In a Vanilla World - Dylusions Journal Page

Seeing all the inspiration out there since the Covid 19 lockdowns began has provided so much inspiration!!  In particular I've been following Dina Wakley's Daily Demos and Dyan Reaveley's Day by Dy.  I am amazed every day at the generosity of their sharing of their time, knowledge and techniques.  It is priceless.

This day last week I was feeling the need to create something bright and bold.  So I put down a couple Dylusions paint colours for a background in my small Dylusions journal.  I added some stenciling for interest then I cut out these pieces and coloured them with copics and added a sentiment.  Some white detailing with a Posca paint pen and that was it!!

Mostly I Just Sit Around All Day.... Art Journal Page

I finally coloured up these Crazy Birds from Tim Holtz.  I used distress crayons and distress markers. The background is in my Dylusions small journal, it's actually a background I made a long time ago, but didn't like it and created another one for this journal page back in 2015.  So I added the white letters and circles through a stencil, some die cut circles with that I added penned circles to and some Tim Holtz washi tape.  The sentiment is from a Dylusions stamp set.

Possibility, Imagination - Art Journal Page

Aren't these colours gorgeous?  I got a few new products and had to try them out - Dylusions Shimmer Spray and Distress Oxide Ink :)

Let What You Love Be What You Do - Art Journal Page

This!!  I came across this page by Nike Rouss (Nika in Wonderland) quite a while ago before I was brave enough to attempt any mixed media on my own and since I had created my first page with Dylusions paints just a few days ago, I decided to recreate this page in my large journal.  The website doesn't appear to be up anymore, maybe I'll be able to find her videos on Youtube.

The process was so much fun!!  Started by adding Dylusions paint with a credit card.

Next was to add some Dylusions Ink Spray over the masking portion of a Dina Wakley butterfly stencil.  I love how the green and yellow peek through!

The bold black painted circles were added with my fingers.

Continuing with my fingers I added white paint to fill the circles.  

Some turquoise paint added to the circles and through a stencil.

Some white paint splatter!

And the finishing touches - sentiments from Donna Downey stamps and a white paint pen to add another layer to the circles.

I love that I have this in my Journal - so bright and vibrant!!

'let what you love be what you do'

I Paint Flowers So They Will Not Die - Art Journal Page

Hi friends :) - 'I paint flowers so they will not die' - what a great phrase!!

So let me tell you a bit about this page - this was a mixed media kit I purchased from Clarisa at Inky Fairy Designs.  The stamp set includes the sentiment and the swirly flowers designed by her for JustRite Cling stamps.  The kit came with the paints and stamp and instructions to create the page along with the option to purchase the large Dylusions Art Journal which I did :) and this is my first page in that journal.

So to start I added lots of colour with Dina Wakley media paint.  I know - it looks kind of scary right now!

After the paint, I added some random stamping with black archival ink and white media paint.  Those stamps were also designed by Clarisa and part of the kit.

Next was to add the focal point - white background for the sentiment.  I was so nervous to stamp that sentiment but since it was a new journal it was a perfect flat surface.

Lastly - added the painted flowers and used a black marker to add a checkered border for the final touch.

I have recreated a few of Clarisa's pages and she has a ton of process videos on Youtube if you'd like to see more of her work.

I'm So Glad I Live In A World Where There Are Octobers

Now we're going back to November '16 - another kit from Inky Fairy Designs - this time working on a canvas.  I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out!!  I actually had this displayed in my living room :)

Applied patterned paper with matte medium.

Then applied some chipboard leaves.

Applied gesso to mute everything.

Now the fun part!!  Applying the Dylusions paints with a brush and my fingers!!

Added a some Dina Wakley paint for some depth and drippage :)

Next was to stamp the pumpkins but instead of stamping on the textured canvas I stamped on tissue paper and applied with the matte medium.

The pumpkins were coloured in with the Dylusions paints after custom blending the colours with my fingers.  Then the white paint was added as well to create a base for the sentiment.  The sentiment was stamped in Archival ink and then outlined with a white gel pen.  I was definitely nervous to stamp the sentiment after all this work but thankfully it worked out!!  The pumpkins and the leaves were also outlined with a charcoal pencil for added depth and definition.

Art Journal Reveal - Make the Time to Listen to Your Heartsong.....

