Inspiration Wednesday Art Journal Layout

I know, I know, it's been ages since I've shared an Inspiration Wednesday spread. The reason for that is that it's been ages since I've created an IW spread! Isn't it funny how we tend to start out so excited about certain projects and then life happens and our projects get stuck on the back burner. I miss my bi-weekly IW creative time! And as you'll notice from the date on this layout, it's not only been a while since I spend time in my IW journal, but it's taken me far too long to post too!

I ended up picking up some more marketing contract work and that kept me hopping for a few months, making doing anything creative almost impossible. I also have a **surprise** announcement coming up in a few weeks, which came along with an immovable deadline, and made for some very busy days and nights. Be sure to keep an eye on your email for the surprise details...

Thankfully, the contract work has ended for the year and I am hopeful that I'll be able to catch up on the long list of half finished work I have sitting in my studio. (Oh, and hopefully I'll get to work on organizing my studio now that we've made some layout changes in our house, allowing me use of our entire extra bedroom! Call me excited!)

As for today's IW art journal layout...I think it's one of my favorites to date. If you have lots of extra letter stickers hanging around your art space (I confess I hoard them), then this is a great project for you. These two pages are covered in all shapes and sizes of letter stickers. I used foam Thickers, tiny stickers, glitter letters, and just about everything in between. 

I even managed to accidentally spell out A-OK...see that in the upper right hand corner? How fun is that? My favorite bit are all those tiny stickers...I layered them like crazy and the look, after applying layers of paint and glazing medium is nothing short of fabulous!

Another thing I am digging out this layout is that the foam letters and still squishy! Even after a layer of gesso, paint, and glazing medium, you can still push down on the foam letters...they're still soft! Talk about touchable texture...LOVE that! Here's a look at the complete spread...

If you're interested in Inspiration Wednesday, Donna has already posted a link for the 2017 lessons. The year long class is only $35, for the entire year, and includes an extra few class. I have so enjoyed this year's lessons and am looking forward to finishing my art journal (this will be my first completed journal!) and next year's lessons! You can sign up for the 2017 classes here. I've also been posting new videos to my You Tube channel. If you're interested in seeing videos when they're posted, click on over and follow my channel!

Happy Crafting!

Art Journal Page Featuring The Crafters Workshop Stencils

Hey strangers! I know, I know...it's been a long time yet again. This whole moving to one state and back again thing has a way of killing one's ability to be very productive every day, especially when it comes to crafting!

We're getting fairly well settled into our new home, but are continuing to work through boxes that have been packed for months. We had the downstairs painted last week and I'm finally able to start hanging things on the walls. However, we are planning a kitchen redesign so I still have lots of stuff that needs to remain packed until that process is complete. Not that I know when I'm going to find time for that kitchen update...LOL!

And...it's summertime! School is finished and we have been enjoying spending lots of time outdoors, visiting parks and the lake. Who has time for decorating anyway! Maybe by me saying out loud that we're doing re-doing our kitchen will inspire me to get planning in a way other than visions in my head and on Pinterest...humm...

Well, until that happens...let's check out some recent artwork I created for The Crafters Workshop. This project was posted on their blog Saturday, but I thought I'd share the process photos on my blog today. Let's go!

The jumping off point for this spread was an Inspiration Wednesday video. During this video, Donna used watercolors, which was where I started. I was thrilled with the soft, summery colors that were produced using the watercolors, and the rest of the spread transpired from that point.

I started by adding some masking tape to both pages of my journal, and covered everything with gesso. I used Peerless watercolors for my painting. If you don't owe these watercolors, get them! They are papers infused with pigment, the activate when you touch them with a wet brush.

I used a very wet brush and variety of colors to create the background. The gesso keeps the watercolor from soaking into the paper, which keeps the colors light and bright. I loved the look of the background so much I didn't want to add anything else to the page!

Since I liked these pale colors so much I didn’t want to add anything with a drastic contrast so I used sections of the 12×12 Screen Print stencil (TCW525) and Tea Dye Distress Ink to add some subtle shading.

Next, I used a gold paint pen to trace around a few of the images. This added just the tiniest bit of shine and highlighted the designs. I also used Wendy Vecchi’s embossing paste, in white, to add the dragonfly image (also from the Screen Print stencil).

Once the embossing paste was dry, I put the stencil back over the embossed area (basically using the stencil as a mask now), and painted the dragonfly with various shades of Distress Paint. I added two dragonflies to this spread, one on each page.

I added more stenciling in the background, using the Believe Script stencil (TCW541) and Wendy Vecchi’s Watering Can Archival Ink. I also added some stamping, from some random Tim Holtz stamps, and gold paint flecks. Lastly, I added some shading to the dragonfly using some Faber Castell Big Brush Markers. I added a quote using alphabet stamps from Tim Holtz and black Archival Ink. See the rest of my photos below!

