Art Journal Reveal - Happy Halloween

Here it is - another art journal page completed :)  As I mentioned in my last post Tracy and I had decided on a collage or halloween theme for this challenge.  I went with the halloween theme obviously :)  I was inspired by the pumpkin on a halloween tagI saw here.

I started by first applying some Tim Holtz rub-ons to my pages as I love this resist look after applying colour.  I dug into my halloween stash and found some black patterned papers from an older paper pad from My Mind's Eye called Mischievous and stamped the pumpkin from the Stamper's Anonymous Halloween Blueprints stamp set a few times.  I laid out the pumpkins and the tree (which was cut on my Silhouette) so I could see where I wanted the rubons.  Next I applied some texture paste with the Harlequin stencil in a few empty areas and let that dry.

Once the texture paste was dry I applied Distress Spray Stains in Spiced Marmalade, Crushed Olive and Seedless Preserves.  I misted with water to help the colours blend and then dried with my heat gun.  After that it was just a matter of adhering the pumpkins and tree with my collage glue stick.  I wanted to give some dimension to the front pumpkin by cutting out smaller sections and using some glue dots to pop them up a bit.  

In order to 'ground' the images I used a Black Soot Distress Marker to outline the tree and pumpkins and smudged it with my finger to blend.  You can see the difference in the photo below.

Last was to add some splatters of Black Soot Distress Spray Stain and a couple mists of Brushed Pewter Distress Stain and that was it.  

Hope you enjoyed the process :)  You can find Tracy's journal page here.  I love the silhouette images and how she created them.  And her moon is awesome!!

I'm entering this in Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes and Simon Says Monday Challenge - Throwback.  For my entry I'm going to back to last October's Challenge O is for.... October of course!!!

I'd also like to enter this in Emerald Creek Dare: Tricks & Treats and Little Reg Wagon's Challenge - Ghosts and Goblins (or other halloween creatures).

You Wonderful Thing You

So here is the last of my cards I'm sharing this weekend.  This is the other Taylored Expressions image I stamped and coloured while watching TV.  I kinda liked it and maybe I'll use my copics more.

Here you can see Wink of Stella on the feathers and the shimmer of the Pewter Liquid Pearls on the flowers.  

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge 146 - Anything Goes

Simon Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Stamps:  Taylored Expressions You Wonderful Thing

Paper:  My Mind's Eye Stella Rose 'Mabel', PTI Stampers Select Choice White cs

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics

Accessories:  MFT Pierced Circle Stax die, Wink of Stella Clear, Hero Arts Gems, Pewter Liquid Pearls

Enjoy the Little Things

This is my second post today!!  Go me!!  To see the sneak peek of my art journal pages click here.

I just love how this turned out.  One evening I stamped some images and coloured them with copics for use later.  This is one of the images from Taylored Expressions.  Although it doesn't say it, it is a birthday card for my BF in Minneapolis.  I better get it in the mail too!!

You might be able to see here that I used Clear Wink of Stella on the tiny bees' wings.  I love those coloured pearls and they matched the paper ribbon perfectly!!

I am joining in the following challenges with my card:

Simon Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #146 - Anything Goes

Seize the Birthday Challenge - Anything Goes

Stamps:  Taylored Expressions The Little Things
Paper:  Basic Grey Hello Luscious, CC Designs Copic Quality cs, Stampin Up Baked Brown Sugar cs
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, copics, Stampin Up Melon Mambo
Accessories:  Taylored Expressions Label Stacklets 2 die; Basic Grey Hello Luscious paper ribbon, Wink of Stella Clear, Hero Arts Pearls and Gems, 

Life Can Be Tough......

Hello - I've been busy making cards believe it or not and working in my pocket album.  This card came together only after playing with my distress inks and the smooshing technique.  Love how the ink colours look together.  After I made the background I put it aside until I decided what I was going to do with it.  I finally decided on this - a friend gifted me this Simon Says Stamp set called Hand Lettered Encouragement and I thought the lettering would stand out perfectly on this background.  I added a bit of tissue tape and some gold Heidi Swapp Color Shine spray to finish it off.