Well it's time for another Art Journal Reveal - put on your sunglasses, it's a bright one!!!  I can't believe this is my fifth entry in my Art Journal already.  If you want to see the others you can click on the label Art Journaling Journey at the bottom of my post and it will bring you to all my Art Journal pages.  Tracy and I decided on a Dylusions Background Theme this round.  You can see Tracy's Journal page here.  There were several techniques we could try but I was really looking forward to this one.  This was the perfect opportunity to use this Donna Downey/Unity stamp set - love these sweet flowers especially since I'm seeing May flowers pop up everywhere now :)

Applying this colour was so much fun!!  I generously spritzed the right page with a water mister, applied really good sprays of colour randomly and then spritzed with more water.  I tipped the book to set the colours blend and then closed the left side page over and pressed until the colour was seeping out at the edges.  Oila!!  I was SO impressed :)

** Sidenote - this was my second attempt in my good art journal page.  Yes - I didn't like the first one.  I kinda screwed it up and then I was feeling like I liked my test page better, so I made another one.  This one I was happy with, though I still think I like my test page background the best lol.  I've been thinking I may go back and use my first attempt anyway.  If you saw my test page here you'll see the super cute bird from Tim Holtz's Bird Crazy stamp set.  I really like him and I may go ahead and use him there.  

Next I did some ghosting (misting water through a stencil and lifting out the colour) and then adding some more colour through the stencils.

I was torn between a black border and the gold border.  The black really popped (I tried a bit on my test page using the stencil and a sponge dauber with the black archival ink) but I was so drawn to the gold and I love the texture.  My daughter loved the gold too.  I think because of the yellows and oranges in the background.  And then the stamping........

I'm entering this in the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #12 - May Flowers.

I'd also like to share this at Unity's Friends With Flair this week.  

Stamps:  Donna Downey & Unity's Be Still Watercolor Kit
Ink:  Dylusions Ink Sprays - Squeezed Orange, Lemon Zest & Bubblegum Pink; Ranger Archival Ink; Big Brush Pitt pens, White Gelly Roll pen
Accessories:  Faber Castell Gold Texture Luxe, Dylusions 5 x 8 stencils Diamond Border and Number Jumble

5th Art Journal Page - Sneak Peek

Hello - just wanted to share a peek of how things are coming with my newest Art Journal pages.  The deadline is coming quickly (May 31st) so I thought I'd share a bit of what I've done so far.  The challenge theme this time was to use Dylusions Ink Sprays.  I received several of these at Christmas and have been itching to try them ever since.  Actually I did make a tag with them over the Christmas holidays, forgot about that.  I've watched several of Dyan Reaveley's videos highlighting her stenciling and ghosting techniques.  You just don't realize until you try it yourself though - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the vibrancy of these ink spays!!!

I applied some Faber Castell Gold Texture Luxe through one of Dyan's stencils for a border.  This stuff is so cool!  

So that's all for now, and as you know, I like to try out new techniques in my test journal so here is a look at that:  Besides the obvious (the Dylusions background) I was testing my Big Brush Pit pens, my white gelly roll pen, the Texture Luxe........ Isn't he the cutest little crazy bird??!!

Dylusions Christmas Gift Bag Tag

Hello and hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  I thought I'd pop in and share a tag I made with some of my crafty Christmas gifts from my hubby :)

Since I've been so intrigued by the art journaling thing, naturally I had to try Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Ink Sprays Mists by Ranger.  These are awesome, vibrant inks and I'm just learning different techniques with them.  Here I sprayed London Blue a few times on the manilla tag and then misted generously with water to spread the ink {they say if it doesn't drip, it's not wet enough}.  Then I dabbed off the excess with paper towel.  The next step was to mist water over a Dylusions Stencil and again dab with paper towel.  The ink is water reactive so I was able to remove some ink to reveal the stencil design.

Not wanting to waste my test tag, I then used some of my Unity stamps and added the stars with Pumice Stone Distress Ink and the sentiment with Black StazOn Ink.

I used my Memento Pen to doodle on the edges and colour the hole tab black.  I also coloured the ribbon by rubbing it on my craft mat in the left over ink and water.  You can't see it too well in the pictures though.  

I have the perfect gift bag that this will go with next Christmas!!  I'm sharing my tag at Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes. 

I'll be sharing some more of my crafty Christmas goodies soon :)