Mini Art Journal Day 6

Hey there my crafty friends!  Thanks for coming to see me today!

I have yet another page in my mini art journal for the Art Marks Challenge from Rae Missigman and Sandi Keene.

Day 6 - Envision

Crazy is Our Fame August Challenge

For some Art Marks Challenge history, you can click here.  And Rae's Instagram account here shows what's she's making for each prompt.  For those just tuning in, I'm working in a mini art journal I made out of envelopes, a hole punch and some baker's twine.

I'm planning to post all of my pages.  Some will be individual, some may be in groups of two or more.

Today's prompt was Envision, which is an strong concept.  How do you envision yourself?  What do you envision for yourself?  Perhaps being with family, maybe exploring a new hobby, could also be a focus on your health.  Envisioning yourself, regardless of what it is, should be positive.  Even if you want to, say, lose some weight or work on a better diet, it's still seeing yourself as being healthier.  I envision a transformation of sorts for myself.  Transforming into my improved self.  Healthier, happier, around family, and contributing to a better world.

Seeing yourself as happier can take many forms.  Happiness itself can take many forms, but it can include not struggling as much.  I imagine all of you struggle in one way or another.  Do you struggle financially?  I'm thinking for many of you that's a resounding yes.

For those it does resonate with, I want to share something with you.  It's a great way to earn some extra cash, though it does take time.  It's not a get rich quick scheme, which usually end up with you losing the money just as fast as you made it or faster.  No thank you.  This is a super simple, no tech skills needed, e-mail system that's already set up for you.  It's so easy; it's called Cliqly.  When you sign up, you get a referral link.  With the system, you earn money two ways: clicks and referrals.  You take 10 minutes, and send e-mails.  You can include your referral link in the e-mails.  And you're automatically given a list of subscribers.  The hard work is done for you.  It can grow slow or fast, depending on how much you do it and other factors.  I wouldn't waste another second if you're interested.  I'm not messing around, at least not when it comes to this.  I mess around with art, not making money.

I also share links as an Amazon Affiliate to products I like and want you to be able to get to make the fabulous artwork I know is in you to create.  Just follow the links, make a purchase, I get a commission, your price stays the same.

For this spread, I already had some green paint on it, so I worked around it.  The background is two of my Sakura solid paint markers, in yellow and neon orange.  These come in many different colors, including black and white.  I discovered them years ago and love them for adding paint fast that dries fast too.

 

Then I added black paint through a stencil from The Crafter's Workshop called Stripes Explosion.  The butterfly is from a stamp set called Butterflies.  It was designed by Balzer Designs and released by the company Impressions Obsession.  I stamped the butterfly onto smooth white cardstock, cut it out and glued it so it could fold over and the journal  can still close.  I also added an image in two parts.  Part magazine cutout, part digi image.

 

The purple panda face is a digi image from Oddball Art that I colored with colored pencils and Tombow markers.  I really love Oddball Art for its quirky, and sometimes sarcastic, images.  Definitely weird, sometimes sweet, sometimes edgy, but always enjoyable.  The Tombow markers are such a delight to use.  They're watercolor, dual-tip, and have a variety of rich colors.  Since they're watercolor, you can add water and spread the color around.  It's lovely!  And the fine point and brush tip works no matter what you're doing.

 

I then grabbed a face from a magazine and used a paint marker to add color to her hair.  I also used one of my Studio G mini alphabet stamp sets for the word "envision."  Then I had some doodle fun with my Uni Posca white paint marker and my Sharpie pen.

Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out my art journal page.  Bye for now.

Mini Art Journal Day 5

Hello once again my crafty friends!

I'm so glad you're visiting today!  I have another page in my mini art journal for the Art Marks Challenge from Rae Missigman and Sandi Keene.

Day 5 - Commit

 

 

I'm also entering Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Bright and Cheerful.

For some Art Marks Challenge history, you can click here.  And Rae's Instagram account here shows what's she's making for each prompt.  For those just tuning in, I'm working in a mini art journal I made out of envelopes, but you can use many different things, including scrap or underpaper, so some pages already had stuff on them.  A hole punch and some baker's twine and a mini art journal is born!

I'm planning to post all of my pages, though some may be individual pages and some may be in groups.

