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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Quiet Your Mind ~ Art Journal



Hello everyone! Bonnie Irvine here today. Sometimes when I have a lot on my mind, lots of what I call noisy thoughts, they'll wake me up in the middle of the night. That's been happening a lot lately and I told my husband, "Forget the junk in the trunk...it's the junk in my head that's annoying me. My head is going to explode!" And that became the inspiration for this, my first journal spread in my new Dylusions art journal.


I started by gesssoing the two page spread and then scribbling over it with red, pink, orange, and yellow watercolour crayons, I spread and blended the colour with a wet brush and allowed it to dry. Next I deepened the colours here and there with Tangerine, Watermelon, and Red Cherry Gelatos blending with a damp finger.


To create more pattern and texture, I spread the same three gelatos on an Impression Obsession canvas background stamp, spritzed it with water, and stamped it randomly over the pages. I love the watercolour effect this gives and how the extra water lightened the base colours in some areas. I did the same thing with Chocolate gelato and a large script stamp.


More interest was added to the background by applying Fired Brick Distress Ink through a Prima crackle stencil,. White gesso was pounced through TCW's Mini Chicken Wire Reversed stencil,  and through the Coffee Break Designs drippy stencil. Once it was dry, a black pen was used to outline the drips and doodle a checkerboard across the top of both pages. Torn pieces of black cardstock were adhered across the pages as well as torn striped washi tape. Black gesso was applied through the running man stencil (Coffee Break Designs) to create the bottom border and balance out the pages.


The face of Studio 490 Phrenology man was stamped on peach coloured designer paper and then enhanced with Prismacolor pencil shading and highlighting. Phren's head was lopped off at the top...see, I knew it would explode when it got too full ...and the extra piece landed upside down on the other page, You can see all of the junk in his head spilling out in the collage which is actually bits and pieces of collage sheets left from other projects. The two background cards are vintage Sorry game card images.


 Phren's monocle is backed with a piece of acetate and gold chain is looped through the hole on the outside piece. Both were adhered to the background with Glossy Accents. His butterfly bow tie, another leftover, was doodled on, given white gel pen dots and black Stickles dots as well. A dew drop forms butterfly's head and his body is coated with Glimmer Glaze. Phren's bird's nest is another image from a collage sheet in my stash.


The lettering was done on my Dymo labeller and the phrase comes from a Zac Brown song...it's something I tell myself when I need to be reminded. Two more dew drops became the fish bubbles and two tiny Idea-ology paperclips were added to the right page. Slightly watered down gesso was used to create the rings with a bottle lid. White dots, doodles, and more Chicken Wire stencilling were done over some of the elements to embed them into the background.


Black Soot Distress ink, Black Big Brush pen, and more doodling were all applied to the outside edges of the pages to frame them. The final touch was to stamp letters using Coffee Archival ink to form the words  "Blah...blah...blah" ...sometimes those voices accompanying the junk are annoying...lol.


Anyway, that's it for me today. I had such a blast creating these pages...and turning something that was bothering me into something that amuses me. Thanks for sharing in my fun..
Happy New Year!
Bonnie

Here are links to some of the products I used:

Monday, December 30, 2013

Bless Your Heart!

Hello, everyone!  It's Broni here with you today.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you're ready for a bright and happy New Year!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to move on from all the holiday hustle and bustle.  Lately I've been looking forward to celebrating LOVE and creating Valentine's Day projects.  I have one for you today!


I've got a brief run-down on the how-to for you:

I added a book page to my journal using Matte Multi-Medium, then painted it with some watered down Gesso.

 Next I added some Spun Sugar Distress Paint.

I took some scraps that I had left over from another project and added them to the page with the Multi-Medium, then added some print stamped in Memento Tuxedo black ink, and some hearts from the Catherine Scanlon Random Shapes stamp set stamped in Seedless Preserves ink.





I drew some lines around the page and added some shading to the hearts with a watercolor pencil and also added some Tiny Circles with Black Soot ink.



I cut a heart from some cardboard and painted it with Black Gesso then added some Charcoal twine tied through the tag hole.  I randomly added some silver dots using Glossy Accents.  My die cut arrow is also from the leftovers of another project.  (You'll get to see that one on Thursday!)




Sigh.  Now that we've moved on from Christmas, what's up for you in the new year?  More crafting, I hope!

Have fun!



Saturday, December 28, 2013

Be Fearless...


Hi folks!  Happy Saturday!  My apologizes for the delay is posting today...I confess that I totally forgot.  I think the holidays have created a sleepy brain...LOL!

Today I'm sharing a project that I created during a recent class with Dina Wakley.  The focus of the class was on understanding color, which is definitely an area where I struggle with when it comes to art journaling, which makes me giggle since I have no issues with this when it comes to card making.  I think much of has to do with me being so darn excited about creating journal pages that I grab way too much stuff and struggle with knowing when to stop applying color, design, and layers!  WooHoo!

During the class, Dina talked about the color wheel and using colors that complimented each others and those that were on opposite sides of the color wheel (if you don't have a color wheel, get one, it's really a helpful tool!)  We created a bunch of color combinations in the beginning of the class before we started working on the journal pages.  We created two pages and this one has become one of my favorites...I love the background color and contrast of the deep blue.  Hey, I did it...two color families and a neutral!  Yippee!

