My Saturday Class::Postcards from the Edge

I forgot to post photos of some of my students from my class in Westford, MA last weekend.  They did such a great job and two of them had NEVER done any kind of rubber stamping before.  I was impressed!  We had a wonderful two hours together.

Everyone had a different favorite.  I had a great time teaching and I hope they all had fun too!  Talk to you soon.  Thanks for stopping by.

SDC93::Stencils with Stampotique Images

This week at Stampotique Jane has challenged us to use Stencils in our projects.  I made a Master board on a sheet of watercolor paper using Imagine Crafts "Fireworks!" spray inks and stencils.  The stencils incorporated here are from Dyan Reaveley, Julie Fei Fan Balzer and Office Max.  It is just layer after layer of colors with different stencils.  After each layer of color I made sure the paper was thoroughly dry before spraying another layer of color.  The key with a Master board is to save it by making a photocopy of it, then you could cut up either the original or the copy and start working with it.  Here is my card with a couple of Stampotique images and some leaves by Dyan Reaveley.

After I finished the card I decided to do a chevron stencil with ImaineCraft's "Vintage" color just to give it a little more texture.  All of the background color ended up being done with layers and layers of stencils sticking to the pastel colored Fireworks! called Angel Pink, Lulu Lavender and Summer Sky.  The beauty of a Master board is all parts of it are different colors with different stencils showing through.  This way you can cut a piece off on any portion of the board and get whatever effect or color that you desire.

I hope you have a wonderful day.  The sun is shining here and most of the snow has melted.  The daffodils are inching their way up and out.  We should have some vibrant color here soon!  Thanks for stopping by and visiting my blog today.  I always appreciate any comments you have time to leave.  Talk to you soon!

I'm also entering this on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge::Quotes (since I think this is such a great quote :-))

Creating An Art Journal Page::Spring Fling Project

When I first felt the desire to create art journal pages I was really stumped as far as just how to do it.  My first attempts had so much color on them they seemed too dark to me.  After taking some classes and watching a lot of YouTube videos I feel like I've made a lot of progress.  At least I am happier with my results.  Today I'm going to show you my process, everyone has a different process, but this is how I do what I do.  My products for this page have been very generously supplied by Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts.  This is my third project for them this month as an "AIRs" (Artists in Residence) team member.  It is my themed project for the month of March called "Spring Fling".  This is a VERY long post so please grab a cup of coffee or tea and put your feet up.

I started with a 9" by 12" piece of watercolor paper 140# and coated it with a light frosting of gesso, allowing it to dry before proceeding.  I recently purchased some Yellow Ochre Pan Pastels and couldn't wait to use them so I applied some on the paper with a dauber applicator from Imagine Crafts.  After rubbing this into the paper I sprayed it with water and some Dandelion Fireworks! spray and Tangelo Fireworks! spray.  These sprays have a concentrated color with a little shimmer to them.  I sprayed some additional water on these colors and let them move around on the paper by lifting the paper and turning it.  After blotting the excess ink and water off I used a heat gun to dry the paper.

Next I put a small amount of Liquitex Titanium White Acrylic on the page and spread it all over with an old credit card.  Using a baby wipe I lifted off some of the white paint until I was happy with the color.  Memento makes some lovely colors of ink and for this project I used Peanut Brittle and Morocco on a stamp called "Geometric Swirl" by Rubber Stampede.  I just randomly stamped the image and the colors on my page.
I used TCW's lacy stencil and a chevron stencil to spray Tsukineko Walnut ink and Willow Walnut ink onto the paper.  After spraying these and blotting the page I dried it thoroughly with a heat gun.  I added Cottage Ivy Fireworks! spray onto the page and used a paper towel roll to towel it off.  Since I wanted more of the green I used Memento's Cottage Ivy ink pad and applied a touch more with my dauber applicator.  I blended it in with a baby wipe until the color was just what I wanted.  In a few areas I added white gelatos and orange gelatos for more color.  These can also be blended with water or a baby wipe.

Using Dyan Reaveley's small diamond stencil and some gesso I added a little more interest.  Not completely satisfied I used a circle stencil from the local office supply store to apply some more gesso in the upper left corner.  After the gesso was dry I laid the same stencil back over the white dots, moved it off center just a little and sprayed the Cottage Ivy Fireworks!, blotted with a paper towel roll, dried with a heat gun.  When this was dry and the stencil had been cleaned, I laid the stencil on the green dots and sprayed the area again but with the Willow Walnut Ink spray.  I carefully removed the stencil and blotted it with the paper towel roll, then dried it even more with my heat gun.  Bringing out the Memento inks again I applied more Peanut Brittle and Morocco inks to the edges and blended them with a dauber applicator.

