask, and using a text stamp from Wendy, added my stamped image through the stencil!  Challenge completed!  And here's the finished project!

I love the deep color and the accent of yellow and orange...and hey, I even used a piece of the gesso resist paper from last week's project for the sentiment...perfect colors on that piece of scrap paper (that would be because I tend to gravitate to the same colors on all of my projects! LOL!)  I was so happy with the finished product, not so much because of the design but because I was able to salvage those pages that I wasn't that crazy about...and create something that reminds me of my husband.  At the end of the day it's all creating what makes you happy and enjoying the journey of experimenting with different products and techniques.  Such a joyful experience!  Here's a quick list of what I used on this page and the video can be found right after the product list.  Enjoy!!

White Embossing Paste
Dylusions Art Journal
Stencils: Lovely Leaves, Large Heart, Classic Words, Chevron, Turkish Grunge
Paint: Adirondack (Denim, Terra Cotta, Sunshine Yellow) and Peeled Paint Distress Paint
Ink Spray: White Linen
Stamp Set: Parisian Art

And here's the video!