We started by using deli paper (get some of this stuff, it's awesome!), paint, and stencils to create a sheet of patterned paper.  Once that was dry, we cut out random shapes; since I'm a fan of circles, that's what I went with.  Then we created the background of the journal page, using a contrasting color.  (Orange and blue are on opposite sides of the color wheel).  I used only colors next to each other on the color wheel to create the background colors (yellow, red, orange).  Once the color was dry on the page, then I added the deep blue/purple circles (again, colors that are next to each other on the color wheel).  Then it was time to add additional designs and neutral colors.  Black is my favorite neutral as it really pops on a page.  I used paint in a bottle with a pointed tip to draw the fern image and write the words "be fearless" and a watercolor pencil to draw around the circles.  I then cut out text paper to fill in the leaves.  Lastly, I just added some stenciling.  Again, using black and my background orange color.  (Oh, and I added some tiny white dots 'cause I like dots!)

This was a really fun project...learning to play with color is great stuff!  Grab a color wheel, art journal, stencils, and some paint and experiment...be fearless!  (Product supply below)

Supplies:
Dylusions Art Journal
Adirondack Acrylic Paint
Classic Words Stencil (from Wendy Vecchi)
Various Crafters Workshop Stencils

Friday, December 27, 2013

Peek into my 12 days before Christmas Journal . . .

Hello sweet friends, Tracy here today.
 I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and all looking forward to the New Year that is coming closer and closer!
Before I share a little peek into my journal, I would like to thank Kim and Bonnie for being so understanding after my op recently, as well as all the fabulous ladies on the team . . . I haven`t forgotten you all I promise and I have loved seeing what you have all been creating.
You may remember that I did a post a wee while back showing you the covers of my journal, well here is a peek into the first seven days . . .
 First Day of Christmas . . .
. . . pretty Graphic 45 Papers & Stickers, Gesso, Chipboard, Pan Pastels . . .
. . . along with Simple Stories bits and bobs and Tim Holtz yumminess to complete the inside front pages.
On the 14th December the mistletoe was hung ready to surprise the unsuspecting victims,lol!
Each book page was given a swipe of Gesso, followed by a quick pencil sketch, adding the colour with Tim Holtz Distress Stains and watercolours.
I love the way the products give the pages the feel of canvas . . . yumminess on a page!
I  received a beautiful stamped parcel that day from a lovely creative friend, who lives in Australia and I wanted to pop that memory into a page . . . sooooo out came the pencil to sketch the birds onto a page along with the recycled postage stamp, chopped up quote and some of the washi tape from the front of the parcel.
December 15th . . . still not feeling up to doing what I would usually be doing and feeling frustrated with myself when Alex to the rescue!!!
Besides our main tree I also have 3 small trees that I dot around the house and I really didn`t think I would have them out this year, when my lovely husband took it upon himself to decorate not one BUT all three trees.
He really enjoyed himself plus it was a pleasure to watch him at work!
What makes my heart sing?
Honestly . . . give me an old branch, hang it in my window, add a few baubles, hearts, a fairy and some homemade bunting along the window and I am in heaven!!
My branch looks oh so very pretty, simple and so quick to transform a room.
December 16th -
I wanted to record a little snowflake I made for Alex, it was the first thing I have made since my op and boy it felt good to be creating!
Gesso, sketching, stencil, Pan Pastel and a little German Glitter Glass . . .
. . . I wish you could see this page in real life the dazzle and twinkle from the Glitter Glass is so, so beautiful.
December 17th - I went back to work and was terrified of hurting myself, but fear not I have two guardian angels who made sure I didn`t do anything that would set me back.
Out came the yummy Graphic 45 papers to make the dresses, apron and legs . .  snip, snip, snip . . . before turning into . . .
. . .  this with a little doodle doodle dooing and some inky paintiness and I had managed to capture how I felt.
Sofa Snuggles . . . 
Okay, so I admit to having went back to work way too quick and finding it a daily struggle right now.
How have I been spending my nights?
 Yep, snuggling in my housecoat on the couch next to Alex watching . . . 
Dr. Who, lol!
Got to love Graphic 45 pretty papers!
December 19th -
Surprise picnic at work tonight . . .
Twas all quiet at the school that night . . . until I opened a door and stepped into a transformed room . . .
a beautifully set table all decked out for a Christmas feast by two beautiful elves called Janet & Alison.
I went with the picture on the crackers to journal . . . a little bit snipping of the pretty papers again and some doodle doodle doings to record such a beautful heartfelt surprise.
 Friday 20th December -
I fell by the wayside I`m afraid . . . last day at work in the school, not sure how I made it, but I did!
I managed to make a school from pretty papers, paint the background and add a few details but it`s not quite finished yet I`m afraid . . .
I have sketches in a notepad for the last of my days of Christmas and will be finishing it up over the next few days in my journal, along with pictures printed out and snuck away in hidden pockets along with a few recipes.

It`s amazing what you can achieve with an old raggedy unloved book, pretty papers, Distress Stains and imagination!
Have you journalled your Christmas memories?
If you have then please let us know in the comments, we would love to see them.

Till next time
Big hugs to you all
xoxox
List of materials from the eP Store and links -