For more texture and depth I made small lines on the page with an old credit card.  Using StazOn Cotton White and Ivory Black Opaque Inkers I dipped my credit card edge in each and made small marks on the paper.  With an old lid dipped in Golden Gold Interference paint I added circles for a metallic pop.  At this point my page is pretty much layered and ready for the focal point.  My focal point is a piece of clip art from DeviantScrap.com made by itKuPiLLi imagenarium.  She was giving this away as a freebie on the site last month and her work is incredible!  There is a quote included that says "Love of beauty is tasted.  The creation of beauty is art." by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  I tore this out, edged it with some of the Walnut Ink spray on an applicator and set it aside.  After cutting out the lady I used Matte Medium to adhere the image
to the page.


 



I had some white self adhesive pearls by Queen & Co in my stash so I applied those to her hat band and a stray one to her necklace.  I felt like she needed a little more detail on the hat so I stamped a flower on white card stock with clear embossing ink three times, applied Detail White embossing powder and melted it with my heat gun.  When this had cooled completely I sprayed the Lilac Walnut Ink spray on the flower images and wiped the excess off with a paper towel.  I applied a tiny bit of Goosebumps in the center of each flower and set it aside to dry before trimming it out.  Then I glued the flower down with a piece of black grosgrain ribbon underneath.

The sheen on her hat is some leftover Gold Interference paint that I had on my craft mat.  I decided that Spring time always makes me think of traveling to far off places so I stamped some faux postage in Black StazOn ink randomly around her image and a few stamped cancellation marks for good measure.  To get more depth and definition around the image I applied some Black Gelato and blended it down with my finger and a damp paper towel.  When I want to journal but have absolutely nothing to say, at this point you're thinking "after this long winded blog posting how could she think she has nothing to say?", that's when I use a quote from someone else.  Happily for me this quote was provided in the clip art.  I wrote the words of this quote that I glued to her shoulder all around the image with a Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen in White 101.  A little distressing around the edge of the piece with VersaFine Olympia Green and an Ink Blushers applicator and Voila!  My art journal page is completed.

I apologize for the length of this post but you can't fake the layers on an art journal page.  Just remember to dry everything between each layer and enjoy yourself.  You could easily turn this into a calendar page by using the small transparent calendars and applying that to her shoulder instead of the quote.  The beauty of journaling pages is that it is all about YOU and what YOU like on your page.  There is no right or wrong.  You might have noticed how similar this page is to one that I did last week.  It just shows you how the central image can be the same but the colors and theme are completely different.   So if you have an image that you love to use repeatedly, feel free, just mix it up a little.  Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today, I really appreciate your visits.  If you have time to leave a comment please do, I love to hear from you!  Here is a list of all the products I used on this project.

Products

Watercolor paper 140#

gesso

Matte Medium

Yellow Ochre Pan Pastel

Imagine Crafts Dandelion Fireworks! spray

Imagine Crafts Tangelo Fireworks! spray

Imagine Crafts Cottage Ivy Fireworks! spray

Liquitex Acrylic Titanium White

Memento inks in Peanut Brittle, Cottage Ivy & Morocco

VersaFine Olympia Green ink

Black StazOn ink

Imagine Crafts Willow Walnut Ink Spray

Imagine Crafts Walnut Spray

White, Orange & Black Gelatos by Faber-Castell

StazOn Opaque Ivory Black & Cotton White Inkers

Golden brand Gold Interference paint

Faber-Castell PITT white 101 pen

Queen & Co self adhesive pearls

black grosgrain ribbon

Embossing ink and White Detail Embossing Powder

Tools

Paper cutter

scrissors

old credit card

DeviantScrap.com clip art

Stencils of your choice

Stamps of your choice

heat gun

dauber applicators

Imagine Crafts Ink Blushers sponges

Spray bottle of water

paper towels

baby wipes

Postcards from the Edge Class

Tomorrow I'm teaching my "Postcards from the Edge" class at Ink About It in Westford, MA.  I'll be teaching different techniques with inks and sprays, stenciling, stamping, gelatos, gesso, Goosebumps, all kinds of good stuff.  Personally I love postcard size art so I know it'll be fun.  We'll make 4  postcards for sure, possibly 5 if we have a little extra time.  Here are the cards that we'll be making.

