What Attitude?

Anyone have a teenager in your life?  If so, then you can definitely relate to this tag, heh.  I think at some point in adolescence, everyone has to deal with a moody teenager.  Not that attitude is limited to teenagers, far from it!  So I wanted to pay a little homage to the sass we all can exhibit from time to time.

I covered a vintage tag in gesso and used my Dylusions sprays and my stencils to start a nice background.  Then I used more stencils and paint to add some more patterns.  I also smeared some watered down orange paint then added my other elements.  Inspired by my Dylusions border stamps, I doodled the border.  I grabbed some tissue paper from a package I had received and hand cut a star, and used The Crafter's Workshop Gel Medium to adhere the tissue paper star.  I stamped the word "ATTITUDE" with my alpha stamp and my Archival Black Ink, and colored an Oddball Art boy digi stamp with my Tombow markers.  I also adhered a couple Tim Holtz gears and colored some little chipboard alphas with my Uni Posca green paint pen and adhered them as well.  I threaded some yarn through the top and my tag was finished.

I'm also entering my tag in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Through the Purple Haze Challenge

I've included affiliated links for items I used for this project or similar products.  If you click the link I get a small commission.  The price does not change at all for you.  Enjoy the links and thank you for your support!

• The Crafter's Workshop Chevron Stencil
• Dina Wakley Chevron Stencil
• AlteNew Alphabet Die Set 
• Sizzix Framelits Circle Die Set
• Tim Holtz Mini Metal Gears 
• Tim Holtz Metal Sprocket Gears
• Cross Stitch Embroidery Floss 
• Blick Acrylic Paint
• Ranger Archival Black Ink 
  

 

What do you think of the tag?  Let me know in the comments and thank you for stopping by!

Mini Art Journal Day 18

 

Hi there my crafty friends!

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

Day 18 - Tend

 

I'm also entering my page into these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

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 who haven't seen my previous posts yet, I'm working in a mini art journal I made out of envelopes.  You can use many different types of paper, including scrap or underpaper.  A hole punch and some baker's twine later and a mini art journal for the challenge ready for art!

I've mostly posted individual pages, and I do plan to post them all.  This challenge has been very interesting thus far, because it makes you think.  Not that I mind thinking.  Sometimes a good brain dump on your art journal page is just what you need.  Whether it's actual writing that you incorporate, writing and your art covers it up, or the art itself represents the brain dump.

When I saw the prompt, a lot of ideas swirled in my head.  What do you think of when you hear the word "tend."  Granted, the word tend has different meanings.  However my mind immediately went to the definition of caring for something.  You can tend your child(ren), a garden, a relative, or even yourself.  I've been doing a lot, in a sense trying to do everything, even though that's impossible.  So tending to myself can fall by the wayside.  And I think many people fall into that.  Everyone gets busy with life: work, kids, friends, taking care of the home, and I'm sure you can come up with many more.  Tending to yourself, caring for yourself, can get pushed the bottom of the priority list, which isn't good either.  So I need to tend to myself more.

My background is actually two layers of gelli prints.  One is on cardstock, the other is on deli paper.

I used a border stamp from Dylusions Inbetweenies stamp set, with Ranger Archival black ink, and  heart stamp with Ranger Distress Ink in Salty Ocean.  I know I've said it before, but I love my Ranger archival ink.  I really want it in more colors.  And there's lots!  Sometimes I don't mind the ink not being crisp or maybe spreayed with water and a tag dragged through it for a nice effect.  But the archival ink always give a crisp image and doesn't smear.  You can add any wet medium over it and it will stay put.

 

All the die-cuts are from my stash. I used a Sharpie pen and my Uni Posca white paint marker for the doodles.  I also used a red marker from my lovely Tombow markers to add some doodles to a die-cut.

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

Mini Art Journal Day 15

 Hi there my crafty friends!

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

Day 15 - Evolve

 

What does it mean to evolve?  Usually it means what you don't need anymore goes away and what results is something better.  For some reason, a butterfly immediately came to mind, or rather the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly.  My brain works kinda weird, because I was then thinking not caterpillar but work, and that led me to bookworm.  I love books.  My taste in books have definitely evolved.  Perhaps it's inevitable because some books you grow up with you also grow out of.  Or the books help you on our journey through life.  So I decided to make a book butterfly with lots of doodles.