I hope you enjoyed today's art journal project! Happy crafting!

Inspiration Wednesday - Week 10

Hi folks! I'm back again with another Inspiration Wednesday project! Are you starting to feel like these are the only projects I'm sharing? Well...if you're feeling that way, you would be right! The truth is that I've had very little time to create and even less time to post. The IW projects are typically quick to finish, and since we're following most of the steps from Donna Downey's video, it's an easy layout to finish...not much thinking required on my part! LOL!

The good news is that I'm making good progress on unpacking my craft supplies, as well as finding all sorts of creative ways to store all of them, so I hope to be back to posting more regularly in a few weeks.

This week's layout featured wrapping paper! Would you believe that I had to go shopping for wrapping paper in order to even work on this project. Dollar Store to the rescue! I found these great papers at my local store and they worked perfectly to create bold backgrounds. (Makes me want to wallpaper my room in wrapping paper!)

The left side of my spread features this amazing polka dot paper and tiny yellow butterflies (from a Martha Stewart punch). Note that both wrapping papers were sanded with a Tim Holtz sanding block...that worn look is divine! I added some rhinestone trails to each butterfly and came across this cute "handle with care" piece in my stash. I don't recall who made the embellishment, but it's wooden and I purchased a bunch of these at my local craft store. 

The left side of my spread featured this beautiful cream and black paper, which was a great contrast to the red polka dots. Again, the paper was sanded and I used a glaze and acrylic paint to add some aging to the page. My collage is made up of a piece of burlap, a Tim Holtz red lined tag, a stenciled face (from a Crafters Workshop stencil, see links below), some twine, a manila tag, and another tiny butterfly. I'm finding that I love these collage clusters...the only challenge is finding enough elements to fill in the space. I love the half a face peeking out from behind the tag.

The inclusion was whitewashed with gesso before I added the letter stickers. The lines around the "beautiful" word was hand drawn, and the butterflies are from more Martha Stewart punches.

Here's the entire finished piece...don't those contrasting patterns and colors look fabulous together! Love it! (Donna's video was based on mixing patterns...very fun!) Links to products below, and stay tuned for something other than IW2016 projects! I hope...LOL! Happy Crafting!

Supplies:

Donna Downey Inspiration Wednesday

Glazing Medium

TCW448 Four Faces Stencil

Inspiration Wednesday - Week 9 - Featuring The Crafters Workshop Stencils

Greetings from the great state of NH! Yes, we are officially back in NH, and I couldn't be happier! We are definitely missing some of our friends back in CT, but we are looking forward to a summer filled with frequent visitors! (And maybe even a trip or two to CT for us as well!)

While I've just barely started to unpack my art supplies, I managed to sneak in one project while we were still in CT, and my supplies were packed. (Hey, I had to leave a few things out just in case I got desperate!) I also received a shipment of TCW stencils to use on my design team projects, so really, they needed to be used ASAP...to make sure they worked correctly. *wink*

This project was from last week's Inspiration Wednesday video and while I've shared a few steps, I'm not going to provide an in-depth description of all of the steps, as this is a pretty literal copy of what Donna created in her video. If you're interested in following along with this year's Inspiration Wednesday projects, you can sign up here, it's only $35 for the entire year!

My project started with vintage text and the Jax (TCW599) stencil. I used Dina Wakley acrylic paint (Black) to add the stencil design to the pages. Notice that I did not start with gesso...

Next came the watered down gesso, creating a nice wash that only slightly covered up the text and stenciling. I also didn't wait for the black paint to completely dry (mostly because my heat gun was already packed!) and some of the paint smudged, but I ended up really liking how the page developed more of a gray tone vs. pure white.

My next layer was, of course, Wendy Vecchi embossing paste...it's my favorite paste! I used the Coaster (TCW621) stencil with the paste and added this fun design in random places over both journal pages. I placed the stencil off the edge of the paper each time I added paste so that I wasn't getting a complete circle.

And...that's when I finished with the step-by-step photos... :-) This is the finished piece, which features circles and the great color combo of teal, orange, and gold. Love, love, love the colors on this piece! I also used a Stabilo pencil for the shading around all of the circles. The "you have what it takes" sentiment is from a Wendy Vecchi stamp set (see links below).

The numbers inside the circles is a stamp designed by Donna Downey (sold by Unity), you can find all links at the end of this post. The stickers were once white...I painted them with Dina Wakley paint (Gilt) before applying them to the spread. The faith word is actually a chipboard piece, from Michaels, that I painted and attached with matte medium.

Since I had packed all of my tags, I needed to go foraging for a place to put my date stamp. I found this fun stickers in a basket of random goodies, and I really love the addition of the red and the speech bubble design vs. a manila tag. Might have to use more of these on future pages...

