Art Journal Page/Frog Queen

This journal page was done on a piece of watercolor paper that had been lightly coated in gesso.  After the gesso dried I painted it with Claudine Hellmuth's Studio acrylic paints using Modern Red, Dab of Yellow, a little grey and white acrylic.  I stamped Tim Holtz numbers, Dyan Reaveley circles and borders in black archival ink.  More large circles in grey paint using a lid from an old jar.  I stamped a "window" using Dyan's border, cut it out with an exacto knife and glued orange paper over the aperture.  The image glued over that window is by DeviantScrap.com, as is her crown.  I also used a chevron stencil and white acrylic paint randomly and glued a little tissue tape down with Matte Medium.  The entire page was sprayed with a fixative at the end to seal it.  The sentiment by The Queen's Ink says it all:  Queens Never Make Bargains.

I'll be sending this in to Somerset Studio, I hope they like her.  Have a great day, talk to you soon.~Renee

Art Journal Pages

I've been quietly busy with my art journal this week.  There are so many techniques to try out, I just. can't. stop.  The one I completed today is called "It's not easy being a Princess".  This poor little girl had to kiss a lot of frogs to find herself a Prince.

The images are by Hidden Vintage Studios at DeviatScrap.com, it is their "Tangled Up" download.  I did the tangles on her blank dress myself this time.  The crown is also theirs.  Washi tape and a Tim Holtz stamp are also on the page.  I've been having a problem with my Google account but hope to have it remedied by next week.  I'm trying to add more storage space for photos but I can't get them to take my money!  I wish we all had problems like that.  People want to give us money but noooooo we won't take it.  I'm sure they'll fix it by next week.  In the meantime.......Have a great weekend!

Art Journal Cafe Challenge

The ladies at Art Journal Cafe have a wonderful color challenge going on this week.  This is the suggested color palette:

The colors are to be used any way you like on a journaling page.

First I used gesso to unify the background and give the paper some tooth.  After that I applied acrylic paints that fit into the palette.  I used a lot of inks and some modeling paste along with stencils, stamps, etc.  The clip art is from Hidden Vintage Studio at DeviantScrap.com.  A quick spritz of Dyan Reaveley's red spray ink, blotted with a kitchen roll and blended with a baby wipe.  It looks very urban IRL.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!  We are.....the sun is shining.....yay!!  I'm going out to catch a few rays.  Talk to you soon.

Art Journaling Calendar Page::April 2013

The Art Journal Calendar 2013 Project continues.  Somehow I skipped March and moved on to April.  I'll go back later and do the March page.  All of these pages start out in my "junque" journal and then move into my Dyan Reaveley journal.  I'm not keeping it for "good" just for "good enough".  I have already ordered another DR journal since I have completed 30 pages of this one thus far.  I'll be teaching this 2 page spread in my second class at "Ink About It" next year.  That sounds weird doesn't it.....2013 is upon us!

It starts with gesso and ends with acrylic paints and Dyan Reaveley's star stencil.  I sprayed Dylusions Crushed Grape Ink Spray through the stencil.  Then I added the embellishments.

The ZIA girl is from DeviantScrap.com, it is called Tangled Up by Hidden Vintage Studios.  Lots of Zentangled goodness on those sheets!  The stamps on the days of the week are by Dyan Reaveley and Jenny Doh.  I think it's done but you never know!
Have a great weekend!  Talk to you soon.

Stampotique Designers Challenge #74::Nature

The Stampotique Challenge this week was issued by Nellie and it is "Nature".  I decided to use my Stampotique ((Hello)) and Mushroom Group stamps.  That took care of part of the "nature" theme, the rest was satisfied by Dyan Reaveley's leaves and spider.  I recently paid a visit to DeviantScrap.com and purchased the "Tangled Up" designs by Hidden Vintage Studios.  Little girls with Zentangled clothing and hats, etc.  Just download and print.  Doesn't get any easier than that.  Instant gratification.  After stamping the mushrooms,  I cut out the girl image, cut out a party hat and glued her on top of the mushrooms.  The leaves are stamped randomly with Ranger's black Archival ink and colored in with their Distress Ink Markers.  Then came the spider, hello and another bit cut out of the "Tangled Up" paper.  I used my Star Gelly Roll pen to add highlights to the leaves and a tiny drop of Distress Stickles in the Scattered Straw color to the tops of the 'rooms.  This card only took about 10 minutes to make so I believe I'll do an entire series of them showcasing all the cute little girls from Hidden Vintage.

The weather here today is beautiful, about 50 degrees F.  I finally finished putting my garden to bed and lifting up the dahlias, washing them clean and putting them in the basement.  They won't see the light of day again until Mother's Day.  That's when we turn on the fountain again and put those bad boys back in the ground.  I'm looking forward to that already!

Art Journal Page::She flies with her own wings

I saw a lovely prompt the other day that said "Alis Volat Propriis" or "She flies with her own wings".  I had a two page spread in my "junk" journal, that is the one where I try things out.  The background looked cluttered so I just set it aside until I had time to gesso over it.  Yesterday I saw an image with a lot of white in a magazine and also had just purchased a down load from DeviantScrap.com.  BTW, if you haven't been to the Deviant Scrap site you're really missing out.  They have fantastic images there of all kinds.  This particular set is designed by Hidden Vintage Studios and it is called Tangled Up.  It has all kinds of ZIA, Zentangle Inspired Art, images and is wonderful.  I felt like the pages were transformed, they just needed that extra splash of white.  I hope you agree.