I'm also entering my page into these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge

The Crafty Addicts Challenge 5

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 who haven't seen my previous posts yet, 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 later and a mini art journal for the challenge ready for art!

I've mostly posted individual pages, but I do plan to post them all.  I do hope you're enjoying the pages.  Sometimes it's super easy to make the art, sometimes it's a challenge, no pun intended.  Or maybe I did?  Some challenges are simply design concepts, like stripes or circles.  This challenge has been very interesting thus far, because it makes you think.  Not that I mind thinking.  Sometimes a good brain dump on your art journal page is just what you need.  Whether it's actual writing that you incorporate, writing and your art covers it up, or the art itself represents the brain dump.

 

I played around with a technique I've used before here.  I used a print from a gelli printing session, then used a Royal and Langnickel wash brush to cover the print with Liquitex titanium white and used the opposite end of the brush to make scribbles, allowing the pattern, color, or design to peek through.

 

The background has a lot going on, including lots of doodles.  However, I did use a background stamp of mini stars with Archival black ink in several places on the page.  I traced a Dylusions alpha stencil using a Sharpie pen. My Tombow markers got a workout with filling in the letters from the stencil, the red in the "tell your story" on the butterfly wings and the worm from my butterfly.  I also did a bunch of doodles using a Craftsmart purple paint marker (there's one in this set), a Molotow One4All shock blue paint marker, and the Sharpie pen.

 

The butterfly is a stamp I've used before from an old Balzer Designs stamp set through Impression Obsession.  The worm is a digital stamp from Oddball Art.  Confession: it's not actually a worm, though I thought it was originally.  I trimmed the "tail" to make it more worm-like.  I also added doodles that remind me of Teesha Moore using my Uni Posca water-based white paint marker

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

Mini Art Journal Day 14

 

Hi there my crafty friends!

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

Day 14 - Connect

 

How do you connect?  What do you want to connect to?  I think we all seek some sort of connection.  It can be a struggle for some.  I'm trying to reconnect.  And to deepen my connection to certain parts of my life.  One part that I think many of us adults neglect is our inner child.  I don't think it's planned, but we get caught up in life and lose track of having fun.  So my page for this prompt is about connecting with your inner child, and learning to love that part of yourself.

I'm also entering my page into this challenge:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Simply Create Too #194

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 who haven't seen my previous posts yet, 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 later and a mini art journal for the challenge ready for art!

I've posted either groups or individual.  We'll see how I'm feeling for the rest.

I really like blue, but I kinda wanted to be more subtle with using it on this spread.  I started with underpaper as a foundation.  I've come to love underpaper.  It's basically the paper your surface (desk, table, work surface of your choice) is covered with, and it gets covered with whatever you work with.  Ghost prints of stamps, paint swatches, swipes, test doodles, just about anything art wise.  Eventually it gets covered enough and can be used as collage paper, die-cutting, so many possibilities.  And I was able to incorporate things from the background into my page.

 There's plenty of stamped images, including a border stamp set from Dylusions rubber stamp set, a large mini star stamp and a bigger stars acrylic stamp from my stash.  I chose balloons to represent my inner child.  What child doesn't love balloons?  Thinking about it, what adult doesn't love balloons?  Balloons are fantastic in their simplicity.  I used a chipboard heart, a die-cut from my stash, and two digital images from Oddball Art.

I swiped the bottom of my page with my purple Sakura solid paint marker.  My chipboard heart is covered in gesso and some ink and paint splatters.  I used colored pencils and Tombow markers to color in the blue and green heart.

 

I also used my Uni Posca white, orange, and black paint markers for filling in the stars, x's, and adding my doodles.  I filled in a couple corners with The Crafter's Workshop Well Rounded stencil and Artist Loft red paint.  I used a Moodclue blue chalk marker to make the balloon strings and a Balzer Designs rubber stamp set for the x's on the balloon strings.

 

I also added some ink drips with Liquitex Phthalocyanine Blue Green ink.  Lastly I added a sentiment from my stash.

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

Mini Art Journal Day 12

Hello there, everyone!  I seriously cannot believe it's already halfway through September.  How did that even happen?  I'm sharing Day 12 in my mini art journal for the Art Marks Challenge from Rae Missigman and Sandi Keene.