I'm sure we'll have a great time!  Well, at least it isn't snowing today.  Nice bright sunshine!  It snowed most of the day on Tuesday but we managed to have a lovely day in spite of it.  Thanks for stopping by, talk to you soon! 

The Stampers' Sampler Magazine::Spring 2013

I received a surprise in the mail today......the latest copy of Stampington's The Stampers' Sampler magazine.  This  issue of the magazine is really gorgeous and I was so happy to see some of my cards included.

  Usually I take photos of all the work I send in but not this time, guess I got too busy.  These are a few cards that I haven't shared before, I thought you'd like to see them.  I made them during one of my sleepless nights back in Oct. 2012.  I almost threw them out the next morning but I sent them in anyway, now I'm glad I did.

There are tons of great ideas in this issue of the magazine.  It'll be available on the newsstands April 1st.  Thanks for sharing my joy.  It is always such a privilege to be published.  I am always amazed when they show any of my stuff. 

 We have snow coming in tonight and tomorrow.  I have a couple of friends coming over to play with paint and inks tomorrow.  Nothing like a play date!!  Thanks for stopping by, talk to you soon.

Simon Says Challenge::Chic to be Shabby

Nothing says Shabby Chic to me like the soft colors of Tsukineko's Walnut Ink Sprays!  I actually started these postcards a couple of days ago and thought I'd finish them up to meet the challenge at
simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com

Willow Walnut Ink Spray

Combination of Walnut Ink Sprays

Cornflower color

The cards measure 4" by 6" and are cut from 140# watercolor paper.  I coat each card with a small amount of gesso and allow it to dry before spraying water on the surface.  The light spritz of water is quickly followed with a generous spray of Tuskineko's Walnut Ink Spray.  For one card I chose Willow, the second one was sprayed with a combination of Lilac, Cornfllower and Willow Walnut Ink Sprays and a third was sprayed with  Cornflower Walnut Ink spray.  After I spray the colored Walnut Ink I allow the ink to run all over the surface, spraying a little more water if necessary, blotting here and there with a paper towel and then thoroughly drying it with a heat gun.  As a final touch I spray a little bit of Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz in Frost or Sparkle.  I allow this to move around the card by lifting and turning it, then a quick dry with the heat gun.  Now I have a muted color that feels a little shabby but still chic at the same time.  After I achieve what I feel is an understated, elegant background color then I add my clip art, DeviantScrap.com has a wonderful selection, and some rubber stamping.  StazOn is a perfect permanent ink for this and comes in a variety of colors.  I turn to my "stash" to see what other embellishments/scraps I can use.  Each card has the edges distressed with coordinating StazOn inks.  I love the intense colors that StazOn provides.  I have found that StazOn ink is not just for stamping, it can be blended using Imagine Crafts Ink Blushers.  The colors are gorgeous!
Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog.  It makes it even more fun if you have time to leave a comment, I love to read your input.  Talk to you soon, have a great weekend.  We have some sunshine here in New England for the moment.  I noticed yesterday that my spring bulbs are starting to pop their little heads out, all we need is a couple of warm, sunny days and everything here will be an explosion of color!
Here's a list of the products I used on these cards.

Products Used

Watercolor paper 140# cut to 6" by 4"

Tsukineko Lilac, Cornflower & Willow Walnut Ink Sprays

Imagine Crafts Sheer Shimmer Spritz/Frost & Sparkle

StazOn Royal Purple, Cactus Green, Black, Forest Green inks

Memento Peanut Brittle ink

StazOn Opaque Cotton White & Black Inkers

Hidden Vintage Studios clip art found at DeviantScrap.com

K & Co self adhesive butterflies

Memento Markers

Tools

Fiskar Paper Cutter

Scissors

Glue

Stamps:    Dina Wakley's Boys Star, River City, Stampers Anonymous, Dyan Reaveley leaves, Impression Obsession flower stamp

old credit cards

Water Spray bottle

Paper towels

Imagine Crafts Ink Blushers (sponges)

Mini Art Journaling Postcards

I have to say I really love making the art journal type postcards.  The commitment is so small....4" by 6".  I started these three cards out the usual way, a 4" by 6" piece of watercolor paper 140# covered with a small amount of gesso.  Today I'm featuring the Walnut Ink sprays by Tsukineko for one of my Artists in Residence March projects and I wanted to control the depth of color of the ink.  The gesso acts as a resist and keeps the walnut ink sprays from soaking in too fast, which is the effect I wanted  for this project.  I get an antique marbleized effect that is very soft by using this technique.  I sprayed the prepared surface with water then sprayed the Lilac, Cornflower and Willow colors on separate postcards.  After I spray the Walnut Inks I allow the ink to run all over the paper, spraying more water if necessary and then drying it with a heat gun.  Then I spray the card in several areas with Tsukineko's Sheer Shimmer Spritz Frost.  I allow this to move around on the paper by lifting and turning it, then dry it again with my heat gun.  Now I have beautiful antiqued muted color and shimmer on each of my postcards.