I decided to make a little envelope as well using the same tissue tape and gold Color Shine.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

Addicted To Stamps and More Challenge #146 - Anything Goes

Simon Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Shopping Our Stash #203 - Play Misty For Me

Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp Hand Lettered Encouragement

Paper:  Ranger Watercolor Paper, Stampin Up Very Vanilla and Rose Red cs, Stampin Up First Edition dsp (envelope)

Ink:  Distress Inks, StazOn Jet Black Ink

Accessories:  Tim Holtz Tissue Tape, Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine

Art Journal Reveal - Live Simply. Dream Big.....

Well, better late than never, I finally finished my 3rd Art Journal page.  You might remember from my last two that my friend Tracy and I have an ongoing Challenge to each other to complete an Art Journal page every six weeks (or so) in my case.  Funny, I was late this time and I'm usually the one bugging Tracy to see if she's done yet :)  You can check out her Art Journal page here.

This time the theme was Love/Valentines.  I had always had in my mind that I wanted to use one of my Unity Stamps for this, and I chose this sweet girl.  The stamp is called 'Party Love' from Suzi Blu.

I had to include this picture so you could see the dimension!

I actually used several of my Unity Stamp sets on this.  They're all named them below.  As you can see from yesterday's post, the background really came together after I applied the tissue paper.  I then coloured with my Gelatos and spread the colour with my fingers.  By now I was friends with my Gelatos ;)

I couldn't wait for this next step!!  I coloured some white embossing paste with a turquoise Gelato and began to apply it through a Donna Downy stencil.  I tried for a gradient look, so in the lower left corner it's darker than in the upper right corner.

Next I wanted to add this stamped sentiment but because the page is not a flat surface anymore, I stamped it on plain tissue paper and adhered it with gel medium.  Love that I learned this trick - you can't even tell.  Then I stamped the white dots with the Heavy Body Paint and I blended over the stamped heart image with a grey Gelato.  I also used my new Hero Arts Neon Pink ink (LOVE IT) and some Archival Ink for some more background interest.

And lastly I added the Party Girl.  She was stamped onto some My Minds Eye paper several times so I could paper piece her dress and adhered with gel medium.  I then coloured her skin and leggings with my copics.  The shading you see in the first picture above was done with my Gelatos to add depth and to ground the image.  See the difference from here to when she's completed?  Oh, and I did a little doodling on her dress too :)

I am entering this in the Simon Wednesday Challenge - Special Lady/Girly and at The Shabby Tea Room's Challenge - A Pop of Pink.  I am also entering at Unity's Friends with Flair.


Supplies:
Unity Stamps Party Love (Suzi Blu), Beautiful Elements, January 2015 Smak Kit Ourselves, January 2015 KOM Magic of Beginnings; Bo Bunny Stamps Distressed Textures, Stained Textures; Donna Downey Blooming Floral stencil, Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste, Faber Castell Gelatos and PITT artist pens, My Mind's Eye Blush paper, Liquitex matte gel medium and Heavy Body White paint, Hero Arts Neon Pink Ink, Ranger Archival Inks, copics

Sealed With A Kiss

Here is the card I made for my Hubby for Valentine's Day this year.  I had envisioned this one in my mind since I received the Warmth of Winter stamp set from Unity.  I coloured the foxes with distress markers and a watercolour brush.  I masked them and stamped the woodgrain background with second generation Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  I toyed with the idea of creating the hearts through the stencil by rubbing distress ink through it, but that was before I decided to to use the woodgrain background.  Then I thought of using clear embossing paste tinted with colour and I love how it turned out.  The sentiments are from Unity's January KOM - Magic of Beginnings.  The inside reads 'The Best is Yet to Be'.

