A Coloring Page turned into a Garden Notebook

So many of us are loving the coloring book craze and it shows no sign of disappearing any time soon.  Many people wonder what to do with some of those favorite pages.  How can we look at them every day without plastering our art work all over the walls?  Here's a suggestion, use the book page as a master board paper and it suddenly takes on a whole new life.  In this instance the page was used to make a small garden notebook housing seed packets and miscellaneous garden notes.

To begin I printed out a copy of the uncolored page on to a piece of computer paper.  Clear packing tape was applied over every bit of the design, trimmed out and then submerged in water.  After a few minutes of soaking, the paper will peel off of the back of the tape leaving only the print of the design.  Next the water color paper was folded into a miniature book measuring 7.5" by 7.5".  Tim Holtz's Distress Crayons were applied on a craft sheet and then picked up with a baby wipe and applied onto the front cover, being careful to follow the design; this is the portion that the packing tape transfer will be covering.

It doesn't look like much until the packing tape is adhered, then it takes on a life of its own.

There should be enough tackiness left in the tape to adhere to the book but if not just add some glue under the tape.  Now color in the background with additional Distress Crayon colors.  Draw a horizon line, add texture with StazOn Studio Glaze and allow to dry.  Now for the back of the book.

It is nice to have continuity in the colors of Distress Crayons used throughout the book.    I took the time to sew areas of the book so it will serve the purpose that I have in mind, mainly storage of seeds, etc.  There are several pockets on the inside to stuff treasures. Several of the threads were left long for a grunge effect. Random flower and butterfly stamps were used with StazOn Jet Black ink so there's no chance of smearing later.  The Bokeh effect is reminiscent of dew drops in the early morning and that look was achieved here with Purple Iridescent Creative Medium and a stencil. 

Here is a view of the book opened so you can see the front and the back after all the edges were distressed.

This is a list of the supplies used:

" Beauty Boots" coloring page from Stampington's "The Coloring Studio Vol. 3"

• Inks:  StazOn Jet Black, Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Cornflower Blue, Orange Blossom, Tree Branch
• Distress Crayons:  Seedless Preserves, Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge, Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon
• Gelatos:  Metallic Melon, Metallic Mint, Cotton Candy
• StazOn Studio Glaze:  Cactus Green, Emerald Green, Orange Zest, Silver
• Stamps:  Penny Black, Memory Box, Finnabair, Idea-o-logy, Stampotique, Dyan Reaveley, Dina Wakley
• Stencils:  Stencil Girl, Artistcellar
• Other:  Purple Iridescent Creative Medium, Transparent Packing tape, Watercolor paper, baby wipes, black embossing powder

I'd love to see some of your projects created with coloring book pages.  Please feel free to leave a comment telling us what YOU have done with your pages.  Thanks for stopping by ~ Hugs ~ Renee

Hurricane Hermine is passing through today, time to Stay Calm and Color On!

Well, this is what our day looks like today.  It seems like Hurricane Hermine has decided to pay us a short visit.  Our pond in the back was getting quite low due to a recent dry spell, not a problem now it is full to the brim!

I did what any mixed media artist would do in a situation like this.  I stayed home, baked bread, made soup and colored.  My friend Ella Wilson who lives in North Carolina told me before we moved down here that she calls hurricane weather "blizzard weather".  Since she is from New England we both knew what that meant.  When the weather is bad up north everyone hunkers down and stays home.  Most residents are prepared for inclement weather and can be self sufficient for days on end.  One time we lost power for 3 days due to a blizzard.  We made our own refrigerator on a teak table outside, brought our camping stove into the kitchen and built a fire in the fireplace that blazed for 3 days straight.  We slept in front of that fire the whole time in reclining chairs.  It seems like the longer you live in NE the more stubborn you get.  The first year that happened we headed for a hotel for almost a week.  Being from Southern California we had no idea how to handle a situation like that but we learned quickly.

I used my Coloring Studio Workbook Vol 1 to pass the time today.  These two pages are by Ruth Dailey and are very abstract drawings.  I used Inktense Watercolor pencils and a water brush to color them in.

So my advice today is "Stay Calm and Color On".  Hugs ~ Renee