This project for Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts is the artist "Project of Choice" so this artist has chosen to work with the Lilac Walnut Ink sprayed card today.  I'll share the other two finished postcards later in the week. I start building my layers on top of the beautiful lilac background using stamps like Dina Wakley's grungy circles.  For the ink I used Tsukineko StazOn Royal Purple, it blends very nicely with the lilac color.  To get a little more sheen I stamped the same stamp with Tsukineko's Opalite Orchid Ice.  This is a reflective interference ink.  I heat embossed these inks with clear embossing powder.  I used an old credit card to make some lines on the card using VersaFine Majestic Blue ink also made by Tsukineko and I added some white lines with StazOn Opaque Cotton White Inker, which is very convenient for making fine white lines.  My layered background is almost complete at this point.  Just a few circles made with an old jar lid dipped into some Golden Acrylic Interference Blue paint to finish it up.

 The image I chose is a piece of clip art found at DeviantScrap.com, it was made by ITKUPILLI Imagenarium.  I love this image of a lady who looks like she is going for afternoon tea, wearing her pearls, hat and gloves!  After trimming her out I applied Matte Medium to the back with my fingers and then made sure I sealed the edges with any excess.  When that was dry I outlined her with Black Gelato and smudged it with my Imagine Crafts Brushstix, better than a Q-tip swab, believe me.  To complete my postcard I used one of my Imagine Crafts Ink Blushers to carefully apply a tiny bit of StazOn Royal Purple ink to the edges of the card.  Perfect.

She makes me want to get dressed up and go for tea, how about you?  I want to thank Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts for supplying me with all the products for today's project.  I also want to thank all of you for stopping by today and visiting my blog, it makes it so much more fun when people drop by and leave a comment.  I will show you the other completed postcards over the next couple of days.  Talk to you soon, have a great day!  Here is a list of all the products I used on this postcard.

Products Used

Watercolor paper 140# cut to 6" by 4"

Tsukineko Lilac Walnut Ink

Imagine Crafts Sheer Shimmer Spritz/Frost

Tsukineko Opalite Orchid Ice Reflective Interference Ink

StazOn Royal Purple ink

VersaFine Majestic Blue

StazOn Opaque Cotton White Inker

Golden Acrylics Interference Blue

Black Gelato

ITKUPILLI clip art found at DeviantScrap.com

Tools

Stamps:  Phrase by Northwoods Rubber Stamps,  Dina Wakley Grunge Circles

old credit cards

jar lids

Imagine Crafts Brushstix

Imagine Crafts Ink Blushers (sponges)

Playing with Dina Wakley's new book

Have you seen Dina Wakley's new book Art Journal Freedom?  I bought a copy of it last week and I must say I love it!  I have been playing around with it, trying to copy her work.  It is impossible for me to even make something that looks like her work.  But the principles that she teaches are amazing and make so much sense, the book is a must read for those new to art journaling! 

This is done on a piece of watercolor paper with Dylusions Ink Sprays, gesso and Inktense Watersoluble Ink Pencils.  If you haven't seen her new book you are in for a treat.  Dina is teaching here in May so we'll get a chance to enjoy her talents for a few days here in Mass. 

Spring is right around the corner!  Have a great week.

Saturday's Class

Well, I had a lovely class yesterday for my monthly Art Journal Calendar pages.  I teach in Westford, MA at "Ink About It" which has a wonderful workshop area with all kinds of good stuff in it and plenty of room.  I wanted to share with you some of my students work since I'm always blown away by what they come up with, all using the same products.

We just noticed she matched the inks.  No, it wasn't planned.  But yes, it does look very nice!

TaaaDaaah!

 

Some are finished in the photos and a few are still works in progress.  I had a great time and I hope they did too.  We used Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Spray inks on Un-gessoed paper.  Nothing like making an inky mess!  See you next time, thanks for stopping by.

Snow Day!

A friend of ours is in Shanghai right now on business.  He emailed us to check on the severity of this storm since the Chinese have dubbed it "Snow-maggedon".  It is snowing about an inch per hour so since yesterday we have quite an accumulation out there.  Here is what the "cake" on the deck table looks like right now.