All of the Art Marks prompts are making me think.  Think about what the prompt means, not just to me, but in general.  Committing is big; you're promising something, even if it's just to yourself, for the long haul.  You can commit to training for a physical challenge, commit to education, commit yourself to family, or make a commitment to yourself.

But underlying any commitment is keeping the promise to keep doing it.  Even this challenge is in a sense a commitment, even though it's supposed to be fun and there's not exactly any consequence for not finishing it.  However, something I've committed myself to in my own life is improving my financial situation.  I know, people aren't supposed to talk money in polite company, but I think this is something we can all relate to in some way.  And I lie helping my friends, when I can.  I like to consider you all my friends.  That's why I'm sharing my artwork, and maybe a little money talk to help us both.  Committing myself to improving my financial situation involves a couple side hustles.  And I'm guessing we all either have one or have thought about one at some point.

In the spirit of helping you, my friends, I want to share a couple things with you.  Both are great, but take work.  One is Cliqly.  Super simple, You log in, spend 10 minutes sending e-mails, earning click commissions.  If you include your referral link, you can also earn referral commission.  No scams, honest.  Anyone can do this, no tech experience needed.  I mess around with art, not making money.  The other avenue is being an Amazon affiliate.  I share the products I love to use with you and I make a small commission on sales, without a price difference for you.  So thank you!

There's a lot going on in my background, so I'll go step by step.  First I made circles using my Sakura solid paint markers in blue and neon orange.  Next I sponged teal paint through a piece of punchinella.  Here's an example of what punchinella can look like when you purchase it.

 

What is punchinella?  It's sequin waste.  All those little circles are punched out sequins, but the waste is just wonderful.  You can do so much with it.  I've used it on its own on projext, you can cut it into shapes, or use it as a stencil.  There are some stencils with a punchinella pattern, but if you have some punchinella, you can use that too.  I discovered it years ago and fell in crafty love!  

After the punchinella, I traced a few letters through a stencil I have that looks like something you'd get for school supplies, and I sponged blue paint through the circle and star of a Dina Wakley stencil called The Basics.

 

A little black paint through my Dylusions Chequered Dots stencil and I outlined the border squares with my white-out pen.  I used mini wooden alpha stamps for the words "STAY THE" and American Crafts Thickers, similar to these but regular aqua in color, for "COURSE."  I think I've mentioned how much I love Thickers and how I have several sets.  This is another of those sets.

 

I added several details with my Sharpie pen.  The girl is actually a combination of a stamp set and a digi image.  The head and body are come from a Dylusions stamp set called Mini Moo that I colored with Tombow dual-tip watercolor markers.

 

I purchased mine individually, however this set is a good place to start.  The legs I cut off and decided to use later.  Instead, I grabbed the legs from the thinking girl I used earlier in my journal and added them here.  I think it looks just right.

Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out my art journal page.  Bye for now!

Mini Art Journal Days 1 and 2

 Hello again!!  Who's ready for another adventure?  How about a little tease...

 

I love mini art journals.  There's less pressure and excellent for playing when you're short on time, even if you're using wet media, like paint.  This month Rae Missigman and Sandi Keene are doing an Art Marks Challenge.  You can start any time, do one day, do the whole month, whatever works for you.  And use whatever size journal you want.  Rae has these marvelous little cards that she plays one, one for each day.  Easy for those short on time and wanting to make some art.  For the Art Marks Challenge, there's a word every day to ponder and create art with, or around, or about, whatever suits you.  

For some history about the Art Marks Challenge, you can click here.  And to see what Rae is doing for the project, you can head to her Instagram account here.  I made a little book from envelopes.  Yes, you read that right.  I grabbed 8 envelopes, punched holes in the middle of the long sides, then used baker's twine to tie them all together.  For those of us still learning about actual bookbinding, this very rudimentary method works wonders!

So I have done some of the prompts, and I'll be posting multiple days in between other projects to give you my interpretation of the prompts.