Day 12 - Unfold

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 later and a mini art journal for the challenge is born!

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

This art journal page is actually on the simpler side and that's no necessarily a bad thing.  I went with a more literal interpretation of unfold, to essentially reveal. 

 

I used more gelli print paper to start my background.  I used Artist Loft Acrylic paint in red, neon green, and Liquitex Basics ultramarine blue.  Then added some stamping with my Balzer Designs stamp set called Really Useful Stamps.  That's for the triangles.  I'll go into the tag next, and then whats under the tag.  And yes, I said under.  All in due time.

 

The tag is from an old vintage set that I decided I wanted to resurface.  So I adhered some old patterned paper and cut around the edge of the tag.  Then I traced a compass mask I have and added the green with a Craftsmart paint marker, part of this set.  I added some washi tape to allow the tag to swing.

What gets revealed is a Dylusions stamp with a lovely head!  Now the heart is actually chipboard and it's from a set.  I got a set of gold foil heart chipboard at some point.  I didn't like the gold, so I covered the whole thing with gesso and then splattered purple and blue ink all over it.  I grabbed one of those and added some doodles with a Uni Posca Ultra Fine Point Red Paint Marker.  The body with wings is from the Dylusions Dependable Dotty stamp set.  I stamped the image using my Ranger archival black ink and colored it with my Tombow markers.  There is a head and legs, which I had cut off at some point and I used the legs on an earlier page in this little journal.

I'm also entering this into Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge.

I am an Amazon affiliate, which just means I get to share links to products I love and get a commission when you make a purchase.  Thank you so much for your support!

And thank you for joining me!  Bye for now!

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.

Walking Home

 Why walk home when you can have a walking home?

Hello everyone!

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge is Architecture/Building, so I decided to have some fun with my home and Dylusions with a fairy tale/myth theme.

 

I started with a page with previous paint and stencil layers.  On the bottom is Dylusions Old School Numbers with blue paint.  I love using already started backgrounds.  It can take a daunting task, like a white page, and make it completely manageable.  I actually went through a few different pages before I settled on this one.

The house and legs are magazine cutouts.  So save those old magazines!  I also know my library at times will clean out their stash and sell the old copies for super cheap.  Go exploring and see what speaks to you.

The mushrooms are from Dylusions Doodle Parts.  I had stamped one, colored it, and cut it out a long time ago.  So I made a few more and colored them in with Tombow markers and some Artist Loft markers.  I really like these because they are saturated with gorgeous shades, and the two different tips allow for detail work and wide strokes.  I purchased mine individually, but the sets are also really good because they give lots of colors for you to play and the two tips allow for experimentation with different strokes and shading.

 To cut the mushrooms out of the white cardstock, I used an amazing tool.  Tonic Studios scissors with the burgundy handle.  Very important note with scissors: if you use a set of scissors on fabric, DO NOT use them on paper.  Yes, that's right, keep separate pairs for fabric and paper.  Paper dulls the edge of the blades, which means fabric will fray when you cut it, or try to cut it.  My Tonic pair are my paper scissors.  I have a separate, smaller pair for fabric that I will go into at another point.  And I must say, those are marvelous as well.

I searched through my stash for die-cuts dealing with home or adventuring, and arranged and glued everything down.  I also used my Sharpie pen to outline everything. 

Dylusions Journaling Block is a fantastic tool for many reasons, including using it to stamp Dylusions border stamps, which is what  used it for in making this page.  I also have to give a shout-out to my Archival Black Ink stamp pad.  Oh my goodness so I love this pad.  It lasts a long time (I'm still using mine years later), it's crisp, and you can put anything over top and it will be fine.  Or it can go over anything and look fantastic.  And have no fear, it comes in a wide array of colors.  Now there's different types of ink pads: dye, pigment, embossing, to name a few.  Archival is special, at least to me.  It's ink is permanent and vibrant.  Now the set I took my border stamp from is called Inbetweenies.  And yes, it's Dylusions.  I may be slightly obsessed with Dylusions.

I really enjoyed making this page, even if it didn't turn out exactly the way I expected.  No matter, it's the fun that's important, and I most certainly had a lot of fun!

Thanks for coming along on another adventure with me.  Bye for now!