Have a great day!

A ten minute card

I had to make a quick thank you note today.  Here is a ten minute quickie that is very versatile.

I actually made about ten of these since I was looking for the perfect color of ink for this one.  Now I have to just color the butterflies with Ranger's Distress Markers to match the "thank you" ink.
Have a great day!

Art Journal Pages::The Moirae

I started working on the background for these pages a couple of weeks ago.  Usually I do the background and then add embellishments at a later date.  Like when I can't sleep......again.   I sprayed Dyan's Dylusions ink sprays on these pages and then stamped her ladies on stems.  When I looked at them with my sleep deprived brain I couldn't help but think of the Three Fates of Greek Mythology.  Clotho spinning the thread of human life, Lachesis measuring the thread and weaving it into the fabric of a person's actions and Atropus, the inevitable or the inflexible, snipping that thread.  I really need to get some sleep.

Instead of spinning thread the spiders are doing the work for them.
I don't personally believe in fate or destiny, I just take it one day at a time.  What I do believe in is a solid eight hours of sleep at night.  Yeah, right, like that's gonna happen.  :-)  Bonne nuit!

2013 Art Journal Calendar Pages

I'm preparing for my new classes at Ink About It my LSS in Westford, MA.  I'll be teaching Calendar Pages using Dyan's art journal.  There will be one class a month with two calendar pages to complete.  Here is my first installment for Jan/Feb 2013. 

I wanted to have an icy blue effect on this page with a little twinkle of snowflakes in the background.
For February I wanted more of an orange sherbert kind of an effect.

I hope people find them interesting enough to sign up for the classes.  I had a lot of fun developing the pages.

Have you tried art journaling yet?  Have you tried making your own calendars?    There are some great tutorials on YouTube that can inspire you and help you to overcome that fear of a blank page staring back at you.  Throw some gesso on it first and let it dry.  Now it's not blank any more.  Just let your imagination soar and have some fun with it.  You don't have to share your pages with anyone unless you want to.  Become fearless and try something new this week.  Go for it.

SDC 73::Hanging Decorations

We have snow coming this way.  Wet snow.  That's the worst kind from what I hear.  I personally do not shovel snow so I really can't say.  If my husband is out of town during a snow storm my wonderful neighbor, Archie, comes over and does the driveway for me.  Out of sheer gratitude I bake him his very own Coconut Cake once a year, whether it snows or not.  Gotta cover all the bases.  His wife called me last year to say whatever I put in that cake it had turned him into a snarling beast whenever anyone got near his cake.  I guess the growling was fearsome.  All his.  Hmm, I think I'll bake 2 cakes this year for them.  If Archie isn't home my friend Ann's husband, Dave, comes over so he can play with Joe's John Deere snow machine thingy.  Dave's taste leans heavily toward cookies.  So, if he is cleaning the driveway it's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies with nuts and Craisins that will be baked when he calls to say he's on his way and sent home with him.  Joe says he wishes I could just say he's out of town.  Not gonna happen.
I have so many things to be grateful for.  A wonderful husband and great friends just to name a few.  Otherwise this old lady would probably just sit at home since I really can't see myself shoveling snow.  Really.  I would look ridiculous in my stiletto boots, etc. out there moving snow around.  It's the California girl in me I'm afraid.  I can't give up the shoes.
Stampotique is having a challenge this week called "SDC 73::Hanging Decorations".  My submission is a wall hanging on a recycled paper bag.  The clown stamp is by Paula Best, the phrase is by Hero Arts.  The monkey was a tiny treasure found at Brimfield a few years ago.  I just cut out an umbrella shape and did a Zentangle-ish handle on it.  The metal crown and star are by TH.  Rhinestones by Queen and Co.

Renee Zarate::SDC 73

A little up close photo so you can see the monkey.  He's so cute.  Everyone on the east coast, hang in there, let's hope the storm isn't as bad as they are predicting.  Hope all the rest of you have some sunshine in your world today!

Where does the time go?

I keep asking myself that question.  Where does the time go?  This week has been spent cleaning up our messy yard from "Sandy" and getting set for winter.  Snow is expected on Thursday this week and the first storm of the season usually finds us ready and waiting.  That means all the glass things still in the garden have to be moved in, dahlias need to be dug up and put in the basement, empty the fountain, bring in the hoses, chop the firewood and have it in the garage, etc.  The list goes on and on.  Living in New England is not for sissies, that is for sure.
I did find some creative time this week even though I felt like all I did was type out instructions for cards to send in to Stampington for the Nov. 15th deadline.  They had some fun challenges this time, as always.  If you have an interest in that sort of thing just check out their website, they have a list of all the Challenges and Calls going on now and in the upcoming year.  I made this card to send in.  It is just a pretty card that would fit any occasion.

I don't know about all of you and your projects but I seem to be obsessed lately with the backgrounds in my new Dyan Reaveley Journal.  I have about 1/3 of the book completed so far.  I knew I was going to need another one! Hope all my East Coast friends are on the way to recovery after the storm.  Have a great week and try to do something creative even if it is only one project.  It is so good for the soul.