A little housekeeping to get out of the way, while also educating you and sharing this with you.  It's related to art and not related to art, now that makes sense!  Obviously most art supplies cost money, and we could all use more of that, right?  I have a couple different methods I use to do just that!  One is so super easy I was thinking, no way this is for reals!  But it is!  And I've seen the numbers change while I'm doing it!  It's a simple e-mail system called Cliqly.  The system is provided for you, you do everything from the site and it takes 10 minutes a day!!  It's so easy and has two ways to make money.  It works like this: sign up and you get a list of 5,000 leads to e-mail with credits put into your account.  You also do what's called list building, which means you send out e-mails and anyone who clicks the links gets added to your list.  Your list literally grows every day.  You earn click commissions, as is someone clicks the link you get s small commission.  In the e-mails you can also add your own referral link, which you get when you sign up.  That's the big dollar signs.  So what you're saying-yes, what I'm saying is it's easy, dare a I say fun, and can make you money for a short amount of time, score!  So by all means, please, you can follow this link if you want a super easy way to get a some extra cash.

I'm also an Amazon affiliate, which means if you follow some of the links here and purchase products, I'll get a commission.  I would certainly appreciate it, and it helps me bring you all this artsy goodness.  I want you to be able to create what I'm creating as best I can.  So that's why I link to as many of the products as I can.  I often see something that inspires me and knowing the products helps me so much!    Now your project won't look exactly like mine, and that's okay!  That's what make every piece unique.  So the links are my way of helping you put your unique spin on the artwork.  And with that, on to the show!

These are the first two days of the Art Marks Challenge.  I've linked to as many products as I could find, however, some may no longer be available.

Day 1 is Begin.

To make the background, I used a flat brush, the center one in this set, and my finger to spread around three different colors: Artist Loft Neon Green and Liquitex Basics in Light Green and Aqua Green.  Very technical with my finger, absolutely.  To make the actual book, I used supplies I had on hand, envelopes from the mail.  Yes, you heard me.  You can use anything, really.  I've used underpaper, patterned paper I no longer love, scraps, as long as they're long enough to fold in half, they're fodder.  My binding method isn't super technical either at the moment.  I used a single hole punch (here's some great options, mine is the silver one with the attached tray under the hole; very important!) to punch two holes through eight envelopes and used one of my favorite supplies to tie them together: baker's twine.

 

Once the paint was dry, I added my elements.  I thought about the word begin, and what it means.  One way is every day is a new beginning, so I followed that train of thought.  I used a big die-cut from my stash, black cloth Thickers alphabet stickers (the design is called Doll) from American Crafts, same font as these American Craft Glitter Thickers, and a heart sticker from this set of Pinkfresh Studios Stickers.  I also used other supplies including an acrylic alphabet stamp set for "every."  The triangles are from a stamp set by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  On the top die-cut, I used a Uni Posca Red Paint Marker Ultra Fine to write the word "EVER."  Those paint markers come in at least two different points, ultra fine and medium, and I've got colors in both.  I love paint markers.  I find them a great method of adding color without having to wait a huge long time for the paint to dry.  They come in a huge variety of colors, and different tips to cover all your crafty needs!

 

The bottom border is a stamp from a stamp set made by a Polish company called Badass Art Stamps.  I had a subscription at one point ad have several sets.  Some have cursing, I will warn you, but they're beyond funny and the style is so stinking cool!  I of course used my black Sharpie pen and my white out pen, similar to these, to add some more details and called it done!

 

Day 2 is Decide.

 

For this page I started with a red Sakura Solid Paint Marker for the background.  I didn't do full coverage on purpose.  I also used a older Dylusions alpha stencil in two ways.  I used a makeup sponge to add some yellow acrylic paint through the stencil, as well as using my Sharpie to trace letters through the stencil.

 

Depending on the kind of paint you use you'll get more or less coverage.  It also depends on the effect you're going for, and I will get into that at some other point.  My yellow paint is student quality, so pretty transparent, which I really like here. 

 

The words "can't decide" is from a mini alphabet stamp set similar to this one and a little cat's eye shaped ColorBox Pigment Ink Pad in blue.  And therein lies another aspect: different types of stamping ink.  To give you a few: dye, pigment, embossing.  Another topic I will get into later, so stay tuned! 

 

I used a couple die-cuts from my stash, and a stamp set from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer for the blue and black circles.  The "I'm" are white American Crafts Foam Thickers.

Thank you for much for visiting!  Bye for now!