Thursday, October 5, 2023

Let's Talk Organization...

...of your lovely craft supplies.  Everyone has their own method of doing this.  A lot of it depends on what space you have to store your supplies and what supplies you have.  I've seen pictures and been to some craft spaces that would make you swoon.  I've also seen or read about people who have a little corner or two to three foot space of their bedroom or living space.  I myself have a chaotic little two to three foot space that's at time fit to burst, but I make it work.


I do have a desk/table that I work at, but the above picture is not mine.  I do however have a container holding my brushes and palette knives.  As I've gone along with my art, I've discovered a couple things about organization: it's necessary and it's quite personal.

Necessary because even when, or perhaps especially if you have a small space,  knowing where your supplies are means you spend more time creating art and less time searching for things.  When inspiration strikes, you don't want to spend lots of time tracking down the supply needed to achieve whatever look you're going for.

And organization is personal because everyone's head works differently and it depends on what supplies you have.  Even a single product for organization, whether it's a shelving unit or handled container, four different artists will use those same products in very different ways.

This is not meant to overwhelm, but to have you look at the space you have to craft in and how your bring works.  For instance, markers.  You may work by color, so organizing your markers by color regardless of the brand, might work well for you.  Others prefer working with certain products at different times.  So similar products, such as tags, cards, and markers would be grouped together by how or hen they get used.

The same can be said for the products used to organize supplies.  I've seen everything from custom built wooden shelves, carts, and trays in a large, separate craft room all its own to a desk with drawers on top and maybe a woven bag to hold some extra items.


I myself do not have a craft room, but don't think it's not on my crafty wishlist.  My space has morphed and seems to have a few different methods.  Different methods can also be used at different stages.  You may try one method and find it doesn't work for you.

One things for me is seeing my supplies.  I love pretty boxes as much as the next gal, and I still have several because of their look, but also their crafty use.  One crafty organization method I have seen many an individual use is rolling carts.  And I finally got one for myself several years ago.  It's a lovely 3 tier rolling cart, similar to this one.  I'm not quite using all the little pieces that go along with it, but that is, again, a space issue.  But it has 3 levels, wheels, and it's a lovely aqua green color.  Many come in different shades, and can literally hold anything.  Even craft wise, shelves can hold anything from knitting and crochet supplies to using one shelf for a kit subscription so you can see everything to use it all.  Another item I got early on for organization is a plastic, three drawer rolling cart like this.  Mine is all purple, but the drawers are still translucent to you can see what's inside.  And that's changed too.  In trying to use the space wisely, one drawer has morphed several times to hold a bunch of supplies that also fit in each drawer.  One holds tools such as gluesticks for my glue gun, sandpaper, and decorative scissors.

There's lots of options, and it's all about finding what's right for you.  I'll revisit, but something to chew on for now.  Thanks for visiting!  Bye for now!

#craftorganization  #craftroom

Monday, October 2, 2023

Mini Art Journal Day 19

Hello my friends!  I'm so glad you could join me today!

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

Day 19 - Balance

 




I'm also entering my page into these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday 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 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, 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.

Life always seems to be a question of balance.  Balancing time, money, quality time spent with family and friends, your job, maybe getting back into shape or it could be as simply as remembering to laugh.  However you find balance, it's worth the search.  The added texture for my page is the star.  I use a lot of baby wipes in my art.  One of those essential supplies, in my opinion.  Among other uses, I clean my gelli plate and clear off my stamps when I am stamping paint.  Many time the colors don't bleed as much, even if they're not supposed to mix.  And sometimes a single color gets fades and such which look terrific when a shape is cut out after the wipe is dried.  The big star for this page is from just such a case.


 


My background is another gelli print on deli paper.  You can see one layer is red paint through The Crafter's Workshop Chevron stencil as well as aqua green through another stencil from The Crafter's Workshop called XOXO.



I also used a Dylusions stencil with some ultramarine paint and did a lot of doodling with my Uni Posca white paint marker.  I also used some die-cuts from my stash and used some little stamps sets from my stash as well.  A great place I get my paint is Dick Blick. There's several brands to choose from, as well as a huge number of colors and types of paint (like heavy body and free flow).