I'm entering my card in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - All Creatures Great and Small and The Pink Elephant Challenge #285 - Be My Valentine

I'm also entering in Unity's Friends With Flair post this Friday.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Unity December 2014 KOM - Warmth of Winter, Unity January 2105 KOM - Magic of Beginnings, Hero Arts Woodgrain Background
Paper:  Kaisercraft Up Up and Away, SU watercolour paper, SU Naturals White cs
Ink:  Aged Mahogany Distress Paint, Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, Distress Markers, StazOn
Accessories:  Simon Says Stamp stencil Floating Hearts, Wendi Vecchi Clear Embossing Paste, MFT Pierced Circle Die, Clear Wink of Stella, watercolour brush

Love These Girls

A while back I attended a crop at my friend Tracy's house.  This is the second layout I was working on and had come up with the layout while there, I just had to get it all glued down, and finish up with a few embellishments.  I didn't even follow a sketch!!  Just kinda went with it.  Love how everything came together.  I had challenged myself to only use the items that came in the kit - in this case it was the Scrapbook and Cards Crop And Create Delivered Spring 2014 kit.

I'm entering this in Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - All Things Bright and Beautiful.  

I also entered this in the Paper Issues New Issue:  The Perfect Pairing.  These two girls (my daughter and my niece) are the perfect pair!!!

Supplies:  (Crop & Create Delivered Spring Hello There 2014 Kit)
Paper:  Crate Paper Flea Market, Pebbles From Me to You, We R Memory Keepers Chalkboard, Bo Bunny Pincushion, Bazzill Painted Dessert
Accessories:  Studio Calico Printshop rub-ons, Jillibean Soup Tart Teal lettters, My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste Wow Label Stickers, Doodlebug Bumblebee Sprinkles, Basic Grey Fresh Cut Die Cuts (photo corner), May Arts Peach Ribbon, Darice Washi Tape, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, 

#selfie

Hello - I'm enjoying a leisurely day at home this cold and sunny Sunday.  I wanted to share a scrapbook layout I completed.  I was invited to a 12 hour Winter Crop at my friend Tracy's yesterday and totally enjoyed myself.  I completed this layout and about 3/4 of another, not a marathon creation day by any means but lots of good chats with good company.  I decided to bring a few kits I had and I limited my self to only using products included in the kit.

So I was experimenting with selfies before Christmas and I had just come from a pamper day with my hairdresser so it seemed the perfect time.  I don't know how this is so easy for the younger generation, I have a hard time taking these pics.  Thankfully there is Instagram and great filters!!!  I decided to do a page with one - it's strange using a photo of just yourself.  But I like how it turned out.  I've been trying to experiment with layering and I really like how this turned out.  I have an idea for another similar one.

This layout was created with products from the 2013 Crop & Create Goody Bag.  I used my three favourite papers from the selection of papers and all the embellishments were from the kit with the exception of the washi tape in the lower left corner.  I love this watercolour background paper and the glitter letters!!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:  

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Something New.  You can use a new product or new technique.  The washi tape is new and the layering is a new technique for me.  

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Make New Friends, but Keep the Old.  I'm using an old kit and trying the new technique of layering and the new washi tape.

Shopping Our Stash Challenge - Happy New Year.  The challenge is to use something new.  The washi tape is brand new. 

Supplies:

Paper:  We R Memory Keepers Chalkboard, Crate Paper Close Knit, Webster's Pages Recorded
Accessories:  Maya Road Wood Buttons, My Minds Eye Tiny Word Stickers, Webster's Pages Arrow clip, May Arts Paper Twine, Crate Paper Flea Market Ephemera pack, American Crafts Daiquiri Gold Thickers, CTMH Gold Washi Tape

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 :)

Art Journal Reveal - Grateful for Fall

And here it is - the reveal!!!  My friend Tracy and I had agreed to challenge each other to creating an art journal page, since we both wanted to try.  I had never done anything like this before, Tracy has but in a different sort of scrapbooking way.  So we had a month - and this is what I made:

This was a great challenge or journey I would call it - I learned a lot about the products I used, what I can and can't mix with them.  One lesson I learned is that you can not add a gel medium over top of the Dylusions Ink Spray.  Also, the Distress Ink takes a LONGGGG time to try over the Distress Paint.  When I purchased this journal, I also purchased another journal, but one with spiral ring.  I decided to use that one for my test pages.  Nothing was actually glued down, just layed out for a visual.  I tried different inks, pens, some scribbling.

