Inspiration Wednesday Week 1

I recently joined the online "Inspiration Wednesday" class.  Every other Wednesday Donna Downey will do a video for members and work in her inspiration journal.  Click the following link for more info:
http://www.donnadowney.com/online-workshops/inspiration-wednesday-2015-membership.html

Here is the page that I created using inspiration from Donna's video:

In the video, Donna uses a number stencil for the date, but I had trouble because the numbers weren't in order and I kept smearing the molding paste.  So I used my Silhouette Cameo die cutting machine to cut out the date and the Eye of Horus image.  I used the negative of the die cut and it worked perfectly! Then we used more molding paste to make the word "artist" using old fashion stencil letters.  After letting all that molding paste dry, we used paint and glazing liquid to stain the pages.  I painted on turquoise paint and Golden's Glazing Liquid, waited a few minutes, then wiped it off with a baby wipe. I dried the pages, then added a second color, a mixture of bright green and green gold, using the same method.  After the paint was dry, I used archival ink and rubbed it over the surface to enhance the raised areas a bit more.

What is the Eye of Horus, you ask?  Well, it's kinda complicated, but in a nutshell The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health. Here is more information about it: 
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/eye-of-horus-meaning-and-tattoo-ideas.html
I love the image and think of it as a symbol of protection, insight, and intuitiveness.  
I enjoyed this lesson and will definitely incorporate the techniques into future projects.  I'd love to hear what you think so leave a comment below!

Whales, Bees, and Sky: January Sneak Peek for Scrap n' Art

Happy New Year Card

Wow!  I completed lots of projects for this issue!  Along with Christmas decorating, shopping, and traveling, December was a busy month.  I trust that you all had a happy and safe holiday season and I wish everyone a healthy and prosperous new year!

I worked with some amazing new products including 7 Dots Studio and Blue Fern Studios, both providing the design team with beautiful patterned paper and chipboard.  I used 7 Dots Studio, "Destination Unknown" paper collection, featuring beautiful celestial and sea designs in teal, black and light neutrals.  It is stunning!

Destination Unknown

I LOVE these beautiful tags!

This is a bit off-topic, but I LOVE whales!  Ever since I read an article in National Geographic magazine when I was little, I've loved them.  What appeals to me about them is their size combined with their intelligence and gentleness.  The Blue Whale (click on the link for an interesting interactive) is the largest creature on earth, at 100 feet long, is larger than a basketball court or 3 school buses in a row. It weighs 200 tons, or the equivalent of 15 school buses. I've never seen one in the wild, but it is on my bucket list. 

With that said, I created a simple canvas using the Destination Unknown patterned paper, paints and this cute chipboard whale that came in the collection.  I don't think he is a Blue Whale, but I used my artistic licence and painted him with shades of blue paint and added a bit of white. I think he is adorable!  The quote on the canvas reads: "You are a rare and beautiful creature and you fill my heart with wonder and joy."

Rare and Beautiful Canvas

I also created a scrapbook page using the celestial pattered paper that I painted with Viridian (color) paint by Art Anthology.  It is very transparent so the pattern shows through.  Check out my tutorial at Scrap n' Art here: Destinations Unknown with 7 Dots Studio.

Blue Fern Studios offers a huge variety of laser-cut chipboard in every conceivable shape you can think of! Their patterned paper is very heavy and beautiful subtle colors and patterns.   I used some hexagon/honeycomb chipboard and pattered paper for an artistic tag.  

Indigo Blu is a wonderful rubber stamp company based in England.  I used the Snow Queen stamp to create a winter themed canvas for the magazine.  I used a 10"x 10"canvas that I started in November for a project and I didn't like the results so I put it aside and picked it up in December, painted it over with gesso, and blue paint and started over.  I kept little bits of the bright orange color from the original canvas peeking through, which added depth to the finished project.  If you are in the States and want to purchase Indigo Blu stamps, check out Joann.com or Paperwishes.com 

So check out the January issue of Scrap n' Art magazine for more projects and tutorials.  Learn and be inspired.  Thanks for visiting! Leave me some words below, as long as they are nice!  

Pantone Color of 2015 Revealed

Happy New Year everyone!  I have been busy creating for Scrap n' Art online magazine and since I have to wait 3 months to share any projects I do for them, so that's why I've been quite lately.

But with the new year, comes new resolutions, new words to motivate us, and a new color of the year from Pantone: Marsala. "A naturally robust and earthy wine red, Marsala enriches our minds, bodies and souls."

Now, I am not going to run out and paint my walls Marsala, but I may wear it on my fingernails or toes.  And I think I will incorporate it into my art work too.  What do you think of the 2015 color?

Sneak Peak for Scrap n' Art Magazine

Yes, November is almost over, but I still wanted to share some sneak peaks of my projects in this month's issue of Scrap n' Art magazine (see link below).  I enjoyed creating my projects using some really cool products, like Ten Second Studios Verday metal paint and patina, and Indigo Blu's metallic gilding flakes.  Here are a few sneak peaks:

Canvas using aluminum soda cans, die-cut into leaves,
 embossed and painted with Verday patina paints.

