Make ART Journal Layout

Morning eP fans!  Today I'm posting an art journal page, featuring lots of fun Wendy Vecchi products!  This is a long post, photo tutorial below, so sit back and enjoy the art! (This was created for this month's Make ART Challenge, which was to use re-inkers in a project.)

These are the products I started with...Specialty Stamping Paper (note, it's important to use this paper when working with re-inkers.  Other paper will instantly absorb the ink and you'll be unable to create the fun backgrounds), a palette knife, rubbing alcohol (in the Fineline bottle), a non-stick craft sheet, Dandelion Archival re-inker, and a fun blending palette from Tombow Markers.  (This is just a plastic coated piece of cardstock)

Put a few drops of re-inker on to the blending palette (you can also do this on your craft sheet), add a few drops of rubbing alcohol, and blend with the palette knife.

Next, smoosh (that's a technical crafting term) the blending palette all over the Specialty Stamping Paper.  I had enough ink to cover both pieces of paper.  Add more rubbing alcohol to get fun patterns. Using the blending palette definitely covered the pages more than dragging the cardstock through ink on the craft sheet. I'm not sure I love this much coverage, but it all worked out in the end, and I got to try out a new technique!

I grabbed the oval shape from Wendy's new Spotlight Frames along with the Sunburst stencil. I centered the oval frame and then layered the Sunburst design over the oval. Use Orange Blossom Archival Ink to fill in the sun. Then I covered the Sunburst with the oval mask and traced around the mask using a Fube Ball marker.  Added a few more design elements and my oval was complete!

Next came the addition of some stamping (Wendy's background stamp, Dots & Dashes) and more stenciling (Add a Stencil and Everyday Words).  Here are my two completed journal pages, minus my sentiment.  Here comes the fun part...

I glued my pages into an art journal and then embedded the pages into the journal pages using Wendy's Crackle Paste (this stuff if the BOMB!) (You can also see my sentiment was added before I glued the pages into the journal). I also added a stamped flower, from The Purpose of Art stamp set.  (The flower was stamped on cardstock and colored with Copics, cut out, and attached with foam tape.)

Check out the dry paste?  Dreamy...I get weak in the knees over all those cracks! And I LOVE Wendy's pastes because they're flexible when dry!  Some others (I won't mention names....LOL!) has a tendency to crack and falls off when dry.

I then I got all jiggy with paint!  This is a combination of Wild Honey and Tea Dye Distress Paint.  And then I added just a hint of Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint...ohhh...check out that Bronze.  Love it!  Below are some other photos of the completed project.  I just added more paint and all of my finishing details...

The Make Art sentiment is from the License Plate Art stamp set.  They were stamped on a manila tag and embossed with black embossing powder.  The date at the top of the page was stamped on the left over part of my manila tag...use all scraps!

The butterfly is from one of Wendy's stencils...I used a blending tool to color in the stencil and then just cut out the butterfly....same goes for the tiny hearts, which have also been embossed with Red Geranium embossing powder.  The arrow is from Idea-ology...and yes, it's crooked...fixed that after I took the photo! LOL!

Oh yeah...the inclusion!  This is a journal from Donna Downey so each page has an inclusion.  I just covered this one with Tissue Wrap, some Antiqued Bronze paint, some stitched stamps from Wendy (this is my favorite stamp ever!), a circle and the number 4 (to represent our sweet family of four.)

Enjoy! And be sure to check out this month's Make ART Challenge...only one more week to enter!

Be Kind

 

Hi folks!  I'm back with a project created for a paste Wendy Vecchi Make ART Challenge...using hearts.

I started my card by creating all of the individual pieces....(All of the images are from the My Kind of Art stamp set).  The pitcher is embossed with Cornflower Blue embossing powder; Gathered Twigs has been added to the edges.  The heart is a mix of Dina Wakley acrylic paint and Wendy's Crackle Paste.  (Isn't that crackle delish?!)  The flower was stamped twice and colored with watercolors.  I cut out one entire flower and then a portion of the second flower, to create multiple flower layers.  A button with twine finished the flower.

My card background is a piece of vintage book text, covered with a bit of Gathered Twigs ink and Wendy's tiny cross stencil.  I then layered a piece of designer paper, with an oval die cut, on top of the text paper and then added a black frame, created using two Spellbinder oval dies.  Each little scallop on the frame got a silver dot, thanks to a gel pen.  I also added Gathered Twigs over the edge of the entire card and added some faux stitching, from Wendy's Just Sew Artsy stamp set.  Finally, I added the sentiment and a star (from the Little Bits stencil).  Viola!  Hope you enjoyed today's card and be sure to check out Wendy's monthly Make ART Challenge blog!

PS - In other news...we have some guest designers scheduled to start posting each week in May so stay tuned for more weekly art projects!!

Make a Wish

 

Hi folks!  I was so encouraged by the comments you left on last week's post.  Yeah!  I'm glad folks are still interested in seeing some art on this blog.  I'll do my best to share at least one project a week, along with posting our weekly bundle deals.

Today, I'm sharing a project I created last month for Wendy Vecchi's challenge blog, which I'm joyfully managing.  (You can check out all of the details here).  Last months challenge was to use stencils on our project, and boy, oh boy, did I use some stencils!  Grab your favorite cuppa and get cozy because today's post is a long one!  (Step-by-step!)

 

My project started with two pieces of gesso'd chipboard, Wendy's new Spotlight Frames and Mask, embossing paste, and brick stencil.  Using the brick stencil, I added embossing paste to my largest piece of chipboard.  On the smaller piece I knew that I wanted to create a cutout in the middle of the board...that's where the mask comes in handy!

 I placed the mask where I wanted it on my chipboard. 

 Then I layered the brick stencil on top of the mask and adding the embossing paste.

Once the mask was removed, I'm left with a perfectly clean opening!  Yeah!  (How do you like the green tint in my embossing paste?  That's what happens when you never clean your stencils...LOL!  No worries, this baby is getting a healthy dose of paint!)

 

Next came two rounds of paint...Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge Distress Paints.  Dab on and wipe around with a baby wipe...best coverage ever!  (And I like a tiny hint of white showing through...like chipped brick!)

Next...two rounds of Archival Ink..Potting Soil and Watering Can (I'm in love with Watering Can!) These were applied with an ink blending tool.

I used a graphite Stabilo pencil to add some shading to the window frame, Wendy's Mesh background stamp for inside the window, Vines background stamp for...well...vines on the outside of the window and the Little Bits stencil for the flowers.

Now here's where things get complicated...I started dinner, emailed Wendy and told her I had a creative block, cleaned the kitchen, got my kiddies in the shower, checked email, ran to the basement a few times to grab more products (yes, I shop from my own store...too frequently...LOL!), and finished my project...all without taking another photo!

Here's the finished piece!  I used Wendy's new Passion for Art stamp set for the face, and License Plate Art for the wish sentiment.  The bird is from the Vintage Floral stencil and the crown and glasses are both Blossom Bucket embellies.  The butterflies are from a Martha Stewart punch and are punched from some scraps I keep on hand for just such occasions.  I also added some stenciling, using the Classic Words stencil, to the background of my piece.  Oh, and I added a shelf!  You can thank Wendy for that idea...Isn't that fun!  Of course I'm not sure many queens (yes, she's gazing out on her kingdom) store their crowns on a window sill, but perhaps the crow will keep an eye out for thieves and scoundrels who are looking to steal a queen's jewels...

Be sure to check out the Make ART Challenge blog! Our next challenge will be posted on Thursday!  Enjoy!