When I created my test page, I used a wet baby wipe to tone down the paint while it was still wet.  I forgot to do that on my real pages until after the paint had dried so it had little effect.  That's why it is so much more vibrant.  The test page had a little more of the gesso texture show through after using the baby wipe as well.

One of the finishing touches I loved was outlining everything with the Distress Markers.  I had time to outline and blend with my finger so I didn't have harsh lines and I like how it added some depth and kind of grounded the images that were glued down.  I also enjoyed creating the leaves.  Once I was done inking, I dropped some water droplets on them to create water marks.

The last two finishing touches were to add Clear Rock Candy Stickles to the leaves and some Heidi Swapp Gold Lame Colour Shine.

The Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is Anything Goes and is highlighting Lawn Fawn, so since I used Lawn Fawn dies to create the leaves I'm going to enter :)

Please go over and see Tracy's take on the Grateful Challenge.  It's gorgeous and I can't wait for our next challenge!!

Supplies:

Ranger/Dylusions 5 x 8 Creative Journal;
Diana Wakley Media White Gesso;
Distress Paints - Mowed Lawn, Broken China, Rusty Hinge, Tarnished Brass;
Dylusions Lemon Zest Ink Spray;
Distress Markers - Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge;
Distress Inks - Forest Moss, Wold Honey, Spiced Marmelade, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo;
Brilliance Archival Ink Graphite Black;
Stampin Up Sanded background and Bo Bunny Distressed Textures stamps;
Liquitex Matte Medium, Lawn Fawn Leaves Die, Distress Crackle Paint - Clear Rock Candy Stickles, Maya Road Chipboard Letters, Ranger Manilla Tags, Basic Grey letter stickers, Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste, Rock Candy Stickles, Heidi Swapp Color Shine Gold Lame

Happy Life

OH MY GOSH!!  Can this be any cuter??!!  I am so happy with how this turned out.  My daughter asked me to make a birthday card for her best friend and I knew I would use one of the Uptown Girls from Stamping Bella.  I have recently purchased a few of them, but of course I had to borrow this one from my friend Nancy.  I stamped and coloured the image last weekend at Crop & Create and finally got around to putting it all together.  I wanted warm fall colours and the paper from Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 were perfect.

I'll tell you a little story - see that canvas frame?  That is covering up a booboo :)  When I stamped my image I also stamped two other images.  One of them, was a bit too close to this one and I really wanted to stamp this out as square as possible.  Well, I couldn't do that without having some of the other image in the top corner.  I was trying to figure what frame dies I had that would accommodate and then I remembered these:  Crate Paper Designed Frames from the Maggie Holmes collection.  It's coloured canvas and they're adorable and I managed to find one that went will with the papers I had decided to use.  PERFECT, love when things come together like that.

And I finally used the Graphic 45 flowers I've had for so long.  I think I bought them at Dat's (local scrapbooking store) before it closed.

The Bellarific Friday Challenge at Stamping Bella this week is to use Buttons and/or Bows.  I decided to use buttons from my Basic Grey stash.  And no card is complete without a little bling right?  I had to add some Diamond Stickles.

I also used Mojo Monday's Sketch 368 for my card.

I'm also entering in the Simon Monday Challenge:  Anything Goes and the Simon Wednesday Challenge:  Get Crafty, Use Kraft!!

Stamps:  Stamping Bella Uptown Girls Belinda and Bernadette Bench Buddies
Paper:  Crate Paper Circa 1934 6 x 6 paper, CC Designs Copic Quality white cs, kraft and black cs
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, copics
Accessories:  Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Designed Frames, Graphic 45 flowers, Basic Grey buttons, Stampin Up twine, Diamond Stickles