Mixed Media scrapbook page using Indigo Blu Mega-Flake metallic gilding flakes on
Creative Embellishments chipboard stars

Art Journal page using Indigo Blu Mega-Flakes metallic gilding flakes

I wrote the Trendwatch article this month about Project Life and more specifically, December Daily journals, which documents the month of December using divided page protectors instead of traditional scrapbooking with 12x12 layouts.  I personally don't do Project Life, but I love the concept of documenting every day events and not just birthdays and holidays.  I did a December Daily a few years ago and documented the month of December.  I'm not good at keeping up with every day, but I think that's okay.  Here is a sneak peak of the December Daily project and tutorial I did for the magazine using Kaisercraft's, North Pole paper line, paints and stencils.

Please check out the magazine here:  http://www.scrapnart.com/  There is an annual fee of $24 to join but it's so worth it! Before I joined the team, I was an avid reader of the monthly publication and was always impressed with the articles and projects. You can even submit your own projects for publication in upcoming issues. I've completed lots of new projects for December's issue so stay tuned for sneak peaks. And go join to see everything the talented design team created!  Leave comments below!!  

Finished Junque Journals

I recently took an online class from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's called, "Make Your Own Junque Journal" .  I mentioned it in a previous post (here) while i was still working on the journals and now that they are completed, I wanted to share them with you.  I made five of them and used up lots of old scrapbook paper and Gelli prints.  I am now working inside one of the journals and taking the next class, "30 Days in your Junque Journal".  I highly recommend both classes if you like art journaling.  Here is the link to both classes: http://balzerdesigns.com/Classroom/register/junque-journal-bundle-2/.  I love Julie's fun and thorough teaching style.  So here are my finished journals:

Here are more front and back shots of a few of them:

I decided to work in the "make Art everyday" journal.  Although pink is my least favorite color, I liked the inside pages the best in this one.  And I don't mind bright pink when it's paired with orange.  

Here are some of the inside pages.  Not sure which one is from which journal.  

The inside pages were mostly done already but had to be pieced together to make up the right size for each book. I loved matching the pieces up and seeing how they looked when they were finished and sewn into the journals.  This was my favorite part of the process.

So what do you think?  I'd love to read your comments below!

Scrap n' Art Design Team!

I am so excited to announce that I have joined the Scrap n' Art online magazine design team!  This is a wonderful online publication whose design team members take an artistic and incredibly creative approach to scrapbook layouts, cards, home decor, gift giving, canvas, and more!  They also have a wonderful digital section that will inspire you to get into the non-messy side of art!  The magazine also includes tutorials using the latest products on the market.  Please check out the magazine here:  http://www.scrapnart.com/  There is a small annual fee of $24 to join but it's so worth it! Before I joined the team, I was an avid reader of the monthly publication and was always impressed with the articles and projects. You can even submit your own projects for publication in upcoming issues.  Here is a sneak peak of my submission for the Color Challenge article this month and the link to mine and other design team projects:  (In order to read the whole article, you will need to join.) http://bit.ly/1vIJmDb. 

I also wrote the Trendwatch article this month about faces in mixed media art.  You can find it here:

http://bit.ly/1s6fcec.   

Thanks for visiting and let me know what you think in the comments below.  Now go join Scrap n' Art online magazine!!!

Making Junque Journals

You know all that scrapbook paper you've been hoarding?  How about all those Gelli prints you made that are piling up on your craft table?  Well, there is something you can do with them......make Junque Journals!  I am currently taking Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's online class, "Make Your Own Junque Journal", and I may use up all the scrapbook paper I bought over the last 10 years!  I'm obsessed with making the pages that we will learn to sew into an art journal in the next few weeks. Julie has a method of making pages that involves taping papers together and sizing them to fit the cover.  That's all I'm sayin' about that!  You have to sign up for the class to get all the details.  I am making two different sized journals; 8"x 12"and 8"x 10.  Here are just a few pages that I made:

8x10 Page

This is a Gelli print that I taped together with another print using Washi tape.
I stapled a cute little tag to the top.

8x10 Page
I added some embellishments to this one.  

8x10 Page
I wanted some of the pages to fold out.
This is a Gelli print that I folded over and used a decorative edge punch to embelish the fold-out edge.   .

8x10 Page
I saved (hoarded) some fun, artsy calendars from previous years and decided they were perfect for this project.  

8x12 Page
Signatures ready for sewing together

In case you are wondering what on earth a signature is, according to Webster's online dictionary, it is "one unit of a book comprising a group of printed sheets that are folded and stitched together."

I'm using papers that I already have, so my desk is getting cleaned off! That's why they are called Junque Journals, because you gather all the leftovers and don't think about the order. I am using four pages folded in half for my signatures and I will sew together 5 signatures. Incidentally, you can use many different methods to bind your Junque Journal.  Click HERE to see a video of my preferred book binding method. It's much easier to use rings or a spiral binding machine and not fold the pages, but there will be a gap between the pages.  I prefer the sewn binding because it is very secure and there is no gap when I open the journal and I have a larger space to work.   

I can't say enough about Julie's classes and her teaching style. She is so thorough and detailed in her sharing of information and includes many tips that help with other projects.  For example, she shows an easy way to thread a needle that I never thought of before. Please consider taking one of her many classes.  Click HERE to access her available classes.

Stay tuned for another post in the next few weeks showing the covers and my completed Junque Journals!  Thanks for visiting today and leave your comments below!

Now, go make something!!