 

 

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





Sunday, October 1, 2023

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!

Friday, September 29, 2023

Mini Art Journal Day 17

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 17 - Poise

 

I'm also entering my page into the following challenge:

Creative Fingers Challenge #262


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, 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.

For this day's prompt, Poise, what defines poise to you?  What gives one poise or how is it expressed?  Being poised could mean to be balanced.  It can also mean holding oneself or an object in a certain manner.  I've heard being poised and being graceful can go hand in hand, which is certainly one way to look at it.  I like that my page shows being balanced between having fire while not sacrificing respect for yourself.



My background is another gelli print, a simpler one.  I was experimenting with sprays, which I really love.  I love the effects you can create with them.  They dry fast, but depending on how you spray, they can stay wet long enough to mix colors.  I also love using the top part for adding drips or tiny drops.  I was using a Dylusions stencil with some Heidi Swapp Color Shine sprays.  They're sparkly, but not overwhelming.  I don't mind some sparkly, but I don't necessarily go fully glitter, sequins, etc.  So these sprays are really nice.  I used Teal with the Dylusions stencil.  The Color Shine sprays came in many colors, like Sweet Mint, Raspberry, and Ocean.

 

I added a border out of gelli printed deli paper that I made using various paint colors, some die-cuts, doodling with my Sharpie pen and my Uni Posca white paint marker.  The butterfly is from a package of corrugated cardboard shapes from my stash, colored with a red paint marker.  I also added stamping with Archival black ink.  The tag is actually an experiment.  I used an acrylic stamp from Badass Art on some scrap and I really liked it, so I cut it into a tag to use later.  Enter later.  My Sharpie outlined the edge, I added a tiny heart from Oddball Art.  I also traced a Dylusions girl mask near the bottom for some added punch.

 

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


Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Mini Art Journal Day 16

Hello there my crafty friends!  I'm so glad you could stop by!

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

Day 16 - Notice

 


I'm also entering my page into these challenges:

Creative Inspiration Challenges #6


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, 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.

What do you notice about the world around you?  What do you notice about your own life?  I've been noticing both aspects of my life that I'm not super happy about as well as other aspects I do like.  Or something I need to alter, but not necessarily get rid of.  Then there are simply aspects that I want to notice, to remember, because I am reminded that moments are fleeting.


My background is another gelli print on deli paper, and I really like the color combination on this one.  It's a little different, not always something that's usually found.


Now normally I'm not a fan of brown.  I much prefer to use colors, though I do find that I am, on occasion, freely using pieces that are brown or gray, such as plain chipboard.  I have also found myself just painting paper just to see what happens.  I will at times just grab my collage papers and cut out different shapes.  That's what I seemed to do in this case.  I used the gelli print for the background, and then cut out the top border from some brown paper that had a bunch of paint randomly strewn on it.  Then I used some black paint through my small sized (6x6) punchinella stencil.  I like adding pops of black or white to my page.  I like how it adds interest and I feel it helps showcase the colors more.  I also used a stamp set that had not been used at all really.  Sometimes you find that happening.  You grab a product because of a sale, or you really like the designer or the stamp design itself, and then it sits.  Gather dust while you use other products.  That's what apparently happened with this one.  And I'm really glad I used it.  It's almost like you need to give yourself permission to us a supply that you've been neglecting for whatever reason.  In this case, it's a Dylusions background stamp, one of four different patterns.

 


I used a stamp I've actually used before from Dina Wakley called Boy Star with a Distress Ink mini pad in Salty Ocean and cut out with my Tonic Studios scissors.  My trusty Sharpie pen got a decent workout on this page, but my Uni Posca white paint marker wanted to play too.  After I added a cut up die-cut and phrase die-cut from my stash, I went to work with my Sharpie pen, adding lots of doodle details.  I do have to be careful, because if anything is still wet or a bit tacky but not quite dry, the pen will pick it up fast.  But on a dry surface, it's wonderful.

 

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

Sunday, September 24, 2023

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!


Wednesday, September 20, 2023

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!

Busy, busy, busy...

I am so sorry I have been absent without a word.  Life can definitely get busy and sometimes unexpected events lead to adjustments. I will b...