My garden is definitely blanketed in white!  That's a good thing though it'll keep everything nice and cozy!

I'm teaching a Calendar Class tomorrow at Ink About It in Westford, MA but by then the storm should have passed and everything should be back to normal around here.  I had previously posted the June calendar pages that I'm teaching, the one I'm showing on the blog today is Option 2 for the calendar pages. 

 

The beauty of Art Journal pages is that you can just keep adding to them.  I changed the Prima girls out a little, adding a different one so there are two different girls on this one.  My students are encouraged to make what ever changes they want on their pages since it is their book.  My group is pretty amazing, everyone has the same supplies but each book looks very different.  I keep hoping to snap a photo of their work but time and people just slip away too quickly for me to get the shot.  I'll try again tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by, talk to you soon.

Stampotique Challenge::SDC 90

This calendar page is just one page done on watercolor paper rather than in my journal.  It was a fun way to play with spray inks, stamps, clip art and self adhesive calendars.  I am entering it in the Stampotique challenge for "songs".  The theme I chose for this is "it was just one of those things".  Those words were taken from a Cole Porter song written in 1935.  This lady from Deviant.Scrap.com, looks like she fits the era and the lyrics.  Lots of gesso, acrylics, stamping that is there but only faintly visible, stencils and peel & stick stuff.  Fun to make.

If you get a chance pop over to the Stampotique website and enter their challenge for this week you have an opportunity to win some of their stamps.  It is always fun to check out their Designer's ideas for each challenge, too. 

We have a winter storm coming in tonight so we'll be preparing for that today!  Talk to you soon, take care.

Simon Says "Numbers"

The challenge on the Simon Says site this week is a project that includes numbers in some way.  I made a postcard the has a number block stamped on it (JudiKins) and a circle with numbers on it (Invoke Arts).  I did attach some tiny playing cards but my husband pointed out they don't have numbers on them.  Oops, but there is a clock face and it does have numbers.  The background color is done with StazOn Teal Blue and Forest Green.  A little stenciling with gesso topped with Memento Peanut Brittle ink.  A light rubbing of black gelato around the edges.  A few other additions and we're all set. 

If you get a chance hop on over to Simon Says Stamp and check out all of the wonderful entries.  You still have time to enter a project.  Talk to you soon!

An Imagine Crafts Box of Fun!

A spring card!

I received a fabulous box of fun from Imagine Crafts for my Artists in Residence March projects a couple of weeks ago.  It contained all kinds of wonderful things like Tsukineko Walnut Inks, Shimmer Spritz, VersaFine inks in Olympia Green and Majestic Blue.  The Walnut Inks are intriguing since they are not just plain old brown any more.  There was a bottle of Walnut brown colored spritz but also Cornflower blue, Willow green and a lovely Lilac color.  I decided to make a Spring card using these inks and a can of air.  You know the type I mean, the Power Duster canned air that you use to knock the dust out of hard to reach areas on your computer key board.

I started with a piece of glossy card stock that measures 4 1/4" by 5 1/2".  I sprayed all four of the Tsukineko Walnut inks on the paper one at a time and after each spritz of the walnut inks I used a blast from the canned air to move the ink around on the paper.

After I had sprayed all my colors and achieved the desired effect then I sprayed the Imagine Crafts Sheer Shimmer Spritz in the Sparkle color to add an elegant shimmer to the surface.
Next I stamped Hero Arts "Silhouette Spray" stamp with Tsukineko Olympia Green VersaFine ink to get a good crisp image.

I used my Viva Pearl Pen in the Ice White color to add some detail to the tiny flower heads.  The panel edge was distressed with Tsukineko VersaFine Majestic Blue ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The panel was glued to a piece of Kraft paper that measured a quarter of an ink larger than the panel, then a piece of black card stock that was also a quarter of an inch larger.  Finally, the matted panel was affixed to a piece of sparkly lilac colored card stock for a finished card that measures 5 1/4" by 6 1/2".  I used a few magenta colored self adhesive pearls by Queen and Co. to finish off the project.

I hope you'll give the Tsukineko Walnut Inks a try.  Just remember that Walnut Inks will stain so be sure to use these on a protected surface.  You can also spray the inks onto a sponge dauber and apply them to torn edges and ribbons for an aged effect.  Always allow Walnut Ink to dry before stamping or embellishing your projects.  There are other tips and techniques that you can benefit from at www.tsukineko.com.  

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed my small tutorial.  If you have a the time please feel free to leave a comment, I love to read them.  Take care and have a wonderful day!  Talk to you soon.