I'll end with a close up of that Coaster stencil...I just adore the look of the broken design and how the teal paint, applied with my finger, highlights small portions of the raised area. This stencil is definitely going into my fav pile!

I hope you enjoyed today's project! Now that we're firmly (I hope!) planted back in NH, I'm looking forward to unpacking all of my supplies, and getting back to more regular blog posts. Thanks for hanging in there through this crazy transition...Happy Crafting!

Supplies:

Donna Downey Inspiration Wedneday Videos

TCW599 - Jax

TCW621 - Coaster

Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste

Golden Fluid Acrylics

Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint

Donna Downey Stenciled & Reconstructed Stamp Set

Wendy Vecchi Passion for Art Stamp Set

Inspiration Wednesday - Week 8

A quick and easy project to share with you today, using decorative napkins! Seriously, this is genius! I know, folks have been using napkins for all kinds of craft projects, but this is the first time I dipped my toe in the napkin waters, and let me tell you, the water was fine!

My only challenge? Finding napkins! Where do you find those babies? I ended up finding these stashed in my kitchen pantry, a left over (I think from the dollar store) from last Thanksgiving. And what do you know, these napkins contain a few of my favorite things...flowers, script text, and butterflies. That's a happy find! Now that I've collaged with these napkins...I need more!

This layout was based upon Donna's IW video from a few weeks ago. It's a simple project, consisting of napkins, a few manila tags, stamps, and some Distress Ink. The beautiful "Hello Sunshine" stamp, which goes perfectly with the napkin design, is from my sweet friend Catherine Scanlon. You can find all of her stamps here. The other random stamp designs, seen on the smaller tags, are from Prima. And, yes, the number 49 is my age...but a few more months until the big 5-0! Ugh...I'm going to need a month long crafting spree to get over that hump! LOL!

Hope you enjoy today's layout...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 6

Well it only took six weeks for me to get way behind on my IW videos and posting...oh boy! And it also took six weeks for me to hit the "they can't all be winners" creation. LOL! This layout, although very simple, took the most time to create. Those darn flowers were tricky!

However, in the end, I found that I was mostly happen with the final results. The flowers, which were created with Wendy Vecchi's embossing paste, started as white, then blue, then back to white again before ending up as gold. I do really love the look of the gold against the dark blue background.

My page ended with some cork letters, aren't they fun, and a few sentiment stickers. Next week I'll share week 7, which came together much faster and easier. Hey, they can't all be winners, but keeping a journal filled with all of our art, not just the very best, is a satisfying experience. I love looking back on older projects and seeing how my techniques have evolved or improved. It's a great keepsake...like a diary packed full of color, texture, and artistic growth!

Enjoy!

Inspiration Wednesday - Week 5

Hello strangers! Sorry for the long absence from my blog. I actually have a lot to share, just haven't had a lot of time to write and upload photos. Hard to find time for everything lately as I have some big news, which the quote included in my week five Inspiration Wednesday project kind of alludes to...

Get ready because it's a doozey! We're moving back to NH! That's right...our time in CT is to be short lived. We don't have a specific time frame yet as we need to find a home, but my hubby starts a new job in a few weeks.

This certainly wasn't part of our plans. I mean who moves state-to-state twice in six months?! That's craziness! And I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it, but it seems to be the way that things have worked out. (Unless there's another plot twist around the corner...oh man, I hope not!) 

Long story short, the new job here wasn't working out. My husband loved the work, but there were some other issues that were unable to be resolved. We knew that a job change was in the near future, but we didn't know how near. He was contacted by someone he interviewed with over the summer, who is now ready to hire. It's a great opportunity and I'm so excited for him! Of course this means we need to go through the entire moving process again, but I couldn't be happier! I'll dearly miss some folks we've become friends with in CT, but I feel that we're returning to our home. And I suspect that we'll be back in CT for many vacations in the coming years...

Now on to this week's project!

This was a tough week for me...I reworked these pages a bunch before I was happy. Donna had used a giant number stencil on her page, but I didn't have anything similar so I went with the heart texture stencil (from Donna Downey), which didn't work quite as well as the letters were a little small.

There are many layers of paint on these pages...paint, glazing medium, more paint, and a new product from Finnabair, Thick Modeling Paste.

Once my many layers were dry I added a hint of black by using a few Crafters Workshop stencils. My favorite part of this project are the tiny bits of teal showing through on the pages and the heart. Oh, I used a 3D Gloss Gel for the heart, which is a new Prima product. Want step-by-step instructions for creating a similar project, check out Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesday videos. It's only $35 for 25 classes! Interested in supplies I used? Check out the links below:

Supplies:

-Donna Downey Art Journal

-Heart Texture Stencil

-Prima Art Basics (3D Gloss Gel and Thick Modeling Paste)

-Glazing Medium

-Golden Acrylics

-Believe Script Stencil

-Specimens Stencil

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!